The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-02-03
Hard Times

Hard Times.
The thousands IN the East suffering
from de effects Of shard tines viii of
course find their xay to Kansas in the
spring with the certainty Of lettering
their condition, provided they come to
{. labor and 10 wailp come IS spioneers.
for a year or tive to experience
the rough of life, as the thousands have
and are daily doing who are already here
in advance Of them. Those who leave
their eastern homes and come to Kansas
to find the bounties of life all
around them, and fortunes to be acquired
without an effort, will meet the fate of In
Vulnerable persons who went to Califor-
MIA and expected to pick up "pile /" in
a few days by the side of some mountain
stream, and then return to luxuriate the
balance of their days with fortunes at
their command All their high-wrought
notions of sudden wealth vanished when
they arrived upon the ground and IN
stead of going to work like men to re-
trieye wrong step, we find them spend
ing the little remaining money they have
in gambling and licentiousness. When
disease came on-as almost always is
the case where disappointed hopes. a
change of climate, intemperance, and
semi-staryation join hand in haad-they
were compelled to seek the shade of some
lonely forest tree, where, away from
friends, uncared for and uncaring, they
wept bitterly over their melancholy fate,
and breathed out the last breath of life.
We are conscious that no verbal or
written description can be given of a
country SO as to make it appear to another
as it does to the speaker or writer, and
presume that many viii claim, on their
arrival here, that they have been hum
bugged." This, We suppose, is incl
dental to all countries. The anecdo.e of
the Irishman who landed at New York
illustrates the point as well as any state
ment we can make.
Pat, with several of his newly arrived
companions, had nosooner been discharg-
ed from the emigrant ship, than he com
menced a direct journey, on foot, up the
city, in search of his pile On crossing
the nearest street. partly concealed in
the dust, he discovered half dollar
He made plunge to secure it, when a
little urchiu stepped forward and claimed
the prize Pat, with his native generos-
ity, and fully conscious of the wealth be-
fore him, passed it to his youthful rival,
remarking as he did so, that he scould
go to tie aert street, Whieh acas pa0ed uith
Aelike. Probably when he arrived there
his hopes were as fully blighted as are
those who have journeyed two thousand
miles with the expectation of realizing an
immediate fortune in the valley of the
Kansas.
We are firm in the belief that there is
no country which offers inducements to
the adventurous and hardy pioneer, who
is willing to experience :" hard times .
for few years, equal to our own beauti-
full Kansas. Though we were raised
among the rugged mountains of north
eastern New York, and spent the last
twenty years in western Pennsylvania,
almost within hearing of the surges of
lake Erica country abounding with the
elements of social and pecuniary wealth
-and having travelled through nearly
every northern State, yet we have seen
no spot of earth which compares with
this, and seems to possess so many at
fractions, and offer so great encourage
ments to capital and every class of in
dustry.