Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, February 17, 1906, Page 4

nied (aetna ttntattttatad a FOO00902898980 iThe State Day by Day; NEWS OF INTEREST. DRAINAGE FOR ENTIRE STATE. Whole Commonwealth Would Share in Profit. (By H. G. Hays, Secretary of the Min- nesota Drainage League, Bemidji, Minn.) To begin the consideratfon of the sreat subject of the drainage of the state and government lands by de- nominating it a Northern Minnesota scheme prejudices the question in the minds of many before the merits of the problem may be known. Preju- lice thus excited or created is hard to down, and until we can regard the matter as one in which the people of the whole state are interested, justice will not be done. The fact is that the drainage of Minnesota’s heritage of swamp lands and the state’s holdings, the government lands, is one of those pendcus propositions that becomes larger and greater and more impor- ant the longer it is thought over and the more it is investigated. Minneso- a embraces an area of 86,000,000 acres of land. Exclusive of city amg town lots, the area now on the assessment rolls is less than 7,000,000 acres. The great prestige 1e state as an agricultural factor; eat reputation it has won as bread and butter state” of the the immense aggregate wealth farms, and proportionately 6f has been attained and won than one-half of its possible le land improved. The feasibility 11,000,000 acres more to this mceded by engineers who tigated the matter, and the adding nearly one-third Ss productiveness is a most 1 much-to-be-desired at- nage means little short mean more, for with more extensive be expected, and with nsive cultivation, greater re- ure to follow. g, therefore, withthe thought that this is a great undertaking, and he one in which not only the state is in- erested, we begin our line of thought correctly and may approach the sub- ect without any other idea than that of helping ourselves by pulling to- gether. This 11,000,000 acres of swamp land is a barrier to the development f the whole State of Minnesota. Swamp land is universaily good land ecause it is the naturally fertile land enriched by the decayed vegetable of generations — nature’s That reclamation by drain- e is feasible, practical and economi- is a demonstrable fact ,and now it the clamor for landis rising; now that homeless thousands are looking for locations; now that attention is being attracted to the Northwest; now that hundreds of thousands of our seeking homes ss our border, is the time to strike; 1ow is the time to hold out hope for se people by assuring them that ry soon Minnesota will afford room for 137,000 more farms; that Minnesota with an already established reputa- tion, will give greater area than has t been utilized; that Minnesota with her nearness to market, her splendid transportation facilities, her world- famous climate, has room for a million »re men and women and homes for times that many more; that sota is waiting with open arms to welcome them. Such an announce- ment, such a scheme of reclamation will attract world-wide attention and it will hasten the energies and the thousands of workmen who will be smployed to answer the demands of home-seeking and home-making hosts. To repeat, the question is not me of the aggrandizement of one section, but the glorification of an en- re state and the ennobling of a ion. The Minnesota Drainage league wants earnest support, not for irriga- on in some remofe district, but for mation of swamp lands in the commonwealth of Minnesota. We are yld that he who looketh not to his wn is worse than an infidel and that harity begins at home, and we know the taking advantage of those con- ions with which we are immediately inded is far wiser than the g of ever-present opportuni- some project that contributes directly to our state’s well being. should be a problem toward the earnest endeavors of the > of the state should be at once rected. are yeomen ree Mi the ELECTRIC LINE FOR MESABA. Eveleth Mayor Urges Co-Operation With Virginia. The organization of a third com- pany to secure franchises for the operating of street railways and inter- urban lines in and between the towns of the Mesaba iron range was sug: gested by Mayor Charles Jessmore at a meeting of the Eveleth Business Men’s association. They mayor urged the business men at Virginia to secure franchises from these towns. He called attention to the efforts of F. B. Myers of Biwa- bik to secure franchises and of the Northern Traction Company of Hib- bing, whose entry into the same field was recently chronicled. These ef- forts, Mayor Jesmore said, were being made “at cach end of the line” and there was no reason why the Eveleth and Virginia people should not de velop the middle field. WOLVES CAUSE HEAVY LOSSES. —— Animals Increase In Numbers and Are Bold. That there are more wolves in Polk county at the present time than ever before since the organization of the county is shown by the fact that the bounties paid by the state for them have doubled in the last year. There already have been brought to the auditor’s office at the court house this winter 95 hides, for which $7.50 each was paid as a bounty, making a total of $712.50 given out to the hunt- ers, trappers and farmers who insti- gated a raid to exterminate the pest in this section of the country. Wolves this winter have been so numerous that the farmers have ex- perienced heavy losses as a result of the bold foraging of the animals. Packs of them have endangered the lives of cross-country travelers. In Red Lake and Beltrami counties not only wolves have been