106 81 The Great Northern Railway from Des Lacs, N. D., to Stations in North Dakota. Miles from Des Lacs 130 to Buford, N. D.. 110 to Williston, N. D. Rate in Dollars 62 to White Earth, N. D..... The Great Northern Railway from Minot, N. D., to Stations Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway, and Chicago & Great North Western Railway, joint tariff on Lignite Coal, in carloads, from Bismarck. Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway, and Bismarck, Washburn & Great Falls Railway, joint tariffs on Lignite Coals in carloads from Wilton, N. D. Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway. Possibility of River Transportation for Lignite.-At first the Missouri river, which flows through the center of the lignite area, with the lignite outcropping in heavy seams along its banks, and enters South Dakota, which is practically without fuel resources, promises to solve the perplexing problem of transportation. A careful study of actual conditions, however, does not place this proposition in an attractive light. The river is closed to navigation during that portion of the year when the coal industry is most active, and during the remainder of the year may be regarded as suitable for the navigation of boats of not more than three hundred tons. The time required for a round trip from Bismarck to Pierre is twelve days, and the daily expense of handling the steamer is considerable. One serious attempt has been made to ship lignite to South Dakota points by boat, but it did not meet with success, due in part to the fact that a number of unique factors in the problem of transportation on the Missouri had not been considered. THE OPPORTUNITY THAT THE LIGNITE OFFERS FOR DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES WITH THE STATE. The desirability of diversifying the industry of a community so that local markets are created for the various commodities produced is very manifest. If the farmer, the gardener, and the dairymen can find a home market for their produce, due to the presence in the community of a large number of persons who are engaged in manufacturing, both producer and consumer profit by the fact that no charges for transportation are involved in their transactions. Lignite as Related to Land Interests. The present and in a much larger measure the future prosperity of the western half of the state depends directly on its wealth of readily available fuel. Railroads are not numerous and coal brought either from the east or west is very expensive on account of the long haul. Fully nine-tenths of the inhabitants of this part of the state, however, have a lignite bank in operation within fifteen miles of their homes, and a great many of them obtain their fuel on their own premises. This could be done by a much larger number, did not the demand made on their time in settling a new country make it more economical to haul fuel a few miles rather than expend the time necessary to open a lignite bank at their own door. Cheap and abundant fuel is an inducement honestly held out to the settlers throughout this great section of the state. The great significance of the lignite deposits to the question of irrigation is considered in a later chapter. By its use hundreds of thousands of acres of naturally fertile land will yield certain and abundant crops. The establishment of mills and creameries is greatly favored. by the cheapness of lignite and their presence in every community is a direct benefit to those engaged in agriculture. Lignite as Related to Manufacturing.-In practically every flouring mill in the state, west of the Red River valley, lignite is used to great advantage. Some of these mills are of large size, having a daily output of from four and five hundred barrels. a day in addition to custom grinding. Every year sees the erec tion of more mills, the territory in which they are found going farther and farther west as the country is subdued for the growth of cereals. There is no part of the state where dairying, carried on in connection with stock raising cannot be carried on to great advantage, and this fact is manifesting itself in the increasing number of creameries that are being erected where a few years ago the stock raising interests were the only ones recognized. The great quantities of straw that are annually consumed in the stack, suggest the possibility of paper board mills and other manufacturing industries which, aided by cheap fuel can utilize this material. The state consumes a considerable amount of the products manufactured from straw which, on account of bulk and weight are not cheaply transported. Foundries and factories to produce the implements used in such numbers by the agricultural interests of the state will be practical when the population increases sufficiently to furnish the necessary labor conditions. The fact that even the smaller cities and towns of our state enjoy electric light and water works is due directly to the lignite. The benefits and luxuries of advanced civilization are extended very widely over the state by the abundance of cheap fuel. Association of Lignite With Valuable Clays.-One of the greatest natural endowments of the state are the great deposits of valuable clays which are associated directly with lignite. At a number of points the clays which are stripped from the lignite or taken out incidentally in mining are made into high-grade brick, the lignite furnishing the fuel used for all the manufacturing processes. Fire clays which stand the highest tests in ovens and smelters are made into brick which are shipped to St. Paul and Milwaukee on the east and to Butte, Montana on the west. This industry is as yet in its infancy but it promises to expand rapidly. The desirability of cheap and permanent building material and its importance in the development of the state is not to be over estimated. Nearly all the brick used in the state are now made within its borders and the time will certainly come when North Dakota will become an exporter of high-grade facing and fire brick. Pottery clays also are present in great abundance but as yet are undeveloped. They deserve the careful consideration of capitalists. Sandstones which justify extensive development occur in buttes which contain great deposits of lignite, and their availability has been pointed out in the chapter on mineral statistics. IRRIGATION There is a wide spread interest throughout the country in plans for bringing to its full measure of productiveness the semiarid tract which extends north and south half way across the continent, east of the Rocky mountains, and of which North Dakota possesses a portion. The average rainfall of the western portion of the state is about eighteen inches and very often it is distributed during the growing months so as to yield, in connection with the naturally fertile soil, magnificent harvests. Farming conditions, however, are rendered uncertain by a fluctuation in rainfall, and in order to insure crops annually irrigation should be fostered wherever it is practical. President Roosevelt, in his message of Dec. 5, 1901, concisely stated the attitude of the general government toward this question: "The pioneer settlers on the arid public domain chose their homes along streams from which they could divert the water to reclaim their holdings. Such opportunities are practically gone. There remain, however, vast areas of public land which can be made available for homestead settlement, but only by reservoirs and main-line canals impracticable for private enterprise. These irrigation works should be built up by the national government. The lands reclaimed by them should be reserved by the government for actual settlers, and the cost of construction should, so far as possible, be repaid by the land reclaimed. The distribution of the water, the division of the streams among irrigators, should be left to the settlers themselves in conformity with the state laws and without interference with those laws, or with vested rights. The policy of the national government should be to aid irrigation in the several states and territories in such manner as will enable the people in the local communities to help themselves, as will stimulate needed reforms in the state laws and regulations governing irrigation. The necessary foundation has already been laid for the inauguration of the policy just described. It would be unwise to begin by doing too much, for a great deal will doubtless be learned, both as to what can and what cannot be safely attempted, by the early efforts, which must of necessity be partly experimental in character. At the very beginning the government should make clear, beyond shadow of doubt, its intention to pursue this policy on lines of the broadest public interest; but only in accordance with the advice of trained experts, after long investigation has shown the locality where all the conditions combine to make the work most needed and fraught with the greatest usefulness to the community |