The Teton peak-chronicle. [volume], April 13, 1905, Image 1

About The Teton peak-chronicle. [volume] (St. Anthony, Idaho) 1904-1952

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Tiiî- TETON PEAK-CHRONICLE
/ l BLUSHED IN THE GARDES SPOT OF SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO
VOL. VI
ST. ANTHONY, FREMONT COUNTY, IDAHO, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1906
NO. 81
September 7th, Idaho Day.
Boise, Idaho, April 10.—Gover
nor Gooding today announced that
September 7th would be Idaho Day
at the Lewis and Clark Exposition
in Portland. The exposition auth
orities have been notified of the
selection of this date, and the state.
will be protected in its selection. !
As vet there has been no consulta- j
tion relative to the character of the j
exercises on that day, but it
generally supposed that an attempt
will be made by Governor Good
ing, accompanied by his staff to be
present, and that some form of ora
torical exercises will be arranged
for. , .
Executive Commissioner R. W.
McBride has returned from Port
land, where he has been during the
past several weeks, arranging for
the construction of the Idaho build
ing. Mr. McBride states that the
work on the builindg is progress
ing as rapidly as could be hoped
for. When he left Portland on
Friday, the frame was up, and the
rafters for the roof were being
placed in position. The contrac
tors have bonded themselves to
have the exhibition hall ready for
nse by the 21st of this month, and
that the whole building will be
turned over entirely completed a
month later. Between forty and
fifty men were at work on the
building, when Mr. McBride left
Portland, and this number will be
largely increased some time this
week.
Commissioner M. J. Wessels,
who has entire charge of the agri
cultural exhibits, has been notified
that he can begin the placing of I
his exhibits by April 20h. He
now has four carloads of exhibits,
the choice of what was used in St.
Louis stored in Portland.
Mr. Wessels also has a large
amount of agricultural display
stuff that has not been shipped to
Portland, but which will lie the
latter part of the month.
Commissioner Fred J. Bradley,
who is in full charge of the mining
exhibit, left this afternoon for the
Coeur d'Alene and Clearwater min
ing regions. While gone he will
endeavor to secure the finest dis
play of mineral that has ever come
from the northern portion of the
state.
Oue of the choicest exhibits that
will be made by Idaho in Portland,
wiil be the educational exhibit.
Specal space has been provided in
the main hall for this purpose. The j
fine exhibit shown at St. Lou s
mil be shown and will be largely I
added to bv schools from all por
tions of the state. Already the ,
Academy o Idaho, at Pcoatello ,
has prepared a fine exhibit, asjvejl j
Idaho Falls, St. Authouv,
other small districts in other
i
I
as the public schools in Caldwell.
por
tions of the state.
Col. Allen Miller, state immi
gration commissioner, left for the
northern portion of the state last
week, expecting to be gone long
enough to visit each of the five
northern counties. Col. Miller is
arranging for the gathering of
statistics of labor, commerce, agri
culture and manufacture. During
his present trip he will make a
start at gathering labor statistics
in the Coeur d'Alene district aud
statistics of lumber manufacture in
Kootenai county.
The matter of the site for the
new capitol building is still unde
cided. The board of capitol com
misisoners, it is understood would
greatly prefer to occupy the present
capitol site, provided sufficient
additional grounds can be obtained
at a reasonable price. If the pres
ent site is maintained the commis
sion would require that the ceutral
school block, just west of the pres
ent capitol block, should be secured
and that State Street and the south
half of the two blocks north of the
capitol block and the central school
block should also be secured. A
building, of size originally plan
ned could then be built, and suffic
ient grounds be left for handsome
grounds. If this site as planned
cannot be obtained, the commis
sioners will probably select the
Tiner tract at
streets. Here a very
tract has tieeu offered at a reasona
ble price. The grounds in the
Tiner tract are large enough to per
mit of a pretty park, in addition to
the capitol site.
l'lie board of wagon road
tt'issioners, were in session
hays last week, aud on adjourn
't was decided that the commission
would meet again on April V
barren, when the two commission
's.' in company with Gov. Good
.
