Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1909-08-05
n. r. DENTON, Editor.
Correspondence.


Friend Billy-As was down on the
beach today watching the bathers cut
ting their antics in the surf, it started
to rain and thought few lines to You
and the Reporter and Farmer would not
come amiss, so IL you want and think
this will while away few minutes for
some Of your readers, IL not, throw II
in the waste basket. To begin with,
Ban johnson and left Lily. Monday
the 18th, buying tickets for Seattle and
return, limited TO October 3lst, 1909,
costing $53 30. aad stop.over at any
point west OF Omaha. Will. the crops
down along the st. Faul to Manila are
looking fine and especially so in South
Dakota, and still do not look for as
large crop as We had last year by rs
per cent. The first grain we saw In the
shock was about IL miles south OF Sioux
City--a piece Of rye. Did not see any
barley or wheat In shock until we
passed Omaha and the rains had him
dsred the cutting In great many
places In Nebraska. The wheat was
standing in water and crinkled down in
. great many instances. Ban an ! took
q tourist sleeper for Mt. Home and
and while the crop and the country
through South Dakota, Iowa and
Nebraska were fine, I think the clay
hills Of Wyoming and Oregon and the
sage brush of Idaho is the most God
forsaken looking country on the face Of
the globe. The scenery as you 90
through the mountains is very fine, but
/ will be switched IL l could live on
scenery and especially where they grow
nothing without wateringit except sage
brush and grafters and the last named
fruit grows to perfection in the state OF
Idaho. Every other man you meet is a
promoter or expects to be, and l think
the king pin of them all was John III
Garrett, of Mt Home, and have sized
mp things right There will be another
sky-rocket out that way that will
explode and some OF the Webster people
will get stung as / did. After finding
out that had only % acres cleared,
where there should have been forty,
made an application for three year
extension. hoping that by that time
some company or the government will
take hold of the water question around
Mt. Home and settle il in an honorable
manner, for they sure have fine valley
and can raise most anything the sun
shines on, and especially apples, alfalfa
and sugar beets On Monday the 10Th,
at l0:30 p. m. left Mt. Home, Idaho,
for Portland, Oregon, where my sister
lives. The first 200 miles west Of Mt
Home was dead to the world for
sure slept two rows at time after being
out In the hot sun and sage brush all
day. Al about 8 or $3.50 we ate break.
fast at La Grande, Oregon, and, Will,
from there to Portland Is one continu.
Gus change of nature from the barren
sand hills TO some of the most beautiful
scenery in the world and then back to
the sand piled higher than the cars
along the rail road and they use sand
fence and keep teams hauling away the
sand all the time to keep the road open
for traffic and, Will, this thought came
through my thick head. II e. w.
Hartman could lay mp enough money
TO buy mp 80 many rail roads through
the operating of the N. p. and 0. r. q
N. how many hundreds of millions OF
dollars have the managers of the st.
Paul and Northwestern railroad conn.,
panies stolen In the last % years. For
it does certainly look to man up a
tree as that can be the only solution of
what became of the money earned by
these railroads. Now, Will, after TAX
ing this fight Of fancy will come back
TO the 0. r.. g N. on the Columbia at
the junction of the Umatilla at Una
tilla, and il certainly was an oasis in
the desert. As we neared the Dalles on
the Columbia we saw great wheels
erected to catch the salmon Of com.
merce. and saw in The Telegram, OF
Portland, where one firm caught on last
Monday week. 10, 900 fish. and expected
to catch at least 10000 TO 100000 by
last Monday. That is only one firm,
Will. so whit will il all be. up and
down the Columbia river for $50 miles.
Il must run into the millions every day
and last night, Bill. was ono Of the
prettiest sights ! ever saw tor 20 miles
above Astoria. Oregon. There were
hundreds and thousands Of boats, sail
boats. and motor boats floating back and
forth, setting their gill nets for the
nights catch Of salmon as the ash do
not run into the nets in the day time,
and this morning u sure was busy
scene 70 see these fellows coming In on
the motors picking the fsh. A great
many OF the nshermen live Ia their
boafs under canvas stretched over the
forward part OF their boat. While IN
Portland, Will, visited the old Lewis
and Clark expooition grounds, and next
week will 90 % Seattle for = couple ol