The Dickinson press., 1907-01-26
Not as Bad as Reported

Forum: In preliminary talk to the
Grain Growers convention, E. Phelan
said:
"The adverse advertising by one of the
senators at Washington and also by a
prominent railroad official in St. Paul
paper of January IS, in making this state
an adjunct to the north pole, is destroy
ing the effect of the $4,000 appropria-
tion made by the legislature two years
ago for advertising the advantages of
North Dakota.
Between Dickinson and Antelope last
Tuesday three punches of horses, sew
eral miles apart, were seen grazing con-
tentedly within fifty yards of the track,
merely paving few inches of snow to
get at the grass.
"On Ian. 9 one of our ranchmen. re-.
turning from Bismarck hospital with his
wife who had been i'll there, drove
twenty-five miles from Hebron to his
comfortable home with his wife and
young babe, merely having canvas
covering over the sleigh box for protec-
tion, the journey being made safely and
in comfort.
"Up to that time this ranchmans cat
tie had kept in good shape grazing
among the hills. Conditions have not
changed since that excepting for one
cold snap.
"In portions of Montana where grass
is very short and rain followed snow
causing thick crust of ice on the snow,
conditions for live stock are serious.
Snow is deep in the northern part of the
state and is heavier east of Windsor and
| jamestown on the Northern Pacific than
west of there, but we ought to expect
snow to abound in the winter time.
"North and south lines of railroad
where ample provision was not made by
snow fence protection, difficult work was
encountered in cleaning the cuts.
"ln North Dakota on the Yellow
stone division snow fences were put in
good shape last fall and no snow trouble
has been encountered there.
| "Ihere is not snow enough on the
main line of the Northern Pacific to stall
jack rabbit. Snow fences are drifted
full in some places. In some places they
are bucking snow with horses and wheel
scrapers on the main line, hauling it out
a few feet to have it blow in again with
the first prairie breeze, but such work
helps to keep both snow and money in
circulation.
"The difficulty on the main line is
caused by pack ed hanges and not keep.
ing the snow fanged out from between
the rails so that engines, especially in
the cuts, can get down steel to steel and
preserve proper tractive power.
Another thing, passenger trains are
held at the terminal and intermediate
coal docks to clean fires, blow up steam
coal up and tinder engines in the hurry.
up fashion, when such work ought to be
done off the main line and trains; KEEP,
moving. Under good principles Of gov
ernment it used to be considered dis
graceful to tolerate such work on the
main line, even with freight trains.
"For such reasons and dozens of other:
the climate is now being blamed, aac
where our land office has had 400 OF
more homestead filings per month fol
the present season the enterprising a:
we'll as the timid will prefer an expedi
ton to the north pole in preference te
settling in North Dakota, if bllzzards are
magni6ed and ordinary winter weather
put in terrible aspect by alarmists.
ut is time to quit pounding the rail
roads. but it is also time for the railroad!
to organize and check the demoraliza
tiOn."