Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-05-25
JOTTINGs FROM THE WEST.

Mr.. EDIToR--I will again proceed Il
redeem my word to you and your read
ers, and l will begin with the differenc
in vision between western Nebraska ant
Kansas and here in southern Iowa. Ii
Iowa, you can recognize an object a
more than double the distance that yol
can in either Nebraska or Kansas. /
seems as though there is something il
the atmosphere out in the West tha
obstructs the visien. and at short dis
tance changes the natural appearance o.
folks and things. Therefore, that west
ern country is harder upon our eye'
than either Iowa OF Ohio-and anothel
is, the adaptabiiity of the atmosphere t.
our respiratory organs. Now, here il
Iowa, every breath you take seems t
strengthen your system, and to enliver
it, while in western Nebraska and Kan
sas the breathing of the atmosphere doe:
not even satisfy our respiratory organs
and the longer lived on that atmos
phere the weaker and more like Z
dead person became; and what L felt
/ observed in all others that l came il
cantact with, while there. Another is
when it thunders in those western
places, the sound seems as though il
went into the ground, and consequently
has dead heavy sound-while here in
Iowa, the thunder rolls off in quite q
lively manner, somewhat similar to
what it does in Ohio; and another Is
that in western Nebraska and Kansas, it
seldom rains without hailing, and esps-
cially in the spring and summer, when
ever it thunders it is sure to hail. Now,
here, it will rain by showers all day, and
not a single hailstOne fall. Another,
the common wind-that is, the every
day wind-don't seem to be governed,
in those western States, by the same
rules as here in Iowa. Out there the
wind seems to be controlled by more of
whirling power than it is here. In the
timber, the wind is no more trouble
some than it is in eastern Ohio, but out
out on the open prairie, the wind scuds
along with little more force, as gen
eral thing, than it does in eastern Ohio.
Another, it will rain here in Iowa for
two or three days at time, while it sell
dom, if ever, rains for single day in
western Nebraska and Kansas. Anoth
er is, you can have fruit trees, or any
other trees here in Iowa, that you wish
to raise, while out West you can not.
And another is, vegetation in the west
ern parts of Nebraska and Kansas grows
faster till something kills it than it
does in Iowa.
Well, Mr.. Editor, l will now chali ge
the subject, and shortly bring my COM
to a close. l will just say
to my old friends, through your valua-
BILE paper, that am engaged in school
teaching for the summer. We are hav-
ing quite lively time in Iowa politics
this spring, owing to the prohibition
This has aroused the am
bition of every temperance person in
the State. | voted on the Kansas amend
helped to make prohibition a
part of the organic law of that State.
So, when we have the proposition fully
then l will consider it my du-
ty to go to the polls. and cast ballot to
sustain my arguments used in the dis
cussion of the temperance question, be-
fore the people of this section of coun-
try. Teachers wages for summer terms
are about the same here in Iowa as they
are in old Belmont county. But the
winter wages here are little less than
they are in Ohio. In years gone by,
have heard remarks like this-"I will
On tercher in their examinations for
as they are in Ohio" l will
,ay to all such-don't come here with
'uch delusion weighing upon your
mind; if you do, you will be very much
disappointed when you go to be exam
ned, and the examiner gives you list |
If from ten to fifteen questions in every |
The law requires you to be ex-
smined in photography, reading, writing, |
English grammar, geography,
j. S. history. and theory and practice of
eaching. This makes quite a large
lays work for an applicant. 1 noticed
hat the county superintendent, in max
ng up his list of questions, gave some as
lard questions to answer as l ever met
With in Ohio, at an examination. We |
lave adjourned our lyceum till the first
night in December. We would
,e glad to have you all meet with US at
hat time. We have organized Sunday
chool to take the place of the lyceum
through the summer months.
We have pretty fair neighborhood
lere, although, religiously speaking,
here is considerable room for improve
nent. We have one Bob Ingersoll man
lere, and, of course. you will find F. NJ.
Arouct De Voltaire's pocket theology
ying on his shelf by the side of Bob In
.ersoll's lectures
l sent you communication some
ime ago; itnever appeared, so trem-
lie for this. GoOd-by.
BELMONTER.
Fontanelle, Iowa.