reported as being numerous, but also bears have been seen in great numbers. H. O. Smith, a Beltrami county home- steader, while in Crookston recently, | said that on his way there, where he transacted business at the land office, he was approached by three bears be- fore he reached the nc«arest railway station, and had it not been for the tall timber, he might have been at-} tacked by the animals. He was forced | to climb a tree and to wait until the three bears were satisfied that he was not their meat. This is but one in- stance of many that have been re- ported during the winter, and some of them have been thrilling. TO MOVE TO WHITE EARTH. Mille Lacs Chippewas Are to Leave Sandstone. Notices have been issued from the agency office at White Earth to the effect that United States Indian Agent Simoh Michelet will go to Sandstone, Minn., soon for the pur- pose of paying members of the Mille Lacs Chippewas who reside in the vicinity of Tamarack Indian village the per capita of the annuity of 1905. These Indians, who number about 200, were unable to attend the annual pay- ment which was distributed at Mille Lacs during the month of November, 1905. Many of the Mille Lacs Chippewas | have signified a willingness to remove to the White Earth reservation early in the coming spring, and Agent Michelet is having lumber manufac- tured and hauled preparatory to build- ing the homes for these Indians. Sev- eral of the most obdurate chiefs and head men who have been opposed to removal, recently have visited the White Earth reservation, and seem to be favorably impressed with the coun- try, and will counsel their people to remove. STATE G. A. R. DATES SET. Department Encampment Will Be Held in Minneapolis March 21-22. Minnesota G. A. R. men are looking forward to a pleasant ‘time in Minne- apolis on March 21 and 22, the occa- sion being the fortieth annual de- partment encampment. The call has been issued by Department Command- er C. F. MacDonald, and there is every indication that the encampment will eclipse all others. The great topic of interest at the encampment sessions will be the na- tional encampment of the G. A. R., to be held in Minneapolis in August. Pressing and urgent invitations have been issued to Gen. James Tanner, commander-in-chief of the order, and his staff. No definite answer has been received as yet, but the invita- tion was informally extended and ac- cepted when the commander-in-chief and his staff were in the city last De- cember. The Minnesota department is Gaia ning great things for the national en- campment, FRANCHISES EXPIRE. The franchises of both the Mankato street railway companies have ex- pired for want of success by either in pushing its project through. The city council has decided not to enforce the bond put up by either company for the carrying out of the enter- prises, both have lost what money they have invested in trying to inter- est outside capital. Now both com- panies are talking of uniting their fortunes in a new venture, local capi- tal to be used largely in building the electric line. It is generally believed that the outlook for a line will be improved by both the present companies retiring and giving way to a merger of inter- ests. Any new company that comes into the field will be asked to put up a considerable cash bond. MAY CUT OUT GEN. WOOD. Abolition of Lieutenant General’s Po sition Proposed for Army. Washington, Feb. 9.—Provision for the abolition of the grade of lieuten- ant general, the highest rank in the army, is made in the army appropria- tion bfll which has been reported to, the house. If this legislation secures the approval of congress, Major Gen: , erals Corbin, MacArtur and Wood Sa ae anak eee ed promotion to the grade of lieuten-. ant general. Mount Vernon a Shrine Toward Which A hundred years have passed since Death, entering the upper chamber at Mount Vernon, laid his hand upon the heart of Washington, and stilled its throbbings; but that the love and ven- eration with which he inspired his countrymen has known no diminution is proven every recurring anniversary of his birth. Perhaps even more conclusive evi- dence is to be found in the hundreds who daily visit the historic spot, and in the absence of merry-making which marks these throngs. They come as pilgrims to a shrine, speaking in sub- dued voices as they pass from room to room, or standing in awed silence | | jis mortal of him who in so distinctive a sense is immortal. There is an air of such deep re- |pose about the place, despite the ebb with the feathery tails erect, lawn in delightful squirrels, frolic on branches of trees, or perch in rows on stable eaves, and along the upper edges of the low, half doors. Glancing in his accustomed stall Washington’s war horse, Nelson, who, after the bat- feel the weight of a saddle, and to bear his whinnying response to his master’s call. Across from this is the garden, red- olent with the odor of box bushes. transformed from the green, outline lof Mrs. Washington’s day into aro- matic walls of vendure. Gay with |8weet williams and pinks and all the jrest of the fragrant, old-fashioned flowers, it was an alluring spot to lit- |e Nellie Custis, who was sometimes ered to harpsichord and spinnet, when father shielded her from her mother’s displeasure. Mount Vernon, as grand- is generally | known, association of ladies, which now has representatives from thirty-seven {states. Through these representa- before the tomb which holds all that | and flow of the tide of humanity, that | abandon, while birds chatter in the | over one of these one seems to see | tle