The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-09-30

COnIinued from Page one.
at cents per pound. a near average
value, these roads would carry into
and out OF the city merchandise repre-
senting the enormous amount Of $31,-
800 900 each year; s19,s45,00O in and
s11, 955,000 out This gives some idea
what the three great railroads entering
Fargo are doing In their freight de-
partmenta. not taking into considera-
tion the millions Of pounds OF freight
that pass through the city to other
points along their lines.
Made Fargo Jobbins Center.
1t has been these lines Of steel that
has made Fargo the gateway city OF
the great, rich country OF the north
west, for OF necessity 1t Ia through
Fargo that the greater part, by far Of
the people and material either going
or coming has to pass. 1t has been
the railroads that have made Fargo
the manufacturing and jobbing center
that IL is-that promises to make 1t
still greater city in these lines. Be
cause people are settling in this rich
northwest, which the roads have de-
veloped, more articles of necessity and
luxury are required and the manufac-
turers are learning that 1t is cheaper
to make their products nearer to the
market even II they have to ship In
the raw material.
The pioneers realized that some day
there would be a great city at the
place of crossing OF the Northern Pa
cifc railroad over the Red river. Those
who are living today are beginning to
NF
They knew that that city would be
the supply house of the country Their
predictions have proven correct.
In this way it can be safely said that
the railroads made Fargo. When there
was only one line of steel through this
country Fargo began her career as the
center of wealth and supply. Then as
other roads made their way into the
community and pushed out over the
plains-sent out their arms to the re-
mote corners-the communication be-
came better and more direct and the
jobbing and manufacturing industries
increased. And yet she has not reached
her standard. Not year passes but
one of the roads build new lines into
new territory in the state or neighbor-
ing states, or makes some new conces-
sion as to rates or facilities OF benefft
to the Fargo concerns.
Now Fargo is in direct communica-
ton with practically all parts of the
state of North Dakota, northern South
Dakota, western and northern Mime
sofa, and eastern Montana 1t is the
hub from which radiates lines in all
directions, giving II the best trans
portation facilities of any city between
the twin cities and the Pacific coast,
and between Omaha and Winnipeg.
All this territory with which the
city is in direct communication Is
largely supplied by the local jobbing
concerns. It is rich territory which
consumes large amounts of manufac-
tured articles and ships out enormous
quantities Of farm products.
The Developers Of the West.
Now days one scarcely realizes the
part the railroads have played in the
development of this wonderful country
the west They have become so
much of a fixturc--so much of COM
mon piece Of furniture that their true
value is rarely thought Of One will
look at a freight train with about as
much interest as he would look at
horse and wagon. If it is an excep-
tionally long train he will be idly cur
ious or may honor the rumbling, creak-
ing cars with few unpublishable cpl
thets, especially IL he is waiting to get
on the other side of The track Ninety
nine times out of a hundred he does
not stop to think what that train
means. He fails o realize that within
those ugly, noisy carriages are thous-
ands of dollars worth of the necessities
and luxuries of life-that there is food,
clothing. fuel and medicines for hum
dreds of people; machinery for the
farm and factory. lumber for homes
and business buildings. He does not
grasp the significant fact that some
one has made an existence or a fortune
out of the contents of that train and
that others with be benefited by It.
He never stops to think what this
country would be without those parallel
lines of steel-what life would be in
this great northwest without those
painting engines and their humping,
rafting trail of cars But let that
communication be disrupted for week
and something of their true value
would dawn upon him.
without the railroads or some equal
ly efficient means of transportation
this country would still be peopled with
nomadic aborigines and a sparce set
tlement of pioneers. There would be
no incentive for the farmer to plant
and harvest, no necessity for the es-
tablishment of factories and wholesale
houses. Except in the near vicinity of
the timbered regions and the coal
mines it would be all but impossible
to exist during the winter without
fuel Fargo would not be and fuel can
be obtained only through the medium |
of the railway lines.
True, the railroads would be bank |
rupt had it not been for the people |
who have come to the country and |
plowed and sown and harvested But,
while the benefit is mutual between
the railroads and the people, still the
people would not have come in the |
first place had the roads never been
built-had the ar-sighted policy Of |
their builders never been realized. 1t |
is easy to see the intimate relation of |
the people of the northwest and the
roads.
The Roads Out Of Fargo.
Running out Of Fargo are trains GO
ing to the Pacific coast on both the
Northern Pacific and the Great North
ern railroads. end east to the twin
cities and the head OF the lakes On
the Northern Pacific trains run over
the southwestern and Casselton branch
lines, opening up q rich agricultural
country southwest OF the city North
out of the city the Great Northern