Fifty Years In The Northwest by William H. C. Folsom

WATER VERSUS STEAM. Some wonder has been expressed that in the vicinity of one of the finest water powers on this continent there should be found so many saw mills run by steam. The question is partly an economical one, as owing to the heavy expenses entailed upon mill owners to prevent the retrogression of the falls, it may be cheaper for saw mill owners to use steam, especially as they can feed their furnaces with but little expense from the slabs and debris of their own lumber; but in this case a weightier reason may be found in the fact that the west side of the river has been occupied chiefly by flouring mills, and the saw mills are moved to less eligible localities, and find it more convenient and economical to use steam instead of water. TERRIFIC EXPLOSION AT THE FLOUR MILLS. One of the most remarkable mill disasters of modern times occurred May 2, 1878, in the Washington A mill. About 7 P. M. the sound of a terrific explosion was heard and the city was shaken as by an earthquake. The mill in which it occurred was utterly demolished, as were also the Humboldt, the Zenith and the Palisade, while several others were badly wrecked. There were fourteen lives lost and the property destroyed amounted in value to over $1,000,000. The cause of the explosion was at first not understood, but on thorough investigation was finally attributed to a mixture of exceedingly fine grain and flour dust with the air of the mills, in such proportion as to form a combustible mixture, which was accidentally ignited. The mills destroyed have since been replaced by better ones. The great Pilsbury A mill, which is perhaps beyond question the largest in the world, was begun in the following year. A canal was cut to supply it with power, and it was equipped with two Victor turbine water wheels of 1,450 horse power each and a 1,400 horse power engine; it was furnished with 400 pairs of rollers, 200 middlings purifiers, 20 run of stone, 200 bolting reels and other devices in keeping. SUBURBAN RESORTS--LAKE MINNETONKA. This magnificent lake is 10 miles southwest of Minneapolis, and 20 miles from St. Paul. Its extreme length is about 18 miles, varying in width from 1 to 5 miles. Its water area is about 15,000 acres, and its shore line is estimated at nearly 300 miles. A glance at the map will show what a variety of scenery it must have, being so broken and irregular. Its banks and islands are covered with forest trees except at a few points where villages have been located, or where some farmer had, years ago, cleared himself a farm. There are three villages on Minnetonka, viz.: Excelsior, Wayzata and Mound City. Excelsior was settled in 1852, by a colony from New York State, and named from the title adopted by the organization before leaving home. It was incorporated about 1879. It is located on a range of hills on the south shore of Lake Minnetonka, of which it has a commanding view. Its present population is about 850. It has two railways, the Minneapolis & St. Louis and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba, and a motor line. It is distant 18 miles from Minneapolis. The oldest settlement on the lake is Wayzata, on the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, 10 miles from Minneapolis, via the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, which passes through the village. The name Wayzata is a corruption of the Indian word Wy-ze-a-ta, meaning North Shore, or North Side. The village contains about 400 inhabitants, and commands considerable trade from the surrounding country. There are several fine hotels upon the lake, equal if not superior to the famous hotels of eastern watering places. Prominent among these are the Hotel Lafayette, built at a cost of $200,000, the Lake Park Hotel and Excelsior House. Railways reach the lake at several points, and steamers make regular trips for tourists. Minnehaha Falls, rendered famous in Longfellow's poems of Hiawatha, is located on Minnehaha creek, midway between Fort Snelling and St. Anthony Falls. It is deservedly a favored resort. PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN MINNEAPOLIS COSTING $100,000 AND UPWARD. Court house (not completed) $2,000,000 Post office 500,000 Exposition Hall 350,000 Science Hall 125,000 Library building 190,000 Soldiers' Home, near Minnehaha Falls 100,000 State University 150,000 Chamber of Commerce 285,000 Temple Court 250,000 Masonic Temple 200,000 City Market House 225,000 Athenæum 250,000 Hennepin Avenue Theatre 140,000 Washburn Orphan Asylum 125,000 House of Good Shepherd 200,000 Loan and Trust Company 125,000 Guaranty Life and Trust 300,000 Lumber Exchange 150,000 Builders' Exchange 100,000 Knights of Labor Exchange 100,000 S. C. Hall Lumber Company 100,000 Bank of Commerce 200,000 Union elevator 375,000 Minneapolis & Pacific elevator 118,000 St. Anthony elevator 154,000 Boston block 100,000 Nicollet House block 100,000 Albert Johnson block 100,000 Globe block 200,000 Wright block 140,000 Mutual block 100,000 Glen block 200,000 Langdon block 120,000 Central block, terrace 150,000 Syndicate block 600,000 West Hotel 1,020,000 Gates' tenements 125,000 Lowry's residence 100,000 Eastman & Cook's saw mill 100,000 Soo & St Marie shops 145,000 North Minneapolis pumping station 214,000 Tubular car works 250,000 Buel tenement block 100,000 Pillsbury A flour mill 1,100,000 Washburn A flour mill 750,000 Washburn B flour mill 500,000 Morrison flour mill 100,000 Christian & Co.'s flour mill 100,000 High School building 100,000 Church of the Dominican Fathers 100,000 Aggregate value of school property 1,250,000 Aggregate value of church property 1,000,000 Aggregate value of parks and boulevards 1,000,000 POST OFFICE STATISTICS FOR 1886. General business $409,225 Money orders 1,215,951 Income 225,178 Expense 79,436 HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE AT MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. Postmasters. Established Jan. 7, 1854 Hezekiah Fletcher. Dec. 22, 1854 Carlos Wilcoz. April 7, 1856 Alfred E. Ames. April 22, 1857 Samuel Hidden. Aug. 30, 1858 William P. Ankeny. April 4, 1861 David Morgan. July 12, 1865 Daniel Bassett. Nov. 17, 1866 William W. McNair. March 11, 1867 Cyrus Aldrich. April 15, 1871 Geo. H. Keith. June 21, 1882 Orlo M. Laraway. June 22, 1886 John J. Ankeny. The bonded debt of the city is $3,319,000. The city can not create a debt nor issue bonds to a greater amount than five per cent of the assessed valuation of city property, and the charter prohibits a floating debt. The tax assessments for 1886 $99,591,762 Barrels of flour manufactured 6,163,000 Value of other manufactures $62,500,000 Feet of lumber manufactured 267,197,000 Elevator capacity (bushels) 11,820,000 Bushels of wheat received 34,904,260 Eight bridges span the river at Minneapolis as crossings for the various railroads. The stone arch viaduct of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba cost $750,000. Municipal expenses, $2,542,714. The following table gives the cut of lumber in Minneapolis for the last sixteen years: 1870 118,233,100 1871 117,157,000 1872 167,918,820 1873 189,970,000 1874 191,305,680 1875 156,665,000 1876 200,371,250 1877 129,676,400 1878 130,274,400 1879 149,151,500 1880 195,452,200 3881 230,402,800 1882 312,239,800 1883 278,716,480 1884 300,724,373 1885 313,998,166 1886 267,196,519 WEST MINNEAPOLIS. West Minneapolis is located about eight miles from the court house, in sections 24 and 19 of township 27, range 24, and is not included within Minneapolis' city limits. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Louis, the Hastings & Dakota, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroads have stations here. It was surveyed in 1886, and organized shortly after. It has two threshing machine and other extensive manufactories. The Hennepin county poor farm is located near by. CALVIN A. TUTTLE.--Mr. Tuttle was born in Holland, Connecticut, in