The Saint Paul globe., January 29, 1899, Page 20, Image 21

About The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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Copyright IS"9, by Frank G. Carpenter.
MENDOZA, Argentine Republic, Dec.
EL— Across South America by railroad;
climbing- over the Amies on iron tracks;
pulled through the vast pampas of the
Argentine by a locomotive; joining the
Atlantic and Pacific by an iron band—:
this is the problem, the completion of
which is now agitating Ihe Argentine
*nd Chile, it is a problem almost solv
ed. The clouds of war as to the
boundary question have cleared away.
Both countries are now financially in a
better condition, and they will soon
haw money for public improvements.
Chili is especially anxious that the
road sii.m'cci ie completed, and I was
told at Santiago that almost any re
sponsible American syndicate can get
with a surety of ."> per cent, and
a lair chant c for abg int -rest on its In
vestment
FORTY MILE- TO BUILD.
As it is. the railroad is almost com
pleted. There ate less than forty miles
yet tic build, when there will be an iron
track from ocean to oce.in. The rail
read from Mendoza to Buenos Ay res is
excellent, although the distance is 604
miles. There is also a fairly good line
from hire almost to the tops of the
Argentine Andes. I traveled upon the
trad from Valparaiso, Chile, on the
Pacific, to very nearly the Argentine
boundary. It is well built.
At present trains are running- over
the whole road three times every week,
travel* rs being taken over the unfin
ished part in a day on mules or in ear
ring, s. Even old people and little chil
dren make the ti iv without much in
convenience, and during the summer
then- is plenty of travel. With the
■tops it requires now only four days to
cross South America by this line, and
wbi :, tin- last link Is joined I am told
that the trip from Valparaiso to Bue
nos A yres will be made in twenty-nine
kOUI s.
COST THREE MILLION DOLLARS.
The actual cost of the completion of
the- road is estimated at about $3,000,
--000. 1 understand that this was the
sum for which W. R. Grace & Co., of
Mew Fork, offered to finish it. For a
king time it was thought that the Chil
ean government would award them the
contract, but for sune reason or other
the doai fell through. While I was in
Santiago l had conversations with
prominent ..»*., -i.-ils close to the presi
de:.! who told me that the government
was open ti .;u offer and that it would
pic bably guarantee a certain rate on
the capital required I was also told
that an American syndicate would
probably get the preference.
The road will pay very well. When
completed it will be just about as long
a.- from New York to Chicago, and
will reduce the time between Valpa
raiso and London by more than two
weeks. It will get all the travel which
now goes from the west coast around
the Strait of Magellan to Europe and
a line of ships between Valparaiso and
Australia will be established, so that
Australian passengers will come from
Europe to Buenos Ayres and thence
go across to Valparaiso. It now tak-s
HUrty -seven days to go from the chief
pens of Chile to Europe via the Stra t
of .Magellan. It requires about sixteen
days to steam from Valparaiso to Bue
nos Ayres. and from Buenos to Liver
pool is about twenty days more. Via
the railroad one can go across the con
tinent in less than two days.
MILES OF STONE SHEDS.
As it is now I am told that the road
Is profitable during the summer
months, notwithstanding the enormous
cost of transportation between the
sections. When it is completed, traffic
can be carried on throughout the year.
As it is now, during the heavy snow
falls in the Andes, passengers have to
wait for days at one side or the other.
This will be obviated by the snow
sheds which are being cut out of the
solid rock, so that the cars can go
through whether it snows or not. Th. re
are forty miles of wooden snow sheds
on one of our roads in the Rockies.
Here stone sheds will be cheaper. The
trans-Andean route, however, will not
need so many, nor will it have such
heavy nor such long lasting snows.
ANDES VS. THE ROCKIES.
