Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, November 7, 1907, Page 1

THE BEMIDJI DAILY PIONEE TR N R VOLUME 5. NUMBER 170. WONDERFUL POSSIBILITY FOR THE BOUNDARY CITY International Falls, With Its Immense Waterpower, Has Great Future.---Excellent Railway Connectioas Insure Ample Shipping Facilities. Although the village of Interna- tional Falls is not enjoying any boom at the present time, the visitors to the border town cannot but be impressed with the wonderful pos- sibilities of the place. It takes but a brief inspection of International Falls and the surround- ing country to assure one that there is close at hand material for the up- building of a city which will rival in size and commercial importance any city in the state north of St. Paul, outside of Duluth. The completion of two lines of railway, one leading from Duluth, the other from St. Paul via Brainerd, gives an outlet to the principal busi- ness centers of the state, and also provides transportation for the products of the immense manufact- uring plants, which it is proposed to establish there. Standing Rainy river at International Falls, one marvels at the great waterpower which is the result of the falls in the river. Conservative estimates of the size of this power place it at 30,000 horsepower at the maximum stage of the water, and 24,000 horsepower at the minimum stage. That the vol- ume will create a power never less than 24,000 horsepower is assured from the large reservoirs, which feed | the Rainy river. These reservoirs form a water shed containing 30,000 square miles of water, which extends one hundred and fifty miles north of International Falls to the various lakes and streams. The Backus & Brooks company owns immense amounts of pine and have heavy investments in land and other interests tributary to Inter- national Falls, and together with other people, have formed the Koochiching company, which has for its purpose the development of the immense waterpower at the Falls; also for the establishing of manufacturing plants, including saw- mills, pulpmills, box factory, etc. on the banks of the| In order to develop the power at | the Falls, it is necessary to “harness” immense volumes of water and for | that purpose a huge dam was de- i'cided upon. The putting in of this dam is a gigantic undertaking. The Rainy river at this point flows through an immense bed of ! solid rocks, and it has been neces- | sary to excavate to the depth of | fifty feet at some places where the ; falls were heaviest. | McGuire & Renne, the Canadian | firm, secured the contract to build | the dam and they have worked two | years on this contract. An immense | amount of stone has been placed on | the Canadian side of the river, and | more than half the dam was com- iplete:d last August. The contractors ;qui\‘. work and aboslutely refused to { complete the dam. However, the | sub-marine work was completed and | it is stated that six weeks more of labor would have completed the dam and harnessed the waterpower. As it is, the Koochiching company is receiving bids for the completion of | the work. A person with authority | states that the contract for the com- pletion of the dam will soon be let and the work will be resumed in the | near future, which will mean another boom for International Falls. It is estimated thatit will take | nearly two years of work before they }complete the dam. It is already decided that Backus & Brooks will put in a big sawmill and a pulpmill; and also to establish, ‘\\'hen the dam is completed and the | power house put in, an electric light | plant for both Fort Francis, on the | Canadian side of the river, and International Falls. The Backus & Brooks company owns at least five billion feet of tim- | ber in the Rainy river country, which is adjacent to International Falls, | and which consists of pine, pulp wood |and many other kinds of timber, all of which will be manufactured at International Falls, when the saw-| mill is completed. JUST AS GOOD A RANGE as the famous ROUND 0AK is a stove. the ROUND OAK Chief steel class in every particular—highest quality from top to bot- tom, and sold for a reasonable price. alike it wouldn’t make much difference bought, but they are not, goodness no. most of them were made to INAN OVEN™ Here's the Chief, a range of quality, made by people who make good goods only, of the perienced careful workmen and not a single item left out §! that will make the range better. No shuffling around to figure out how to cut a few packing or other things to cheat a little, but honestly and genuinely well made. Nothing in the land is equal to it for solid substantial worth. True economy always means to buy the best. Book of the range by mail or on request. W. M. Hardware, Furnitu "THIS 1S THE FINEST ROASTING FRITZ, ! ZVER SAW DONE That is just what range measures up to. First If ranges were all what kind you It “listens” like sell, price the only thing. very best materials by ex- rivets out or some ashestos ROSS HISTORICAL BEMIDJI, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1907. FORTY CENTS PER MONTH i —Courtesy of International Falls Echo. International Falls, as Viewed frfom the Canadian Shore of Rainy River. George M. Huss, who as civil engineer, has had charge of the