Fort and Eighth :
handsome
,
! coni .P any , Wlt i 1 a man fron ' the state
j eil If' neer s office, will make a trip
j ,°' er 1>jU te of tlie
ing. won Id go over the route of the
proposed road into Big Creek dis
trict. Recently, however, it has
l>een learned that the roads will
not have liecome sufficiently settled
by that time for it to be easily pos
sible to make the trip. Instead of
this trip, the commisisoners
I night.
projxrsed road from Boise to Atlau
ta.
I here seems to be a general sen
timent that the road commissioners
will decide favorably on the War
ren Big Creek road, provided the
parties interested and who will be
particularly benefitted will make
the demand of the state, to pay half
the expense of putting in the road.
RICKS ACADEMY NOTES.
Rexburg, April 11.—The Acad
emy student body met last Friday
and elected an executive committee
after which a progiam was render
ed. Chas. McAllister gave a short
lecture on Robert's Rules of Order.
Eric Johnson discussed the benefits
of a normal course. The advantages
of business education was shown
by Mr. Hawkes.
The Academy wiU close on May
5th, instead of May 12th, the date
mentioned in the annual.
During the last week of school a
program will lie rendered every
night. The graduating class will
give the final entertainment.
Prof. Kirkham has returned to
his classes this week.
The next Academy dance will
>e given at Sugar City on Friday
The final examination in plane
geometry was given yesterday.
The results are highly satisfactory.
Many students have taken the
opportunity to do work in the spec
ial courses given this year. The
special courses are, elocution,
music, sewing and mauudl .train
ing. •' .
The attendance is holding out
well. A few boys were called
home at the opening of spring to
assist in work upon the farms.
The botany class have mounted
and classified a large number of
specimens of the local flora.
ORDINANCE NO. 104.
An ordinance relating to the lay
ing of plank sidewalk on Bridge
Street in the village of St. Anth
to mak
Wah a)so ^
^ and establishing crossings at
f s ^ - -
"
, , Qts and owners of lots |
£ frQnt of which sa id sidewalks,
j may ^ lajd to for said side .
sidewalks i
may intersect streets; and relating i
I to the levying ol an assessment 1
wajks; a)so providiug f or the width
and material to be used in the con
struction of said sidewalk. ■'
Be it ordained by the Chairman
and Board of Trustees of the Vil
läge of St. Anthony :
— . .....
Section 1. That there shall be
laid and constructed a plank side
walk commencing at the Southwest
corner of Block No. 29; thence
north along the east side of Bridge
Street to the Northwest corner of
Block No. 4.
Sec. 2. The sidewalk herein
provided for shall be four feet wide
with two inch lumber securely nail
ed on two stringers of 2 x 6 lum
ber, laid on necessary mud sills.
Sec. 3. There shall be laid and
constructed plank crossings at all
places where the above described
sidewalk shall intersect or cross
any street or alley of the village
of St. Anthony, at the expense of
said village.
Sec. 4. That said sidewalk and j
crossing shall he constructed under !
the supervision of the Road Over
SC cl c 5 That said sidewalk shall
be "built ' and constructed and the I
cost thereof shall be paid by the
owners of the lots in front of :
which said sidewalk is to be laid. |
Sec 6 The owners of lots in !
front of which each sidewalk is to
----- . irp hf'rehv :
be laid aud constructe ,
,a,U ww.
to be laid and " nst ™***î; d * spec '
thereof shall be deeD,e ^ t P ^ f ;
required to build and construct
said sidewalk in conformity with
. this Oidinance and have the same
: com pU-ted not later than May 1,
1905, and they are hereby notified
that tioou their failure to do so. the
village Board will cause the ^aine
upon the lots
Clerk, Pro Tern.
FREMONT COUNTY AS SHE LOOKS.
j
j
St. Anthony the Favored City as She Is-A Brief Write-Up
r i . r t 1 i t TX-. , —, I
ol this section ol Idaho by a Disinterested Party.