The crossing of the Andes here is
not a greater job than the crossing of
the Rockies. The mere fact that it is
the- Andes has exaggerated the dif
ficulties, but the truth is that the h'gh
rst point of this road when comp et:d
-will b,> about 200 feet lower than Mar
shall pass on the Denver & Rio Grande,
and less than 500 feet higher than
Leadville. The Uspallata pass, where
the road crosses the mountain, is 13,
--000 feel high, but the tunnel which
passe- s through this will be only 10.042
feet above the sea. It will be almost a
mile lower than the tunnel through
Mount Meigs on the railroad which
goes across the Andes back of Lima.
Peru, and more than three-quarters of
a mile lower than the railroad from
the sea up to Lake Titicaca on the
Bolivian plateau. .
The building of the road is merely
a matter of money. It has no engi
neering difficulties which cannot he
easily surmounted, although the Andes
are very Bteep just at this point, mak
ing necessary different kinds of track
to get over them. The summit will be
reached by a racked rail In the cen
ter of the track, the cars being hauled
by locomotives on cogged car wheels,
which work in these racks. The track
will be about the same, I understand,
a.-; that up Mount Washington and
those on Pike's Peak and the Right
Similar roads are also used to climb
the mountains of Brazil back of Santos
and Rio Janeiro.
A great objection, it seems to me. in
this mountain line is that it is a nar
row gang-, while both the Chilean and
the Argentine railroads which connect
with it are broad gauge. The cog line
is only three feet three inches wide.
and transfers will have to be made at
hoth ends of it. so that altogether the
plan of construction seems bad. There
should be one gauge from ocean to
ocean, so that goods can be taken from
the Pacific and remain on the cars un
til they are landed on the Atlantic,
and vice versa.
ACROSS ANDES BT RAIL.
This railroad when completed will be
one of the great scenic railroads of the
world. Suppose we cross the continent
by it. \Yt start at Valparaiso, the
great seaport of Chile, on the Pacific.
It has 100,000 people, and its houses are
as fine as those of any European sea
port. They are built in terraces rising
one above another in the shape of an
amphitheater around a magnificent
bay. There are green trees among them,
and the flowers bloom all the year
round. We step out of the beats onto
stone wharves, and are taken in a car
riage to a fine two-story stor.e station.
There are waiting rooms for first and
second-class passengers, and we rind a
ciowd in both places. We ask for our
tickets, but are told that it is yet a
half hour before the train starts and
that no tickets will be sold until fif
teen minutes later. At precisely a
quarter of an hour before leaving time
the agent opens the window and gives
us our tickets. We try to c hec't our
baggage, but are told that we must pay
express rates on every pound, and that
nothing is free. We get a receipt, uow
ever. and then cross over the track to
reach the cars. We step down to do
this, for the tracks are sunken and the
platforms are level with the floor of
the cars.
While wo wait for the train let us
make a note of the passengers. Beside
me stands a young English girl, with
school books under her arm. and there
are English a.ud German merchants
who are waiting for the train for San
tiago. There are Chilenos, with big
hats and ponchos, who have come in
from the country, and Chilean women,
who have their faces coated with pow
der. They look the more ghastly from
the black shawls on their heads. There
are young priests in black hats and
black gowns which re? vh to their feet.
There are Chilean military officers. In
gay uniforms, and black-eyed boys,
who are going to school from their
homes it- the interior.
COUNTRY SCENES IN ANDES.
A bell rings at the station before the
train starts. We skirt the harbor, pass
through the swell suburb cf Vina del
Mar and then come almost at once to
the foot hills of the Andes. We pass
oxen plowing in the fields, dragging
wooden plows through the furrows by
a pole fastened to a yoite on their
heads. We go by great vineyards, lem
on orchards and orange groves, and
now and then stop at a village or city,
of flat one-story houses. We pass over
one low ridge after an ther rising high
er each time, until we come to the
great valley in which Santiago, the i
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FRONTIER OF ARGENTINE AND CHILE AT THE VERY TOP OF THE ANDFS.
capital of Chile, lies. We ride through
this all day and then strike the second
range of the Andes, with the highest
peak on our hemisphere rising a novo
us. That peak is Aconcagua. It is
almost 24.000 feet high, and it touches
the sky further above the sea than
any peak outside the Himalayas, its
top is covered with pevperual snow.
