The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-12-03
TELLS OF TRIP TO TEXAS
John Holberg to Buy Farm in
Blue Earth County

From Mondays Daily
4 expect TO buy another farm
near Mankato. I am not going TO
leave this country again after
what I saw down there" said MIR.
John Hoiberu, who returned las
Thursday from a month spent at
Mission, Texas. 81 find that Min
nesota is the best place to be. The
thing that fools CO many northern
people Is the absence Of winter in
the southern states. When they
pass through on two days in
vestigation they only gee the nice
things, the fruit trees, and the
flowers. and they don't find out
anything about the markets or
anything else"
Mr.. and Mrs. John EIolberg, and SON.
in law and daughter. Mr.. and Mrs.
Howard Cole. and Mr.. and Mrs. Mar
tin Leatherman. were in the Mankato
marty. who thought of investing In
southern land. After a month they
decided to leave the south. and return
10 the northern states. the families
Of Mcssrs. HoIberg and Cole coming
directly to Mankato. and Mr.. and Mrs.
Leatherman and family stopping for
a visit with trends in Nebraska. Paul
Leatherman remained TO see about the
shipping Of the carload of household
goods of the Mankato people, which is
expected to arrive soon.
Mr. Holberg said that he had in
vested in q twenty acre farm about
thirty miles from Mission, having
made the first payment on the land,
hut when he got there he found that
the irrigation system was not working,
there having been no irrigation since
last spring. and farmers had lost their
crops on that account. When he found
the canals dry he decided II was no
use 10 remain on the land. and moved
his family TO Mission. This town was
found TO be a small and unattractive
place, about one half of the population
being Mexican. and among the re-
mainder being many people from the
north who had come south to invest
IN land.
Many Soldiers In Mission.
There were about FIVE hundred
American soldiers in Mission. end
while we were there no trouble de-
veloped with Mexicans. We did moi
fear to go anywhere. and often left
our houses unlocked. But We were
told there had been trouble before we
came, and saw many fresh graves.
where MeXicans had been buried.
never saw a Mexican carrying any
kind Of a weapon. and 7 was told that
IL anyone saw Mexican with rrms
Of any kind he could shoot him down.
Mexicans do all itlie labor, and It is
hard for white men to get work. In
one field u saw macy as two hun
dred MeXicans at work trims plantin e
vegetables on a large truck farm.
There were acres and acres Of onions,
ana the rows were several acres long
I asked what the MeSicans got for
their work. and they said eight cents
a row, which would give them from
thirty to seventy cents a day accord
ing to how well they worked
81 was very much dissatisfied with
the country. and would not want TO
live there for anything. In the mid
die OF November the thermometer
sometimes went as high as ninety and
above.
Hot Winds Eiow.
"Some days the hot wind blows and
stirs the dust so one can't see across
the street. and everything is covered
with dust. making life almost unen-
durable. Insects attack the crops. and
ants especially are so bad that great
care is taken TO hang things out OF
their reach. They are small tiny ants.
numberless. and get into everything,
no matter how careful people are.
Some people put the legs of their
tables in cans of oil TO keep the ants
from crawling on the table, and often
times food gets so full of ants in spite
Of care that Il must be thrown away.
We rented a house in Mission that had
been vacant for some time, but we had
been there only five days when the
ants found us. They stay in the kitch-
en-. and swarm over everything. My
wife was busy most all the time scrub
bing the floor with hot soapy water.
and sprinkling powder around to get
rid of the ants"
Mr.. Holberg sold his farm near Man
kato before going south. but intends
to buy another farm near here. as he
is convinced that Minnesota farm land
is good enough for him.