Countv,
St. Anthony. Fremont
Idaho,March IB, 1905.
As I stand here in the streets of
St. Anthony, Idaho, the county
capital of Fremont County,
able to look over a country as-^arge
as one of the New England States*
of wide prairies, rolling foot-hills,
and towering mountains thirty to
seventy-five miles distant.
Away to the eastward, catching
the rising sun at a distance of sixty
miles, rise in their imperial majes
ty the triple heads of the Three
Tetons, almost three miles above
ocean tide and seeming to hold up
the very sky. In all the region
around these mighty buttresses is
found the best large game and fish
ing country in these United States,
but it is not with these matters that
I have to deal in this letter.
What appeals to me most, as I
drive over and examine this vast,
irrigated farming country, is its
table-like smoothness, its complete
system of irrigation canals and
lastly, its incredible yields of small
grains, grasses and sugar beets.
What I am going to tell your read
ers will look almost unreasonable
to them, but I have carefully veri
fied every figure I am going to give
as to yields secured by the farmers
in this country. They are a mat
ter of common knowledge here and
there are hundreds of farmers who
will bear out every figure I quote.
This is a big country—a big,
level country. It looks like a
smooth table of absolutely level
land for miles and miles around Sf.
Anthony, but it is in reality not
so, for here is a considerable slope
to the •west and southwest that can
not be sect) by the eye but isdenot- i
i - - — -■ ----
: ■■ : : §L : .V ■ yvg. ;
pr*: V -V ; * • • -V - •
V
Cultivating Beets in Fremont County.
ed by the brisk flow in the irriga
tion canals and in the big, rapid
flowing Snake Rber. There are j
,-rr ------. _x .
three different kinds of soils in this
country. Upon the Egin Bench ;
west and southwest of town it is j
what they call here a fine decom
posed basalt, jam full of fertility,
aud the prettiest land to plow I
have ever seen. It is not a sand
but just a deep, gritty soil that two
horses will plow through almost
down to the beam. Upon the east
and south side of the Snake River
is an extensive country, a part of
which is a rich, loamy clay and a
part of it is black soil with a small
amount of gravel in it. I can not
see that there is auy difference at
all in the size of the stubble on
these different kinds of soils; at
least people here tell me there are
j not three bushels to the acre varia
! tion in the yields on any of these
different kinds of soils and they are
all the most beautiful land to culti
vate I have ever seen on account of
I their perfect smoothness and the
loamy nature of the ground
: On all these lands irrigation is
| the rule but farther eastward from
! St. Anthony is a very extensue
countrycalled the Marysville and
: Sauirrel Creek country, where the|
rainfall is much larger, and regu
lar crops are raised, dependent up
on rainfall alone. Here some very I
large yields have been secured
without irrigation. One Farmer
raised 350 bushels of barlev from '
7 bushels of seed; and ordinarily !
fiftv hnshels of oats are raised per
' acre No rainfall farming any
f ; ^ f e can equal in big yields and
fields
i intervals* of tvo «r three hundred
roads here are all 100 feet wide so
you ride right along by clear run
ning streams everywhere, no lack
of stock water here. There are
over 1,200 miles of irrigation can
als in Fremont County and more
are building all the time. They
are not owned by corporations and
compauies but were built and are
owned by tue farmers themselves,
and the yearly cost of water per
acre is consequently very low in
deed, ranging only from 10 to 15
cents per acre, which is as nothing
when the certainty and bigness of
the crops are insured thereby.
Farmers here say that they like
irrigation because life is too short
to have any «short crops, not to
speak of failures, and irrigation
makes theii* crops big every year
and no slips at all; in fact, a far
mer said to me today that he could
just about tell what yield he would
have a year before his crop was
harvested so certain and regular are
the yields secured in this way of
farming.
Some of these canals are almost
rivers in size. Many of them are
30 feet wide and three to five feet
deep and as we drive across them
the water often runs into the bug
gy-box. Here it almost seems as
if they can make water run up hill ;
canals cross each other in all direc
tions and when they meet one is
carried in a board flume right'over
the other.