The ice we see upon Its sides never
melts, and the winds which blow over
it in their everlasting march fropi ocean
to ocean howl at times like the shrieks
of the damned.
We stop over night at Los Andes, a
town in -the valley of the Aconcagua
river. It has about 6,000 people and
is surrounded by orchards of apple and
peach trees with rich irrigated gardens
lying high up in the mountains. From
here we go into the station, where we
take mules or stages to go over the
mountain. The end of the road is about
as high as the top of Mt. Washington,
and from there on the way is exceed
ingly steep.
The country is wild in the extreme.
Much of the mountains are nothing but
a desert of rocks and snow inhabited
only by condors, with here and there
a guanaco, a sort of a species of wild
llama. You cross the Puenta del Inca,
a wonderful natural bridge, near which
there are hot springs of crystalline
water, and gc out into the Valley of
Desolation or Cuevas Valley, where
there are skeletons of mules and oxen
which have dropped out of the droves
which to the number of thousands are
annually driven across the mountains.
As you rise higher still you are fortu
nate if you do not have soroche or
mountain sickness, and you are glad
when you have passed the cumbre or
summit and are on the railway which
takes you down to Mendoza, in the
Argentine.
ACROSS THE PAMPAS.
From Mendoza to Buenos Ayres is
about as far as from New York to
Cleveland. The cars are not uncom
fortable. They are built somewhat af
ter the Mann boudoir order, with a lot
of little apartments running through
the car reached by an aisle outside.
Each apartment has four berths, two
upper and two lower. The upper berths
are put up during the daytime and you
sit facing your fellow passengers" on
the lower benches. At night the bed
ding is brought into the car from the
baggage coach, I suppose, and your
beds are made.
Most of the sleepers have traveling
bars on them. All kinds of liquors are
kept in the baggage car. and you can
get anything from champagne to cog
nac and from apoliinaris to beer by or
dering it. There is a little stove in
this car upon which the porter makes
coffee and brings it to you in the morn
ing before you are out of bed. He
charges you about eight cents of our
money for a cup of coffee, a little but
ter and a biscuit, which is cheap
enough for the service. The most of
the meals are taken at the stations,
about thirty minutes being allowed for
breakfast or lunch, and a violent ring
ing of a bell announcing the starting
of the train. The sleeping cars are
more plainly furnished than ours and
the bedding is not so good.
In commenting upon the lack of fine
furniture one day an English railroad
manager told me that the companies
found that it did not pay to make ex
travagant cars, for It was so difficult
to keep them in order. Said he:
"You would be surprised at the wan
ton damage that is done by passengers.
Many of these Argentines are born
iconoclasts. They will write on the
mirrors with their diamonds and
scratch their names on the plate glass
windows. Some of the rich fellows
from the country think nothing of get
ting into bed with their muddy boots
on. and some are filthy in the extreme.
We have to watch things very closciy,
for they are stolen or destroyed. Why,
we have had passengers throw blankets
out of the windows just for fun, and
we have to make a careful tally of our
stock at the close of every run."
RAILROADS OF THE ARGENTINE.
And still the Argentine is one of the
best railroad countries in South Amer
ica. It has more railroads than any
other country, and is now building
many new lines. There are 11,000 miles
cf tailroad in operation. Three years
ago there were not more than 9,000
The roads are growing better every
year. They are chiefly In the hands of
private parties, and the government is
giving up its idea of controlling them.
It is different in Chile, where the roads
tire also good, although thf-y are not
mere than one-fifth as expensive in
THE ST. PAUL GLOBE SUNDAY JANUARY 29, 1899.
length of lines. The Chilean govern
ment seems to be gradually acquiring
the roads, and It Is also building new
ones.
