The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1873-06-13
ANsAs, FRIDAY. JUNE ID, 1873.
FROM KANSAS.
The GENTRY, Climate, Sell. EmHigra-
ten. etc, efe.
Correspondence Indianapolis .1ourn,,.7

Correspondence indianapolis Journal.
| have somewhat delayed thu
letters which / agreed to write tC
the Journal, partly because thu:
far have not found this s'drouthy
Kansas" by any means, and could
not get over the country as de.
sired, and partly because it was in
my plan to learn the facts before
/ did any writing. L know that in
Indiana there is a great inclination
to find homes in Kansas, and it is
especially for the information of
this class that / write the series
of letters of which this is the first.
l have traversed the State from
east to west on the northern, cen
trail and southern lines of railway,
and have travelled through much
of the interior of the State from
north to south, between the four
great lines, talked with the people
who have lived here longest, gath
cred such statistical information
as the State library contains, and
have interviewed Prof. Snow,
of'the State University, and the
State geologist. ! have given pol
itics almost the go-by, merely
talking enough to learn that Sena-
tor Morton is about as much es-
teemed in Kansas as he is or ever
was in Indiana, and that is saying
4 good deal, but is the truth, every
word. His course in the United
States Senate on the Kansas Sena
torship endeared him to all the
honest people of this State, and l
think these comprise three fourths
of the whole.
But to return to my subject
About this first thing that suggests
itself is the subject of climate, and
the question OF drouth. l have
mdde these the first subjects of
inquiry, for the reason that a sin
gle drouth in 1860 put Kansas
under the ban, from which it has
never fully recovered in the esti-
nation of many, but from which,
one here would suppose it had full
ly recovered, seeing the wonderful
tide of immigration to its magnifi-
cent valleys and prairies. The
carefully collected statistics of
ETC., here, fully agree with |
the reports of the Smithsonian
Institute. These show, for the |
past few years, since 1865, that |
this State has had more rain, and |
that it was more evenly distrib-
uted to the growing seasons, than
the States of Ohio, Illinois, Mich. |
gan, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Mis-
souri,. That while these latter
States have been blessed with |
nearly as much rain as Kansas,
toking the whole year together, an
equal proportion in them has fall
en-, including melted snow in the
winter months, just when it was
most undesirable, whilst in this
State one-tenth of the whole year
has fallen in the winter. The fall
Of rain in this period increases
from about two inches in March,
finding its maximum in
to a little over five inches,
thus securing the termination and
growth of the crops. And from
it again diminishes to less
than two inches in November, thus |
insuring the maturity of the crops.
And from now on till spring again
the climate is dry and healthful
till spring opens in February. l
refer more especially to the South
ern and Western part of the State,
for here we find the most seasonal
BILE as well as the most delightful |
climate. The Oldest residents of
the State fully agree with these |
and if yOu talk to them
about 'idrouth'' you get laughed |
at for your temerity. This idea
about drouth in Kansas, I am fully |
is all nonsense. There |
is too much evidence of its won
drous and vigorous growth, i'll
there were no other facts, to con-
tradict it. Look Mt the statistics
o. its growth for the past five or
six years, how it has greatly eX-
ceeded that of Ohio, Indiana, or
Illinois, in their palmiest days of
settlement. And ] find that the |
largest proportion of the people |
are from the Middle and Eastern
States, and are as intelligent and
as any on the CONT
nent. Such class never go to
countries.
While | find the State all lying |
very beautiful and fertile, it must |
be conceded that the Arkansas
Valley, in the southwestern part of
the State, is the garden spot, both
in respect to climate, for its more
southern latitude. and in soil,
which is not excelled by any sec
ton in the world. In this latter
respect | shall speak more fully
in future letter This section has
just been opened by the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe railway,
and until now was generally little
known. A constant stream of i'm
is pour ing into this re-
gion from the Erstern, Middle and
Western States. You can't realize
the away out west we talk about
ther, for one is constantly encount
ering old neighbors. Perhaps no
State is better represented here in
her former population than Indi-
ana
In respect to climate, as we'll rs
soil, Kansas excels the Middle
States in a creator ratio than they
do in New England. COnsump-
ton, throat or lung diseases are
rarely heard of in the State. /
shall have something to say in my
next of the many already apparent
advantages this Arkansas Valley
region possesses over any other ex
tension ofthis grand line of railway
into Colorado and New Mexico.
It is already completed to the Col
orado line, and is being extended
west into southern Colorado, where
it will reach the gold and silver
mining regions, to say nothing of
the great anthracite coal deposits,
than which no others have been
found west of Pennsylvania. An
excellent fuel and gas coal is found
Il