The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-11-30
HOMEWARD BOUND.
The Parting Of Old Friends Notes |
By the Way.

dren and myself are nomeWaru
bound :" but such is the fact, and now
sitting in the dining room Of the Guior
Line steamer, "Wyoming," 1 will
endeavor to give few notes on the
journey thus far.
To look back is pleasant, especially
when I think of the many manifesto
tions of kindness shown to myself and
family, and it will be a bright and
sweet memory through life. Sitting
here it all passes before me; the sur
prise party given by the young folks,
who made the heart merry with their
laughter and Gong the older folks
who lighted suddenly and unexpect-
edly upon us, bringing large baskets
of provisions, and when the house was
full and thought the returns were all
in, large delegations from outlying
precincts, came pouring in with tur-
keys legs peeping out from under
snow.white cloths. The delicious door
of the jam pie and the fruit-cake, was
borne in on the night air, and we all
felt that the whole ticket was elected
by large majority. The quiet chat,
the splendid spread, the general socia-
bility made the occasion pleasant
one. Then the sewing bee, from
which issued the hum of feminine
voices as busy fingers fixed the friil du
furbelow and the bib de tucker for the
further Identification and adornment
of our persons, especially of such of us
as are females; and the husking bee in
which the air seemed literally full of
corn and the auction sale when the
contents of the household and the dem
liens of tho farm were scattered and
then positively the last and final
goodbye. On the morning of Friday.
October 10Th at half past one, the train
pulled out Of LaHarpe into the rain
and the darkness. Nothing particu-
larly exciting or interesting happened
between that magnificent town and
Fl. Scott except that my wife showed
an inclination to sea-sickness; as it
was only preliminary affair, kind
of q coming event casting its shadow
before, it would not be amiss to call it
an A B c sickness, would it, Mr.. Edi-
tor? Change cars at Fl. Scott, and
then run to Nevada (Mo.l by day
light. After passing Nevada we had
a good long look at the country. The
corn all along the road. appeared to be
very poor, as it did all the way to Sc
dalia. / made few enquiries of
farmers who got on the cars and they
said there had been hailstorm dur
ing the summer; if this were true I
would willingly forgive the country
for looking SO desolate. 81 know cos
I bin dar", but still it appeared to me
that that hail storm struck a pretty
wide territory. We got to Sedalia
about o'clock and left an hour and a
half later, whilst we were staying
here, blind negro boy came aboard
with a hand-organ, and his tune at
once attracted and amused the chill
dren, and the nickel that our second
boy dropped into the blind boys can
evidently attracted and amused him
for he pulled out the dulcemo and low
cred the fortissimo Tor words to that
efeet) and put the child to plsy-he
always Was good boy Oh the grind
stone-and he turned fer dear life, I
noticed that the bass dragged little
but the treble made double quick time
and have no doubt that if the tune
were measured with a two-foot rule it
would probably pan out a ton to every
seven cubic feet.
The run to st. Louis was through q
country that was exceedingly wild,
wierd and picturesque. The effect of
the dying leaves, dying in every
shade of color, was very striking, the
country being made up o. wood. water
rock, and hill. A long ride beside the
wide and muddy Missouri river grew
rather monotonous, though here and
there pretty, leafy glen on the oppo-
site side of the river, was relief to the
eye. We stopped at every station and
the loafer would squirt tobacco juice
against the car wheels, and then re-
turn to his whiting on the dry goods
box outside the store door and wait for
the next train. feeling, no doubt, that
he had done his share toward uphold
ing the reputation of the State. st.
Louis was reached by $50 p. m. and
the train for indianapolis left at
o'clock. My wife had become quite
weak by this time and to get her
much needed rest. I obtained a sleep.
ing berth in a Pullman car-of course
being wealthy Kansas farmer, mon
ey was no object but anyhow the pa
tient awoke next morning thoroughly
refreshed and was able to resume her
place in the chair Car, and I felt
thankful even if ten-dollar-bill did
look as if it had been struck by a biz.
zard. We got to Indianapolis by
morning and the brakeman on the
train told me that this is the home of
the future President. Whether he
had been correctly informed or not the
American people will have decided
before these lines get back across the
water. The country from here to Co