There is no place in the world where
it is easier to build a road than in the
Argentine pampas. The tracks go for
hundreds of miles over land which is
petfectly level and so solid that but
little ballast Is needed. ' One of the
chief expenses Is in the matter of ties.
There are no trees on the pampas, and
all kinds of lumber must be Imported.
The most of the ties come down the
Parana river from Paraguay. The
favorite kind Is of quebracho or other
h»»rd woods, which are so heavy that a
single tie will often weigh "00 pounds.
The wood is so hard that spikes can
not be driven into it without first bor
ing holes for them. After the rails are
once fixed it is impossible to draw the
spikes out. Such ties are very expen
sive, so much so that the Southern rail
road, not long ago, tried the experi
ment of importing ties from Australia,
because they were cheaper than the
Paraguay ties.
HOW RAILROADS ARE BUILT.
The most of the railroads are in ths
hands of the English. Some have been
built much like our roads at nome with
a heavy capitalization and with their
ups and downs on the stock market. It
is safe to say, however, that more
than half a billion dollars has been ac
tually spent in constructing railroads
thiough the Argentine. In 1896 the cap
ital stock of the roads footed over $510,-
000,000, and their gross receipts were
more than $31,000,000, while the expenses
were not more than $16,000,000. This
made a clear' profit of $15,000,000 gold
during that year. The most of the
roads are English broad gauge, or wid
er than any of our roads at home. The
rails now being used by the Southern
railway weigh seventy-four pounds to
the yard. They are of steel. They are
imported from England, from where
most of the rolling stock has been
brought, although now the chief com
panies have their own stock and are
making cars. There are a few Bald
win and Rogers engines, but these are
chiefly on the government lines.
Italians are the chief railroad work
men. The work is done by contract,
one Italian taking a gang and doing
his work by the job or the yard. The
captain of each gang is called a cap
itaz, and he is responsible for the work
of his men. Upon a road in Patagonia
which I visited I found twenty gangs,
each containing ten men, laying tracks.
They were given so much per mile. The
workmen lived in tents which they put
up along the railroad, and they were
supplied with provisions from a pro
vision ear.
This provision car of the Argentine Is
a curious railroad institution which I
have not seen elsewhere. It is called
a provideria. and it is, in fact, a little
grocery and department store on
wheels. The car is fitted up with
shelves, upon which are clothes, to
bacco, liquors, groceries and in short
everything that the men can possibly
want. It has a storekeeper in it. who
furnishes goods to the railroad men at
the lowest possible rates.
The company supplies the goods and
pays all the bills. It keeps about $80
--000 worth of goods in stock, and sells
them to its men at such rates that its
profits are about 3 per cent. It puts
the goods at such prices that the men
know they can buy more cheaply of
the provideria than at the stores.
For instance, good Italian wine is
sold for about 40 cents of Argentine
money a quart. This is less than 15
cents American. Beef costs about 4
cents of our money a pound, and
clothing is proportionately cheap.
Among the curious things I saw in
one of these stores were London jams
and Indian-chutney. I saw olive 01,
macaroni and all kinds of crackers.
I was interested in the track layers
and visited them in their camps. I
was told that a man could live on
I about 20 cents of our money a day,
and that the average man received
about $25 gold a month and saved
I about 60 cents a day out of his wages.
The men complained that their tents
were too small. They were of the A
! shape, so little that only four cots
j could be placed in each tent. But Aye
j men were allotted to a tent, and so
j one man had to sleep on the ground.
FREIGHT CARS WITH SAILS.
Among the discomforts of railroad
. riding in the Argentine are those which
i come from the wind. It blows on the
i pampas at times with all the force cf
| a Kansas blizzard. I am told that,
i while the road from Buenos Ayres was
; building, the cars were sometimes
j blown off the track, and that it was
j customary to put sails on the freight
, trains and allow- the wind to push them
; along over the rails. This, however,
| I doubt, as I am prone to do other sto-
I ries told here in this land of luxury,
j laziness and lies.