But of all remarkable things
about the way tbey carry on irriga
tion here is that they do not, ex
cept upon the clay loams, have to
run the water over the latjd. The
water is just turned Into the small
furrows plowed across the land at
feet and it soaks
into the ground i
and makes the crops jump under
j the warm summer sun of this fine (
. -i:.—...
climate,
; One farmer who lives four miles
j west of town who is farming 160
acres tells me that he has raised
110 bushels of oats per acre and
that his average, year by year, is
over 75 bushels per acre, and those
oats weigh from 40 to 46 pounds to
the measured bushel. As I tested
them they were heavy in my hand
like wheat, with large, plump ber
ry and bright color.
The farmer feeds his cattle on
beet pulp from the sugar factory
which he gets for 35 cents per toil
and that with oat straw has
brought his cattle through the win-j
ter at small cost and in prime 1
shape. His sugar beets turned off
IB tons per acre upon an average
from 20 acres he had in last year.
This is surelv the chosen home of
the small grains. I have traveled
over seventy-five miles and have
vet to see even one jioor stubble
field. The stubble is all alike,
that is. big, stiff and strong, for at
this season I can only judge from
the grain in the bin and the stub
ble in the fields.
I will now give some facts and !
figures that are fit food to ponder;I
over. The average yield of wheat |
I upon irrigated lands is forty bush- f
els per acre, of oats 75 bushels jier !
acre, and of barley 65 bushels per !
' acre ; and with such yields as these
! there must of necessity be the very
finest quality and heavy weight
per bushel. Wheat is usually 65
founds, oats 40 to 46 pounds and
Potatoes here are right at the front
as you can see.
Prices at prestnt are about as
follows : Oats 42 cents per bushel ;
wheat 82 cents per bushel ; barley
56 cents per bushel ; hay in town
(alfalfa) $5 to #10 per ton, and in
the country for feeding from stack
#4 to #6 per ton. Alfalfa here is
cut twice a season and yields four
tons per acre besides the grazing
gotten from it. All clovers do
well but alfalfa is the crown and
pride of Idaho, as it is of the other
Pacific Coast States.
This is a fine cattle, sheep and
horse country. The millions of
acres of tall bunch grass range and
abundance of feed raised by irriga
tion makes stock raising profitable.
Butte, Portland and San Francisco
are the principal markets here on
the Coast.
Here are some yields secured
around St. Anthony : A farmer
four miles out raised 75 bushels of
wheat and 112 bushels of oats per
acre. Another got 565 bushels of
wheat from 11 acres. Still anoth
er had no failure of wheat for ten
years and an average for that time
of 55 bushels per acre. Another
secured 41 bushels per acre from
80 acres. One raised 112 bushels
of oats per acre weighing 46 pounds
per bushel. Another threshed 110
bushels field peas to the acre. An
other one dug 583 bushels of pota
toes from one acre. Twelve St.
Anthony potatoes weighed 51
pounds. This is not Georgia, but
one watermelon raised here weigh
ed 43 pounds. All these yields are
matters of common knowledge here
and can be verified as absolutely
correct. * .
But biggest of all. hnd full 'of
meaning to this country are the
four big beet-sugar factories, now
completed aud in operation in Fre
---- —j Bingham
mont and Bingham counties, its
neigbor on the South. Over four
million dollars have been invested
in them and their great buildings
and 200-foot chimneys tower high
above the level farmstead and dom
inate the level landscape. Over
73X10 acres of sugar beets were
raised within sight of St. Anthony
last year and more will go in this
year. These big factories show
what capitalists think of this coun
try. Sugar beets run high in sugar
here and are a source of big reve
vue to the farmers and they are
running up the price of land fast,
though it is still reasonably low
1 and still within the means of the
thrifty, industrious farmer.
The beets raised here run from
10 to 25 tons per acre in yield.