con- structionof the BigFalls-International Falls extension of the M. & L. rail- way, has been retained by the Backus & Brooks company as gen. eral manager of all of that company’s interests at International Falls and ! in that vicinity. He now has con-| trol of the railway running from | Big Falls to International Falls, and will continue in charge until such time as the road is turned over to the M. & I. railway company | for operation in conjunction with the line to Brainerd running. south from Big Falls. The village of International Falls, which was until recently known as Koochiching, has beefi platted and organized with the intention of making it the largest city on the border line of the state of Minne- sota and the general distribution courts, the legal portion of which was very ably handled by C. W. Stanton, county attorney of Koochi- ching county. The following are the officials of the new county: Auditor—R. C. Fraser. Treasurer—G. A. Snyder. Sheriff—P. A. Walsh. Register of Deeds—F. S. Lang. Court Commissioner—]. F. Mec- Partlin. Judge of Propbate—W., V. Kane. Clerk of Court—J. H. Drummond. County Attorney—C. W. Stanton. County Surveyor—L. A. Ogaard. Coroner—Thos. H. Kinshella. School Superintendent— Anna Shelland. County Physicians—Dr. Withrow, Dr. C. R. Ward. County Commissioners— N. L. Olson, Fred Smith, R.S. McDonald, Hugh T. NcIntosh. In addition to the village and M. E. the completion of the road to the boundary. The last spike was driven in about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, which marked the com- pletion of practically an air line from the Canadian boundary to the | twin cities, via Brainerd. | The building of the extension | north from Big Falls was a big task. There are only thirty-four miles of road, but the line runs through what was for many years considered an | absolutely impassable swamp. | The actual work of constructing the road to Big Falls was commenced on Januaryl of this year. Dempsey & Daugherty received the contract for building the road and George M. Huss, as civil engineer, was put in charge of the work. Several careful surveys had been made from Big Falls to International Falls before the actual territory for ithe line was finally decided upon. —Courtesy of International Falls Echo. AMexander Baker, who Homesteaded Townsite of International Falls in 1881, and His Home International Falls Echo: The subject of this sketch will always occupy a prominent N place in the history of International Falls, as it washe who first realized in a measure the possibilities of the power of the Falls and profited by his foresight by pre-empting the forty and fractions that adjoined the falls, embracing 147,50 acres in all, and afterwards, in 1881, entering the same as a homestead. He was born in Drumarcher, Scotland. in 1827, and died while alone in his old homestead cabin on Sept. 4, 1899, being buried in whatis known as Baker's acre; which was apart of the adjoining homestead of his nephew, Joe. Baker, and which the latter still owns and lives upon. He came to America when 23 years of age, after serving as asailor under Farragut. his mission being to find an elder brother John who had settled in this country and was never heard of afterwards. He steam- boated on the Mississippi for some years, then became an explorer for a copper mining concern, working on the north shoreof Lake Superior. Later he commenced to work for himselt, and drifting into this country, settled upon the land now a part of our townsite, as before noted. He was a bachelor, short, somewhat stooped, but very rugged, and passed away without having complained of illness, well informed. He was a great reader and was generally center for points along the boundary. The village is well located; has most excellent streets; has plenty of business buildings; has a first-class hotel, conducted by R. H. Bennett, a thoroughly up-to-date caterer; two banks; several general stores, and all the trading stations necessary to handle a big business. The following are the officials of the village of International Falls: President—L. H. Slocum. Trustees—Erick Franson, Richard Walsh and S. R. Crozier. Recorder—F. B. Green. Treasurer—T. G. Nelson. Justices—D. J. Glendenny, George H. Walsh. Constables—James Curren, Chas. Nelson. The new county of Koochiching, of which International Falls is the county seat, was taken from Itasca county and was recognized officially only after a strenuous contest in the! county officials, the United States government has stationed at Inter- national Falls two customs inspec- tors and an immigration inspector, John A. Holler and P. H. Fogarty are the custom inspectors, and A. W. Swenson is the immigration inspector. On Septemlger 27th, the Big Falls- International Falls extension of the M. & I railway was officially com- pleted, and the occassion was marked by a public demonstration of large proportions at International Falls. W. H. Gemmell, general manager of the M. & L; W. H. Strachan superintendent of the M. & L; George M. Huss, construction engi- neer for the Northern Pacific rail- way, and E. W. Backus of the Backus & Brooks company, proprie- tors of the International Falls town- site, were in International Falls and participated in the celebration of re and