Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-11-19

Iabounding in springs Of salt water and
| inexhaustlble quarries of gypsum.-I
Some OF these springs are already be-
ing made available In the manufacture
OF salt, and extensive salt works are
seen at Solomon City, point fourteen
miles farther eastward. This last is a
small village located at the confluence
of the Solomon aud Smoky, which
here unite to form the sKaEF, and Is sur
rounded by one Of the most beautiful
and fertile valleys IN Kansas, The
lands In Solomon Valley are very.
choice, and seldom fail of so abundant
harvest. This region also abounds in
| a soft limestone, which hardens with
exposure and forms an excellent
building material. Capt, A. P. Col
| lins native Ohioan, who graduated
at the Delaware University, aud after
ward from several rebel prisons, while
| fighting for his country, owns a hne
farm near Solomon City, which he tilis
With his own hands, ike genuine
| Cineinnatus.
We next pass Abilene. the county
town of Dickinson county, and chiefly
important as the place for the ship
ment of Texas cattle. These cattle
are usually driven from Texas in the
spring, and Craze their way noFthWard
until cold weather arrives, then they
are driven to this entrepot for. ship
ment. Of course the grazing costs the
| droYer nothing. A half dozen men
can manage a herd of thousands. and
large profits are realized as the result
of q summers grazing, 1t is claimed
that the infection of abe Texas cattle
disease disappears with the arrival Of
cold weather, OF the acelimation of
these cattle upon our northern pas
tures. s+. ss-r.e.5-i
/ Junction City. the next important
town, has a population of about z 500,
! and is located at the junction of the
Kansas and Republican rivers, aud
that of the Union Paeihe-SOutheFn
/ Branch-and Kansas Pacific Railways.
Much of the adjoining country is
broken and rocky, ,afOrding hPe quar-
ries of magnetism limestone, the ma
terial with which the State Capitol is
being erected.
Manhattan, at the mouth of the Big
Blue, is a cozy looking village, large
! enough 10 support weekly paper, and
is the location oFthe State Agrioultur-.
al College.
! st, George is favored with fne wa
ter power, Wamego ia lively trading
! point, and st. Mary's Mission, the cen
| ter of the PottaBattamie Indian Re
seryation, is the location of school
! for the education of Indian youth, es-
tsblished by the Catholic denomina-
ton
Twenty three miles farther on We ar
rive at Topeka, the capital of the State
and probably the most rapidly growing
/ town IL Kansas. 1t occupies a CON-
manding automatically beautiful site
on the right bank of the KaW, over
Hooking . magnificent sweep OF the
surrounding country, and gracefully
j slOping on the north side TO the river
and on the south and east to 3 pretty
little creek bearing the musical Indian
name of Shonganonga.
4 The town is laid out to suit the top
| ography of its location, the streets and
avenues, which cross each other at
right angles, being adapted 20 the line Of
| inclination rather than to the points of
! the compass. In this and other par
ticulars Topeka has avoided some Of
| the RFetched mistakes which have per-
manen:ly marred the beauty of some
/ of our finest American cities. Kansas
avenue, the principal business street,
i is in some respects strikingly similar
to High street. Columbus. and is nine
/ ty feet in width, exclusive Of side
walks, which are each twenty feet more.
| The streets parallel tothis, with one or
| two exceptions, take the names OF the
| Presidents, beginning with Washing
ton and ending with lincoln. Lawrence
has similar series of streets. .besriDg the
names of the States, and LeavenWortti
series named from the principal
tribes Of Indians. e
Topeka dates its beginning almost
within the present decade. Its present
| Mayor, Col. Holiday, was Its first set-
Filler, and IL now its Oldest inhabitant
Standing IN front of the Topeka
House, the other day, in the heart Of
the city, COL Vaughan, of BeaVen.
worth, pointed out to me > raviue 4
| few hundred yards distant where
scarcely twelve years ago he had shot
many coyote, and designated another
nearer spot, now occupied bya fine
/ business block, where he slept many .
night by the camp FIRE during the bor=
der troubles. Many acres within the
Incorporation limits which were no long
/ eF ago than last "A pfil simply raw un-
4 occupied prairie, are now thickly dot
! ted With buildings, and viii soon be IL.
/ Illuminated with gas and provided With
! the other appurtenauces aud convent
0noes Of city. .
+ Such Is western growth and pro
tgress, and whether destined TO be sub
stantial or temporary, no one can deny
/ that It is really marvellous, and few
can be impassive to its fascination OF
course every one here is enthusiastic
about the State, and after a weeks So
ljOurn, under charming autumn skies,
at this nucleus of the young and hope
ful energy of the State, l find it diff
cult to evade the prevailing contagion.
The United States Court now in ses-.
sion, Judge Deiahay, former law
partner of Mr.. Lincoln, presiding, has
attracted thither quite number of
the prominent men of Kansas. They
mostly stop with MeMeekin, Of the
/ Topeka, than whom there is no more
accommodating and agreeable host
within range of my acquaintance. A
fine new hotel building is now in the
course of erection, of which Mac is to
/ be made mayor d04to.
Among the Ohio men I have met
here is COL j. G.. Vaughan, formerly a
| leading writer of the Cincinnati Gazette
and more recently the founder of the
/ Times paper at LeavenWOrth Col.
4 Vaughan is one of the pioneers of the
State. has always been steadfast
friend of freedom, and on that line
fought it out through all the border
/ diff euIties.
W. W. Gavitt, formerly of Ashley.
Delaware county is engaged in land
and insurance business here, and has
become an enthusiastic KsnsiaD. He
takes pridein exhibiting in his win
dow monster beet weighing twenty
pounds, as sample product of the
State of his adoption
A. J. Ryan, the excursionist, makes
his residence here, and it is needless
to say, IN his enthusiasm for Kensas,
Is always one and the same A. j. Ryan.
CLARK Baldwin, formerly of Della
ware couaty, lives on fine farm in the
neighborhood of Lawrence.
A. Il. L.
i TTVE CTnrK