Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-03-31
LETTER FROM PERTH, KANSAS.

How are you" Sunny Scutn" anu
Blizzard be-swept read OF
your calamitous visitation tho l
didn't sit on the fence rs per last weeks
HERALDl to read of it; wasn't built
like David Davis, with view to ball
ancing that way.) Kansas has treated
me kindly so far, and as q matter OF
fact has won my admiration. When
Won look off down the steel line and
see the cars so far away that the en-
CINE looks like a drop Of very black
ink thrown against the horizon, you
begin to have some respect fcr the
magnitude of the world in general,
and Kansas in particular. It's no
trouble to build railroads here; bridg-
es and culverts are few and Tar De
tween, and the land is just rolling
enough for drainage.
Spring gets to Kansas about two
months before she smiles down on
Berkeley County. Oats are in the
grocnd here and garden vegetables
are peeping up. Pm not doing any
gardening myself. I'm too light for
heavy work. / can buy all 1 want
cheaper than raise it. Eggs 10 cts.
dozen with Easter few days of. All
the butter you want for Is cts. h.,
and milk at four cents quart. This
part of the Arkansas Valley IS among
| the richest land in the State. We are
close to the Nation line, and Pm 60
ing down to pay my respects to Okalo-
homa pretty soon; | want to see what
kind of a country it is that poor Lo'
is being swindled out OF.
So you are going to boom West Va!
Let me tell you how these things are
managed in the northwest. They give
away a few town lots first, then get
/" controlu of the rest; the next move
| is water-works, electric lights, and one
line of eetears, anyhow. This gives
the town " big' look. It also gives
the investors some figures in taxes
that are painfully surprising to the
" tenderfOot." Ifthere is vim enough
among the residents to keep the boom
ball forever on the roll, as they seem
to be doing at Wichita, they come out
ahead by turning over deals in a per-
petual somersault, from one part OF
the town to another, but it's about the
only way they keep above water.
For the life of me / can't see what is
supporting Wichita, other than the
surrounding country. It's an odd thing
to realize that eligible lots in Balti-
more and Washington are selling for
no more than are lots about Wichita
ouer schich last years. corn stalks stu
grotc rank. l am told on reliable
authority that there are six hundred
vacant houses in Wichita and yet
equally that number are being built.
| The town is an odd looking compound;
and looked to me like rustic strug-
Cling to feel at ease in fine clothes,
| who couldn't bear to part with his old
garments and still held on to part of
them. 1t reminded me of some scenes
in "The Gilded Age" and it's quite
likely that it does not lack for "Mul-
berry Sellers" or two. Wichita is forty
miles north of us. What of my fu-
ture place of residence? Well, it is a
comfortable little town, with solid
basis in and surrounding it. There is
no destitution, and no chance for wild
cat speculations. Timber and fruit
coming in in good order. and we have
the best markets / ever seen. not ex-
cepting even Baltimore. This town
is shipping point IN cattle and grains
| for the surrounding country, but the
partial drouth of the last year or two
has discouraged farmers of small
means, so that they are willing to sell
at reasonable rates. ] think they are
to blame for their failures in crops
quite as much as was the weather.
Those who plough and plant as deep
as they do in Berkeley County, have
not missed crop. Those who sow
near the surface are the ones who suf-
fered. The soil here is so loose that a
kick from a foot will send it flying
like snow fakes, consequently it dries
out soon. I've seen grass roots here
that ran down to depth of three feet.
wish you could see the level roads
and drive ways here; as soon as get
my mansion built and the stable up
pll have my pony and phaeton on the
go. BY the way there are no toll gates
in this land. Oh! the times I've for
gotten my pocket-book, and had to
turn back when / seen that emblem of
blackmail swing on its hinges. I've
got one of the handsomest lots in the
town, all my own, and don't know
but that some day I'll run rival BUSH
ness with the head of the house" as
Real Estate Brokeress. / wouldn't
mind trying it. We are right on the
main line Of the Rock Island r. r.,
which will be built through to the Gulf
this summer and the Santa Fe r. r. /
get eastern mail four times day. If
Perth was in the northwest where all
the late booming is done, with the rich
surrounding valley and the railroad
facilities we have, corner lots would be
selling at $4,000 and others in pro-
portion. Building material sells for
much the same here that it does in
Martinsburg. Rock that is easily
worked sells for S. per cubic cord
and the best quality of plastering
sand, 80 clear as to require no sewing,
sells for one dollar wagon load, de-
! livered. Wells are not dug, but holes
are bored with an auger to the depth
of from Is to 80 feet to the sand strata,
then galvanized iron tubes or pipes
with sand screen on the end are
put through the sand to the water. The
pump is screwed on to the top of the
pipe, and you have well that nostray
kittens or bugs can get drowned in.
The water supply is inexhaustible,
and no alkali in it. LEONE.