The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-23
THE FAR WEST.

SANTA FE, New Mexico. May 16 1885.
How dive, Gringos.
From the birthplace of Montezuma-if the
usual lie goes at par-I address you on my
first impressions of the great Southwest.
Nor will attempt, other than casually, to
be serious as what know is superficial.
Travelling through Kansas prompts the
question. why buy and clear lsud IN the
Eastern States and barely make a.living when
you csn buy land here for one.tenth the
amount per acre and have it already cleared?
You say, no timber, use coal for fuel you
can get it fairly cheap. Then ycu say, water
Is needed; gao will give you driven well.
The crops are as good or better, shipping
facilities at hand and you can by industry
save money on years work.
But nobody will heed such talk for they
are too cussed lazy to make the effort.
Kansas City is as busy q mart as any
city three times its size in the country. It
has pretty much its own way in everything.
You can't (?) gambia in Missouri, 80 the
street cars take the gamblers to Wyandotte,
over the line, where they win mostly Kansas
money. The rest is brought into Missouri to
buy drinkables, because they don't allow
wet goods to be sOld in Kansas.
The consequence of this latter fact is that
Kansas man can hang on longer 10 the
neck end of bottle than any man on earth
He's a regular internal bother, and glories
in the opportunity to show his staying quail
tiles. 1 have seen but one drunken man in
my travelling OF late, aud that was through
board at Kansas City, so drunk that when
be reached Coolidge, at the other end Of
the State, he was only about half recovered.
Uyou would see the houses put up on the
open land In new towns in Kansas you'd
swear every builder was drunk as charita
BILE excuse for his fo0lhardiness. You know
this State is the land OF the gentle zephyr
that gathereth barns, houses. cattle aud
'sich" IN IFS sweeping enbracs and carries
them irto Indian Territory aud cthsr
places south. Now when you know that
cyclone is liable to call at any hour. and
without serving notice, it hardly looks cen
sibie for q men to bald o story and half
house on the plain land and 50 light that You
could roll il away on q wheelbarrow. Why
a man IS liable TO sit down to dinner in
house CT that kind and after finishing his
meal start out 20 walk and find himself in
Mexico or Texas for there are no brakes on
q cyclone to stop her when she goes shop.
ping.
You viii observe / give the festive cyclone
50 OF feminine gender. My reason is that I
don't think it possible for o her TO disturb
such an extensive territory.
Kansas looks like q continuous garden
INTENDED and almost speaking its well
or use it in any way. The soil is
black II its richness and teens with
grass growth that yearly adds to the
wealth of soil. Possibly there are many
reasons agsinst the settlement Of this land,
but have never heard of them, nor does
any one to whom you may speak know of
such reasons. New towns are springiDg I'D
all along the railroad lines and many man
in the East will say, five years hence, II
could have had thousand acre farm tor so
much Eve years ago, and wish 1 had taken
advantage OF the opportunity" Bat then
it will be too late. IL poor people can settle,
live and prosper to com ort in such coun-
Try Why can not those who have enough to
insure against suffering and privatIon?
There's nothing in ali this but plain, blunt
reason for action looking to an almost imme.
date futurity. There's work to do and two
thirds of the work on an Ohio farm OF 200
acres would accomplish the full benefit fro N
500 acres in Kansas. Purely farming lands are
converted into ranches where cattle Craze
and live without other than the paturaI grass
Cor food up into the latter part Of November.
Now inst think of land supporting cattle
the nibble and then think how well it
will support farmsre On the work.
Leaving Kansas we go through the south
eastern corner Of Colorado, and right here L
have very little to say. There is quite con-
tinuation Of what / may call Kansas land,
but soon the hills come into view aud then
Spanish Peaks are 10 be seen AVID away yon-
der Is the old.timer, Pixies Peak. Leaving
the snow caps to themselves You are attracted
by the swift mountain streams aud sluices
that rush along and cut their way through
the land. Down into New Mexico ycu enter
The billy country and the old Rockies sre
your companions. They did not strike
me speechless with admiration, aud
anything that expects mo to remain
silent ought to have more sense than try ad-
miralion on me, A base ball bat would bs
more effective and its persussiveness as an
article for the production of the most note
worthy specific sSness L very much marvel
at and respect.
When brakeman on the Atchison. To-
peka ard Santa Fe Road pointed to big
pile OF land and tnld me it was Starvation
Noun tain, wanted 70 know if We we're rid.
ing through Cant Live Valley" 1t cost
me segsr.
Changing cars at Las Vegas. thriving,
growing town, was on my short way ID this
old Mexican town of Santa Fe. On the train
with ne was hypothetical specimen of hu.
manity who had Dick Bright disease OF tbs
kidneys. he looked as though his liver was
torpid and his kidneys needed kals 0mining.
he belonged some miles up tha road. and
wss Ell eieht.day liar from Lisrsville. When
We reached that part OF The road
between Canyon Sta and San Jose
from which the Old Pecos Church
ean De seen, nad 10 stop tue OLD SINNER or
he'd have killed all the truth there is in me.
The old Pecos Church is ruins CT adobe
bricks. and it is known from positive records
TO be over 800 years old. The walls OF the
church such OF them as remain, the rear and
most Of the sides being down. are eight feet
thick. The old citizens didn't believe in
having their services interrupted, at all
events. In this building, so the legend (or
lie) goes Montezums General Manson's old
friend) was born, and from here he went
South, frss instructing his people to keep