Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-12-25


for his family. This has to be done
to pay interest and to live--if you
call it living. Ahead is q mortgage
which in nine cases out of ten will
take the property mor,gsgsd and
leave him homeless. Yet you will
lind that these same individuals are
praisiDg the West and no doubt
their friends in the East think the
goose hangs high wi their friends
10 the West. IL does hang pnrticu
tariy high-clear ont of reach, in
fact.
This is the dark side but the
dark side is The rule. The bright
side is seldom seen and usually has
been made bright by means brough,
from the old home or the emolu.
ments Of some office. You may
call this bad for the people rather
than bad for the country. The fact
is, great many have come believ.
ing the prospects for farming here
were something marvellous and they
have acted accordingly. They have
bought harvesters TO reap their
wheat which was to yield 20 to 30
bushels per acre, and have thresheo
six, eight or may be ten bushels,
and sold it for so cents per busbeI.
The profits Of grain raising have not
been theirs for there were no profits.
The Rail Road Co.'S and the land
agents will tell yon there are but as
! once beard en- Irishman say "lhere
is no truth in half their lies " Well,
enough of this, the sui ject is no,
exhausted but your patience may be
and may think of something whit b
viii De of more interest
This Is my third sitting at
your letter and sill it is no,
tinished. Yesterday Was Sunday
and it is perfectly natural Tor
you to conclude that to-day is
Monday and so it is. As l am an
industrious man it is reasonable for
you to suppose that worked ,o-day,
but didn't, | only tried. The wind
blew to day at the rate Of $50 miles
an hour. The q. S. storm signal
corps might dispute this but you have
the word of an actual observer or
the spot. / say observer when per
haps it would be better to say feeler.
| don't see it but / feel it which
IS better. "Seeing is believing"
but feeling is actual knowledge
| have been trying to lay sod on my
stable wall. laid few sods and
then stopped to swear. laid few
more sods and then stopped and said
a great many swears. | finally found
that 1t was vastly more agreeable to
swear all the time. Darkness has
dropped her sable wings over the
scene-as the poets say, but the
wind has increased to 500 miles an
hour. |, of course, am in the house
where | have to keep my mouth shut,
but in the morning if the wind still
blows, there will be such satisfa ton
taken for my silence to plight that the
Republican valley will tremble.
Another day has gone by and still
it blows. AS you will perceive I
failed to write much last night.
was seized with an inspiration to
write poem. ! have not written a
couplet since / crossed the "Father
OF Waters" You may perhaps re-
member that Pollock, when be wrote
my obituary last spring stated that
he feared the friction of the western
prairies would rub out the poetry in
me. To dispute this idea | am going
to present you with the first fruits of
my poetic brain on Nebraska soil. 1t
touches on some things in this letter
and some things not in it. AS the
sublime consists in short but elevated
efforts, l have not been able to ex.
plain everything but will try and do
so hereafter in more common place
productions
You've seen the great West with its emerald plains,
And houses of sod that leak when it rains,
Where the "homestesder" lives at his ease,
Whiie his eight or tea children are scattered around
And more in the 'dng-out' perhaps can be found
Playing tag with the bed bugs and aeas
O. glad happy life ia the homesteaders life
VI
That gather with him at the feast.
Barmecde feast although il may be-
When the board it is cleared his pen taketh he
And he braggeth TO friends in the East.
he tells of his horses, HE herd OF fat kline,
Which consists OF a COW on sixty foot line
That gives just qnart of blue milk
II his wife had to dress the butter she made
From the herd. she must know ali the tricks of the
Or don't think she'd dress much in silk. a. ade
This keeping tied up with a rope
Like you'd tie up a pup tht was wanting to slope
Il very poor way 10 get rich
II may be the iault OF the grass or the cow
Or the RIPE or the wife, but can't tell you now
For I'm not well prepared to tell which.
started to tell what the homesteader wrote
To his friends in the East but perhaps you will note
That I've stopped ON the way for to browse
On my own ally thoughts aud got eff of the track
Aud mud it quite difficult to get back
From this short dissertation cows
He wrote of his sheep. and his pigs and his corn
He'd never seen the like since the day he was born
But never word of the hail
As big as bis fists, and the rain, and the wind
Each host ia itself, but when all three combined
They In threshing Can discount fail.
GA wonderful state is the great prairie state;
In oil its great sisierhood none are so great
As thi. badheaded state CT Ntbrssks.
Kansas, go way o Dacotsh, shoe fiyl
You're too hot, or too cold, tor wet, or too dry
I'll be blamed If 1 don't like Nebraska. and
I've no guaranty that I'll not be
bowed il do. The true inwardness
of this production is not the poetry
but the truth it contains thai is
sticking out all around the edges. |
always dislike to sacrifice truth unless
I'm well paid. besides / am always
chivalrous enough to help an indlvid.
ual who Is in need of a friend, and
the truth needs friends in the West
BRowN's HOTEL, MACON, Ga Sept 81, 1879.
Messrs, MORGAN & ALLEN. SO John ST.
New York City:
Dear Sirs-In looking over Hayper's Week
~ paper ] saw the advertisement of your val
liable medicine, "Constitution Water" and
it occurred to me that it was my duty to add
to your list Of testimonials. For twelve
months suffered with inflammation of the
kidneys and bladder; no rest at night, ND
ten or fifteen times; could not walk across
the street without having palpitation of the |
heart, would have to sit down and rest before |
could get back to the hotel Last MAY |
was obliged 10 give up my business, that of |
hotel keeper. l was reduced in weight forty |
pounds. In August made the trip BY steam |
er to New York, theme by steamer to New |
London, Connecticut, where | arrived weak |
ard very much debitated. My brother, j. |
F. Brown, President of Browns Cotton Gin |
j.