there, no dumps and squalor to depress the mind. Produc- 

 tion, health, labor!! ! Aye, and beauty everywhere. At fre- 

 quent intervals, the hillside breaks away in a great gorge, 

 narrow almost slit-like at the top but widening out toward 

 the bottom where it approaches the valley to afford a view of 

 the fertile lands beyond. And on the sides of each gorge, 

 from the very verge of the stream which bubbles in its depths 

 to the rocky rims on either side, is that same pine forest pro- 

 ducing wealth and beauty on those almost perpendicular walls. 

 Producing ! Production is everywhere and nowhere is there 

 a trace or impression of idleness or poverty. 



That indeed was an approach worthy of the live and pros- 

 perous city of Duluth. People have travelled to Europe for 

 such a drive as that along the Rhine and raved over a poorer 

 view. How does it look today? Like the typical back-yard 

 of the big city! The hills are there; the valley lies where it 

 always did. But the hills are bare, stripped of their former 

 beauty, and the jewel of the valley lies unset, in a barren 

 land. The gorges gash the sides of the naked hills like angry 

 sabre cuts and the bare rocks, tangled brush and blackened 

 stumps but add desolation to the gloomy scene. Here and 

 there a lonely gorge, which has somehow escaped the general 

 devastation throws out a hint of what that country might have 

 been. Absolute idleness has been forcibly imposed on that 

 glorious country. Everywhere waste and idleness, nowhere 

 production and thrift. It imparts the impression of hopeless- 

 ness and rightly so for not in a thousand years can nature 

 unaided restore it to its former self, and not in twice that 

 time can man improve it, save in one way. Think of the 

 waste and folly of mighty man! Think of it! A productive and 

 beautiful country doomed to idleness and desolation for a thou- 

 sand years within twenty miles of a great and prosperous city! 



Fortunately there is a way just one way by which this 

 land can be put to work, instilled once more with life and 

 made a self-respecting, tax-paying member of society. This 

 can be done by the private individual, by the State, or by the 

 city of Duluth, but foolish indeed will be the city if it permits 

 the others to do it first. 



That narrow strip of country along the Dalles of the St. 



6 



