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Show MINNESOTA. 385 can guard against by " taking the vail/' as the residents do, there is no physical inconvenience, and the air is ever pure and bracing. You can enjoy the sensation of a day eighteen or twenty hours long, and see the sun as low at noon in summer as it is in Ohio in winter. With this hint I resume toy personal narrative. From St. Paul we took the cars northward along the left bank of the Mississip-pi, passing through rich prairies and " oak o p e n-ings," the lat-ter looking very much like old orchards. We are rarely out of sight of crystal lakes, which add such a charm to the Minne-sota landscape. The State con-tains ten thou-sand lakes, va-rying from a few acres to many miles in extent. In the angle between the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers is a region rich in scenery and historic interest. There the Minnehaha plunges down from the prairie level to the Mis-sissippi by the Minnehaha Falls, so well known to the world through the genius of Longfellow. On the prairie level are crystal Jakes, syl-van groves and picturesque knolls, among which the tourist may spend weeks of enjoyment. The railroad ended at Sauk Rapids, where we halted for a day. This is to be the great manufacturing city of this region, the rapids of the Mississippi furnishing unlimited water- power, but as yet the citizens have done little beyond the preliminary wind work. In 1859 this was thought to be the head of all navigation, and only two little steamers plied above St. Anthony Falls; now smaller boats run from Sauk Rapids to Brainard, and sometimes 25 MINNEHAHA IN WINTKK. |