The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-11-28
A Trim to Tone ka. Kansas.

Thursday morning, November Sth,
we left home for a pleasure trip to
the West and to attend the twenty
second annual session of the national
grange, which commenced at Topeka,
Kansas, November s. In
YOUNGSTOWN and Mansfield and the
smaller places through which we passed,
natural gas is exclusively used for light
and heat in private houses, shops and
mills and for lighting the streets. 1t is
conveyed in pipes from the wells and
the mains are tapped at various places
to supply the gas when needed. 1t
does not burn so brightly as good manu-
featured gas and the flame has slightly
yellowish appearance, but it gives a
good light and is very cheap fuel.
Many of the iron furnaces of Pennsyl-
vania have been moved to this section
to take advantage of the cheap gas for
fuel. Hundreds of furnaces and chin
neys could be seen, their large fam
beaus lighting up the country around.
Our route from Chicago takes us
though the great corn-growing belt of
Illinois. The present seasons crop is
said to be the largest for many years
and this we found to be the fact in the
country east of Chicago. In central
and south Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and
Kansas, but little corn has been husked.
In all of these states, except the west
ern part of Kansas, the crop is i'm
mense. The cause of the failure of
the crop in a part of this state was
series of hot winds in July which liter
ally dried up the corn in few days.
We came in sight of the Missouri river
eight or ten miles above Fort Madison,
Iowa, where we crossed the river on the
great iron bridge which spans the
stream at this place. The bridge is a
magnificent structure nearly a mile
long aud cost about SS00,000 Fort
Madison is fast-growing town and
contains the Iowa penitentiary. Just
opposite Fort Madison on the Illinois
side of the river is the little town of
Nauvoo, where Brigham Young first
proclaimed the gospel of Mormonism
We follow the course of the Missouri
fifteen or twenty miles, crossing it at
Camden. The land on these great
river bottoms, where is immensely
rich and where it is not too low
and marshy, is very productive.
Corn and wheat are the principal crops
in this section. We saw but little
stock of any kind. Kansas City is the
largest town we passed through after
leaving Chicago. 1t now numbers
over 100000 inhabitants, and is still
booming. 1t is at the junction of the
Kansas and Missouri rivers and an i'm
portant railroad center, and also the
center of the cattle interests in the
Southwest. Armour & Co. and other
large cattle dealers have immense stock
yards and slaughter-houses here, and
many predict that at no distant day the
cattle interests of Kansas City will
rival lnOse OF CDlcagO. ne CITY Is by
no means pleasant one to look upon,
Aside from its newness, dirt and mud
much of it is located on the river
bluffs and its surface is very uneven.
After leaving Kansas City ride of
about seventy miles along the bank of
the Kansas river takes us to the fine
city of Topeka, the capital of Kansas.
Some of the way this side Of Kansas
City, the ground was white with snow,
the remains of the fall of two feet of
snow in this section on Friday of last
week. The weather is now fine and
the snow has disappeared from the
streets of this city. In another letter
shall have something to say of Kansas
and some of her cities. A. MEssER.