The Leavenworth weekly times., 1876-03-02
PENCIL NOTES.


manner Of Lrakesmen generally, jerks the
car door open and fiEgs The word IN your
face with bang and snarl, as if the COM
pany owed you L grudge ior no. going far
the, the train stops, and you step of into
the prettiest little hamlet in Kansas. 1t
does not assume the metropolitan air 50
common to western railroad towns. You
miss the customary rows Of two-story brick
blocks with closed doors, and "to let" pla-
cards hanging in the windows. You look
in vain tor the omnipresent saloons and
land Office. 1t does not even aspire TO the
dignity of "city of the third class, this
fairesr OF rural villages, but Its bit OF quiet
street leading from The depot out into the
orchards and meadows, its one modest lit
| tie church, and Its neat white cottages,
nestled amid groves and rose bushes and
pansy beds, might eisily be mistaken for
Arcadia, If Americans could believe in the
existence of Arcadia. 1t contains one gen.
eral store, kept by our worthy friend Stout,
who. in addition to being the village mer-
chant. discharges the duties OF station
agent. grain dealer, and z. NJ, (which is
post N master." Ii also contains an excellent
hotel a substantial brick school building,
one church, (Presbyterian,) one blacksmith
sbop. one meat market, one shoe
maker, two physicians, and-happy Fair
mount-no lawyers. We note the absence OF
the primitive board shanties common TO
frontier towns. The door-yards are neatly
fenced and set with shrubbery. Shutters
and curtains have banished the everlasting
green blinds from the windows. The roofs
are made broad enough TO cover the houses
without stretching. and flues are used in
stead of rusty stove pip pes stuck up through
the gables Notwithstanding the grasshop-
per rand Of last spring, Mr.. Stout ships
large quantities of IN and potatoes TO
Leavenworth every week, while the farm
ers drive in countless hogs and fat cattle.
Where such evidence of culture and pro'-
| perity exists, it is needless to add that The
Times is a regular and welcome visitor in
nearly every household.
~ TIE COUNTRY.
Fair seem these winter days, and soon
| VIII blow the warm west winds OF sprins,
To set the unbound rills in tune,
And hilner urge the blue birds wing.
\ The wales shall laugh in flowers the WOODS
| Grow misty green with leafy buds
One need only stroll through these pleas
ant country lanes to appreciate the poets
| beautiful lines. From Paramount to Big
Stranger the eve is constantly delighted by
| a succession Of fine farms, surrounded by
good old-fashioned rail fences, or neatly
| trimmed hedges. Substantial farm houses
dot the prairie on every side. Broad acres
of corn and wheat, and cribs full to burst
ing, have risen Phoenix like out OF the
the ruins of last springs devastation, and
the lean kline of threatened famine, filled
to repletion with the fruits Of an abundant
harve-t, are lying in groups, chewing the
cud of lazy contentment.
The farms lying along the streams, al
though with a better soil and greater nat
ural advantages are not generally SO we'll
| improved as those on the uplands. They
have nearly all passed out Of the hands Of
those long haired relics of border ruffian-
ism who "squatted" on all the best claims,
and devoted their energies to hunting Jim
Lanes men, and furnishing bad whisky,
but the trail OF the serpent is over them
vet. The inevitable log cabin of the "coon
hunter" is fast disappearing before the on
ward march of prosperity, and before an
fother decade these monuments OF pioneer
life will have become things of the past.
Not far from Fairmount We stop Tor a
friendly chat with Uncle Jerry Donovan,
the noted bird fancier and breeder OF fine
fowls. Having a specially, Uncle Jerry
achies celebrity and pats money in his
purse. Instead of 80 90 per dozon, he gets
s. 90 and $40 90 pair for his chickens.
And the old man is happy. With a par
donable pride he leads his guests through
pens and coops, discoursing volubly on the
relative meris of light and dark Brahmas,
Bufis, Cochins, Seabrights and Dominiques:
Ii the man who produces two blades OF
grass where but one grew before Is public
benefactor, surely he who doubles the value
of a single production, however unimport-
ant, without increasing the cost, Is equally
deserving of gratitude.
A few miles south OF Hoge z. o., little
stream ripples and flows serenely, rejoicing
in the euphonious appellaiion OF
HOG CREEK,
and along its banks has sprung up popu
lous and prosperous settlement OF Catholics
No reverses OF fortune, no druths or grass
hopper raid. can daunt these sturdy SOM
of the race that that produced Robert
Emmet and Dan. OConnel. Industrious
frugal and perseyeriny, they have come
here to stay, and will fighht ii out on this
line" till they conquer competency
With characteristic Irish generosity we arr
pressed on every hand 10 share their hospi
, tality-in some cases where slender In
come is overtazed to meet the impulse OF I
too generous heart.
We spent pleasant hour with Father
OLeary, the clergyman Of the parish, q
gentleman OF polished manners and schol
arly tastes, one who knows the degree con
ferred upon him by his alma Mater. HI
. also served with distinction in another in
, s,iturion not less noble than Yale or Har
i yard-the army of the Union. His littl'
: church, organized with dozen or so o
members, has steadily grown in infuenc
and members until their little stone churcl
will no longer accommodate the flock; w
! found the entire settlement anxiously In
{ terested in procuring the establishment Q
: a Touring mill in their midst-a wan
, sorely felt. as there are none nearer thai
r Leavenworth. There is an excellent waite
power on Big Stranger near the iron bridge
and another, partially improved, at John
sons saw mill, few miles below. W.
know of no more promising investment 10
a a practical miller with the necessary cast
TRYX.