The price paid anywhere at the
railroad
Short Line is 94. pw per
everything is hired, the cost of
raising and harvesting is #40 per
acre and profits run from #5 to #72
per acre. It is a business that gives
employment to the children as well
as grown people and it is therefore
d stations of the Oregon
Line is #4.50 per ton. If
! a big money-maker in the country,
went to one big million-dollar
| factory south of St. Anthony yes
f terday and saw sacks of sugar
! sufficient in number to fill two or
! three grain elevators in an Illinois
or Minnesota town. I notice that
since they have put in these big
factories the farmers are building
fine brick and stone farm buildings,
all over ,'hU extended _ farming
IS
county seat and a sure hustler. It
is built on the banks of the Snake
River and its site is very attractive,
There are fine brick and stone
häT™? ÄÄ iTL,,"
money and its large and well-as
money and its
sorted stocks of goods are the best
indication of the fast growing
wealth of this country. They have
electric lights, and power, water
works, and the purest water that
can be found, for it is derived from
the melting snows of the high
mountains of the main range of the
Rockies to the eastward and north
ward. Many farmers who have
already become wealthy are renting
their farm and moving to town to
educate their children and as they
can rent their farms for a cash rent
of from #7 to #10 per acre and for
sugar beet crops they can get a big
income in that manner.
What this sugar-beet business
meaus to this country can be well
understood when I say that farmers
around here will be paid alone
from one factory over #500,000 for
their crop of this year's beets.
I have already made this letter
too long. I will cut off right here
hut it would take volumes to do
justice to the farming advantages
of this grand region. But, one
word more.
Land under irrigation can still
be bounght here at a low price.
Twenty-five miles northeast of St.
Authony are 6,500 acres of new ir
rigated lands of fine quality that
can be bought foi #10.50 per acre
with a small first payment down
and long time at low interest. In
due time these lauds will go to #50
to #100 per acre. The United States
Government is now considering a
project for watering a very fine
tract of homestead land of 350,000
acres lying from 18 to 40 miles
west of St. Anthony.
In the older well-settled and
developed country around St. An
thony improved and unimproved
land of the best quality can still be
purchased at very reasonable cost,
cottfidering the big .profits realized
from Small grain and sugar beets;
but the coming of the beet factories
near here is cansing land to rise
rapidly in value. To the northeast
ward is the extensive rainfall coun
try where thousands of acres of
grain are raised without irrigation
and where there is an abundance
of rich, low-priced land still to be
had
David R. M'Ginnis,
In The "Kansas Farmer.''
(I have read with a great deal of
interest this prospectus and can
heartily endorse the statements con
tained therein.
F. R. Gooding,
Governor of Idaho. )
Loan and Savings
Company Organized.
C. W. Gray of Pocatello, repre
senting The Western Loan and
Savings Company of Salt Lake was
in the city a couple of days the lat
ter part of last week. Mr Gray
succeeded in organizing a local
board here and will return about
the 20th inst., to complete the or
ganization.
1 he Western Loan and Savings
Company was established in 1892,
and is a strong institution. For
several years it has been doing bus
iness in Pocatello, Blackfoot, Idaho
Falls and Rexburg. State Agent
Gray overlooked St. Anthony on
account of having so much business
in the southern part of the state
that it was hard lor him to get this
far away. However, aftei having
come here and seeing this rich and
prosperous country, he was very
much elated and was only a few -
I hours in getting our leading citi
! zens interested. This institution is
examined annually by the Bank
Examiners of Utah and Montana,
who carefully inspect every item of
its assets, and ascertain the liabil
ities. If they should find at times
that the assets were not sufficient
to meet the liabilities, or that the
business was not being honestly
conducted, it would be their dutv
to take such legal steps as would
be necessary to protect the interests
of the sharenolders. The establish
ing of a local board in our city will
be ol great benefit to the citizens
and will enable those owning lets
to borrow money at a low rate of
interest for building purposes. In
stead of paying rent the money is
applied on the interest and princi
pal. and in a few years the home is
paid for and the rent is all saved.
Later we will publish the plan
upon which the company does bus
iness.