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Show BURLEY, IDAHO, AND THE OPENING OF IT. Fred Turner, of The RuruiiLicA firm, was one of tho 1,600 present at tho opening of thclIurley,Idaho,town-site thclIurley,Idaho,town-site on May 1st. He presents the following fol-lowing array of facts connected with that opening, which will undoubtedly prove of interest to many. A Big Crowd. The large number of people got Into In-to the Snake river country about ten o'clock and between that time and 1 p.m. not less than 1.&00 were carried over the river at Heyburn by a ferry boat and steam yacht. Many of them were only to be witnesses of the drawing draw-ing of course. The throng came from all over Idaho and Utah and comprised compris-ed all manner of people. Among the number were President Jack, Apostle Lyman and Joseph McGurrln, who were returning from conference held in Cassia county. Many Conveniences. The promoters of the land deal had provided every means for the comfort of the visitors. No charge was made for crossing the river by boat or ferry, and for conveying the passengers by team therefrom to the townsitc, which was about one and a half miles away. Hundreds of dollars could have been tllcncd from the people for this convenience, con-venience, but there was no charge made Rcstuarants had been hurriedly built for the accommodation of tho guests, and the prices charged were reasonable. reason-able. A brass band was In attendance attend-ance and at night a grand ball -was given in one of the new buildings. The Drawing. The visitors registered as they came to the townsitc and the registering continued until 2 p.m. Eacli person's name was written on a slip and placed in a large box. When tho time for drawing came, a small boy was dragged drag-ged out of the crowd to draw the slips from the box. The first one drawn had first choice of lots. This was kept up until more than COO tickets wero drawn. Over $100,000 was received in payment pay-ment for lots, the prices ranging from $500 to $1,000 per lot of twenty-five and fifty foot fronts, by one-hundred and twenty-five feet deep. Tho party drawing tho llrst ticket turned it over to Mr. Samuel J. Rich, of Ulackfoot, who had his first draw In tho lots. Prof. I. N. Smith, or this city.has two of the best lots in tho new city. Magnificent Location. It Is hard to conceive of a nicer location lo-cation for a city than that of Burlcy. The grading Is done for the railroad tnat runs by the north side of tho town on to Twin Falls. The town-site town-site Is located on a beautiful track of land sloping gently to the river at the north. Fifteen miles to the south there rises a medium sized range of mountains in which Is timber. At the foot of these mountains lie the towns of Albion and Oakley, which will become tributary to Hurley at once. Tho farming land around Hurley Hur-ley exceeds by far In quality that of any other prospective towns surrounding. surround-ing. All tho towns are located where the soil Is straight sage-brush land with a large per cent of sand; that of Burlcy is of a heavier black soil upon which grows wheat, grass and sage. It Is also noticeable that weeds grow very rank, as shown by tho old stalks that remained in the ground. Water for Irrigating purposes around Burley comes under a government proposition which will be eminently successful. The altitude of Burley is about tho same as that of Salt Lako City, and the town Is free from those excessive winds that prevail further north. There are hundreds upon hundreds of homestead shacks dotting cither side of the river from Minidoka on the west for a hundred miles, far beyond be-yond Twin Falls City. When the land Is brought under cultivation there will be no better in the world for alfalfa, sugar beets and fruits of all kinds, not excepting- peaches. While the above locality does not He within the confines of this State, and will not accrue to our bcncflt.'ln fairness we cannot but state that the southern part of Idaho will some day outstrip any other portion in agricultural pursuits. |