The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-05-22
X TRIP TO KANSAS.


0wiHg to the sickness of q near rel
ative, it became necessary, two or
;arce weeks agp, for u to take trip
''out Nfes.'-eyen to bleeding Kan.
sas'-yea, unto the city Of Lawrence,
where Qaautrell and hi. merry men
m,le havoc with the valuables of the
citizens Thereof during the war-and
where, III times long past, border.
rafians, "free-soilers' and other uui
sruces of a similar character, under the
lead Of John Brown and such as he,
fitted out their expeditions
We propose 10 tell "a plain, unrar-
nished tale" as to the country, its pros
poets, an5 the people, as they appeared
10 US Oar opinion can be taken for
what it is worth, We have no desire
to become physician where an inLi-
vlduaI has an attack of the "westcrn
fever for in that case, a trip to the
West will be the best medicine in the
world; but will merely state facts as
thcy occurred to us. All this will cost
the reader nothing, ana he may judge
for himself.
In the first place We cannot conceive
how West Virginiau, accustomed to
the grand old hills Of his native State,
can be satisfied in n country where a
mole-hill isan elevation almost uubeard
Of. For hundreds Of miles the land is
as level as the foor in your house
stretching out in one vast and dreary
cxpanse Of prairie. until the eye of the
traveller becomes set and weary of the
monotOnous scene.
Again, You may travel hundreds Of
miles and not tree will gladden. the
eye. Nothing but tall, rank grass.
here, there aud everywhere--until the
general view is as though it was an
ocean of water you were crossing, and
not the far famed western States of
America Once in fifty or one hun
dred mites, ! small stream will be
reached, On the banks of which once
grew few stunicd srecs-ou. alas :
the scarcity Of such things have nan
them valuaLle-aDd long ago they have
been whitfield down by the timber
hungerod settler. OF course lumber
cannot be dispensed with, and this
rem is terrible one to the settler.
Nearly all the lumber used is brought
from the northern lakes, ria Chicago,
and when exposed for sale in the Kan
sas market, it costs fortune, almost,
to build a housc-let alone fencing in
n farm. For illustration: Good lum-
Der can be bought in this country for
from Sle to SIS per 1000 fest; but
such an article in Kansas is scarce and
in great demand at from so to Sl00
per 1000. How is that for high ?
Then again, coal is scarce at from %
to 30 cents per busbel-and wood for
fuel is . luxury only 10 be dreamed Of.
Again, the water is the most villain
Gus liquid ever poured into mortal
stomaCh-Cinciunati whisky not ex-
eepted. As consequence Of the level
character Of the country, every pool Of
water becomes stagnant, and this, in a
great measure, creates that terrible
scourgc, known there as "tle agcy."
Shortly after our arrival ut Lawrence.
we drew a bucket Of water at the well
on our relatives premises. Imagine
cur horror at finding the fuid mix
ture Of all manner of bugs, insee.s,
grass and dirt-piM lHic cater. 4
second and third trial were made,
without any better results, and upon
inquiry We learned that this was the
usual quality of water used there. If
you, reader. can stand this, way by all
means move "Out West"
A great and serious objection to this
western country is the terrific aud de-
Struetiye storms Of wind which fire.
quently visit it. What would be but
pleasant breeze here is u matter of ter
rible import there. Upon one occasion
during our stay, We yentured to the
post-ofice-a quarter Of a mile away
when it was with difficulty VIC kept our
footing; but We were assured that tue
wind on that day was nothing" The
tops Of the small fruit trees we're then
almost touching the ground-and glad
we we're that we did not have to endure
gust of wind when it amounted to
"something." \ noticeable feature
was that many Of the two-story houses
we're "propped'--large poles, reaching
from the ground to the caves, bciRg
placed at each csrner, in order to. pre-
vent the building from being Blown
down. Ifyou would see and feel Old
Boreas in his element, 60 to Kansas.
The people are mixture Of every
nation of this world aud many whom
It is difficult to imagine belong to any
but the world bclo,o. Blue-nosed Yam