Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-02-06
~ a PRAIRIE GALE.
s..Hr. in in~s .. Pictured b, the r.mss.
Osast 80 "thsta sl.sfs."

O~ssT 80 "fhsm sissFs."
At Charlo. Ciiy missed railroad
connection and bad To drive scrnss tho
couuiry TO Crc-co. titiy miles. aud u
Wa the hrst cold dnS ~ the ssasnn
The Wiud came with u sweep across tho
prnlti".. ani when I, struck shaved
HE a razor The ircc.tors of the groves
planted around the farm houses broke
or bent lke whip sticks. and sometimes
the buggy was lifted from the ground
The driver got oul and put IN rocks to
h"ld tho machine down Ia the earth
W. did not want ~ make the trip Ia
Cr'sro through the air I, was lucky
that We struck n stretch Of country
where lhcrr wrra howllor. The road
fuf the first ton miles VA. on the section
lincs. aud the settler. were Irish aud
| Nurwrgan- Thes had large iarms
| and large steaks ~ cattle aud hogs, aud
plcni, ~ corn and haystarks. We
/ stopped at u farmhouse to warm The
proprietor was an lTishman. he sald
~hss he lssea In ths aia onniry
/ be- did not taste meat once n month.
| Now be- sold cattle and hogs hy
the carload. he eame To- this
| country thirty years ago. o sircrago
I passenger on an cmlgrant ship lIc wen,
back tp ireland Las, year on a visit. lie
/ went in slcrping ear Ia New York aud
across the .ca cabin passenger on an
ocean Steamer lIe found the did coun
| iry jusl be lcf, H. There had not been
fifteen dollars spent for Improvement.
/ IN the little town In which he was raised
since he left H. iIe had changed SO
| much he Wa humcsick NJ n dog lie
/ had grown up with the United States
and was 80 changed himself that the old
country had no attractions fof him. lie
had three horse teams plowlng one fol.
| lowing after the other. aud q hundred
/ acres II corn that would make sixty
/ hu-hcl. Ia the acre Iiis "shanty" was
| a two-stury white house with green
| blinds. When he rrturned to the land of
/ his birth he found no Httfas tions be-
cause he had changed. become Amer
icnnIscd snd the odd country had not
changed
The wind blew gale and sometime.
| spit snow until W. reached the "Nap-
I ~ - ~ " WI Hut
! aud down. and made about seven miles
M hour. la spite ~ the wind. The
/ "Napsys' are the forks ~ q river, and
sheltered by timber. The woods are
mll of hog. and cattle, that had taken
to the timber to get out ~ the wind
The rad In the "Wap.y" country was
crooked aud steep. washed out aud
wound around among the ,rces, Al ten
O clock the las, fork Of the "wapsy"
was crossed Before rising up 10 the
open prairie the driver took mere rocks
frnm the creek 10 ballast the buggy
The ruad iouk bee.iine for iiasti. Wa
had nut gone Ear before we met Nor
wogian With his load ~ boards all blown
away The boards lay scattered over
The prairie 10 the windward, a distance
nf forty or ffty rod. The town of
lh-ii consists of hotel. Q store and u
blacksmith shop, aud IL halfway he
tween Charles tity and Crrsco. The
lunhlaay fried side bacon, cooked eggs.
and made the beet dish of tea have
seen since | have left Chase's mills.
4 railroad had been surveyed from La
Crosse to Charles city. by the way of
liu.ti. aud the land.lajy was auxious
ior the "kecrs" Ia come.
When the country Il all settled tho
rnai- run on the section line ihs, Is du.
mouth aud south or east aud west. and
there Is no direct road between business
crn,crS. When the land Is 'laying out. "
the roads run angling to the section
lines. The angling" roads run on tho
divides aud are more direct than thu
roads on the section lines. From busti
We took the angling" road. The set
tiers were few aud far between. Thou-
sands IL acrrs of ~ fertile land m the
sun ever shone upon lay ~ left by tho
hand of nature. Large fiooks of prairie
chicken. flew up ahead of the horses
like scared partridges. A. the sun went
down the wind went down. Tho driver
began to throw overheard ballast and
We arrived at Crcseo nj sin p. m, In the
midst IL n dead calm. whhoa, rock In
the buggy Scion Chase. ta Lscssfoa
me. JosrnaL