The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-03-18


mia as being about the time when
summer first unfolds her robes in
the orchards. The wife and | took a
long drive Saturday to view the budS
and blossoms on the fruit trees. peaches
apricots, ETC., but we were a little toe
early for the full blossoming, though
some of the earlier kinds were in full
bloom. l intended in this letter tC
give more impressions of San Fran
cisco, etc, but as comments are not
effected by seasons, thought they coulC
wait until after / visit the city again
viii just say that l had to go Il
Stockton by rail after all, because thu
fog got more dense and the weather
colder toward the evening of the sec
ond day i'll San Francisco. All l lost
by not going by beat was the extra
fare | had to pay, $l.3J, for as the
trip was made in the night there could
be no sightseeing. Stockton is a city
of some $4,000 people, local gas" in
ilates it to $4,000, and is situated Oh
channel of the San Joaquin river
and it is the county seat of the county
ca the same name. As the city is only
some forty miles from the mining re.
oions it has always been center OF
mining outfits since the discovery OF
gold. Yesterday we had dinner will
a native who was born in StOcktO,
fifty-eight years ago, and his father
took the claim he lives on, in 1851. II
retains somewhat of its old character
now, and is also a busy market fol
the rich farming and fruit growing
country surrounding it. 1t is also q
rendezvous of miners, and the itinerant
and vineyard owners employ a great
many. These men 90 there for the
same purpose as lumber Jacks go to
the twin cities, to paint the town red
promote business in the tough" dis
triet and help keep the city cxchequer
in a ilourishing condition by paying
fines in the police courts. Though, ii
local newspapers are correct most OF
them escape that 'taX" on accoun.
of the inelliciency of the police.
But Stockton is up to date in big
criminals as well as in drunken buns
For since l have been here woman
has been sent to prison for life for
what has been called "the trun; mys-
terry" That is, for numbering a youn.
man. packing his body in trunk and
trying to ship it as freight. In this
she failed, was arrested, tried, convicted
and sentenced to be hanged. All this hap
pened over three years ago and the un.
sayory mess has been held under the
hoses of the public by lawyers and
courts ever since, unit! few week,
ago, when she pleaded guilty on
promise OF a life sentence. This means
that she will pollutc the moral at
mosphere until she is pardoned out.
Open threats were made of lynching
her which was the reason given why
She pleaded guilty. She feared the un-
written more than the written law.
Blue Earth lawyers will learn from
this that they are rushing" the Led
better case too fast. The Californians
are more hot blooded than Minnesotans
and if the San Joaquin taxpayers could
stand over three years of their "Jeze-
bcl' surely Blue Earth county taxpay-
ers can pay to keep the Ledbeter trag.
edy farce Oh the boards for great
deal longer run" Stockton itself is
quite pleasant city, for there are
not sky scrapers TO darken its streets
and mar its looks. 1t has fine court
house and quite a number of fine
business buildings, besides numerous
fine private residences. 1t it were not
for one great drawback, it's being sub
ject to floods, it ought to become a
great manufacturing and commercial
center. Schemes are OH foot now to
obviatc this evil by building immense
reservoirs in the mountains, but as
nearly the whole valley is sometimes
flooded, it seems impossible to pre-
vent them altogether. When the floods
are at their height, | am told boats
and motor boats ply Main street in
Stockton and the waters in this part
of the valley, twelve miles away make
a lake of the country That full page
lad" in The Christian Herald did not
mention this 'boating attraction OF
the San joaquin valley. No doubt an
unintentional omission.
The Sacramento valley is also sub
iect TO floods in the same way, and
from the same cause, the sudden melt
ing of the SNOW in the Sierra Nevada
mountains. Here, away from the river.
the high water seldom does any great
amount of damage, for it Is up one
day and goes down as quick as it rises.
On the low land along the river and
on what are called The Islands in the
river the floods are more destructive.
sometimes sweeping rything before
them. These lands are dikcd to keep
out the ordinary flood and are so pro-
ductive that people run the risk of
losing a crop once in a while because
of the "whoppers" they get when they
lave any. The tales they tell of the
big crops of potatoes. cabbage, celery,
onions and garden truck in general
are hard to believe. but they must
be partly true for some of the land
rents for SIS an acre. These islands
show another seamy side of California
life, for there is no lack of renters