- do not doubt, however, the stories
| as to the dust. There is no land where
j the dust blows more than it does h^re.
I The duet storms are thicker than show
| storms. They sometimes stop the cars,
I filling the grades and cuttings so that
] you need a plow to get through. Dur-
I ing a storm a few years ago it took
2,000 men a week to .clear the track of
one of the roads.
Such dust storms sometimes obscure
I the sun, and if a rain comes while the
j dust is in the air it brings down a
shower of mud, which paints the
. houses and fences and everything with
i a sticky mass. If the rain continues
the wood is scoured clean by the mud,
but if not. it is left in a most deplora
ble condition.
I have heard of dust storms which
have filled the floors of the cars, the
dust being so fine that it went through
I the windows and doors, and I know
to mv sorrow that such a storm will
I coat your face and clothes in ten
I minutes with a thick coat of dirt, and
make a white man and Indian, African
and Caucasian of the same gray com
plexion. It will cause your lips to
crack and coat your tongue so that
you feel as though you had been bit
ing Into one of the apples of Sodom,
and had gotten therefrom a mouthful
of ashes. —Frank G. Carpenter.
saved a mm LIFE
AN ACT OV THE VOI MiEIIS NOT
GIVEN PROPER
CREDIT
YOUNG DEMING'S CAPTURE
Two "Whole Days Id the Hand* of
the Younger and Jai—ea llo.vn
Jetiwe Jiniea Got Ready to Kill
Him, bat the Y<-U-«er* Made
Such a Strong Append That He
Wa* Spared and Sent Home.
ST. PETER, Minn., Jan. 28.—(Spe
cial.)—There has been considerable
written and said regarding the pardon
ing of the Younger brothers, who are
now serving life sentences in the Still
y. ater penitentiary.
They have repeatedly presented pe
titions to the governor of Minnesota
with reputable and numerous signa
tures, but all to no avail. But the ob
ject of these lines Is to show a lot of
people of Minnesota that they- are
judging the Younger boys erroneously.
Not that I am advocating the liberat-
ing of Cole and James Younger, the
survivors of the Younger brothers, but
I happen to know of a circumstance
which I honestly believe should count
in their favor, and, inasmuch as I have
never seen it mentioned in their be
half, I feel it my duty to refer to it
and let the good people of Minnesota
act accordingly.
In 1876, a short time after the raid
on the Northfield bank and the shoot
ing of Cashier Heywood, the "great"
detective, Mike Hoy, of Minneapolis,
with enough men to have put down the
Spanish war, came up to Le Sueur
county to capture the bandits. It was
discovered that the outlaws had en
tered a marsh near Elysian, In Le
Sueur county, and Mr. Hoy and his as
sistants at once proceeded to surround
that marsh, but Mr. Hoy, unlike the
"sandy" officer he had been pictured by
the "conservative" journals, seemed
very reluctant to enter the forests sur
rounding Lake Elysian, and three days
passed, when it was discovered that
the robbers had tied their horses in
the bushes and made their escape on
foot. About this time Jesse James,
Frank James, Cole, Jim and Bob
Younger were secreted in the top of a
fallen tree near Mankato one morning,
just at the break of day, when one Dent
ing, who at that time was a tenant
on the farm of Mrs. Shaw, who was
well known at Mankato was out look
ing for his horses, when he accidental
ly blundered onto the bank robbers con
cealed in the tree top, w-here they ex
pected to remain until nightfall. Mr.
Demlng was made a prisoner, and for
two days and nights acted as guide for
the refugees from justice, showing
them how to escape towns and thickly
settled communities. At the end of the
second day, when the outlaws believed
they could safely dispense with Mr.
Deming's services, Jesse James step
ped up to Deming and with the muz
zle of a 44-caliber Colts' revolver press
ed close to his left temple told him that
he had better make his peace with his
God, as he must die.
