The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-08-20
E. r. Soaring and FamiIylenjoy
$50 Mile Journey
From Thursdays Dali, .

Iowa through which we passed" said
r. +. Soaring, secretary Of the Man
kato Commercial club. this morning
10 Free Press reporter. Mr.. Scar
ing and his wife and three sons, Ed
ward. Stanley. and Donald. arrived
home last night at eight o'clock from
an automobile trip to points in Wis
consin. having enjoyed a fifteen day
outing which left them in splendid
health. They covered $40 miles in all,
about $50 miles Of this being the reg
ular route. and the remainder little
pleasure jaunts out of the towns at
which they stopped. The entire trip
was made without any accidents. and
only two tire punctures and two blow =
outs. the car being in as good condi-
tiOn as ever. and no repairs being
needed. excepting the purchase of two
new tires.
"In Wisconsin during the past few
' ans dairying has advanced remark
ably. and il Is now a great dairying
state Their" T. no wheat raised. ana
no, g much tobacco rs formerly. The
ferrrcr. do rot sell their produce as
mn as thew formerly did. hut feed
IL ~ treir dairy herds and hogs ir-
stc'l. Tho apple crop in Wisconsin
is abundant
Roo Raising in Iowa.
Hog raising is very much In evi-
dencC I'm the farming communities in
Iowa. and the corn and hogs seem to
hd making the farmers wealthy. judo
ing bv the large improved farms. and
the handsome automobiles owned by
the farmers. There was not much
wheat seen until we came To Mime
sofa. The Minnesota farmers seem to
he prosperous. and dairving and hog
raising are developing RAPIDLY In
Southeastern Minnesota. CrODs every
where are in splendid condition. al
though In some places corn Is back
ward. We found that harvesting was
nearly completed all along the way.
Most OF the corn was well along.
excepting a few small fields here and
there. which were stunted and yell
low. due either to worms or wet land.
Farm conditions were about the same
in the three states.
Much Paving Beinu Done.
Most Of tho cities and villages Wis
led were having having done. and
oven tn" small towns were having
Egar'v oil have white wav-. ana tho
rretiiest Of these was AZ Winnna and
u C~ossn. The white WAYS in theS
rvO cities were exceptionally beauti-
rrl Under each light flower box
lad been placed. and tho boves wore
Tiled with geraniums. vines and other
flowers adding greatly TO the at
traCtiyeness Of the streets.
Road oil Is being used extensively
on town and country roads I'm Wis
CCnsin and on the country roads es-
pecially the effect is wonderful. The
roads are crowned in the center. six
or seven feet wide and after being
heavily oiled. n fine coat of gravel
* laid over IT, which when dry gives
the appearance OF asphalt pavement.
and stays dry all the time. and sus-
tains heavy loads as well as the as
pbait pavemerts in cities. There is
no farther expense for upkeep on
these roads for several years. II the
Madison Lake road could be treated
in this way, Il would be n great i'm
prOvement. and would make an ex-
cellent road"
Roads in Good Condition.
the roads in good condition on their
hOmnward trip. and the weather was
for the T. nst part fine They started
from Rrooklvn. Wis. about sixteen
miles below Madison. and upon reach
ing Madison took the old government
road to Prairie du Chiene. where they
were ferried across the Mississippi
river to McGregor. Ia. II was a. m.
when they left Madison. and they ar
rivel NJ the river landing at u. m,
IL taking about On hour TO he ferried
across. They then ran until they
reached Postville. where they found
a good hotel. having made 166 miles
IN the first day OF the journey home
The read out of McGregor Is called
the Northern Iowa Pike" and runs
across the state TO Sioux Falls. 6. ID.
The tourists found the pike i'm good
condition. well dragged. having been
graded oil the way. and good time
was made. Some bad places were en-
'Ountered, where the excessive rains
had flooded the road. leaving bad ruts.
hut they were now dry. II was seen
that the recent high water. during
which the creeks had overfowed. had
been very severe. as the grass was
matted h"ty'ly against the top of the
fences. MIR. Soaring and family reach
ed Charles City, Ia. at noon on the
second dav. and turned north on the
highway to the twin cities. This was
also found TO be q good road. and runs
north and south, connecting the twin
cities with the large cities of the
southwest. Austin was reached at
5:"O. and the tourists visited friends
ever night, having made $50 miles
that day. They left Austin the fol-
lowing morning al nine o'clock. and
found that the highway was well grad
ed all the way, comparing favorably
with any road in Blue Earth county.
The road was even better in Min
nesota than In Iowa.
Black and Yellow Trail.
~ Owatonna the tourists left this
highway and struck east on the Black
rnd Yellow trail. They found Il in
splendid condition. and we'll graveled.
When the party reached Goose Lake.
three miles the other side Of Waseca.
thew stopped for a picnic dinner, and
while there heavy oil truck passed.
which caused them considerable
trouble later. as they had not proceed
cd more than fourth Of a mile when
they found their road blocked by this
truck, which had broken through the
temporary wooden bridge, which was
built over the creek "a. serve while
the new concrete bridge was being
ht,f r.