Undertaking There is a big moskeag a short dis- tance north of Big Falls, extending | for seven miles, and there is also a moskeag on the north end of the road, which is twelve miles in length. It was necessary to make ditches parallel to the grade and also to make ditches every half mile for the purpose of draining off the water sufficiently to get a starter for the roadbed. | All the timber along the line was laid down and was afterwards cov- ered with gravel to make a founda- tion for the roadbed. Hundreds of loads of gravel will have to be used before this roadbed is surfaced properly and put into shape for every- day use. However, Mr. Huss states that with another two weeks of good weather the gravel trains will have surfaced the road sufficiently for traffic during the coming winter. It is the intention of the M. &. I" HAVE RECOVERED TWO OF BODIES DROWRED SUNDAY Searching Parties Recovgr from the Lake Two of the Hib- bing Men W ho Lost Their Lives While Hunting in Bowstring Country. Deer River, Nov. 7.—(Special to| Pioneer.)—Reports received here today from the Bowstring country ! where the three Hibbing men and | one other were drowded, are to the| effect that the accident took place on Thursday last week and not on Saturday as at first reported, and further that the body of Jack Seibel was recovered on Monday and that | of Peter Healey yesterday. Even the location of the accident is not definitely known here as yet although it seems quite certain that it happened in Dora Lake in- stead of Squaw Lake, as earlier re- ports stated. It is now definitely established, however, that Everdon | and Inscho, who were reported to“ have been in the boat with the others and been saved were not members of the party at all. | On the other hand, they were the first to learn of the accident and that was on Saturday when they found packs and other things be- longing to the party floating along the shore of the lake. Itis also said that the fourth member of the party to lose his life in the waters of the lake was A. N. Cooper, a cigar man, whose brother has a claim in that locality. As the scene of the accident is about thirteen miles from the rail- road and the greater part of the dis- tance not traversable by team, in- formation is very slow to arrive and what news does reach here comes from sources that cannot be relied upon, much of it being made up of hearsay and conjecture. No word up to a late hour last night had been received from the party of Hibbing men that went out to the lake yesterday. — e to change the time of its present trains so that they will leave "Brain- erd earlier than usual, arriving in| Bemidji at 5:15 in the evening,| instead of 6, as at present, and the! train will reach International Fallsg at about 10. Going south the train will leave Big Falls at 4 in the morning, and will arrive in Bemidji at about the same time as the present schedule, which is 7:50. With the completion of the new road, which will make direct railway connections with the twin cities and other portions of the United States south of there, there is every possi- bility that the village of Inter-I national Falls will take unto itself a! large sized boom. Assurances are given that work will be resumed on the big dam; that the powerhouse will be installed and the sawmill built; that the con- struction of the papermill will be commenced, which will inject the elixir of life into those who have become somewhat stagnant through long waiting, Micawber-like, for “something to turn up.” In connection with the develop- ment of ‘International Falls and Koochiching county, too much praise cannot be given to Messrs. Backus & Brooks, the officers of the M. & I. railway, C. W. Stanton, county attorney of Koochiching | county, and the staunch officers and private citizens of the community, who have never said die, but have stuck to their town with an intense loyalty that augurs well for a bril. liant future for the border city. Possibility of Family Ties. Mrs. A. Clavin has gone to Olitha, Kansas, where she will spend several days, looking up some prospective ties. Recently, Mr. Clavin shot a large lynx, and the fact was printed in a St. Paul paper. The name (A.Clavin) attracted the attention of a young lady living at Olitha, Kansas, the sir-name being an unusual one, the the same as that of the young lady. She wrote to inquire as to the rela- tions of Mr. Clavin and his family, with a possibility that they might be of kin. Mrs. Clavin decided to go to Olitha and investigate the matter. Local news on last page’ Money Is Only a Medium of Exchange | The magnificent business you gave us the past ten days and are giving us today is a telling blow to the calamity howler! That’s right--that's the way to do it--just go on attending to your own business as though we had never heard of a Wall Street panic. We’re so big and prosperous here in Northern Minnesota tnat financial flurries in the East need not trouble us seriously or long. The banks of Bemidji are as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar-- their cashiers’ checks are as good as gold--take a! Il you can getof them=-we’ll accept them in ex- change for merchandise or as payments on account, and what’s more, we’ll give you attractive bargains. Clothing House