According to Mr. Deming's own
testimony before the examining magis
trate at Faribault, Bob Younger at
once entered a protest against taking
human life where it was not absolutely
in self-defense. He "made a plea in
my behalf equal to any criminal law
yer I ever heard," said Mr. Derning,
"and his two brothers. Cole and Jim'
stood by him, which is all that saved
my life. The James boys both favored
CITY FOLK ON FARMS,
First Year of Salvation Army's New California Colinization Plan.
Commander Booth-Tucker says that the |
Salvation Army farm colonization experiments
in California. Colorado and Ohio have had a
prosperous year, and that the project of mak
ing poor people self-supporting and independ
ent by transplanting them in the country is
a success. The beneficiaries of the plan take
kindly to the change from city pauperism to
the life of a farmer, and the work is to be en
larged. As fast as land can be secured and
means for colonizing it obtained new centers
will be started. According to a report just
issued the Salvation Army now owns 1.42S
acres of farming land worth $111,000. Two
hundred colonists are living on these farms,
and it is expected that during 1889 the num
ber will be increased to 500.
The largest and most ambitious Salvation
Army colony is located at Fort Amity, Col.
There settlers from the slum districts of
Eastern cities have 640 acres of rich land
which they are endeavoring to turn into ten
acre farms. The elevation is 3,500 feet above
4l j^^^-^^^^^
A SALVATION FARM COLONY HOI SE,
•g^ Any Girl Can Tell £
(di /rflKMt A physician who makes -the d*
ll dM^Kfl * est * n( * is honest about it can J
l& £*&&?»< te '* y° u &t » * n mß^ n y cases.the f
m 7ii_iinfc number of red corpuscles in the **
§v h@h Ik fc>,ooc^ IS doubled after a course <71
V -1 IF oP treatment with Or. Williams* %
£/ ir PinK Pills for Pdle Pco P le - i
A W__H_i-_-_BB^ilß That this means pood blood \j
vfe g^^^^^gl may not be entirely clear from \
*V> ™[Hg Hf the doctor's statement, but any s)
wuR girl who has tried the pills can tell
rf __■ y° u t^ &t !t m^^ ns T€< i 'Jp^. bright «
If $$^Mfc*r% e^ cs ' 2 ooci appetite, absence of I*
(k m »__■_? headache, and that it trans- VS
Mi II flfl__r forms the pale and sallow girl \
J H fillf into a w&iden who glows with J
£7 *w m the bedut y which perfect health |i
/?' « H Mothers whose daughters |?
r* & fi TOW debilitated as they pass f
ill m * TOm girlhood into womanhood ~|
(4 wH_i9_rlN__k should not nedlect the pili best^y
7 yMHmM l lra adapted for this particular ill. Z 1
/v 11 vft 'I Dr.Wilttams'PinK Pills for Pale P*
Jf 1 f 7 r People act directly on the blood X
jj * and nerves, invigorating the body,
©regulating the functions and restoring strength and healtn £f
/pto the exhausted woman when every effort of the phy- (p
]L sician proves unavailing. * te>
_J^ Frank B. Trout, of 103 Griawold Aye., Detroit, Mich., sayo: "At the age of fji
<*vV fourteen we had to take our daughter from school on account of ill health. h-JI
\\ -ghe weighed only 80 pounds, was pale and sallow and the doctors said she
111 had anaemia. Finally we gave her Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. - S\
ftX When she had taken two boxes she was strong enough to leave her bed, and T(7_L
V-7 j- i e(ja than six months was something like herself. To-day she Is entirely H«J
j cured, and is a big. strong, healthy girl, weighing 130 pounds, 'and has never Vj^
/a had a eiek fiay since."— Detroit Evening Newe. J?>
\ The wr.pt?-Y otthe ts f tCAt * bot If*
Jj] genuine p_ck_ge it> fflflli I ff^l^M^^^&f SsM & d™^-.- ot direct from \U^
Sr pYinted in redinkofi ffffl I ■rtffiff_Bß_lf^.ll-E Dr. WUUa.ms Medicine Co. jp
/j -white p6.peY _nd be-.TS aJ^Jf " ScWe<*\ectd.-*-y : N Y. Book fv
W 1 the foil n_mt. V^___SH!fi-S?7S--_?^^WW •* C ° Y4i 9r "* S^
WefvqTonVc q/f
killing me, as Jesse urged that 'a dead
man never tells any tales,' but there
were three of the Youngers and only
two of the James brothers, and the
Youngers had a ruling voice. That is
all that saved me."
