The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1907-05-31
FARGO AS seen
FROM down EAST
RESIDENT or HOMESTEAD, PA,
WHO VISITED FARGO RECENT
LY DESCRIBES THE STATES
METROPOLIS AND IT'S CON-
MERclAL AND CIVIC AFFAIRS.

gentleman from homestead, Rasl
who was recently visiting in this city
1. in a letter to a newspaper printed in
his town. thus describes Fargo;
Fargo, North Dakota, Is about as
different from Homestead, Pa, as day
from night one who is usedto thenoiseI
and hustle Of a steel town would find
himself lost in this community, for
there is not a large manufacturing
place in Fargo. Fargo has about
10000 inhabitants, not including the
town of Moorhead, Mimi. which is only
separated from there by small sized
river, known as the Red river, north.
This river, strange to say, runs north.
The water is muddy the whole year
round and totally unfit for drinking
purposes. The water problem for Far
go is one that is hard to solve Every
| drop of water that one drinks has to be
bought. Some of it comes from artes-.
ian wells. while some is shipped in
from the Detroit. Minnesota, lakes, a.
distance of over fifty miles. At the
present time the water commission of
the city is figuring on putting down
| two or more artesian wells, In hope of
securing water in sufficient quantities
for domestic Service. The water from
the artesian wells is said to be very
| hard and troublesome to the kidneys.
The town Of Fargo is the largest in
| the state of North Dakota, and is the
headquarters of the different Masonic
| lodges of the state "A grand Masonic
temple, costing $4,000, and said to-
have more floor rooms than any other
temple belonging to the Masonic order,
has been built here. The Blue lodge
/ has membership here of over 900, and
the Shrine has an immense members
| hip. 1t is great Masonic center
The Elks and Eagles also have large
lodges in Fargo, and the former lodge
has fine club room or series of rooms
| Grain, threshing machines, steam
plows and traction engines are the
main subjects of conversation here
among the business people, for North
Dakota is great grain state. One
thinks nothing here of hearing people
4 talk of having seeded from 1900 to
| 5000 acres of grain. Yesterday I saw
a traction engine for plowing, to which
can be hitched no less that sixteen
plows. 1t was an immense affair and
weighed twenty tons. Some of these
engines that are used for threshing
burn straw instead of coal, for the
latter is a very scarce article in Fargo
I and comes high. The soft coal that is
burned in Sharon costs $3.50 a ton here
land it comes from the Hooking valley
/ in Ohio. Hard coal costs $40 per ton
There is coal found about fifty miles
from Fargo called Ignite 1t re-
/ semblesi scale coal Of the east, and
Ernakes a. warm fire, but is soon com
sumed, two tons of Ignite being equal
Ito one of the soft coal of Pennsylvania.
Every bit of wood that lis used In con-
struction of buildings is shipped in
from other states. as well as every
other piece of building material
/ even to the sand, for there is none of
the latter anywhere near Fargo. A
i rock the size of mans fist cannot be
found in this section of the state, and
there are no hills whatever
/ Fargo has a large number of large
wholesale houses, for this is the dis
tributing point for the entire state.
Here are located the district and county
courts, the supreme court of the state,
| the United States marshafs Office,
/ the u. s. land office, the state agri-
cultural college, the Fargo college, the
| bishops of the Catholic and Episcopal
/ churches, their colleges and charitable
/ institutions and other state buildings.
| The public schools of Fargo will COM
pare favorably with any of those in the
east, and the state pays each county
$3.50 per pupil each six months. Far
i go has 2,4S0 children in the public
/ schools and about 1000 in the public
schools of the county of Cass, of which
Fargo is the capital The high school
1 building here is a model structure,
/ handsome In appearance and one of the
1 very best in the state.
North Dakota is.a prohibition state,
and the law in that respect is strictly
| adhered to in this city, even the
/ different lodges refusing to have cafes.
YET one can get all he wants to drink
in the intoxicating line by walking
l across the Red River of the North to
| Moorhead, which really has no taxes to
| pay. The saloons there keep open
| from Sunday night at IL to Saturday
night at II, and tightly closed all day
Sunday. 1T Is needless to say that the
two bridges between the towns are well
| patronized.
prices for the commodities of life
are very high here and one cannot get
| suitable boarding for less than 81 per
week. One pays s5 cents here for a
hair cut and is cents for a shave, and
even the laundry prices are higher here
/ in the east. But then one must re-
member that everything but grain has
to be shipped into the state.
1.-THE town is as clean as q pin, for
there is no smoke to blacken the build
| ings, and the streets are paved with
1 cedar blocks, set ON end, and vehicles
| as they pass along are absolutely
/ noiseIess The air is pure and whole-
i some, for Fargo Is about 1,20O feet
4 above the level of the sea and there IL
| a stiff breeze blowing all the time It
\ Is stated that one can sleep every night
| in the year with a blanket over him.
/ The winters are extremely cold, the
4 Thermometer standing ait from 20 to
| 80 below for months at a time, but the
Icold IL dry, and one does not notice 1T
as much as when it stands at 10 above