The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1884-12-06
A RIDE IN A PRAIRIE GALE.
Iowa as Pictured by Maine Man-2al.
lasting the Buggy.


[Solon Chase in Lewiston Journal
At Charles City | missed railroad
connection and had to drive across til.
country to Crcsco, fifty miles, and it
was the first cold day of the season. The
wind came with sweep across the
prairieS, an when it struck, shaved
like ranor. The tree tops OF the
groves planted around the farm houses
lroke or bent likn viii ,-stitks, and me
times the buggy was lifte from the
ground. the driver got out and put
in ROCKS TO hold the machine down
to the earth. We did not want to
make tho trip to Crosco through the
air 1t was lucky that we .ruck a
stretch of country where there were
boulders. The road for the first ten
miles was on the section mes and the
settlers we're Irish and Norwegians,
They hal large arms and large stocks
of cattle and hogs and plenty of corn
and hays acks.
We sto ped at a rm-hou,e to warm.
The pro- rietor was i'm lriShman. lie
said wheE he lived in the old country he
did not taste meat on month. Now
he sold cattle and h 'gs by the carlo ID.
lie came to this country years ago a
stecrdg1 passenger on an cmlsrant ship.
lie went back TO Ireland last year on a
visit. He went in Il Slceping-cdr to New
orN and across the sea a cabin pas
Senger on an ocean steamer.
He found the old country just
as he left it. There had not been $l5
sp MT for improvements in the little
town in which he was raised since ht
left it, He had changed so much he
was homeSick as dog. He had grown
mp with the United states and was sc
hanged himself that the old country
mad no attractions for him. He had
thee horse teams plowing-one follow
ing after the other, aud a hundred
lcres of corn that would make" sixty
bushels to the acre. His ''shanty" wa
a two story white house with greer
blinds. When he returned to the lane
OF his birth he found no attractions be
:ausc he had changed, become Amer
| anized and the old country haC
not changed.
The wind blew a gale and sometime,
spit snow until We reached the ~ APP
Us. " The horses kept dog trot u
hill and down and made about sever
miles an hour, in spite of the wind. Tn
"Wapsys" are the forks of a river, anC
sheltered by timber. The woods ar
full of hogs and cattle that had takol
o the timber to get out of the wind
ihe road in the "Wapsy' country wa
crooked and steep, washed out an
wound around among the treos. At
clock the last fork of the "Wapsy" wa
crossed. Before rising up to the ope
prairie the driver took more rocks fror
he creek to ballast the buggy. The roa
took bee-line for Busti. We had nc
one far before we met a Norwegian
with his load of boards all blown away
The boards lay scattered o ,er the prai
lie to the windward, II distance Of fort
II fifty rods.
When the country is all settled til
roadS run on the section line that is du
lOrth and south or east and west and thcl
no direct road between business center
= hen the land is laying out" the roa
'un angling" to the section lines. n
angl ng roads run on the divides
'rn more direct than the roads on til
'ction lines. From Busti we took t!
:ngling' road. The settlers were
nd far between. Thousands of a
as fertile land as the sun ever So
on lay as left by the hand of nitur
alge focks of prairie chickens tc
- ahead of the horses like scar
artridges. AS the sun went down ii
Iind went down. The driver be. ,an
row overheard ballast and VIC arrive
t resco at 3p. m, in the midst o.
cad calm, without a rock in the buggy.