Mr. Deming further stated at the
oamination at Faribault:
"It was finally agreed that if I would
promise on my knees that I would not
give the alarm of the gang's escape
from Elysian for forty-eight hours I
might go, and I promised, but broke
my promise just as Jesse James said
I would do, but the way the thing has
turned out I have regretted it every
hour since. I succeeded in capturing the
very men that saved my life and letting
the bloodthirsty villains escape."
It is well understood by people who
were in this community in 1876 and
who are familiar with the raid on the
"Noithfield bank and the subsequent
capture of the Youngers and the escape
of the James brothers, that the "split"
between the Youngers and James was
all due to the leniency asked for and
secured at the hands of the Youngers
for Mr. Deming. These are facts, but
for some unknown reason to your cor
respondent they have never been intro
duced in behalf of the Youngers when
seeking a pardon. II would seem to an
unbiased thinker that the single act
chronicled above ought to have some
weight with fair-minded men in favor
of the noted outlaws. They certainly
manifested a disposition to" spare hu
man life, and it is to them that Mr
Deming today owes his life. " If he is
still living. J. do not doubt for a mo
ment that he will fully corroborate my
statement.
Your correspondent would have at
tempted the publication of these facts
long ago, had he not considered it use
less while a governor occupied the ex
ecutive chair whose every act would
most, likely be guided by political inter
ests, and while the disclosure at this
time may cut no figure whatever with
the youngers, it is conscientiously
made, and I believe is worthy of con
sideration, —j. l Donhaim,
Employe St. Peter Herald.
the sea level, and the climate excellent. The
first colonists with their families arrived
there April 1, 18.98, and numbered about 100
men, women and children, all under the su
pervision of Col. Holland, of the Salvation
| Army. Chicago and New York city furnished
the emigrants, a majority of whom had had
experience in some sort of farming, while a
number were carpenters and mechanics The
land was wholly uncultivated and not a fur
row had been turned on the whole 640 acres.
ARRANGEMENT OF FARMS.
The ground was divided into ten-acre lots,
of which each alternate lot was cultivated,
but left unoccupied, with a view to the ex
tension of each holding should ten
acres be insufficient, or a relative of a colo
nist desire to settle on the next farm. Thdse
who had a knack of carpentry were set to
work building small frame houses, while oth
ers broke up and Irrigated the land. The
farms are so .."-mail that the little cottages
set as close together as the houses of a vil
lage. Visiting can be carried on very well
from the back porch, with neighbors on each
side, and there has been no home-sickness.
"This is just like a suburb of Chicago," re
marked one of the settlers, who had culti
vated a potato patch in Englewood the year
before. A school house has been built near
the middle of the 640 acres, and Is presided
over by a Salvation Army lass. The plan
adopted to make the colony self-supporting
differs from that of most settlements, in that
it involves less of the co-operative plan. Each
colonist Is master of his own domain of ten
acres, for which he pays a weekly rental or
from $1 to $3 for ten years, when he will
own the land and house. The land was pur
chased originally by the Salvation Army for
$22.50 an acre, but is now valued by them at
$40 an acre.
TRUCK FARMING IS PROFITABLE.
Truck farming will be the main support of
the colony. Their land, however, is sur
rounded by thousands of acres o-f open prairie,
which for a time at least will furnish free
pasturage for stock. Canteloupes, berrle?,
fruit and garden products will be raised, all
by means of irrigation. It is expected that
the mining camps near, on the Santa Fe
railroad, will furnish a ready market. The
city-bred farmers, so Commander Booth-
Tucker says, have thus far proved indus
trious, honest, and capable. They appear
delighted, he says, with the chance to live
on. their own property, and to become land
holders In even a small way.
