Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-03-08
IMPRESSED WITH WESTERN
CANADA.

iTnFRESSED WITH WESTERN
CANADA.
Says Our Prairiex VIII Be Filled Up
in Ten Years.
L. A Stockwell, of Indianapolis, a
United States land man. who made an
extensive tour of inspection in the
West, wrote the following article. IN
der date Of Jan. s, for an Indiana pub
lication:
States. in this letter propose to
show by extracts from my note book
that thousands who have come UP here
from the States have succeeded far
beyond their most sanguine expecta-
lions.
Mr.. \. E. Beaumunk. of Brazil. Ind.
was earning 500 per month with
coal company. At about the age Of 40
he had saved about $1,000. Four years
ago he landed near Hanley, Sask He
now owns $50 acres of land. Last fall
(1905) he thresned 400 bushels of
wheat and 3100 bushels of barley oats.
His wheat alone brought him over
$4,000, which would have paid for the
acres that it grew on. He is to-day
worth $4,000.
This Is Making Money Fast.
In February, 1902, J. G. Smith &
Bro. were weavers in Il big cotton mill
In Lancashire, England. Coming here,
they arrived in Wapella, Sask. with
only $3.50 between them. They were so
"OrpQrl;' ha+ oil
could earn the first summer was $500
per month, and the first winter they
had to work for their board. The next
year, 1903, they took homesteads, and
by working for neighbors they got a
few acres broken out, upon which the
next year they raised few hundred
bushels of wheat and oats. They also
bought a team and broke out about
sixty acres more. In 1905 they threshed
LOO bushels of wheat from it, and
1,3Ic bushels of oats. Their success
being then assured, they borrowed some
money, built a good house, barn and
implement she'd and bought a cream
separator, etc. They now have a dozen
cows, some full-blooded pigs and chick
ems, good teams and implements to
match, and are on the high road to
prosperity. Here are three cases Sc
lected from my note book from among
a score of others One a mine boss,
one farmer, and one factory Oper
ator. With each of them l took tea
and listened to their story. Il hoped
to better my condition." said one. Il
thought in time l might make q home"
said another. Il had high eXpecta-
tions," said the other. and all said that
Il never dreamed it possible to succeed
as I have"
Like Arabian Nights.
Everywhere, on the trains, at the
hotels and in family, l have been told
Of successes that reminded me more
of the stories in the Arabian Nights
than of this matter-of-fact workaday
world. Yields of wheat from 50 to So
bushels per acre, and of oats of from
60 to 100 bushels, are numerous in ey-
cry locality and well authenticated. At
Moose Jaw, Lethbridge, Calgary, Ed
monitor, Regina, Brandon, Hanley and
many intermediate places l saw cattle
and young horses fat as your grain-fed
animals of the States that had never
tasted grain, and whose cost to their
owners was almost nothing. At Moose
Gin I saw train load of ! 400 steers
en- route to England, that were shaky
fat, raised as above stated. If the older
generation of farmers in Indiana, who
have spent their lives in a contest with
lags and Stumps, as did their fathers
before them, could see these broad
prairies dotted with comfortable homes,
large red barns, and straw piles innu-
merable, and the thriving towns, with
their towering elevators damned to the
roof with me. 1 hard" and then re-
member that four or five years ago
these plains were tenantless but for
the badger and coyote, they would mar
vel at the transformation. Then if they
followed the crowds as they emerged
from the trains and hurried to the
land offices, standing in line until their
respective turns to be waited On came,
and saw with what rapidity these lands
are being taken, they would certainly
catch the disease" and want some of
1t too. If these lands are beautiful, in
midwinter with their long stretches of
yellow stubble standing high above the
snow, what must they be in summer
time when covered with growing or
ripening grain? Speaking of winter re
minds me that our Hoosier friends
shrug their shoulders when they read
in the Chicago and Minneapolis dailies
Of the temperature up here. The Ca
madam literature, with its pictures,
half-tones and statistics, gives a good
idea of her resources, but thirty or
forty degrees below zero sounds dan
gerous to a Hoosier, who nearly freezes
in a temperature of five above. espe-
cially when accompanied by a wind, as
it often is; but the fact Is, when it is
very cold here it is still, and the air
being dry the cold is not felt as it is
in our lower ATTITUDES, where there is
more humidity in the atmosphere.
am IS, and l never saw finer winter
than the one l am spending up here. l
arrived in Winnipeg Nov. g. and have
not had the bottoms of my overshoes
wet since l entered Canada. Under
cloudless sky l have ridden in sleighs
nearly a thousand miles, averaging
drive every other day. Stonemasons
have not lost a weeks time so far this
winter. Building of all kinds goes right
ahead in every city and hamlet, as
though winter were never. heard of.
Information concerning homestead
lands in Western Canada can be had
from any authorized Canadian Govern
ment Agent, whose advertisement ap-
pears elsewhere in this paper.
All Things Come, Etc.
THAT man was waiter for ten years,
and now he's worth a million
All for waiting ten years."
Eyes, his rich uncle died then"