The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1875-06-10


:. aisinteres;ed estimate OF our valley, an
,eming. A. it does. nom a maa of travel an
/. seryatioa. re take great pleasure in PR
,'tsny Il to our readers.-EprroR.
q. Chairman. ladies Gad Gentlemen
appear before the intelligent an,
cultivated citizens Of Wichita thi
evening with no little pleasure, CRATE
fully acknowledging the cordial wei
come which YOU have extended to al
utter stranger both to your State ant
city. De assured I shall not forget tht
kind aud hospitable treatment which
have experienced in this young but
giant city of Kansas, which has sprung
Up with rapidity and on scale OF
magnitude unsurpassed, if not unex-
implied on the continent, and now en-
racing, as | am informed, popula-
ion OF over four thousand souls. -Four
ears ago the buffaloes wallowed, and
he will Indians hunted over the site
NV occupied by these magnificent and
SPACIOUS thoroughfarcs, stretching in
.e.iniielv to each of the four winds
ihesc solid and capacious storchouses,
.ilethoric with all the requisites of life
:nd all the Injuries of refinement.
These stately and sumptuous dwell
,ngs, built for ornament as well as use
hose conspicuous public scho oil houses
and church cdifices for the mental and
moral culture ofthc present and coming
Generations; your ample and commo-
Gious public hostelries, have sprung
up as if by magic out of the ground.
Xor should /, in this connection, omit
reference TO your enterprising and
successful merchants, bankers, and
raiders; your young men Of promise
and hope, the pride and glory of all
cities and all times; your young wo-
men of beauty and refinement, the JOY
and adornment OF your homes-alto-
gethcr such state of society as might
reasonably be looked for in city that
had for q hundred years existed in the
fruition of all that aggrandizes and ele-
Yates humanity, but could hardly be
expected in city of but four years
growth. In short, TO be fully appre-
lated and understood, your city must
&c seen, for well as knew the energy
ar,d enterprise of the giant west, L
Ia not have believed had not SEEM
Kansas was long since ''spied out"
r,a goodly heritage, and since the day
.lat its soil was first trodden by the
eet of the white man, till this day, 1T has
.)c.n an object of especial interest to
ihe people of the entire nation. The
"Lecompton compromise" and the
border struggles, with which the name
of the immortal John Brown, whose
''soul is still marching on is SO init
mately associated, are craven on your
memories, and need not be enlarged
upon here.
During the past year your State has
been the object of unusual SoliciiHde
ia connection with Providential Wis
itaiion, altogether removed from the
arena of political contention, cventu-
ating an active aud hearty bencficencc
on the part of the best people of all
the States of the Union. 1t is an I'M
questionable fact that Kansas has suf-
fered much from the late grasshopper
plague. with which several of the
States of the Northwest have been
lately scourged: but her chastiscmeRt,
from this source at least, seems to be
happily ended, the hoppcrs having re-
Gently appeared in new role, aud in
stead Of ''hopping" as heretofore have
taken "to themselves wings" and flown
.way, aud am sure you wish them q
good journey" and provided you all
enjoy good health, and a reasonable
allowance of other comforts ia their
dAsencc, you have no wish to see them
rs * again during the balance of your
I.sss.
a. that as it may, however, | am in
o. position TO inform you that you are
presently the object Of some curiosity
on The part of your fellow citizens of
other States, and 10 that curiosity is
due, in some measure, my present Wis
il 10 Kansas. have come 'to spy out
the Eakedness of the land" to see this
"grasshopper country" of yours, and
ascertain by personal observation its
actual condition, whether there is any
hope for YOU at all, or not. With this
object in view have travelled not less
than 800 miles in various directions
through your State, but particularly
in the Valley OF the Arkansas River
along the line of the Atchison, Topeka
& Santa Fe Railroad, hating at vari-
Gus points in the journey and driving
by private carriages ten TO fifteen
miles into the country on either side
of the line, at each break in the excur
sion. looked, on every hilltop and
in every valley, or the banks Of every
stream, Oh the fields and on the high
ways, l crossed fences into fields of
grain and explored gardens of vegeta-
bles, | left no stone unturned, deter
mined that if there were any hoppers
TO be seen | would see them. Well,
have no doubt you are all curious to
know the result of my observation.
This can be told in few words: Except
at the point of starting, did not see
single grasshopper, nor any mark or
token TO indicate that there ever had
been one in the country-so marvellous
has been your rccuperation. At Atch-
ison | saw few about the railroad
station, but they occasioned no alarm
whatever TO the people there, and they
have aimee, as | learn from the news
papers, either flown away or got
drowned in the Missouri river. | in
CURED diligently of the farmers
throughout the valley if they had seen
any, and the invariable answer was,
that they had not seen hopper this
season, and did not expect to see one
till after harvest, and then they were
welcome TO come and take share of
what was left. But what did ] see,
then? | saw such luxuriant crops of
grain and vegetables as perhaps never
before in any country blessed the la
bors Of the husbandmap, or made his
heart to sing for joy. The wheat and
rye, OF which / am credibly informed
,,oro Than fhreo times the acreage of |