The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-12-04

e Topeka s. Santa Fe railroad, and il
such cases, and indeed in the case O
: many homesteadera also, the rail
a road company furnished wheat 70
: seed when necessary. Many of thu
) newcomers are meeting their treub
!, les 1nanfnlly. Numbers have gone
2 into the ''bu11alo bone business
2 AT Great Bend, and elsewhere,
E met men with loads of bones, gath
J cred upon the prairies, forty-fiye
! miles distant, the going and coming
, occupying two and q half or three
days, and the amounts realized be.
5 ing from four 10 five dollars pei
: wagon-Ioad. Very small wages
but q thousand times better than
] idly waiting for help from others.
/ AT aii the stations found large
heaps of these bones awaiting ship
) to St Louis and the east, to be con-
, verted into fertilizers. / was much
/ pleased with the spirit Of two brave
little lads thirteen and eleven years
of age, whom l met one night at
the Hutchinson depot, while waiting
for the midnight train. They were
Illinois boys, sons of soldier who
was killed in battle, and were on
their way from their new home in
Reno county TO find employment in
Illinois during the winter, husking
corn. In the spring they will re-
turn, to pnt in another crop on their
mothers homestead.
WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK OF KANSAS.
have asked the farmers whom l
have met what is :heir present opin-
ion of Kansas, its prospects, etc,
To hear their replies one might sup
pose they were all real estate agents,
so Very positive and emphatic are
their praises of tue country. They
certainly like their Kansas homes.
My first iafrying place was in Lyon
county, which, as L learned, is the
best county in the state. Afterward
ascertained that Chase county is
unequalled, having the best corn
farms in America; that Marion has
more unexceptionable, first-class
farming lands than any other county
| of equal size that the same is true
of Harvey that Sedgwiek il absO-
lutely without 8 rival; and that,
take it ell in all, nothing can COM
pare with Reno. When 1 reached
Barton, I asked Mr.. Odell, the county
clerk, il his county, also, was the
best in the state. He said there was
none better, but acknowledged there
were other counties about on par
with Barton. Indeed he said there
was the same quality of fertile
lands along the Arkansas valley, as
far west as Lsrned and beyond. |
met other men of Barton, who had
farms on the Walnut, who could
not quite concede there were any
spots quite so desirable in all the
west. 1t Is too much TO expect of
these people that they will form the
same estimate of their several To-
calities, but in two or three things
they all agree that they never lived
in Sd healthy q county; that a new
country never had such schools
(Which is probably true), nor was
ever so well supplied with churches,
mills, roads, bridges and railroads
and that they have seen no better
country for winter wheat.
THE FAvoRITE INDUSTRY.
l found come difference among
them as to the industry in which il
is most desirable to engage.
Some prefer stOck-rai&ng, because
the pasturage is plentiful: nearly all
the year, the winters generally mild,
the labor light. and the profits sure.
Others, and the majority, think that
stock raising and farming combined
will give tho greatest profit. Still
others are beginning to devote their
chief attention to sheep, claiming
that that country is the ''sheep's
naH06ia0o IN ifh n nnn
who seemed to entertain any doubt
as to the future prosperity and great
ness of the state. All were hope
full, and found a general determin-
alton to do more thorough work, and
more of il, next year, than ever be-
fore, confident that "Kansas is a
who do well by it," as Col. Plumb
says.
THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE.
The Kansas folks not only like the
country, but also (barring some few
exceptiOns) like the people who are
In it. A gentleman in Marion said
to me, ''This is the civilest commu-
nifty ever lived among" A cler-
gyman pretty we'll out toward the
frontier thinks that his congrega-
ton is of higher grade of culture
and intelligence than that he minis
tered to in the east.
The people in Kansas have fully
recovered from their panic, and are
8 little ashamed of their fright.
When inquired at the state house
in Topeka for q copy of the official
reports concerning grasshoppers, it
was courteOusly given me, but not
without apologize remarks and in
timations that the statements must
be taken with q certain degree of
allowance. During the panic some
men were ready to sacrifice their
lands ut any figure. There are no
such people now in Kansas. l met
with some bargain-hunters who
were diligently seeking just that
class of property holders, and were
in i'll humor because they could not
find them. Some of these returned
as they came, but most of the land
explorers made investments, either
purchasing homestead claims at the
old prices, or buying railroad lands.
One of the land agents of the Atch-
ison, Topeka & Santa Fee railroad
company informed me that his sales
this autumn have been double those
of the same season last year.
NO CAUSE OF ALARM.
After what / have seen of that
'grasshopper stricken country" l
find no cause for alarm, either for
it's present sustenance or future
prosperity. The people, as q body,
appear to be in pretty good circum-
stances, and take pretty good care
of themselves and their needy
neighbors. I found them quietly
and energetically meeting the ne
; cessities of the situation and max
ing no fuss about it. In one of the
counties where the loss feel heavi-
est, the school snperintendent-well
acquainted throughout the county
said: "There are few of us hut
what will be q little tpinched' this
winter, aud but few who cannot
manage by. 'pinching' to gel
through" In some of these new
: counties the burden of relieving
the needy will be a heavy one. In
such cases they may need 1ittlt
assistance, and we must help them
, If it should become necessary to &C
2 outside the state for aid, the Appea
will come to us from such author
! lied and responsible sources as viii
. give the fullest assurance that the
! offerings of the charitable will b.
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