Middletown transcript., 1868-02-01
'osstratts from, ,SSaltp Books.
GIimpses OF the Wet.

hvI.IftLi.uE.N BuH = = ifls' .4IfHrl ,ffh
d, From "a, very interesting volume pub
lished by IInrd d .HoughtohI 459 Broome
street New York, entitled =" Two Thou-
sand Miles on Horseback" being sum-
mcr tour through Kansas, Nebraska, Col
orado, and Now Mexico, to Santa Fe and
back, in the year 1866, by Lieut.. james
4. Meliuc, the following extracts are ta-
kcn3 .,.Y s,Y ~ .,t,,i, .fi1ts,1,,a
AponE IIousEs. Descending the sand
hills into the valley Of the Platte, you see
your first adobe building, ahd thence they
meet your eyelall along tho road. Strict
ly speaking, it is not adobe, (Which is
brick, regularly moulded and dri1d in the
SUM but tcrrero, IL believe that II the
Spanish term, ,---bcing simply prairie sod,
cut in blocks Of two feet by one foot and
half, and three or four inches thick They
are laid,, grass down, in walls three feet
thick, and make the coolest house in sum
ncr, and warmcstEilr winter known il,
this region. Such a building stands an
Indian siege betterithm any othcf, as It is
impossible to fire il, and arrows can do Il
no damage. -.-----
-AAllASeuE,-7AsRa Rancho is not asdwell-
ing, nor a tprnl-housc, nor a store, nor o
tayern-but all of these, and more. 1t is
Connected with a large corral, and capa-
Bile of standing IN Indian siege. You can
procure ientertainnlonti at them, and they
tkeepfof sale liquors, canned fruit, knives,
playing-cards, saddlery, and goggles, both
blue and green. These last mentioned
are here an article Of prime necessity; and
you will find them ON sale at every rancho
en the plains, north and south. Il The pro-
ivalent heat, dust, and glare, mako them
almost Indispensable. nod IA ,rz spai
aitLEAsESWoRFnl--L -Leavenwerth, Kansas,
claims for her. correct census 20, 900 I'M
-habitaiitsa ,Iinmensc numbers of teams
and wagons for transportation Of mcrchan-
1dizc and Government stores to Utah, New
Mexico, Nebraska, and Montana, are fit
ted out here, giving employment to u small
army Of drivers, mechanics, and contract
1ors.l The town is well and handsomely
built! Jtdgmgs from the ,well-gradcd nv :
enues and tagged cutters, l should say lis
municipal affairs were in good hands. The
stores and shops are almost metropolitan
in their stock and, Variety Three daily
papers, well supported! give an idea of
Importance and activity Of. hotels there
is no lack, and. Leaycnworth has its IRE
\ mont, Everett, Planters, and Astor.niiA-
las there are no longer any rustic villa
yes with asingleItayern and simple popn-
lation, Our young towns, like our, young
children, are scarcely fcdgcd before they
are full grown. The children assume old
manners, and the small towus put on city
airs. Every little place must have its
sat Metropolitan" its ''Varietics," its s..Sa-
loons," just as every boy must smoke hil
cigar and play billiards, and every girl OF
fifteen wear tho silk and diamonds, which,
IN countries Of high civilization, are only
awarded to natronly ylmaturitygIisso 4 Ii I
Ok TEAMs.--lseturning to town from
Fort Leavenworth. three miles north q
the city, ! passed numbers Of the OK train
.ased in freighting merchandise to, New
D, Mexico. They are remarkable, each, wa
9on team consisting of ten yokes of fnt
oxen, selected and arranged not only fol
drawing, but for pictorial effect. in sets %
y, twenty, either all black, all white al
spotted, or otherwise marked uniformly
Each set Of twenty oxen, draws from 8, 5Ot
70 5000 pounds, and makes, the journc,
3, from Leayenworth to Santa Fe al. the con
% tract rate Of seven miles per, day. IN.
mule teams contract for twelve. Private
enterprise is proyerbially ahead Of Govern
q. ment.i and the result Of my inquiries a
mong more than ., hundred wagoners is
that their OK teams. loading five thousand
npounds n and upward, average sixteen, ant
t,the mules eightccnito to twenty miles PEE
day. sa gsgo ay8ig .auaet, 5Iit., s,..
,lid PRAIRIEs.--After a, week on these wild,
n. bosadless stretches of horbage. the maiI
impression left is that you, have heretofor,
e, bad bst q finitcd idea of territorial gran
dear. Upon them, all tho armies Of th,
earth might review, maneuyre, fight, anc