Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-10-06
EDITORlALi EXCURSION.

On rusty hinges, bent and brown.
EDITOKlALi EXCURSION.
A Trip:ThrOughI Nebraska.
EDIToRs OF THE OTTuMwA COURIER
Dear Srs In conserving to repre-
sent yon on tho occasion of an edi-
torial excursion through Nebraska,
III find ] have undertaken a
task surrounded with many and
formidable difficulties. In the fret
place, l have assumed to represent
Yourself, the party invited, expected
and wanted, upon an exploration after
facts bearing upon and intended to in
auence momentons questions and in
terests of fearful magnitude, and to
report upon them in such manner as
to meet the expectations of anxious
and deeply interested parties. l de-
rive little consolation from the maxim.
"qnid .fach per aliam. .facH per se.''
fon may be, and doubtless are, respon-
sible for me AZ yonr agent; but that
don't make 1t any easier to form aud
express an opinion about the present
condition and prospects of Nebraska,
75,OCO square miles in extent, from
data obtained by glances through car
windows during q railway ride of 500
miles through portion Of that vast
territory.
But have neither space nor timo to
indulge further in this train of thought
| am fairly in for it, and you, in some
sense, are in with me. If you have
undertaken an impossible task, many
people doubtless thought Hercules hi d
done the same, aud if you have made
q illistakos sisA ~lho. .ssaso4io~s-vsa yong
agent, may reasonably conclude yon
havc done it deliberately, and with a
settled purpose to abide the consequen-
ces. IL could do it without irreyer.
ence. | should be disposed to invoke
the Divine interposition to have mercy
on your soul.
One preliminary word more, how
eyer. l feel bound to remind you at
the outset of ono of the disagreeable
consequences Of tho scrape you have
got yourself into, and that is. the in
terminable length of this report. A
history of grasshoppers, their origin,
the size. strength and depth to the
square foot of their columns. the ma
ture and extent of the injuries they
intlict upon a given territory; the laws.
If any, which govern their appearance
and return, and an inquiry into the re-
cupcrative powers of region to re-
cover normal condition of prosperity
after their devastations, can't be done
In one or two newspaper columns, SO
that yon may as well at once set up
"to bo continued and keep Il stand.
ing.
1t ia a matter of tho first Importance
on going away from home, TO be sup
piled beforehand with the documents
necessary TO facilitate your progress
Ii you contemplate visit to foreign
countries. yOn must have q passport,
or you will be hauled up at tho from
tier. Ii you arc going on an cxcur-
sion, You must have one OF those doc
uments, 80 ornamental and usofnl, a
Pass, or tho Conductor will put You
OIL the train. 1t did not matter in my
case on this occasion, that l was forti-
fed in every particular except in this
| was left on this account in a state of
feverish doubt aud anxiety up TO the
last moment. kilograms passed fran.
tically to and from headquarters and
obtained no relief, until ono blessed
dispatch Informed me that my ''trans-
portation" wonld be handed mo by the
conductor of tho Z 80 evening train,
on which was to go, so that you
may well imagine with what calm sc.
rcnity repaired to tho Depot good
liberal time before tho hour named
But | don't believe you can imagine
my feelings, when z 80 came, and no
train. Some one more learned In rail.
road phraseology than I was, suggest
ed that perhaps 7:30 was Burlington
time. ] concluded this might be 40,
and that must wait. But here was
~ mortal hours which might have
spent In tho delicious society of wife
and children. In very contempla-
tive frame Of mind, ! proceeded to the
Depot Hote! where, as good luck
would have II, l found the Hon. p. G..
Ballingall on duty, and seemingly die
posed to make himself agreeable. You
may imagine how imporceptably those
hours passed away. There is nothing
like luck.
Well, II o'clock came, aud prompt to
the minute In thnndered the Great Pa
cific Express No. four day coaches
and three sleepers. Without unneces-
sAry loss Of time 1 hunted up Conduc-
tor Hills, and with seeming indiffer-
ence. but with palpitating heart. asked
MIN about my transportation. With as
much nonchalence as II 1t was An every
day transaction, he handed me an en-
velope containing document stating
in effect that, on application Of A. +.
Touzalin, Esq., the C. B. & @. Railroad
Company granted transportation TO
Omaha and return-the very thing
wanted.
| All aboard and of. Secured seat
by the side OF an intelligent Californi.
An on his return homo from New York.
Said he had deposits in the Bank OF
California. Anxious to get back and
see about them. Talked ourselves
asleep. About the dawn of day the cry
OF "Crcston Change cars for Kansas
CITY, aroused us. Tho flourishing
towns Of Red Oak and Glenwood are
passed, and Pacific Junction reached.
Here the train turns North, leaving
passengers for Plattsmouth and be-
yond ON the main line, TO continue
their journey West. On the LETT Ii
now the Missouri Riyer; on the right