Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1892 — WHERE THEY’LL MEET. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WHERE THEY’LL MEET.

SEAT OF THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. Minneapolis, the Giant Industrial City of the Northwest—A Few Facts Concerning Its Karly History anil Brusoul Standing —Anita Baldwin. The Flour City. The selection of Minneapolis as the seat of the next National Republican Convention makes timely an account of the progress made by the great industrial city of the Mississippi to which so many products of the Northwest are contributory. The fact that it was not until 1807 that Minneapolis threw off the swaddling clothes of township and donned the full garb of a city has raised a doubt as to its ability in caring for the many thousands that the convention will bring it. But, though young in years, the city has prospered as few other cities have, and in its parks, its railway facilities, its hotel accommodations, the size and grandeur of its public buildings, its numerous attractions in the shape of summer resorts and lakes and in the hospitality of its people, it has few superiors. The building which it will devote to the purpose of the convention is the magnificent exposition building, 300 by 350 feet. With a few interior changes the building will have an auditorium capable of seating 15,000 people, and with seats so placed that a full view will be obtained from any point of the stage, the delegates and alternates. The city itself can accommodate 25,000 visitors; St. Paul, fifteen minutes distant, can take care

of as many more if need be; Lake Minnetonka, twelve miles away, and connected by steam, can accommodate 10,000 persons; and Lake Calhoun, three miles distant, another famed resort, will, if necessary, throw its doors open to 3,000 visitors. Attention was first called to the present site of Minneapolis by Lieut. Z. W. Pike, who, in 1805, was’ sent by the Government to explore the new Northwestern region, then acquired as part of the Louisiana purchase. He obtained grants of lands on either side of the Mississippi River from the Sioux Indians, extending from a little below Fort Snelling to a point above the Falls of St. Anthony. Thus, the Government came into possession not only of a splendid military site but of a great water power, and in 1821 it, established a small saw and grist mill for the use of the garrison of Fort Snelling—a post that had then been built. In 1838, the cession by the Chippewas of other lands lying between the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers led to settlements on the eastenß bank of the latter river, but inasmuch as non-resident speculators had gobbled up many large areas, the tide of settlement, owing to high prices, was checked. In 1848 the town site of St. Anthony was laid out, and a saw mill and other industries were established. The following year a few permits were granted by the Government to take up lands on the western bank, and soon back of these claims there came a considerable number of squatters. In 1853 the military reservation, acquired by Pike, was reduced to 6,000 acres, and on the liberated area on the west side a large number of people settled. In 1853 the claims were confirmed to the people, and a phenomenal development began. The new town that was founded \Vas called Minneapolis, and it soon began to outgrow St. Anthony, handicapped as the latter was-by its non-resident land owners and speculators. Up to 1858 the government of Minneapolis was that of an ordinary town, but it then gave way to a special town

government. In 1864 the primitive government was re-established, and in 1867 the town was transformed by special charter into a city. In 1872 St. Anthony surrendered her municipal independence and her name, and was merged into the city of Minneapolis. The manufacture of lumber was the first considerable industry of Minneapolis, and long held supremacy. In 1850, when the industry began, the output was 1,200,000 feet; in 1880, it was 195,452,200, while for the last decade the average has been but little below 300,000,000, no account being made of laths or shingles. But it is for flour manufacture that Minneapolis is best known to the world. Various causes contributed to this industry, the chief being the enormous waterpower of the Falls of St. Anthony and the opening of many millions of acres of prairie lands in Minnesota and the Dakotas to the cultivation of wheat. Another consideration is the situation of the city near the head of Lake Superior. From Duluth, 160 miles away, there is a continuous water transportation to Montreal and New York. There are thirty-seven mills in the city, capable of producing 37,800 barrels of flour daily, and with an annual output of over 6,000,000 barrels. Minneapolis has a population, according to the Federal census of 1890, of 164,738. It has 151 churches, of 21 denominations, having a membership of 25,000, and holding property of almost 15,000,000 in value. The

public schools have an attendance ol over 20,000 with 509 teachers. There are 22 parks and parkways, not enumerating several parklets formed by street intersections. The city has a good water supply, and has 10 lakes within the corporate limits.

CONVENTION HALL, MINNEAPOLIS.

MINNEAPOLIS IN 1854.