The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-01-17
A FLYING TRIP.
Notes Along the Road

EDITORS NEws:-By your permission
and at the request of friends, 1 will brief
| ly allude to some things l saw on my
| flying trip to the mountains, not long
since.
I got aboard the west bound passen-
ger train on the evening of the 18th ult.
When we had Travelled about twenty
miles it commenced 10 snow, and at 12
O'Clock that night the train called halt
AT STERLING,
in Rice county. Having some business
to attend to there 1 stopped off. 1t was
still showing, and as had been there
before 1 naturally found myself lodged
at the Cottage" kept by our former fel-
low townsman, conductor Mills, place
which l am free TO recommend as a
home for the weary traveller. The
next morning the snow YVES coming down
thicker and faster, and no trains run
ming. / had nothing toxdogbut take in
the city, which, according to my judy
ment, has outgrown any town west of
Emporia on the Santa Fee road, except
Great Bend.
Since last March, there has been quite
number of substantial brick business
blocks built on the main business street,
besides number of nice frames. also
noticed two very large elevators, and
quite number of nice residences, and
the best and biggest of all, one of the
finest school buildings in southern Kan
sas. From one of the Oldest and most
substantial business men learned they
claimed an actual population of about
eighteen hundred, and l honestly think
they have full as many as they claim.
They neither ask or expect anything to
make them a town but their own enter
prise and energy. When asked some of
the business men why they did not make
an effort to secure the round house and
shops now being built at Nickerson,
they answered that they did not think
they were worth buying, To make a
long story short, in reference to this lit
tie city, think it comes nearer being
more than it pretends to be than most
western towns.
At O'Clock a. m of the 14th boarded
the
WEST BOUND TRAIN,
then about eleven hours behind time, |
and renewed our journey toward the |
ing west for about 200 miles travelled |
through country in the day time that |
had always before travelled through in |
the night time. l could see from ap- |
pearances that the Improvements all |
along the line had been many and rapid, |
but when we got to
GREAT BEND
was not prepared to find such city. |
1t is certainly as large, if not the largest |
town west of EmporIa on the main line
of the Santa Fe, and from what I could /
see from the cars my judgment is that |
Barton county is one of the most sub
stanlally improved counties in the great
southwest.
The next place of any note was
LARNED,
which has improved very much since /
about five hundred of US laid showed in
there for thirty-six hours nearly three
years ago, and is quite city, but is be-
ing left little by her neighbor, the Bend.
When we left Larned, our imagination |
was towering, something after the fash
ion of a kite, in anticipation of soon see
ing the city of
KINsLEY,
it being the next town of note on the
road. Instead of finding town of twelve
hundred inhabitants, as i had supposed,
my judgment is it will not exceed five
hundred. 1t is certainly more of paper |
town than real town, and / fear some
of the settlers in Edwards and Ford |
counties will learn that they have emf
grated west faster than the rain fall; not |
that l think that country waterless, but |
we that have lived here for over twenty |
years know from experience and obser-
walton that there is such thing as set
Ting too far west to soon. / am one that |
believes that the great American desert |
will be settled and cultivated, in time, to |
the foothills of the mountains, but if /
was asked for advice, l would say, go |
slow.
The next place of consequence is
DODGE CITY,
which has improved very much in size,
and some one on the train told me that |
the morals of the town had improved |
under the new marshal, until quite a |
number of business men actually go to |
their meals without their revolvers.
FROM DODGE WEST,
there is but little to see, but some folks |
out west, suspect G. j. Jones of getting |
up new town, a few miles this side of |
Lakin, with view of getting a U. s. |
land office established there. We halted |
at 10 p. m. at
for supper, and you can get as good a |
meal here for IS cents as you ought to |
want anywhere. Here we made the &C |
quaintence of Major Cox, one of the !
on the Trinidad branch. |
His ancestry and ours both having |
came from "Old Fagina" and around |
through old ky, K" we kind O'staid |
together until l started home; and by |
the way, found the Major TO he some |
what of a historic parsonage. It was |
interesting to me, and think it would |
be to any Old settler of Lyon county, to |
see and talk with the identical person |
that put the notorious Bill Anderson |
out of the way of quiet and peacable |
citizen of Kansas and western Missouri. |
The Major was the identical person /
who killed Anderson in an almost |
hand to hand combat, for which the |
government gave the Major AndersOn's |
fine horse, brace of pistols, and riding |
rig. The Major also has AndersOn's |
picture. He was large slave owner at /
the breaking out of the war, but was /
one of the first men in the fight and |
one OF the last out. Although he lost
most of his property, he is proud of his
record. He promised to call at EN-
poria sometime when passing through.
AT LAHUNTA
we took the Trinidad train, and saw
of note, it being dark, until we
arrived at
TRINIDAD,
which is the liveliest town think ev-
er saw. 1t is situated between two noun
tains on the Picketwire creek, has pop
ulation of about three thousand, and /
think uses more whiskey than any place
L ever saw. However, they have some
number one men there and one of the liv-
Hest newspapers in the west.
l would like to say more about the
town and country, but space will not ad-
NIT. will say, however, that / think il
the best point for manufacturing ever
saw, having fine water power and some
of the best coal mines in the world. It
has wool and minerals enough to work
ten thousand hands in factories.
1t being very cold, the snow deep and
still showing on the sixteenth, / started
for home. Four miles this side of Trini
dad is
ELMoRo,
known as the Denver & Rio Grande
town. 1t has almost entirely subsidized
of late
On the way home / saw nothing of in
terest except herd of anteIopes, and rab-
bits with their heads sticking ont of the