The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1909-08-14
IMPRESSIONS OF
The GREAT WEST
CANON HENSON or wEsTMINls-
TER ABBEY, LONDON, WHO RE-
GENTLY VISITED FARGO. SUM-
MARIzEs THE EVENTS THAT
MADE HIS STAY INTERESTING.

copal church OF North Dakota, who is
now editor in-chief or his own official
organ, since the departure of Dean
Burleson, The North Dakota Sheaf,
| asked Canon Henson OF Westminster
Abbey, London, England, who was a
guest of the bishop In Fargo a few
weeks ago. to give for the benefit OF
The Sheaf readers some OF his i'm
pressions of "our Great West" and
the following free and kindly letter
reached the bishop in reply. under date,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, July Is, and it
apears in the current issue OF The
Sheaf:
My Dear Bishop: You are good
| enough to ask me for my Impressions
OF the west. but with the best will in
the world, find II difficult to comply
with your wish. My impressions are
medley of more or less contradictory
differences from an anarchy of con-
hicting facts!
Now 1t is the vastness of the coun-
try that arrests me, and now the few
ness OF singing birds, and now the
wealth Of prairie flowers, and now
the sombre. inscrutable faces or the
Indians, and now the ubiquitous and
all-venturing reporters, and now the
place names, and now the miserable
stretches of blackened 7oIes where
once We're forests. and now the un-
speakCble newspapers. and now the
frank hospitable people, and now the
Kaleidoscope of irresponsible actsl
What would you have7 look to
my diary, which has been kept up in
scrappy, inconsequent kind of fash
ion, and / find little assistance there.
Here is a list Of subjects which l
selected from the pages which cover
the space from Chicago to Seattle;
Reporters in Chicago.
The Corn Exchange-Commercl
delirium.
Fine statue Of Abraham Lincoln. e.
Lovely lakes near Minneapolis.
The drama In Fargo.
Gethsemane cathedral.
Mr.. Dalrymples farm.
The main street of Bismarck, a sug-
gestive piece of road making.
Indian school on the Missouri river
Here comes in the visit to the yell
lowstone park, which is a series of
notes of exclamation, varied by some
observations on the really astonishing
efficiency of the arrangements for tour
lists, save only those which affect their
religious provision. Rhapsodies about
geysers and colored rocks and all sorts
of Devils implements, and demure,
tame elk, and wayside bears, and one
Episcopal beaver, are the staple of the
record for that week
Then comes the visit to Seattle,
fYrtaI 1xy .anrtv, IA
In western cities. It's situation is sup
erb; few cities have a nobler natural
port or fairer prospects on every side
The enterprise OF the inhabitants takes
ones breath away. They have washed
away the hills, and made splendid
roads on every hand. And now they
have organized an exhibition which in
some respects is the most impressive
thing of the kind / have ever seen.
The log built hall, in which the For
estry exhibition Is arranged is quite
extraordinary suggestive. 1t gave me
an idea, which I beg to hand to you
Why should not the church in Ameri-
ca erect a grand cathedral with such
mammoth trees as yet survive the
heartless ravages Of the lumberman?
Oh, those lumbermen! They are the
teeth and claws of America, devouring
the glorious forests without thinking
and without ceasing.
The exhibits from Alaska were a
revelation, I had been taught to asso-
ciate that country with the north pole;
and 10! l was shown splendid speci-
mems of wheat, barley and divers kinds
Of fruit, to say nothing of mineral ores
of every valuable kind. .. .r
But Seattle also has the leaven of
savagery yet latent in itself: for the
electric car was "held up" and success
fully robbed while we were in the city.
and no one seemed to take much no.
tice!
There, my dear Bishop, make what
you can of this and believe me.
. Ever yours,
H. Hensley Henson.
P. 8. take 1t to be a notable and
gracious fact that after going through
the United States from New York to
Seattle, / cannot recall having heard
single unkind word about Great Brit
Ian, but I can recall an endless series
of personal kindnesses to me and my
wife.