of Yorktown, was never allowed to | discovered there during the hours sa- | only the interposition of her adopted | was purchased in 1858 by an | with money earned by the pupils of the St. Paul schools. They have since been put in working order and con- tinue to turn out beautiful fabrics. In the dwelling-house the apartment coming first in order is the banquet hall, in charge of the vice-regent from New York. The elaborately carved marble mantel in this room exhibits interesting proof of the power of an awakened conscience. A dog’s head, broken off by some ruthless relic hun- ter, was afterward anonymously re- turned, and has since—with the aid of cement—been restored to its original position. Over this mantel a French clock, which regulated the life at Mount Vernon, still ticks, telling the Turns Every Loyal American Heart kled with yellow stars. While the carpet was on its way to this country Washington was made _ President; and, being unable in that capacity to accept the gift, it became the prop- erty of the United States government. It was afterward purchased by Judge Yates, of Lancaster, Pa., and within the last two years has been presented to the association by his granddaugh- ter, Mrs.. Townsend Wheelan, of Phil- adelphia. | In the hall the visitor is shown the | key of the Bastile, and, ascending the | stairway at the foot of which it hangs, is confronted by a cabinet filled with the most interesting curios. Impris- oned behind glass doors is the com- Washington on the Porch at Mount ¥ ernon, {hour as veraciously now as_ then; while on the wall to the right of it | hangs the portrait of Washington which Rembrandt Peale painted with such feverish energy, and which was donated to the association by his heirs. A chair brought over in the Mayflower stands beneath the picture, and near it is the stool Washington knelt at Christ Church, | Alexandris, and another used by lie Custis. Other objects to which the atten- tion is directed are a model of the Bastile made of the stone of which the prison was composed, and pre- | sented by Lafayette; a British flag | captured by Washington and donated | | by General Grant, with many relics of | equal interest. The end of the build- | pied by the library, with its valuable | collection of books and souvenirs. It | is in the rooms which these apart- |}ments flank, however, ranged on either side of a broad hall, that one is brought most closely in touch with the family life at Mount Vernon. Nellie Custis’ music room, in which the general’s flute lies upon the harp- sichord which he presented her on the occasion of her marriage, recalls one of the most delightful relations of his life—his connection with his beautiful | adopted daughter. Here she beguiled | him with the songs which he loved or | played the accampaniments to his mu- on which | Nel- | | ing opposite the banquet hall is occu- | | pass used by Washington in survey- |ing Lord Fairfax’s land, with many other objects closely associated with him; a memento of Mrs. Washington existing in a quiit made by herself of bits of her gowns and donated by Mrs. Jefferson Davis. On this floor, in the chamber occu- pied by Nellie Custis, is the mirror | which so often reflected her beauty, and the steps by which she climbed to her high-testered bed. Here, too, in the Lafayette room, is the four- poster, in which the Marquis slept on the occasion of his visits to Mount | Vernon and the dressing table before j which he adjusted the unbecoming red wig. | Other apartments, called by the | mames of the states which care for them, are grouped about these. Each has an interest peculiar to itself; but above and beyond them all in sacred associations and hallowed memories is the room in which Washington breathed his last. The bed upon which more than one hundred years ago he lay dying stands in the same spot to-day. Near it is a light table stained with the marks of medicine glasses, and at its foot the chair in which the faithful wife sat watching through all the weary hours, and upon which, when all was over, lay her open Bible. One must climb another flight of | stairs to reach the room occupied by tives each state assumes the care of a room, and the responsibility of fitting it up with furniture, of which it was despoiled at the sale of the late owner; or, failing this, of substituting articles possessing historic interest and belonging to the period. One of the most successful of these attempts is to be found in the Minnesota, or spinning-room, vocal in the days of pyore with the music of wheel and flax brake, while above the rythmical whirr might have been heard the mis- tress’ voice, giving direction to the swarthy artisans who spun and wove most of the clothing worn by the 300 slaves belonging to the estate. The articles In this room, which were col- leeted by Perley Poore and treasured | by him at his home, were purchased {by the association from his widow - loom and the measured stroke of the | Washington and His Generals. sic on the flute. In the dining-room, where the family party was so often reinforced by guests, is an original piece—an old Chippendale sideboard— which descended to Mrs. Robert E. Lee and was afterward restored to its accustomed position by her, while in Mrs. Washington's sitting-room may be seen the same card table around which the household gathered for the | evening rubber. The most noteworthy object in the west parlor is the carpet, made for Washington by order of Louis XVI., | and still in a perfect state of preser- vation, although more than one hun- dred years old. It is of velvet, the