The Leavenworth weekly times., 1879-06-26

can afford-schools, churches. etc.
1t is supremely to the advantage of the
western portion of the State that the eastern
portion should b, settled up first, for in
that case the State could rely upon itself,
and in time Of dire distress could rely upon
herself solely and b. in no need Of seeking
aid from abroad. Even il it would be that
it be twenty five years before the lands Of
the western part of the State are all taken
up, it will not stand at sll that the growth
OF the State would by any means be retard-
ed, for there are enough vacant lands in the
| east, northeast and southeast to accommo-
date an almost unnumbered population.
NEosHo COUNTY.
The county of Neosho Is admirably situ-
ated and Is peculiarly fortunate as to the
market facilities enjoyed by the farming
community. She has tha advantage of
three roads, thst Ia, she has two divisions of
the Missouri, Kansas aud Texse railroad
| and the Lesvenworth, Lawrence and Gal
weston line, the latter crossing the Necsho
| Valley division of the former at Chanute.
The Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston
road enters the county at or near the north
east corner, and runs south parallel with
| the west line Of the county; the Neosho
division of the Missouri, Kansas and
| Texas road enters the county a little to
the west of the entrance point of the
| l., l.. Il G.. K. r., crosses the latter at Cha
mute, the metropolis OF the county, and pro-
ceeds In southeasterly direction; the
main line OF the NJ, X. Il I. K. K. enters
the county little east OF the south center
line, proceeding in a northeasterly direc-
ton, and passing out q little north OF the
east center line. The
TOTAL NUMBER OF MILES OF RAILROAD
in the county is sixty-eight, divided as fol-
lows: l., L. q G. K K twenty FIVE; NJ,
K. Il T. RR, Neosho Diyi.ion) twenty-six,
and the main line OF the NJ, h. & T. T. r.,
seventeen. The total valuation of all the
railroad property IN the county is Sil6, ,526,
Of which the L., L. 4 &. is assessed for
Sl53 1S9, or S5,9il per mile; the Neosho
division Of the Nj, h. x T., Sl2l ,l59, or S.
06S per mile. The amount OF business done
by these roads in the county amounts in the
aggregate to startling figures,
| THE GREAT ITEM OF SHIPMENT
being castor beans, of which Chanute ia
one OF the greatest shipping points in the
nlted States. Neosho county raises thous-
ands upon thousands Of bushels of castor
beans yearly, which, selling readily at 81 10
per bushel, brings into the county quite
handsome revenue. The shipments from
Chsnute for last season were over SO 600
bushels, and will be greater this year.
SOME STATISTICS.
According to returns made by the asses
sor for the present year, from the different
townships In the county, the population is
Is, ,595, but, az a general rule, the assess sor
don't get the name of everybody, and there
fore it is more than probable that the esti-
mstion of $1,000 as the population of the
county Is about correct. The assessed tax
able personal property of the county is
1921 932, the total assessed valuation Of all
property not being given. There are now
IS .005 acres of the county in corn, IL S93
in wheat, Is, 800 IN castor beans, and ,99i
in flax. AS 8 rule the crops of the county
are very good, much better In fact than it
was expected they would be some time sgo
There are j. .493 head Of horses, 233 500 head
of hogs, and IA .5il head Of cattle IN the
county.
| TOWNS IN THE COUNTY.
Chanute, the principal city in the county
and one of the heaviest chipping points
in this section Of the State, il in the north
western part of the county, and contains
about 200 inhabitants. Ii is the crossing
point of the Leavenworih, Lawrerce Il Gal
weston and the Neosho division of the Mls-
souri,, Kansas X Texas railroads, and il a
thriving, progressive, energetic town, des
tined, by force of its location, and the
wealthy agricultural region surrounding it,
to grow into city OF considerable size. Ii
ia one of the greatest shipping points in the
!, Uuited States for castor beans. and il q
point Of importance for the shipment of
both grain and cstlle. Considerable builds
log is now in progress, and the direction of
, the town is steadily upward. Great i'm
! provements have been made in the last
twelve months and others OF importance are
in contemplation. Chanute is great dis
tributing point for great extent Of sur.
rounding territory, and "a the county set.
ties up her trade will be largely increased,
: as she hss 40 many points Of advantage il
: her favor that her trade can
: not be appropriated bv a rival. The loca
; ton Of the town ia a rplii.g upland about
ore mile and hall west and three miles
south Of the river. There il here one of
the largest ard best stone gri.t mills in
the State, and two good elevators, the lat
ter atiording all needed facilities for the re-
ception, handling aud shipment of grain
The town has good schools, an ele ant
school house, and a splendid iron bridge
over the Neosho, Just east OF town.
Erie, the seat Of government for the
county, is brisk little burg, about cen
trally located, and enjoys a good trade. It
IL In 4 ti)urishing and prosperous condi-
tlon and Ia building up. Erie has no rail-
road, and the only town Of any consequence
in the county which hss not
Usage Mission, southeast of Erie, ia a
good trading point, ard is surrounded by
splendid agricultural region. 1t is on
main line Of the Missouri, Kansas and
Texas railway.
Thayer. south of Chanute on the line of
the Leayenworth, Lawrence Il Galveston
road, is an ambitious little village and is
making some strides forward to prominence.
The town il good trading point.
There are also numerous other small
towns in the county, all OF which are doing
a good trade and building up.
WATER, COAL. TIMBER, BUILDING STONE,
ETC.
Neosho ia az well watered az any county
in the State, and much better than some,
the NeoshO river running her entire length
from the northwest to the southwest, with
tributaries, many Of them quite large
streams, coming in from each side, the prin-
cipal ones being Vegetarian, Big, Cauvills,
Four Mile, Flat Rock and Walnut creeks,
flowing southwest, ard Village, Turkey,
Elk and Osee creeks, flowing southeast. In
the southeastern part OF the county Labette,
Chetopa ard Big Hill creeks are the main
streams. The county Is * ensively timber
ed, the forest land averaging
over ten per cent, the average width
of the timber belts being half a
mile The general surface of the country il
uudulstirg, the bottom land averaging
twenty per cent, and the average width Of
the BOTTOMS two and one half miles The
native varieties OF timber are blackberry,