The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1870-05-13

NAAo OIL CoAAs AAANCA AA~AAHS ONSA NAO
rough divide for few miles we came
upon South Fork. This stream is one
of the best in Southern Kansas, and in
places is heavily timbered. Is fed to
large extent by springs and affords an
abundance of water the year round.
tile valley anywhere than that laying
along South Fork. 1t is well settled by
an industrious and enterprising set
of farmers. Along this valley are many
of the best cultivated and most product
i've farms in Kansas. We stopped the
first night out with our old friend j. s.
Mitchell, who keeps a good country ho-
tel. Travellers will find his excellent
meals, feather beds and plenty of good
feed and stabling for horses especially
inviting, after hard days travel. On
our return we stopped with friend Z.
d. Croker, who so ably and faithfully
represented Chase county in the Leg
islature of 1869. His place lies at the
crossing of South Fork. He has large
and commodious frame house and his
fenced and under good cultivation.
He has a fine young orchard. Mr..
Croker says he has never failed to raise
seventy bushels of corn to the acre since
he has been on this place. He bought
this farm few years ago of "Racken-
sackian" who left Kansas because he
thought he could not raise anything.
1t was bought in the spring and the fol-
lowing harvest the wheat crop which
was growing on the place when Mr.. C..
bought it, more than paid for the land
and the expenses of transfer, etc.
Croker thought he had made a pretty
good hit, and he did, because he has one
of the best farms in Chase county.
Near Mr.. Crocker's are the farms of our
old friends Charley ROgler and Capt.
Brandley. We regretted that we had
not time to give them call. At Bazaar
we found Lewis & Hoover, the new
merchants, doing a thriving business.
They have a splendid stock of goods
and are driving large trade. We were
glad to hear these gentlemen SO univer-
sally well spoken of by the people. Ba-
zaar has mill. 1t needs, very badly, a
good blacksmith. The citizens think
one would do large business, and as
the location is at point where the
roads from Emporia and Cottonwood
Falls come together, and as the surround
ing country is well settled, we are in
clined to think it a splendid location
for smith. Other tradesmen would
do we'll here. Mr.. Lewis informed us
that the number of teams and people
passing that point daily for southern and
southwestern Kansas was truly aston
ishing.
South Fork is watered by springs
putting out ofthe hills west of it. These
are very numerous, and some of them,
Mercer Springs, for instance, throw out
nearly water enough to run a mill.
Leaving South Fork valley, we travel
ed eight or ten miles over the hills to
the head waters of Walnut. The road
leads down the valley and we pass sew
eral fine farms. The upper Walnut
land is principally owned by spectators
and its settlement has been somewhat
retarded on this account. The first
town is Chelsea. This place is growing
rapidly. Fifteen or twenty new houses
had recently been put up, among them
a new church and school house. This
is one of the finest town sites we know
of anywhere. 1t is surrounded by a
very fertile and well timbered country,
and is destined to make "a good town.
Mr.. j. B. Slough has erected a new no.
tel which he was just getting in run
ming order. We called upon our friend
Beall, late of Xenis, Ohio, but he was
absent. He has just opened large
store at Chelsea. Several new estab-
lishments of various kinds have recent
ly been opened in this town. The peo-
pie are the driving kind and are thor
oughly devoted to building up the town
and country. That they will succeed
we do not for moment doubt.
Passing through splendid country
and crossing several very fine streams
we came to Eldorado, eight miles be-
low Chelsea. AS we expected, we
found here a large and rapidly growing
town. We suppose sixty or seventy
houses have been put up since last fall.
The town lies on the southwest bank
of the West Branch of the Walnut OH
an elevated and beautiful slope. Some
of the new buildings are large and fine
structures. The stone school house is a
credit to the energy of the people. We
cnund haro I'm husinaec manu- fOruef. rac
idents of Emporia, among them DR.. A.
White, druggist; Murdoch & Danford,
of the Walnut Valley Times; Charley
Foulks, dry goods merchant; j. C.
Lambdin, in the same business; Drs.
Gordon and Kellogg real estate agents ;
DIR. j. c. MCGOWAN, physician; Mr..
Rice builder; Mr.. Hallot, livery stable
keeper; Nelson DeMoss and others.
We arc glad to know that they are ev-
cry one doing thriving business.
Murdoch 81 Danford are meeting with q
degree of prosperity in the printing bu-
siness, much beyond their expectations.
They are printing the best looking pa
per in the State, and are devoting its
columns to the local interests of Edo
RADIO and the valley. The people think
they have one of the best papers in
Kansas. No one can look at Eldorado
and its surrounding rich and well tim
bered country and come to any other
conclusion than that it will be a large
and thriving town. 1t has, near by,
some of the best water power we have
seen in the State. The many large
streams in the neighborhood afford
abundance of timber and water. In
these respects Eldorado is highly favor
ed. There is no portion of the State
that offers better inducements to new
corners, and its advantages are appreci-
ated by them, we should judge, from the
rapid way in which the town and coun-
try are filling up. While here we took
occasion to visit the farm of our old
friend Henry Martin, above the town
in o large bend of the river. He has
about five hundred acres of the best
land in the Walnut Valley, and is sur
rounding himself with fences, trees, etc.