At Fort Romie, Cal., in the valloy of the
Solinas, near the Bay of Monterey, the Sal
vation Army has leased 500 acres, with an
option of purchase, the yearly rental being
ci edited toward the price. Cottages have
been put up on ten-acre tra<n?, ns in Colo
rado. The settlers arc all poor people, from
the slums of the city. One of the main
crcps planted by this colony is the sugar beet,
CVus Soreckels has his big sugar-beet fac
tory near, and this furnishes a market. Fort
Romie has seventy colonists, including men,
wemen and children.
Fort Ilerrick, the third farm colony, is lo
cated in Ohio, twenty miles from Cleveland,
and near the childhood home of President
Garfield. Two hundred and eighty-eight
acres of land has been purchased there on
the installment piant, aud the land divided
into five-acre lots. Only a half-d>:en fam
ilies are settled there at present, as the Army
did nor come Into possession of the land until
July last. The three colonies, in Colorado.
California and Ohio, have been establ'shed at
a cost of $43,375.
Mexico 30-Day Ton-
On one of the finest trains that ever left
the Northwest. Leaves St. Paul Feb. 10th
via Chicago Great Western Railway (Maple
Leaf Route). Price of tickets includes all
expenses. For full information and itinerary
of tour, apply to J. P. Elmer, City Ticket
Agent, Fifth and Robert streets, St. Paul,
Minn.
"J^. Jb %** ,_B^— ■'—V 5_ jfcffi "SK
1 Queen & Crescent Route I
\l\f\ CIINCirsIINATI
ft Offers the Best and Quickest Route to Florida and ft
5 36 HOURS CHICAGO TA JACKSONVILLE. _S
S 66 HOURS CHICAGO^, HAVANA. 8
m W. A, BEGKLER, Northern Pass. Agf. , |
*» 113 Aia-ns Strooi GHI SAG 9. apj
MAIL MATTER MIXED.
Serious Trouble for Sinner o-i Ihe?
SoIOIIH of \l-111-ll»ki>.
LINCOLN, Nob., Jan. 28.— A great
sensation was caused today in the
house when Fisher, of Dawes, offered
a resolution that the postal depart
ment of the house be investigated by
a committee of three, appointed by
the speaker, for the reason that grave
irregularities existed there, reflecting
upon the honor and jeopardizing the
domestic relations of said members.
It seems that the postmaster discov
ered several letters unaddressed and
believed it was his duty to open and
ascertain whom the letters should go
to and address the same. This ho did.
"When the wives of the members re
ceived the letters they at once knew
they were not intended for them, and
took the first train to Lincoln, and
jumped on to their recalcitrant hus
bands with both feet. The husbands
denied writing the letters. An inves
tigation is now in progress, and the
outcome may result In several di
vorces.
THROWOUT OF COURT.
Bill Filed at Memphis Against
< iMiiiil roller On we*.
MRMPHIS. Term., Jan. 28. —On
Wednesday a bill was filed in chancery
against Charles Dawes, the comptrol
ler of the currency, and Harry Arm
strong, of the Continental National
bank, of this city. The ground of the
suit was a disputed ownership of five
shares of stock, the same being claim
ed by three persons. Sensational al
legations wer c made against the comp
troller and Cashier Armstrong. Today,
after reviewing the bill, Chancellor
Thornton from the bench issued an
order that the records of the court be
purged of the bill, that it be thrown
out of court because it contained mat
ter that was scandalous and imperti
nent.
Jail-* ( ne.-ar Crossed the Rnbicun
With DifHenlty.
It would be an easy matter at this time
Oie W isconsin Central Trains cross Great
States every day in the year in the run
ween ,-, St^ Paul and Chicago. City Ticket
Office, 3i3 Robert St.