The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-10-24
COMMUNICATION.


ion of great public evil. |
COMMUNICATION. u
For the Register.
KEARNEY, NEB., Oct. 1S, 1879.
l write from the center of the Great
American Desert. AS far as the eye
can reach in every direction is one vast |
plain without tree or shrub, except to
the southeast is small clump marking
the spot of old Fort Kearney, and from
which this place on the line of the
Union Pacific railroad takes its name.
This vast plain extends from Omaha
two hundred miles east to the Black
Hills, two hundred miles to the west,
and on line north and south q distance
of near two thousand miles, rivalling
the renowned African Sahara in its vast
proportions. Before the Union Pacific
railroad drove its iron horse over this
vast region, nothing but the Indian and
emigrant trail was to be found except
the wild Indian, the buffalo and deer and
the struggling overland train of emf
grant teams seeking new homes on the
Pacific slope. My landlady passed over
time since, a young girl OF sixteen on
her Indian pony. Then these vast
plains were considered no more inhab-
liable for civilized man than the des-
ert of Sahara, for though they were
covered with grass for the most part,
this grass was covered with an alkaline
substance that exuded from the ground
and rendered it perfectly unfit for do.
nestle animals, SO that the overland
traveller had to carry the necessary food
for his horses to keep them from starv-
ing. In addition to this Inconvenience,
| the winds of the desert, which blow
here for weeks together, either from
the north or south, would and do still
gather up sufficient sand to fill the air,
and not only make existence in 1t ex-
tremely uncomfortable, but breathing
in it almost impossible. Your body,
hair, ears, mouth and eyes are covered
and filled with fine dust, while the
hot, dry simeon of the south debilitates
and causes slight perspiration thai
makes the dust to adhere to your person
like tar. There is enough of this thing
left to make existence here uncomforta
BILE, there being days together you are
compelled to keep under cover The
greater part of the day to exist ut all
The railroad has wrought wonders
This village seven years ago did not ex
list, but to-day it claims population 9
two thousand inhabitants, with the ad
jacent region filling up with grea
lrapidity. There are two banks in op
GRAFTON, no less than four large lumber
I yards that keep their owners ACTIVE
with them, and four hands, from day
light to dark every day in the week ex
cept the Sabbath, three drug stores il
full blast, with only two OF three eleva
tors for grain, but few or no mechanical
shops except blacksmitE's, and sadler'
and harness shops; other kinds Q
things such as plows, wagons and oil
farming implements, of which you flint
very great variety Of every inagina
BILE kind. There are no less thai
: twelve houses Of entertainment 70
, man and beast, with two large liver.
and feed stables. l am wholly unabl
to enumerate half that Is found here II
} great abundance. l was not littl
. surprised to find here two well-kn0wl
> Bristol boys; they are the two olde
, sons of the late Royal Downing Of tina
place, while l am informed that tn
youngest son, George, is married ant
, settled down in business about sixt,
, miles south from here on the Burlington
and Missouri railroad that forms juno
ton with the Main Pacific at this place
The two young men that are here ar
r doing large and, l am informed, o IN
crative business in lumber, sadlery ant
harness and grain, and among the mos
active and influential men of the place
There is another active and infiuentia
! Bristol boy here by the name of Whit
, tier, who holds the Office and discharge
r the duties of County Judge, there bein
only one higher court, known as tn
District Court, which holds session twic
! year at this place, it being the count
) seat. Wind-mills abound, it being th
!, the only natural motive power in exit
tence here, and they do very efficien
work. They could be introduced int
. Vermont to great advantage for man
B purposes. Water is found here at
q depth OF twenty to twenty-five fee,
though forty and fifty miles north 9
' this they have to bore or dig sometime
g two hundred feet. Wind-mills are use
b to a great extent TO raise the water
= which Is found in stratum of grave
ofvarious thicknesses, resting upon be
! of clay or mari, in which stratum vari.
! GUS substances, including the bones Q
r animals, are sometimes brought by tn
augur. Herding is the great bushes
of these extensive plains, one perso
9 often owning 5000 head of cattle, an
some even larger number. But farm
q ing, ere long, will be the main businesi
as population is flowing In at YER
lrapid rate despite many Inconvenience
the new conner. The soil is usually
9 obout four feet deep and sometimes ter
, though in some places there Is vcr
sittle except loon-sand. To the sout
0 there is line of sand hills that exten
8 a great distance east and west, parable
D with the Platte river, q large streaI
. that takes its sluggish course thrOug
these once solitary regions from II
souI &C in the west. The land runs iron
I Missouri on the line of the w. p. rail
/ road from Omaha, a distance of tw
hundred miles, eight hundred feet, .
that this place is probably about 500
feet above the Gulf of Mexico, perhap
r more. A we'll of twenty-five feet ca
I be bored and pumped here ready TO
use in three hours, at q cost of not NOR
!, than twenty dollars. This depth is SUP
4 posed to be on level with the water
Y OF the Platte. There is no game of an
kind on the plains in this vicinity, an,
the Indian has also disappeared; bu
the Immortal Celestial has found hi
way hither from beyond the lands O
the setting sun, and ere long will b
: with his pigtail as numerous rs the Re,
Man once was. T. HI. M.