Fifty Years In The Northwest by William H. C. Folsom
1888. A. A. Ames.
1250 words | Chapter 173
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 The mills destroyed have since been replaced by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
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