The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1907-09-19

10, 1907.
The people on the treeless prairies of
western Minnesota and North Dakota
will pay good money for every stick
OF cordwood and every foot of lumber
that can be shipped to them, thus the
settler in the timber country will have
an incentive to clear his land. But it
will require time to open up and de-
velop the lake region. It will be a
slow process. Eventually, however,
the country adjacent to the lake
will be as thickly settled and as pros
porous as any part of Minnesota.
While the building of the 500 branch
will contribute much towards that
growth and development the extension
OF the Great Northern from Milaca
northward would contribute still
more. 1t is only a question of time
when that Great Northern extension
will be built. In the meantime it be.
hooves the township and county
authorities to continue the good work
OF improving the public highways. In
this day of automobiles, with good
roads, the northern and southern ex.
tremities of the county are only two
or three hours apart.
One Drawback.
There is just one drawback to the
speedy opening up and development
OF the north end of our county and
that is serious one-the large
amount OF land that is held by specu.
lators at practically prohibitive
prices. If these spectators will not
dispose Of their holdings at fair prices
there is only one thing to do-tas
them. Lay out and build good roads
on every section line and impose
every dollar of road tax that the law
Will permit. The settlers can work
out their taxes: the non-residents mus,
pay in money. Erect good school
houses, too. But care must be exer.
clsed in assessing lands-lands Of
equal value must be assessed on the
same OASIS no matter by whom owned
Mann's Telephone System.
we almost omitted to mention the
line system of telephones that have
been established around the lake
through the energy of Mr.. II. F.
Mann. Brainerd, Aitkin, Milaca ano
Princeton can be reached from any
point on the lake shore. The entire
lake is circled with telephone wires
and MIR. Mann is constantly making
Improvements. We are glad to learr
that the system is now on a paying
basis. To build several hundred
miles of telephone and maintain thu
same in thinly settled country is nc
small undertaking.
No Mail Service.
The mail service in northern Mile
Laos county is simply damnable.
There is no service whatever between
Mllaca and Onamia, a distance OF
thirty five miles. Formerly there was
a daily mail route from Milaca to
Onamia, Cove and Lawrence. and the
people along the route we're well
served. Now the mail is sent from
Mora, and it requires two days to gel
a letter from Princeton to either Cove
or Onamia, and letter addressed to
any resident between Milaca and
Onamla requires weeks to reach its
destination-if it ever does. Think OF
it, territory of 300 square miles to.
tally destitute of mail facilities! Our
brilliant and influential member OF
congress and our all powerful United
States senators have been appealed
to, but in vain.
T. F. Norton.
In conclusion, word about Mr.. T.
+. Norton, publisher of the Mile
Laos Pioneer. We (the publisher and
his SOM were accorded the most gen.
erous and hospitable treatment by
Mr.. Norton and every member of his
Interesting family. Mr.. Norton has
his peculiarities and he has his
enemies as we'll as his friends. He is
inclined to be hot-headed and impul-
sive but his heart is in the right place.
He is publishing live little newspa-
per and has recently invested con-
siderable amount in purchasing a
power press and other expensive ma
chlnery. He is advertising northern
Mile Laos as it never was advertised
before.
Six and Half Hours on the Road.
The return trip from Cove to Prince
ton was made in eight and one half
hours which included a two-hours
stop at Page, additional evidence that
the roads are in fairly good condi.
tlon. We can truthfully say that not