The Dickinson press., 1911-04-22
[. R. WALpRon BEFORE
FARao. COMMERCIAL CLUB

i OEOu > 1dQUECoS OCIOI0 SIlO oSoSC SOAA~
mercial club at Fargo on April Fl:
II is my business to talk to you q few
minutes on the resources Of southwest
ern North Dakota. or that portion Of
the state of which Stark county is tho
nucleus. 1t is no slight task to compress
the discussion of such q region into such
a period. Rightly handled, hours in
stead of minutes are required. The
nature of my subject is such that no
howery eloqcnce is demanded. The
recital of the mere facts will perhaps
more than make up for the lack of a
silver tongue. The facts themselves are
eloquent.
One of the interesting things sbout
the West Missouri country is that no
one thought it of much. if any. value
until very recently. and | believe that
! it lacks by far proper appreciation even
at the present time. 1t was considered
to be a ranching proposition, and that
alone.
We have empires not yet touched
by railroads. and consequently unde-
veloped. Dunn county, with its 1. 29O.-
900 fertile acres. is still almost a
primitive wilderness as far as the
development of its resources is con-
cerned.
Stark county has been settled and has
had a railroad for a good many years,
but even this county is quite unde-
veloped. But IA acres out of every
hundred have been touched by the pillow,
and probably only 20 per cent of the
total tillable land has been broxen.
With the exception of the Golden Valley
lying west of the Little Missouri, there
are no large tracts in the West Missouri
country entirely broken, such as we find
in the eastern part of the state. The
country is still new, and has yet to be
developed.
The burning question has been for the
past few years: Can it be farmed?
That question is not entirely answered
yet. Before giving my personal answer
upon that point. I wish to discuss some
other resources besides the agricultural
mes.
Ignite RESOURCES
As you know. we have Ignite, in
common with the western half of the
state, and the value of the Ignite is
not generally appreciated as it will be,
either by those living inside or outside
of the region. In the first place we can
not appreciate the quantity of it. When
we begin to speak in millions and bill
lions of tons, the mind becomes lost.
Can you realize the fact, gentlemen,
that under a single butte in the West
ern Missouri country there is. an esti-
mated lot of coal amounting to 100,-
600, 900 tons? We have thousands of
square miles underlaid with Ignite,
vast quantities of which will be mined
in the course of time. The great cry
has been that this Ignite is of no par
ticular value, in that it is full of water,
that it Stacks upon drying, and that the
ash content is high but the Ignite will
be briquetted. and we are told that when
this is done it will compare favorabIy
with the eastern anthracite coal. When
put into this form the coal al be ship
ped to any part Of the state. and to
other states at a good profit. but it is
the coal that will be used locally that
will be of the greatest value to the
region.
CLAY RESOURCES
The West Missouri country has another
valuable asset which is but slightly de-
veloped at the present time. and l refer
to its enormous deposits of workable
clays. These clays range in quality
from lean, sandy clays of little plas-
ITCHY, and of value only for common
brick, up to clays of almost pure kaolin.
which, even in the raw state, produce a
high class of china and ornamental
ware. The high class deposits are COM
parable with similar deposits found in
Germany, France and China. From
these various Grades of clay anything
that is made Of clay may be manufac-
tuled. The West Missouri country could
produce the supply for all. OF nearly all.
OF the country of the common. pressed.
paving and ornamental brick; fire clay
fixtures. ornamental tiles. terra Gotta
work, drain tile and vitrified eve pipe,
flower pots, stone ware of different
grades and finally earthenware up to
practically the highest quality.
1t takes fuel to burn the clay to pro-
duce these wares. but as l have indi-
Gated, we have this in abundance. Thus
you see the West Missouri region is not
~niggardly in the it has at
hand.
One of the drawbacks of our state aa
a whole is the fact that so much of the
material that enters into our daily lives
has to be imported. The country is not
so self sustaining as it properly should