Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-01-07


beautiful, painted wagons we're loaded
! with lovely women and beautiful chill
dren to the right passes a trafa OF
niigrators who have been to see the
elephant, and, instead of returning with
splendid outfit, they have an cid
wagon toggie6 on pair of dilspidated
oxen, with tears in their eyes, and
ilighty little in their skins, and all look
like the running gears Of bad luck
If you have any friends desiring TO
make fortune by farming in Kansas
[ Il mean poor friends. you can inform
them that they cannot even make a re-
spectacle independent starvation. A
decent farmer can raise an excellent
crop in a good season, but there is uo
market, aud when there is good mar
ke: then the farmer has nothing to sell.
Deliver me from a homestead. There
are too many farmers 10 Kansas il pro-
portion to Its population.
| am living within a mile of the
mol thern extremity of the underground
mountains of the State of Missouri
known in geography as the Ozark
Range. Doubtless you are as well or
better acquainted with the geological
condition of these thar | am. They
were mouniaiGs, but now their eleva-
tion is obl:rerated. This region is abun-
dantly supplied with coal. Nearly
eyeiy farmer has coal bank, and coal
Z is worth three cents a bushel Wood
is plenty and cheap. The good old
fasbrOned 6re-places are numerous in
this section. Vast quantities of coal
are used here, but there is no necessity
for mach fire this extremely beautiful
weather. am teaching the BalltOwn
school, and seldom make fire on ac
count of the soft and sunny weather
We are having. We have had one lit
tie skif. of snow, and the first rain fell
on the 9th instant, the first that has
fallen In FIVE months. TIE river LATHE
Usage is bankfull, and most streams
here are impassable.
Nevada Is the county seat of justice.
Fort Scott, twenty-five miles west, is
one Of the principal markets. The
crops of corn and potatoes far surpass
those of Kansas the soil is more pre-
ductiye and not SO arid. The winds
are no worse here than in old Pennsyl-
vsnia. | have fe.t like breaking about
a dozen Of the ten commandments fire.
quepily when in Kansas during a
zephyr. People who have never been
there at this season Of tie year don't
know how sggrsvstipg and piercing
these ,ormentipg winds are.
Butchering has begun here; there
are great many Wild hogs in the woods,
generally all marked. When a farmer
wishes to butcher he rides into Tie
woods, selects the finest porker, shoots
him ard ropes the "horg" to his borse,
and drags it home. 1t is not con-
ridered healthy to wound hog when
any of the old dad hogs are in the Vi
ciniry. Pork is worth $500: beef is
cheap as dirt; wheat is worth Sl.00 ;
corn, 80 cents potatoes and apples,
$l.00. Fruit was plenty this season.
Any amount Of game here deer, rao-
bits, fox and grey squirrels. cocns,
opossums, wild geese and ducks. prairie
chickens and quais. have known
Doc. Brand to net from $50 to 800
quails every day in tie week, Sunday
not excepted.
Religion is very scarce most people
here don't have any, and those that do
profess to have, are members of nu-
nIerous different churches, the princi-
pal one being the Old Presbyterian,
composed Of about one and half dozen
commuhicants. The most popular
church is the Materialistic. I'll send
you one of their New Testaments.-
Cousin Silas Nj. D, with whom l
an boarding, is bard she'll Materiallst,
and prefers tie Koran to the Holy Bible
About two persons make a congregs-
tron here, and most people think the
fires of hell will have cooled or been
extiuguished before they die.
Thus section Of the State was sub
jected to the most scathing fires and
outrage. during the late war. The i'm
provements we're nearly all destroyed
by the Pawpaw militia, of Missouri,
and the Kansas JayhawEers, who stole
all the personal property they could
carry off, and burnt the rest.
| have been teaching school here
since November 3rd, il this church
building, which was counted among the
model buildings of the far VI est. In
few days we will move into large
school building just completed.
We are having lively time WITH a
nipister Of Spiritualism nearly every
night We GO through a mesmeric per-
formance of jugglery and magic. 1t
worid make dog laugh to see what
confidence and trus. he puts in the
planehette.
Wa hava haov.