Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1911-09-28
SEEING MINNESOTA
IN A TOURING Gar.
An Enjoyable Automobile Trip to the
State Fair by a Party Of
Warrenites

Last week the writer left the tour
ig party at Minneapolis as they were
about to start on their homeward
trip, which was to be made partly
along q different route. AS the writ
er had relatives at Watertown, How
ard Lake and Cokato, visit to these
places had been. planned as part of
our itinerary. From Minneapolis to
Wayzata, a station on the shore of
Lake Minnetonka, we rode on a mag
nificent boulevard, and even as far as
Long Lake, no righteous fault could
be found with the roads. Apple rails
ing has come to be nimportant in
dustry in the Lake Minnetonka dis
trict and we passed numerous fine or
chards loaded with ripe fruit. Wei
remember Long Lake from our youth
when we used to haul and sell wheat
to mill there from the home farm
near Watertown. At that time the
country between Long Lake and Wa
tertown was one big forest with here
and there settler on a small clear
ing. Now We found farm after farm
with substantial farm houses and bis
barns, and most of the timber gone.
There has apparently been great pro-
gress and improvement in everything
except in the roads-they were worse
If anything, than we had ever seen
them before. Our good car pushed
thru mud six to eight inches deep,
continually, without murmur. We
arrived at Watertown, our boyhood
home, at p. NJ, and had a very
pleasant though brief visit with our
brothers, Albert and Frank Mattson,
and their families. Many memories
from happy boyhood days crowded
our braiHsSand We should have liked
to linger among these scenes for
weeks and months. But we could not
At noon next day, after touching fare
wells, we leave for Cokato, but soon
encounter the worst roads we had
thus far seen. We also had trouble
with the transmission of the car and
stopped at Winsted that night and al
so the following day and night to have
a worn out clutch replaced. Mr.. Won
Borgersrode, an old German, who is
the proprietor fthe local telephone
exchange and very handy with ma
chinery, helped us out in this dilem-
ma. We had good time while there.
Gerald, Mr.. Bystrom's little boy. pull
ed out his first fish from the waters
of beautiful Lake Winsted. Winsted
has the cleanest, best and most up-to
date butcher shop that we have ever
seen, and it's bologna sausages are
shipped to all surrounding towns.
There is also large all-milk creamery
Leaving Winsted in the morning, we
arrive at Howard Lake about 10 in the
forenoon. Here we spent about an
hour visiting an old uncle and aunt
We had not seen them for many years
and were consequently glad at this
opportunity to meet them once more
in the land of the living. Good-by
uncle, good-by auntie, and again we
depart with the good aunt's solemn
warning ringing in our ears: ''Do not
run into the ditch" 1t was good
advice as we subsequently learned.
We arrived at the home of our SIS
ter, Mrs. P. T. Nelson, near Cokato
shortly after noon and spent about
three hours with her and her family.
Here we were regaled with water
melons and musk melons grown on
their farm, until our bodies began to
assume melon shapes, and we thought
it safest to roll into our car and re.
|sume our journey. Gladly would we
have tarried week or more with this
sister to talk over with her many in
cidents of our childhood. But good-by,
good-by!
Swiftly our trusty Buick carried us
westward thru Dassel, Darwin, Litch-
field, Grove City and Atwater-and
and-to Stony Point-a place not on
the map nor named in our itinerary
yet we were forced to make a sudden
and involuntary stop there. As our
car sped along in the evening over a
somewhat rough road, we thought we
spied smoother track alongside the
grade and had just turned our car on
to that, when we struck big rock
concealed in the grass and badly dam
Iaged the steering gear Of the car. We
| had to phone to Willmar, about IL
miles distant, for repairs. and with
the help Of Sam Osmundson, who owns
| a garage there, and whom we had
worked together with In Dale &
Royce's store 36 years ago. the dam