Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1874-10-08

NEAR KEARSEY, Neb., Oct. 2

L
Dean CouRTER.-So far SO good.
We are now passing through level
plain o desolate looking as despair
itself For the last several miles not
q single stick Of timber of any kind
or character could be seen, and the
country isas level ssyonr Office floor.
Occasionally you will see q sod house,
. sickly looking woman, and frequent.
" half dozen to -hcadedyoung onee,
whose substance has been wholly cat.
en- by that curse Of this country, grass
hoppers; but 1t Is said home is whore
the heart ID, and who may know but
what they are As happy as we are, but
many are the hearts that will ache be
fore spring unless they have help to
live through the cherries and dreary
winter. We are very comfortably
situated here in : first class car, hitch
ed to An emigrant train, forming lit
lie world Of our own, all in good
health and enjoying ourselves Is huge
y - : batch Of potato-bugs in Ne
shamrock patch. We have our hot
coffee, gingerbread, sow belly, and
other nix-nax Of tho same kind and
character.
So far, We have found no town that
shows anything liEe the vigor of our
own capital or old Wapello. All the
persons on our car are bound for Cal.
itornia, and are looking forward with
bright anticipations for their new
homes On the Pacific coast. Who Of
rs will succeed, and who will fail !?
There are forty-fve or fifty Of us-we
are little crowded-but I had bed
room last night with carpet on the
the floor, that IL, down ON the floor Of
the car in the aisle, where I slept Is
sound - though / had been In Ottum.
VA. We have Just stopped ct q town
called Woodriver. atown without any
houses, and takes IT, name from the
fact that there 10 timber ia sight, i've
or six miles away. There must be
forty or Afty acres al staked off into
town lots, besides . public square that
hes cod house on 1t that looks like
mothers old fsshioned ash hopper
would II It was turned upside down
and both ends hacked out.
In every little hamlet along the road
here, you will iind good school
house. costing perhaps. from $500 to
$1,000, bnilt too, BY the money, NO
doubt Of non-residents, and in many
instances where there are not more
than two or three houses in sight, but
Pc was ever thus sssince childhood's
happy hours.D II IL one OF the, put MP
Jobs on tho poor Spectators Of the U.
Z. r. r. &c.
BY the way, this d an excellent road,
- smooth and level y any road in the
West and 90 far. the employees have
been - courteous - they possibly can
b, ready and willing ct oil times to-
give ron any information asked for.
We are now past KsArney, Elm Greek,
and running along ct . freight train
gait and have got out Of the grass.
hopper region, but the general surface
Of the country il the same. level q II
can be. and the valley widening. A
brakeman informs me that the bluffs,
which are in plain visw, are twenty
miles Of. which shows the atmosphere
to be very clear and pure. Settlements
are now becoming thinner, although
the huildings are gcnerally better. It
ts evident to even . casual observer
that stock raising 10 the principal pur-
suit here. and 1t IL mot, and never will
Do . good farming country, owing to
the never failing drouth and entire
lack of fuel. But, Dick, T An already
etriagiug this letter ont until II 10 @
long ~ the moral law, and II there 10
too much Of Il, throw It away. mail
itat North Plat, which 10 nearly COO
miles west of Ottumwa.
Respectfully,
AARON MELIcK.