Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-11-29
SUMMER RESORT HERE
Henry Paine in Splendid Paper Tells
How to Make it One.
ADDRESS TO COMMERCIAL CLUB.
Resident of DecOrah For Many Years
Describes Beauties of Nature
4, in This Locality.

81 have been asked tonight to ad-
dress you on the subject of How
to make L ,corah a Summer Resort"
DO you realize the magnitude of such
a subject? To do so well, one should
be Curtis or a Stoddard who could
paint in words the beauties of nature
and art, so do not expect me-whose
life has been spent mostly in busi-
ness and far from journalism-an
with only one qualification-that of
being imbued with love for the
beautiful, to do justice to this sub
ject.
There are but few beautiful locali-
ties within a few hundred miles of
Decorah which nature and art have
made attractive; of these I might
mention Minneapolis as the nearest.
: When / first visited there, it was
small city not much larger than De-
corah, but it then had its Minnehaha
or Laughing Waters, which, coupled
with the Falls of st. Anthony, made
1t indeed place much admired, but
1t had nothing to- Compare with the
natural beauties surrounding our
own little city. However, today, Min
neapolis has its pleasant driveways
by the Lake of the Isles, Calhoun
and Harriet well worth seeing, and
with Como Park together with its
Sister City, St. Paul, whose Summit
avenue is noted for its magnificent
homes, is well worth the tourists
Journey.
Another city near us well worth
mentioning is Duluth, and trip
along its western borders where its
bluffs are some three hundred feet
in height, gives one beautiful view
of not only Duluth, but Superior as
we'll; also an extended view or the
Great Lakes.
Mackinac Island also deserves spe-
cial mention. where thousands of
tourists take the trip around It's i've
or eight mile course, where every
now and then there are beautiful
Vistas opening up to the eye, and
the view over the Great Lakes as you
return to the city, is especially beau
tiful.
But when it comes to beauty In
our own state there are many beau
tiful drives and views along the
Mississippi, and as time goes by, Keo-
kuk with its dam S5 feet high, hold
ing in its grasp the mighty Missis-
sippi river, turning its water back
for nearly SO miles, will, in time,
become great summer resort.
The places mentioned are the prin-
cipal points within hundreds of miles
where nature has provided scenic
beauty to vie with Decorah.
What can / say in regard to our
own beautiful surroundings? The
task seems too great TO attempt. AS
[ look from my own home TO the
northwest, where the hills shut in
the Oneota river, and follow its
course from Pulpit Rock around the
Dugway and see it's water rush over
che dam below, where its ripples
show oil the beauties OF the rainbow
as 1t flows on and on, under the two
arch bridge, along the new driveway
by the Ice Cave. past the Twin
bridges and away to the east, l am
md hnn n m o.
scribable, and to those who have
not seen such picture, 1t would be
difficult to imagine one as beautiful.
And This river Is the keynote which
makes Decorah a beautiful summer
resort for tourists. What an oppor-
eunity for pleasant drives this river
opens up?
In order to get the best possible
Suppression of our picturesque city,
one should start at the Winneshiek
notel, pass the court house and the
residence portion of the city to our
new park, which we expect to make
attractive the coming year, follow on
to what is known as THE Hogsback"
which commands grand view of the
valleys of the Oneota on one side and
Dry Run on the other, then west
ward to the road which returns by
Union Spring. and enter beautiful
glen where the waters of the upper
spring bubble up through the sands
as they pass beneath it's granite
walls, and follow the little stream as
1t murmurs through its messy banks
and beds OF water cress to where a
sister stream passes under the old
stone arch bridge and on by the
broken dam where the waters laugh
ingly plunge through the outlet as
though happy with the thought that
ITS course was untrammeled by man.
Soon the old Dugway road is