| Show BETWEEN HERE HEBE AND DENVER colorado petroleum points about pueblo neglected land bad lor for utah potatoes colorado springs boom col march editor deseret news I 1 resumed my journey from canon city after closing my former communication in tb abe e night and was therefore prevented from obtaining a view of the village of florence and the country traversed before reaching pueblo Floren florence cp is noted for its oil wells the only ones in the state which are said to yield barrels of petroleum per day and still increasing and a new one which it is estimated will yield from fifty to seventy five barrels daily was struck only a few days since early this morning I 1 out to obtain a view of f pueblo the second largest town of the th eState state which is said to have a population of about it is for the most part substantially but rather irregularly built the better residences many of them stately mari mansions occupying the mesa on the south side of the river while the business portion of the town is principally situated on the bottom on either side of the river the stream being spanned by banne flue 1 well built iron bridges within the cit city y limits considerable unimproved landisio land isto be seen in places within the city and but little attention seems to have been paid as yet to t the he adornment of the place by the plant planting ng of trees or gardens with thee the exception except on of a few shade trees along some of f t the lie sidewalks from a jutting point of the southern thern mesa where the ooze and cactus still hold undisputed sway I 1 looked over the town and tried to fancy how it appeared forty one years ago when the members of the mormon battalion who sickened while en route to santa fe were left to winter here when it was a typical mexican pue pueblo lo 10 with all the old auts ants if I 1 mistake not even to the bull fights A few dilapidated looking huts are all that remain of the old town towa the others having given way to more pretentious buildings for business or huge smelters shelters sm elters four of which together with extensive steel works rolling mills and nail factory are to be seen in ii the distance in the suburbs of the town is also to be seen the asylum for the insane of the state quite a large structure pueblo has grown fast within the past few years but not nearly so fast as some of the other towns in colorado notably denver which it surpassed in size population and importance not very many years since and which it might still have been ahead of had bad its citizens been as e enterprising riter land must be very cheap in the vicinity of pueblo compared with prices at which it is selling in and near other towns where real estate is being boomed if one may judge by published accounts of recent sales made for instance acres easily basily watered and said to be well adapted tor for cultivation and only a few miles out from the town sold a day or two since for on leaving pueblo and journeying by D E R G train northward along the shores shore of abe fountain a tributary of 0 f of the arkansas a great deal of fine n e farming land largely consisting of a sandy loam is passed which shows evident sigus signs of present neglect due possibly to the fact as asserted that speculators have bought tile the land up from the farmers and are holding ut ft for high prices be this as it may in traversia gl the whole distance from pueblo to denver about one hundred and twenty miles I 1 never saw any plowing or planting in progress nor evidence of any having been done this year although for the first two thirds of the way the weather was beautifully mild and the soil entirely free from frost and plenty dry enough to cult cultivate avate utah farmers under s similar ira circumstances would be rushing their small grain in and yet utah farmers have something to learn from those of colorado if what I 1 was today informed by a wholesale dealer in produce be true that is in the matter of pr preparing arIng their products for market the best grades of greeley col poti potatoes toes are now sell here for per cwt cat while utah potatoes sell for f or in fact the gentleman informed me joe that he had bad bought one carload of utah potatoes last october and had bad most of them on en his bis hands yet while in the meantime he be had sold about twenty five carloads of colorado potatoes at an advance of 25 cents per cwt cat upon UP on what he would take for the utah tubers it is not that the colorado potatoes are any better flavored though he claims they are more smooth skinned generally than those these from utah and it is probably true when exporters buy potatoes from various kinds of soil and indiscriminately mix them but rather because no care is usually taken in utah to grade them and have them clean large and small and too often dirt emd and all being dumped into the sacks backs together without thought as to the serious and far reaching result in the shape of a blask eye for utah tubers generally stead instead n of their being in the highest demand everywhere as they really 8 should h 0 uld be from their merits if properly graded apparently the most prosperous town between pueblo and denver is colorado springs which is having a veritable boom and audits io citizens seem determined ter mined that it shall continue though it is quentio questionable 12 whether the means resorted desorte d to now to secure an increase of population will result in making it more desirable as a place of residence two different parties who contemplate erecting smelters shelters sm elters and who have been discouraged from doing so in the vicinity of 01 denver by the exorbitant prices asked for land have each been offered 80 acres of land and a bonus ot of in cash by the property owners of colorado springs if they will build them there on learning this I 1 was reminded of the fact that many owners of property in the vicinity of the smelters shelters sm elters in utah would prefer to give something to be rid of the disagreeable and deadly f fumes umes of the smelters shelters sm elters already there to having any more located in their neighborhood i at a sale of blooded horses which occurred here in denver day before yesterday the famous L C lee the utah bred stallion was bid in by james who in turn sold him privately an hour afterwards if ter wards for to a mr page who intends to take him east and put him on the tract when he expects to realize a handsome profit on mm him it will be remembered that mr willard richards of sugar house ward who raised this horse sold him a couple of years since tor for and was offered shortly afterwards it if I 1 mistake not for him it is said thit that subsequent uen owners have refused a much higher cher figure for f or him some say as much uch as he was sired by one of the best pedigreed horses ever taken to utah and which died there a coure couple of years a age thou though gh C ertain certain parties have ve since te he beca became MI famous questioned his paternity and attributed it to another horse I 1 saw an evide evidence nce of et utah en enterprise ter prise while im IB pueblo in shage shape of a branch establishment of tile the burton urton gardner co combination fence factory that companas comp anys agency for the machine covering colorado as well as utah which to is being operated by mr rex bex who informs me that the prospect is favorable for either doing a big business in the manufacture or for selling out county rights at a most ex excellent ent profit respects respectfully ally L |
