The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-09-22
who is delayed at Oswego, N. Y, by an
accident last Saturday.
THOUSANDS ARE COMING.
Gregory Commercial Club Receives
Many Queries REGARDING Lands,

Gregory 5. d., Sept. 1S.-Special to
The News: Those who assume that
the very light registration for home.
steads in the Fort Berthold, n. D., res.
ervation is an indication that the reg.
istration for Rosebud lands in October
will also be light, are evidently going
to meet with a surprise. Seventy.eight
mail sacks full of letters addressed to
Judge James w. Witten, superinten.
dent of the opening, are now stacked
| up in the U. S. land office in this city
awaiting the judges approval and the
stack is still being added to every day
The force of six already over-worked
mailing clerks in the Office of the sec.
rotary of the Commercial club is view
ing this stack of sacks askauce, as 1t
Is presumed that most of the letters
will prove to be inquiries regarding
the lands and the rules of the opening,
them over to the Commercial club to
be answered, the club having prepared
booklet which answers almost any
question which can be asked regarding
the opening. This booklet has receiv-
ed Judge Witten's 20. X" he having
stated that 1t is the best and most
complete thing of the kind which he
has seen issued at any homestead
AT the close of the Fore Berthold open
fng Judge Witten stated that he had
talready received more inquiries re-
garding the Rosebud opening than he
had regarding the Fort Berthold open
ing, although the latter was even then
in progress. This is presumed to be
due to the fact that the North Dakota
lands are not in the corn belt, while
the Rosebud Is famous for its prolific
crops Of that staple cereal. Inasmuch
as most of the settlers on these new
homestead lands come from the great
corn raising states of the Mississippi
valley it is perfectly natural that they
should prefer corn land on which to
establish their new homes.
The Commercial club has already
answered inquiries from over 10000
prospective homesteaders, and the
number of inquiries is now increasing
very fast. They began coming by the
dozen a month ago, and at present
about 500 a day are being received.
At the present rate of increase even
this number will be doubled before
the registration begins.
w. J. Durand, special agent of the
Western Union Telegraph Co., was
here on Wednesday and successfully
negotiated with the Notarial associa-
tion for space in the registration build
ing for telegraph office. Mr.. Durand
was armed with message from Judge
Witten intimating that he would like
to have the telegraph office located
near his headquarters in Gregory, and
inasmuCh as he has reserved a build
ing directly across the street from the
registration building for his use, it is
thought that placing the telegraph Of
flee in the registration building will
meet with his approval. Mr.. Durand
stated that the quad" system would
be installed here. The quad is a sys.
TEN whereby several telegraph operat-
ors can send separate and distinct
messages over the same wire at the
same instant and each message will
arrive safely at it's destination with
j.
Mr.. Durand reserved sufficient space
for six telegraph instruments and is
hopeful that that number will be able
to handle the news for the various
daily papers and press associations
which will have representatives here.
One of the busiest crews of work
men in the city at present is the cleo
trio light gang. The town has become
imbued with the carnival spirit and
the entire registration period will be
made a gala occasion for the thou
sands who will be here. For this pur-
pose an immense amount of special
wiring is being done, and the night
Examinations will be something mag
nificent
An innovation which is expected to
win the respectful admiration of east
erners who are prone to be pessimistic
regarding the agricultural possibilities
of the west, will be the big corn pal
ace, active work on the establishment
of which is now being taken in hand
The building has frontage of seventy
five feet on Main street in the same
black as the United States land office.
1t will be ornate with battlements and
domes in the usual carnival building
style, and the expert from Mitchell
who has designed and embellished the
great annual corn palace at that place
for the last twenty years will be in
charge of the work. Over 500 letters
We're sent to farmers in Gregory and
Trip counties inviting them to bring
in exhibits, and over half of them have
already replied signifying their inten-
ton to do so. An especially crafty
ing feature is that over half of these
replies are from Trip county farmers,
and as Trip county joins the lands to
be opened to settlement the exhibit
may be safely considered by the new
settlers as q fair sample of what they
may expect to be able to accomplish
in their new homes.
The opening as a whole promises to
be an exhibition of the pioneer spirit
at its best. The spirit of lawlessness
| and sordid desire for gain which has
| been a more or less prominent feature
of all openings in the past, seems to
have entirely disappeared and in its
place remains nothing but typical
western hustle and the fraternal in