Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-05-31

or of the State bleeding Kansas
things look strange to you; you rath-
er like It; you see plenty Of vacant
prairie; you are assured, however,
that it is taken; it probably is. You
are assured also that the land 'gOOd
for anythingn this side of where il is
good for nothing" is taken; It prob
ably Is not. How are you agoing to
find out? Had not thought Of that,
had you? You are not in hurry
You say you'll find out after awhile;
Echo saws on the before mentioned
bluff. "yes, you will" You get to
your destination at last, and the more
YOU hear the less you know one
saws it's so and so, another sWearS
that No. l don't know anything about
It. You also feel inclined to swear
or else do something else equally des-
perate and foolish. "After awhile"
YOU come to some conclusion; you
conclude that you had better quit
boarding at your hotel for it costs you
something; YOU conclude that there
Is land somewhere hereabouts; you
conclude YOU had better ''go up'' and
view the land. Havingalready written
to Betsey Ann you conclude you will
hear from her by the time you get
back; you begin to wonder if Rho
dolphus A. would know you If he
could see you coming down the road
as in days Of yOre; you think it ad-
visable before you 'tstrike out" for
"that 'ere" claim, to call upon some
of the "business menn and see If there
is any Hshow for work" They re-
mark that money is tight, ''times
= h lee
sir" Whewl how you feel, you do
not understand the cause. 1 will tell
you; your romantic ballast escaped in
large quantities just then, and the
pressure of real practical life was more
pounds to the square inch than your
hastily constructed boilers were regis
tered to carry. You find, contrary to
expectation, that the supply of labor
exceeds the demand; consequently
wages are low for the labor or skill
/ expended. But those aforesaid re-
marks. You appear to have forgotten
that ever since you were ''yearling"
that remarks of that or similar kinds
have constantly rung in your ears;
you begin to feel desperate; you
haven't seen mary buffalo or Indi-
an, and what is worse, folks here
abouts want leash down" and your
cash is getting down. You finally
make a start for a homestead, you find
one-not Just such one as you and
/ Betsey was after; it is high rolling
prairie; it is good land; it is fully, If
not more, as far from the railroad as
YOU wanted it; it is minus "spring
and grove - minus ''Ttnl down to the
/ creek ~ minus ''forty acres good TIM
Der ~ it is also minus a house and
fences, breaking plows and team,
/ wagon and harrow. 1t Is simply Oh
you are a soldier and it lies within
I railroad limitsl one quarter section Of
/ ''raw upland prairie;;" and as 1 am in
/ the minus "biz," it is minus Betsey
Ann and Rodolphus A.; you probably
/ feel this more than does your trolling
upland" You are also minus more
national bank notes than you expect
ed, and on this you and the rolling
uplandn stand just as you did, or
minus Betsey Ann-yOu feel it the
most. All these people that were to
| welcome you have taken two bits and
I upwards per meal out of you; ditto
I bed, ditto everything; you have paid
for all you have had, and you feel as
though you had paid for something's
you have not had; very likely, my
/ friend. After picking out your claim
YOU start for the land Office, perhaps
an hundred miles away with no rail-
road leading anywhere near said
Office. You have it at your option to
hire a man to take you, hire a horse
and 90 horse back, or be a soldier and
| go foot back. Arrived at your destin-
alton you find perhaps fifty to a hun
dTed ahead of you; you also find more
or less "red tapen connected with
said Office, and in waiting for your
number to be called you also find you
have chance to "bOard round a
/ few days. You finally homestead
your "quarter," and start Immediate
ly for that post Office where you know
a letter awaits you from Betsey Ann.
Inyour letters to her you have spoken
more or less of your trials, but have
kept the little flag with excelsior"
printed thereon steadily before her
eyes; her letter tells you that you are
"hero," you are morally certain you
are martyr" you begin to feel
(after looking over your financial
matters on the Reserve and in Kan
sas1 like going out of the martyrs
business, but not onto your homestead;
you have six months, you know. II
"that law" had only passed, you
would have had a year to have COM
meneed- settlement. You look for
work, perhaps get a show, work one
day, work plays out all of a sudden (;
"bOard rOundn a week, balance not IN
your JdUOr. Betsey AIMS nex5 asks
If you had not better come home; you
can't ''fOr the life Of your tell. Went
fishing, big fish did not bite, nU
money in that; oh, my! how the
wind blows, "blows fearfully.n Your
eyes and ears are full Of black dirt;
you meekly ask a supposed friend if
it blows that way DluchLy in Kansas,
and get the consoling information
that it hardly ever does n1Uchly, not
more than six days in the week;
think he is joking. but you know it
'blew great guns" yesterday, ditto to-
day, ditto, ditto. ditto, ditto, six days;
cold too, 'taint so cold in Ohio, Betsey
Ann said so in her last. Train starts
for the east in the morning. My
friend, you have just about enough
n7OReV and romance left to get you
uOAlGf Will guu BOs II gOu wv 4G
duced ratesn will have lost their
charms; Rodolphus A. will also know
you, for you have not been absent so
very long; if you stay-I'll tell you
I'm my next. I'll also tell you, If I
stay, land it is agreeable to the Editor
CHRONICLE), how the present season
"turns Out;" I will also tell you
about the country. as far as know,
past, present and future. And ROlg
will tell you that 1 came from Trum-
bull, am a poor man, I have taken
q homestead (sOldier's) ''upland prsi-
rie," minus everything ditto. Betsey
Ann shall try and rough it through
I want to see the "big pumpkin"
grow that General superintendent en-
ticed me to Kansas with; and depend
upon it, my friend, though you and I
both went east as the curtain Of our
romance fell on Kansas life, that the
"supes" will clear off the stage for the
next act, and that Kansas will still
live.
My friend, adieu. Emphatically 1
am yours with the romance knocked
out. f. W. K.