The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-07-31
A Kansas picture-The Jumping or
DInnn

A Kansas pictnre-The Jumping Oh
Place.
At this little town Of Salina-so new
that baby born at the same time would
be precocious if it had yet arrived at the
first white CLEAN of the first tootll-the
Pacific railroad turns over its traffic to the
prairie schooner and the stage-coach.
Here is the fair-skinned STRIPPING Of some
noble English family seeking the plains for
a buflalo-hunt; here is some withered old
geologist, with his brains as full of rock
knowledge as his cabinet is full Of gritty
specimens here is the Jewish trader, with
his submissive air, shrewd eyes, and olive
skin; here is family from New Mexico,
bound for the Paris Exposition, consisting
Of rich old ranchman with his buxom
daughter whose waist is girdled by sli-
ding silver belt, and her finger by a curious
puzzle ring Of virgin gold here is clear
skinned little beauty, with red slippers on
her feet, who has the aspect of being
that charming young widow we met
on the train; here is "Wild Bill"
and his chum, Jack Harvey, the fast
men of the community, with their
massive neck-chains Of gold, their
permanent distaste for coats, and
their braces Of heavy revolvers jogging
at their hips; here is a party of sallow in
valids, dragging the hours along wearily,
but not without hope that travel may yet
distill them some red blood; here is a
laughing bevy of railroad, telegraph, and
express men; over yondera knot of Aexi-
can ox-drivers, some lying on their faces
in the grass, others lazily cracking their
long bull-whips, with report like that of
a horse pistol; here are two stage-drivers,
with their cravats in flowing true lovers
knot, and plug Of tobacco losing its cor
ners between their teeth; here is festive
Irishman dissipating in day whole
months wages for driving spikes on the
railroad here is an eager speculator in
town lots, elaborately explaining that the
recent flood over his marketable real es
tate was wholly unprecedented, and cannot
occur again for a thousand years; here
is the sheriff, who is relating how near
he came that very morning to "belting
over" stranger who gave arebel toast to
flavor drink all round here are the only
two policemen of the town, with counte-
nances sufficiently hang-dog to entitle
them to be frst-claSs detectives; here is
the man who, fortnight ago, mortally
shot some other man that called him a
liar; over there, burdened like a hotel
clothes-horse, is the male, colored washer
woman of the town, whose tariff is Sl.75
and all the buttons per dozen; following
him is q trapper of prairie dogs, with a
caeeful in each hand, captured by food
inc their burrows with dozen buckets of
water poured down in rapid succession,
floating them to the mouths of their little
tnnnels-it is impossible to dig them out
and here and there, mingling with all,
army officers, traders, emigrants, tourists,
prospecting spectators, thoughtful CAPT
talists. penniless wanderers, and the usual
substratum of prowlers and swindlers.
The town itself stands on level ex-
panse of prairie with cottonwood fringed
stream for its background. Count the
houses-you will find about seventy-hve,
with twenty-five more, perhaps, IN tne
course of erection. All are built OF WOOD,
and the lumber used is of so exactly the
same shade of newness that the town
seems to have been built in single night
from one gigantic tree. Of course there
is q main street, a broad avenue paved
With the black fat earth of the prairie, and
abntted by double line of one and two
storv business. houses. Here is one store
comprising bakery on one side and drug
siore on the other-the staff Of life and
the staff Of ,life's opposite. There are tWt
billiard saloons, with bars attached'N a a,
one of them you must be careful in pull
;nr mo ont the chalk cups, for they sometime
contain laS the inky roof f-leakings of last night
~
fried fried meat (you pass the meridian {, Q
broiling at St. Louis), and its rougI 3
sleenipe. rooms, choked up with rows o.
mnsty.smelling and filthy looking Deds
You will find at the counter o dog
cared register, where you may pra.' pmas
yonr autograph next that OF 9 s gues ars
Who Rrita1 opposite bis pane, "sleP1 ou