cir- | enlar center of pale ecru, upon which lis stamped an American eagle, with the motto, “E Pluribus Unum,” be- neath, being surrounded ®by a_ rich green background, plentifully sprin- Mrs. Washington after this—a low, narrow roof room, very cold in win- ter, for there was no way of heating it, and hot when the summer sun beat upon it. Through its single dormer window, however, she could look ‘out upon her husband’s tomb, and there she remained until the silver cord which bound her to life was loosed and she went to join him in his long sleep by the river. A negro sentinel guards, the graves. who tells you, in the vernacular of the .race, how the key which locks the vault behind them, and in which forty of their kindred are buried, has been sunk in the Potomac. “Not,” he adds, “where it can be dragged for, but de@p, where it will never more be found.”—Grace De- vinne Bostwick, in Los Angeles Times. ongress. Resume of the Week's Proceedings. Wednesday. Washington, Feb. 7—Having fixed the end of the general debate on the rate bill at 4:30 o’clock this after- noon, the recognition of the chair was passed around at a lively rate in the house yesterday. Seventeen speeches were made, all of them for the meas- ure. The railways came in for an un- usual amount of criticism. The senate gave the entire day a review of the prerogatives of the sen ate im the matter of framing treaties. The question was raised by Mr. Bacon in a speech on his resolution request- ing information concerning the Alge- ciras conference. He talked for al most three hours, and was followed by Mr. Spooner, who spoke for consid- erably more than an hour. to Thursday. Washington, Feb. 8 —By continuing its session practically to 7 o'clock the house concluded all prelim ry steps to the passage of the railroad rate pill, ordered a roll call on the me ure and put off the final action w to-day at noon. The time for amendment came at 4 o'clock, and for three hours follow ing one amendment after another came up, was read, debated in some instances, and sent down to defi So fierce was the struggle to ame nis that often when a paragraph of th | bill was concluded in the reading, a dozen members shouted for recogni | tion and waved thei Not one of these w Yesterday was many years the s | made the scene of an effort to | minister party discipline to a mem of that body, and the occur > was one of so many dramatic det t the many witness get it. Mr. Patt of the effort and Mr. B: } in the absence of Mr. Gor! cratic leadership is conceded, instrument of his party in the was the inci dent. The proceedings arose in con nection with the consideration of Mr. Patterson’s resolution of remon |strance against caucus aetion on treaties with foreign nations. Mr. Bailey’s speech was based upon the theory that all senators are under obligations to obey conscience rather than caucus, but that in doing so they antagonize their party and should hold themselves responsible to their party. Mr. Bailey charged the senator from Colorado with having been a party to the adoption in a previous caucus of the rule binding Democratic senators to the two-thirds rule. Friday. Washington, Feb. 9. — Just enough morning business was allowed in the house preceding the vote on the Hep- burn railroad rate bill yesterday to permit delayed members to reach their seats before the roll call or- dered the night before began. Three hundred and forty-six members voted for the bill. Seven, all Republicans, voted against it. Applause greeted the announcement of the result by the speaker, and the house, which had given its undivided attention to the question of government rate for seven days, turned its attention to other matters. The pension appropriation bill car- rying $139,000,000 for pensions and $1,245,000 for pension administration was taken up, debated, and passed without amendment. The feature of the bill, aside from the appropriation made, is a provision making statue law the famous order of the president declaring age conclusive evidence of disability. There was a general expect that there would be a revival yes tion r- day of Wednesday’s exciting oc- eurrences in the senate over Mr. Patterson’s caucus resolution but it was not realized and the ge crowd com ent to the galleri leave in disapp m. the senate went into devoted the attracted pelled to when at 3 p. executive session, after a day largely to ordinary bills calendar. on Saturday. Washington, Feb. 10.—Almost entire session of the sen was devoted to the consideration the urgent deficiency bill which was passed p y was reported from the co’ tee on appropriations. The only ussion was over an amendment suggested by Mr. Patterson to strike out the pro- vision relieving alien workmen on the canal from the operations of the eight- hour law. The amendment was voted down without ~esorting to a roll call. The house yesterday ground out its usual semi-monthly grist of private pensions, passing in seventy-two min- utes 429 bills for the benefit of vet- erans who are barred for one reason or another from coming in under the general statute. t he Tuesday. The senate yesterday adopted a joint resolution reported by Mr. Tillman from committee on interstate com- merce directing the commission to in- vestigate the charge of discrimination and combination in restraint of trade * made against the railroads. The adoption of the resolution was preceded by a speech by Mr. Tillman in which he practically charged that the administration was not proceed- ing in good faith to secure railway ; legislation because he was not satis- fied with the president’s advisers.