The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-11-07

Captain Henry King Of Tokcka has in
Srrs6nsE's NonfhiN for November a
graphic sketch u some length under the
above caption. The Introductory i as
follows:
There i mo more enticing scene than
the Kansas prairies in spring. The eye
waudes out over gracefully swerying
and unmonOtonous lines 10 what seems
the very limit q thingS; You dare not
conjecture where the earth ends and the
sky begins. II the grass were biz more
forward. and the atmosphere had only a
hint II fog in il, YOU might likcn the Wis
ION 10 sea: and then those blush
curves would b. waves. and that square
Of newly plowcd burrows shoal Of fish.
and yonder tall. oblique sycamore a
snapped and floating spar. and the one
little white house away off there by it,
self the vague sail II some approaching
ship But the grass i too short, and
the air too crisp and dry, for such a
smile Besides. we know this slope II
deeper green on our right j. early wheat,
just high enough for the slight breeze To
stir Il prettily. a. il might stir baby's
hair; and here on our left j. quirering
dame Of peach-bl0~soms. There are
laughing boys and girls ahead II rs. too,
on their way % school: and directly We
shall b. overtaking frequent wagons
loaded with lumber, shingles and win
d0w--ash; and then viii come the ele-
mentary in farm-making, and the latest
Of the arriving settlers And 80 the
picture goes On. repeating itself for 2O0
miles or more-and beyond that vet Is
the surveyor. with his spying and beck
oning compass
The farms are large, YOU will observe.
and growing larger. as if they had
caught something Of the nature II those
infinite skies; and At every turn rises
thar perraSive and undefinabie 0d0r Of
fresh-cut sd. What miles and miles Of
black overlapping lines across the
emerald prairie where the plow> are
going. But there are liberal intervals
not vet ..tiled upon or -opcned up--
a. they name il out here, and the farm
crs have keen eve for convenient
:. ranges upon which their stock may
Craze, and where plenty ~ hay may b.
secured in irs season AZ the mere cost ~
reap;ng AMI stacking: it has been as
serted that the kansan would not care
70 20 10 heaven unless he could b. guar
anteed an simple range 10 the west u il.
Indeed. Il j. only BY resorting to figures
that one can reach comprehension Of
the aggregate extent II these long, mar
TOW. black strips If .prairie-brcaking =
Not until You take your pencil and run
over the foofing- II the Assessors re-
turns, and find that in the last year al
most 4 million acres were added TO the
cultivated area ~ the State, do YOU be-
gin % realize what the busy plows are
accomplishing: and when you come 10
supplement this with the fact that dur
ing the same period, fully hundred
thousand people care to Kansas 20
make new farms and homes, you will
understand how numerous, after all,
must ~ the buildings which look 20
sparse ~ you- and % venturcsOme.
These buildings by the way. arc
sharply characteristics. not 10 say anon
alou~-tor- really. they seem % belong
10 condition a things which il i diff
ficult - reconcile with - much n grass.
and wild larks' songs. and clear blue
sky The typical iog-cabin u early
days on the Wabash and Sangamon J.
seldom d he seen here, and Il i used.
when yOu do see II. a a stable or cow
she'd (: the man who made the If the
burteTnnt garb and the famished aspect
left Kansas when the .skeers II came.
and went .sback % hi wife's folks 4
east II the Mississippi The dng-out j.
here. II l. true; hut the dug-Out j. An in
digenous affair. asd an Improvement up
on the ancient log continuance in this,
that il j. only rnake-shift. and rapidly
gives way 20 something better. And
then il i modest, also (as the swagger-
ing old log-cabin with it, clay "chink-
ing and its obese and ridic-
ulOus outside chimbly : never was),
and has pleasant effect "
shying Al your approach; for il j.
simply an opening made into a hillside
OF convenient slope, you must know,
rooted over with turf several layers
thick on framework Of poles. and hav-
ing a front inpr0vised from a few
chance boards and scantlings and half
dozen pane~ ~ glass Usually, canvas
Or brown Sheeiing "a wagon-cover. per-
haps) i nailed to the poles inside for a
ceiling. and the walls are rendered dry
and smooth with whitewash: the floor i
the mere hard earth. IN most cases car
peted with gnnny-bags or an odd mat
ting If braided corn-husks. They are
said % be very comfortable haDitafions,
cool in summer and warm In winter:
and often these rude interiors are ar
ranged with ingenious and admirable
taste Sometimes. too. the fronts are
80 of with canny little porches. 70
which towering vines are trained.
once saw one that was mass 81 morn
ing glories- through which the sunlight
leisurely sought tine open door and
changed the gsinny carpet ID cloth II
gOld-whiIe out upon the sod roof,
child IN -cant calico frDck. and bare