River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1912-09-05

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to New York. The smartest tailors,
the most Partisan modistes cannot dis
lodge 1t. It is the atmosphere OF MS
own land minted into the man, lying
deeper than the cut of his coat
put Jean Balduc up in British Amer
ica-his big, lank, hard body belonged
In the open, a rugged, roomy, pr1meVal
open. His light blue eyes were from
remote spruce forests reflected on the
gIimmering snow-crust. His hair was
that bIue-black which the French car
ried for violent contrast into the white
north. His manner and speech were
abrupt and direct.
He demanded an audience with RAN
dolph Mason. ] tried first to get
little history out of the big fellow
from which to determine the advisable
ity of such an audience. l got only a
few craggy fragments. He had come
to New York to even up score with
Barnsfield, the copper emperor on
Broadway.
He wished to get at the man within
the purlieus of the law, If such thing
way, very common in his country and
direct-and, IL not productive of none
tary results, at least the balm of
Gilead to ones injured sensibilities.
He had some other business to settle
with Barnsfield mot his own AFFAIR.",
which would require dancing-steps and
truce flags; but, when that was
cleaned up and ended, it would be the
Indian cheek on the stock of the Win
chester and all white flags down.
I took him to Randolph Mason, and
ne told his story, walking up and down
the length OF the room and driving
now and then, his clenched right hand
into the palm of his left for emphasis
He was from Huron county on the
south shore of Lake Superior Earlier
he had come from the Jacques Cartier
river in the Dominion. He had been a
factor in the affairs Of Huron county;
be knew every man, woman and child
in 1t, every tract of land, every nook
and corner of it. Three years before
he had made a house-to-house, man-to-
man canvass of the county for treas
urer, and got it, with a majority to
spare He had gained, too, the good
will of the people, their confidence and
their hospitable friendship. Then, like
the locusts of Biblical record, came
the emissaries of Barnsfield to pur
chase the mineral rights under all the
lands in the county.
It was not known that there was
In
eminent biologists and practical pros
pectors had long agreed that the coun-
ty was barren. These emissaries OF
Barnsfield explained that he was not
misled about the sterility of the land.
He knew that he was paying out good
money for worthless rock, clay and
gravel; but his plan was to corrupt
the prospecting engineer of the Great
Lakes Railroad company-have him
secretly report to the company the
existence of copper in this county.
Then he, Barnsfield, would come gen
erousIy forward and offer to transfer
to the railroad the entire mineral
rights of the county, provided the COM
pany would build a line through it to
his wharf at Plymouth on the south
shore of Lake Superior. This would
enable him to load ore from the known
copper regions directly on cars from
the lake boats at Plymouth, and
shorten the haul to his market by two
hundred miles.
This story was gladly swallowed by
the natives. They hoped for the COM
ing of a railroad into the county, as
the advent of a sort of commercial
Messiah. Once or more they had
voted large bond subscriptions to lure
in such an enterprise, but it was of
no avail Lake Superior remained the
only path OF commerce.
In a few months these agents had
obtained the mineral rights of almost
the entire county. A few landowners
along the lake held out against them,
and finally, after exhausting their in
genuity, Barnsfield's men came to Jean
Balduc for assistance. They explained
that these landowners were blocking
the prosperity of the whole people.
The only chance of an iron highway
to the south was being elbowed out.
men and induce them to join in the
sale, If he were assured from head
quarters that the railroad plan would
be carried through. They took him to
Duluth, and to Barnsfield. He had
the plan from Barnsfelds mouth. He
was shown maps and profiles of the
proposed route, elaborate plans and
specifications of great wharf and
warehouses which Barnsfleld expected
to build at Plymouth when the rail-
road came, drawings for an addition
to the town-indeed, all the paper de-
tails for a city. Balduc was intro
duced to the engineer of the Great
Lakes Railroad company and read his
report
Barnsfield talked very frankly. His
plan was not philanthropic. He would
get back his money in a year from
lessened shipping rates from the
lakes. At present, his ore was at the
mercy of one line; rival would mean
competition and fair tariff; it would
make his town of Plymouth COM
mercial center on the lake, and this
would bring large profits to him. He
did not want Jean Balduc's assistance
for mere goodwill. He was quite will
ing to pay thousand dollars for each
Landowner whom Balduc could induce
to sell, the money to be paid when his
deeds were made to the railroad COM
.pany. The strength of the plan lay
in having the entire county in shape
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