The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-05-02

AND FOLKS.
Especial Correspondent Of the vIRG1NrAN.J
Invoke in the morning at Sydney, Ne
braska, 4T2 miles west from Omaha. 1t is
the breakfast station; the poorest one on
the line, believe. My one experience does
not lead me to commend it to any one.
Sydney itself has a very uninviting look,
whether sou see it when the cold winter
winds are driving the light, dry snow about,
or when the hot June sun is turning every
pebble into pocket stove. Isuppose it has
enterprise enough. am told there is only
one town on the line in which so many men
have died with their boots on as in Sydney.
1t has newspaper-a sprightly sheet with
iull allowance Of western slang and blood
and thunder editorials. 1t has church build
ings, too, but as was not there on Sunday,
cannot say whether they have or have not
ministers who dispense with the gospel"
Probably they have, however good many
Of them do. The military supplies which
are stored here necessitate the presence Of
a few soldiers, who lounged about the cars
wearing the detected air l have seen a
Methodist minister's wife have when she
was dissatisfied with the station and long
ing for a change Of quarters.
| All along the line from Omaha to North
Platte groves of trees were frequent, nearly
all of them the result of the energy and IN
| dustry of the settlers. One day Of each
| year is set apart for tree planting-Arbor
| day they call it-and the labor expended in
this direction has been very well rewarded.
The trees afford shelter from the prairie
winds as wellas from the summer suns, and
in time will supply timber tor building and
fencing purposes. The trees most used are
the cottonwood and white ash, though
elms, honey locust, walnut and cedars, are
plentiful. On one mans farm saw a beau
tiful white willow hedge, which must have
measured four miles and which. the conduc-
tor assured me, was eighteen feet in height
and had attained this growth, from cuttings.
in six years. This fact alone is a sufficient
guarantee of the richness of the soil, were
there no broad fields of corn to lift UP their
ears in surprise. when they hear the shrek
of the locomotive as it drives by, and that,
in their season. they are there to some pur-
pose, may be seen from the following fig
ures, for which am indebted to Henry r..
Williams, ESQ.,: man with capital of less
than two thousand dollars settled in the
North Platte Valley soon after work began
on the railroad he cultivated $50 acres of
land, about two-thirds wheat, the rest corn,
and in seven years his farm book showed as
the result: expense of cultivating farm, ma
chinery, stock, etc., S4,959; receipts from
crops sold. sl3,3l4 profit, $685..
There is a saying that figures won't lie,
and may be they won't if they are left alone,
but certain developments about bankingand
| insurance companies have led me to think
that even figures cannot always be relied
upon. Be that as it may, I always leave a
margin for western man TO swing around
on, so we will grant our Nebraska farmer
$4,000 as clippings from the wings of his
imagination, which still leaves profit oil
$500 on an investment of less than one
third that amount. doubt if any farmer
In the United States can show larger pro.
fit from similar investment.
10 be sure our western farmer has had to
lead frontier life. which, at the time he
first came here, meant something more tn an
a rude way Of living, separation from friends,
and deprivation of luxuries. It meant un-
ceasing watchfulness; vigilance which
must never sleep it meant risking suffe ring
from sickness and want; it meant to be rea-
dy any hour to defend his home from the
attacks OF savage Indians, for right here in
this North Platte Valley, as much. perhaps
more, than any other portion of the road
the Indians have striven desperately to drive
out the civilization which was advancing Sc
rapidly. Trains have been ditched, and the
methods employed showed such skill and sc
good an understanding OF the construction
OF locomotive that it is safe to conclude
they were helped by the white desperadoes
who join their bands and under disguise muir
der and burn and rob.