The Republican journal., 1917-12-06
Another Interesting Letter From
MIR. Edward Sibley.

Zruulng my tTlp IIOm Duiueu' AHCSc
7teamers of the Great Lakes Transit Cor
4oration are each of about 5000 tons
5srister, and each makes trip from Buff
H. to Duluth and return in about ten
a,ys They were built for this route
I'M commence their trips about the mid
h. Of June, and close about the middle of
A>sptember, so their season is short and
ring July and August their bookings
re very large. Their passenger capacity
bout four hundred, and on the trip
|. ZEN was a passenger, there were about
zee hundred We landed and took on
z,assengers at Cleveland, Detroit and
8Aackinac Island, and | should Judge had
,75ut two hundred when we arrived at
A0lluth.
The hours for meals were from I to g
]. H., II to 2 p. m, and to p. m. At
Der D. m. the dining room was partly
i cared of tables and chairs, and then
ancing was kept up until midnight and
Sunday was no exception.
i was in Duluth in 1879, which was 80
4 ears ago, and my impressions were not
8,--v favorable to it ever being large
nv. but my impressions then formed
we're very much at fault, What has con-
z-buted to the making of large city are
ne following industries: The enormous
md almost inexhaustible supply of sur
NE iron ore on the Mesaba range,
a,ai-ty-five miles from Duluth, and the
.ss4 in which it can be got down to the
q ii ming docks at Duluth. One engine
ar take down over one hundred cars,
4 bi, it takes three engines to get those
ais back empty. The extensive docks
NJ loading, the largest of which will &C
4 lmodate eight of these large ore steam
-. The dredging of the harbor to &C
4 nmodate steamers drawing thirty feet
4 water.
The extensive mills for saving logs
nat come in by rail, the enormous ele-
sstor capacity for grain, and the facili-
IS for handling coal, and other mer-
nandise that are brought into Duluth for
sribution through the great North
9aest. All of these that have enumer-
s-ed and many more smaller industries,
ne all contributing to make Duluth
lrge city. There is one coal dock that
MS a capacity of over 600, 900 tons |
vent from there to Billings, Montana,
which is about nine hundred miles from
I r iuth via the Northern Pacific.
4 Monday, September Bird, was Labor
Jsy, and the different labor organiza-
i lions turned out in force, and they were
4 very fine looking set of men and women.
s net quite a number of former residents
Belfast and vicinity and it was very
4 9,aasant to renew old acquaintance, and
4 hey all seemed to have been prosperous.
q left Billings Tuesday morning by the
Buring on for Fort Collins, Colorado,
and the train passed through Caspar,
/ WYOMING, which is the principal point
8f1r the refining and shipment of oil from
1.-The celebrated oil wells in that vicinity,
land there is great excitment all through
nat section as fortunes have been and
ale being made in oil. At Fort Collins |
vas entertained at the beautiful home of
/ esse E. Wilson and his wife. He has
14en here since 1904, and has seen the
] t,v grow from about 5, 600 to over IL, 900,
,ud my opinion is that it is destined to
row rapidly in the future. 1t has large
,seep and cattle industries immense
4 eds of alfalfa and sugar beets, and a
arge sugar refinery. The refinery ex-
i -acts the sugar from the beets, and the
4 bee, tops, and the beet pulp and alfalfa
/ are led to the sheep and cattle, and these
/ all contribute to the prosperity of the
] Tosperity of the city. My son Harold
i slme from Denver to Fort Collins, dis
/ ance of 65 miles and took me down to
/ lSalle where | took a Union Pacific
rain for Sterling, Col, where remained
few days to take in the fair
rom Sterling | took a train on the
Il Burlington for Curtis, distance of 1873
niles My brothers ranch is located II
niles from Curtis and he went there in
}86 But few remain who were there
when he first came to this section, and
wish to say there are not many who have
] aeen longer ON the subscribers list of The
Journal than he. He left Belfast in 1874,
! and has been a subscriber ever since. He
has very large ranch and devotes his
0me to raising cattle and horses, but
hat vicinity lacks irrigation which means
that sugar beets and alfalfa cannot be
ralsed there. Only 40 miles from his
anch is North Platte and the Platte VAL
ey where there is plenty of irrigation
and large quantities of alfalfa and the
sugar beets are raised. | was in Curtis
i've weeks, and while there baby girl
was born into my sons family and that
vent took me back to Denver, where
/ emained week.
arrived in Chicago the last of Octo-
osr and am now settled for the winter at
he beautiful home of my daughter and
her husband, Mr.. and Mrs. Henry II.
Hilton, No. 500 Woodlawn Ave. Ow-
ny to the cold weather coming so early
did not complete my trip and shall re-
serve that for another season.
EDWARD SIBLEY.
Chicago, Nov 26, 1917