Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-06-29
~ e WTe 40
On the Prairies.
Correspondence 0f the Chrouicle;]

Correspondence Of the Chrouicle:]
,11LL iW KST. LOUIS, June "a, 1870.
l have just returned from a trip to the
prairies of Polk and Hickory counties, in
this State. A few days were spent very
pleasantly among friends in the neighbor-
FIJI SJs'nupi5 ssnuoi 8 fbsssss masise ID large
ly. of Tennesseeans. all of whom greet one
with an old fashioned Tennessee welcome.
Rondo iPostoffice Isl situated on the east
side of the seventy-five mile prairie, and
on the road leading from Sedalia to Spring
field, Mo-, and though forty miles from a
kraiireadsvhas ssregularr daily ma i, Sundays
eNceptedl ude above mentioned prairie is
one of the richest tracts of land in South
western Missouri 4 Wherever improved it
is covered with the finest crops of corn,
| 8ave :Ahti Die priv lege of beholding. 1t is
gently rolling, and from the slight emf
nences to be foun here and there, the
mostI beautiful and enchanting view is
spread out like some vast panorama be-
fore. the eyes of those who are SO highly
faH0fed as to have am opportunity OF en-
joying it, The fields Of waving grain,
with the orchards o luxuriant fruit, and
the ''raw prairie" covered over with grass
! of, the richest Yerdure, upon which thou
fsandicattle may he seen grazing; the whoie
| and less pretending cottages, with here
aud there a skirt OF Climber, forms a scene
we'll worthy of the attention of painter.
| Itiis no wonder that the residents or this
highiy favored Iloeality) are proud of their
homes, and that land is rapidly reaching
high figures.
lo a a failpad islin process Of construction
Ffrofn" Lebanon to Fort Scott, passing
| through this county, while still others are
| .,,.U al1 ho hui
whep land will 90 up to q very high price.
of the Pomme de Terre river, which, for
fertility of soil scanzbe surpassed nowhere.
| While there IS much OF the very best
farming land in Polk county, there are
also rhopsahds Of acres of the most barren
| and Worthless Character, except Tor graz
ing and gP0n ybeh men would Id, mot on pay ay
a long time, and used only for grazing
| Thehsbit Alat prevails here of letting all
kinds of stock run at large, affords a hne
opportunity f0r hofse-thieyes, as there are
/ EIen WHIP do not see their horses for
| months during the, summer and fall.
THIS Opportunity was Improved after the
close of the war 0byi regularly organized
banas,s who committed their depredations
with impunity, and defied the authorities
| of the State. Such state of affairs led to
|
protection, something after the military
! istyle.yahfweybetill tillte the horse-thief who
I fef1 into their Hands. Speedy justice was
dealt out in ann arbitrary manner, the rope
| or rifle ball doing their deadly work. Tna
Isvictihfs were allowed little time for pre-
paration;9 and excesses were no doubt COM
| mitted, but some summary mode of pun
| ishment had to be resorted to, or the coun-
4 try would have been broken sup.a 10 show
with how much audacity these gangs of
horse.thieves carried on their business. we
Fwere told that a gentleman who lost two
valuable horses and had made an effort to
recover them, was visited in open daylight
Y by q portion Of the gang, who threatened
| to take his feifbhe did not cease to "med-
| die with their business" The "compa-
niesp forpptection are still kept up, and
occasionally interfere where. In their opin-
ion, the efyil1 authorities fail ~ dealing
| ait liusticce to btltiawsi But a few days ago,
has wey were in formed, there were three
men hung in the neighboring county OF
: n I'VE ,conversed n ,asa Will, gentleman day
Tor two age who ,ihad seen convicted
| horse; thief, returning from the peniten-
! tiary with a pardon in his pocket he
| boasted thata very yTlittle money is suffi-
cient to get q man out of the State prison..
| The Lieutenant Governor, elected oil the
| Brown ticket last summer, Is a man of
small ealibfe, and smaller morals, and it
is said will use his influence in that behalf
fvefy 'cfiea ,.a These organized bands al
ways find plenty of money to use in get
| sing d comrade released from confinment
| Whether or not these self-constituted COM
parlies for protection are the best tnlng
4 that could be devised we will not say, but
TT is very certain they have had whole
Isome eIinfhenee in restraining crime: 30
teietys has Improved very much. Horse
stealing and robbery generally has become
much less frequent.
/ 1 Tie prospects for good crops here is fine
| Wheat is all narrowed. The yield is I'M
baefse. TITS so in all Southwestern Mis-
souri,. fGorn) locks well. Complaint Is
made in some localities, of the ravages OF
bthe ehinch bug--a great pest here. They
fruir, crop of corn or any other vegetation
LIN few days-killing it completely. Oats
land grass are highly promising: Cattle
being the great staple product OF the couh-
,i,try. much complaint and foreboding is in
! dulged at the present low prices, being one
hundred per cent. below that of the same
date last wear. This causes great search
lIltty of money in the cattle growing regions
i Il But / must reserve for another letter,
! what intended to write in this, as TINS Is
already longer than Intended it sh9uio
be.sa3 .ias w.
Iva fIoRar HE alsE ADr. Bonce, Of Glas-
tonbury, has in charge horrible case. IN
the person of q woman who seems deslneu,
if nor soor, cured. tn illustrate In her own