The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-05-06
DOWN At THE HEELS
CALIFORNIA TOWNS THAT ARE
ALL IN; THE CAUSE.
Seth Bottomiey Discourses On Con-
ditiOnS That Exist in the Pacific
Coast State; He "Buns" Up the
FadS and Cults; R0astS Aldrich
and Cannon; Also the Money
Grabbers Receive Scoring.
BY SET BOTTOMLEY. /

wife and | took buggy ride to tn,
outskirts of the plains some five
miles east of here. to an alleged vii
lage which some one with vivit
imagination has named Bellota. Il
hardly ranks with the California ''wa
terlOo that | mentioned i'm q former
letter As consisting Of two saloons
and black smiths shop. | have
md out since that my informant
maligned Waterloo, for | am told il
has also Il burned down hotel.
have not been there vet 10 verify the
statement nor shall 60, for it woull
cost about - cents TO do so, and
that is a great deal more than il
Is worth 10 see any town ! have yoi
seen in California. Bcllota has a
tavern but it would be greatly to It's
credit if like that at Waterloo, il
was burned down for then imagination
might rebuild it in fair proportions
whereas it "squats' there an unsightly
proof of the poverty and bad taste
OF the builder. Picture an old style
elongated, blacEsmith's shop, or better
still. an old fashioned rope walk and
you have Il good idea of Hotel de Bell
ota. And it is Representative Of real
conditions iii California. Bellota has
no blacksmiths shop and its one store
Is combination of general merchan-
disc, postotficc and aroggery It's in
terror appearance is mixture of
railroad baggage room, pawnshop, can
dy store, and "wincroom."
Only Store Is "Dry" -
This description also fits the one
store at Peters, a railroad town on
Il branch OF the southern Pacific rail
road, only the store ut Peters is dry
Whether the cutting out of profits
on Tags" is the cause of it or not
the store at Peters is shabbicr than
the Bellota affair. 1t is Il low. I'M
painted one story building, the ceiling
could not be over seven foot. high.
| The proprietor lives i'm the back part
Of the - t'c Po3r being open
! between the shop and the living room
/ the -, home was revealed. The less
SAID about il the better!fbut the APP.
pearance of the store keeper himself
and a, shabby looking old man, who might
be. his father, and general indications
showed no evidence of the ,hOmemaker7-
the wife ~ n6ther,, We visited Peters
last, ., Saturday. and although lit is
situated at raiffdad junction and
lis, surrounded on ali sides but the
east by good farming and fruit
growing country there was not
| team in town.
Neither Tavern Nor Eating Place.
1t has neither tavern nor restaur
ant. its one blacksmith's shop. and
! Il livery barn next door to it, were
closed for good. Brushing tragedy
to one side, there is humor in almost
everything. On the door of the
blacksmith's shop there is painted ''rc-
pairing" The three doors of the
/ livery barn are all burst in an empty
house next to it, and a farm house and
buildings about thirty rods Off, all in
Il most dilapdated condition and the
blacksmith's shop itself would keep
| some one repairing" for long time
In fact there is nothing about Peters
except the railroad buildings and
the residence of the agent that is not
sadly in need of repair. And this is
F., Il general condition in California.
! Everything OF a public nature, and
everybody who can get their hands in
The public purse prosper, and they
! prosper at the expense of the indus
| trialist, of those who bear the heat
and burden of the day in doing the
| worlds work.
Not a Natural Condition.
i But this is not natural condition
and it certainly is not American
1t is not, even, Anglo-SaXon, but q
/ result or the importation of the
class privileges of the commercial and
military despots of the old world. Our
more enlightened and intelligent peo-
pie are beginning to see things in
/ their true light. and the rapid deter
: iOratiOn OF American Institutions is
| converting u great many OF our more
conscientious politicians into states
I men. If they will hurry up they will
after Il while, catch up with the old
! farmers alliance men of thirty or
more years ago. About 1885 | organ
lied an alliance in what has since
| grown to lie Amboy. The meeting was
attended by every business man III
| town. That they were hostile to the
farmers movement goes without say
ing and | talked back to them. Among
iother things | told them was, that
their fate was linked with the farmers
whether they liked it or not, that if
the farmers prospcred they would pros
per and if the farmers went down they
would drag the business man down
with them. To illustrate, pointed
out that the Russian .scrf and the
East India ryot had little use for mer-
chants. hotel men, liverymen, etc.
The Farmers Fight.
1t is the Waterloos, Bel!otas, Peters
and Lindens of California that has
brought so wildly 10 mind the farm
crs' fight against the wheat, timber
and iron thieves, etc. of the north
west. Senator Nelson's speech against
Taft's railroad bil' is nothing but
a thirty-iive years old echo of the
old alliance men protesting against
organized greed. An eleventh hour re-
pentance, for all the political leaders
passed bv on the other side when the