The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-11-03

rses corn ard soTsksHzE. and shs ezskT use
nsazse Ell The vast rr@irtes was % psstars
fherxs Is horses or STICK ak aAaus ~ eenfs
ner head per nezfh- St5re cosasnus =
hsa q wooden posts EnstaEa TIE E1rs
fenaes. ard anytafng within these fences =
stssed pasture 0uts5es * = ..her1i-E
Here ard there. perhaps twenty o. ten
wfthIn one horaxon. are the far-hetween
4nroats or tlss less comfortable boxes
wfsck Pass for frame dwellings May Of
sheyn are pointed out - the residences Of
sosssarw won1en xho are fighting against
sIrse ana giant. living on these csaisas in
the hope 20 Re able 70 ''proTe up" and get
tstIe At the end Of the I've years.
At various remote censers relatively 70
thess claims" are the '.townsr and
~cifiesv Or gatherings o I bare and scattered
heussz, several hundred in number. some
times with square and courthouse u the
center. after the approved fashion Of West
err country seats, sometimes without. On
ons Of these squares 3 town lot facing the
courthouse MAY sell for $sSDs though from
the courthouse roof not crop can Be seen
growing. perhaps owing 20 the vide extent
Of area Withdraw from cultivation for sale
a. town lots"
/ have seen 30 acres. from which the
court house could barely be seen oEi the
horizon. laid oat into town lots By ploEing
tie blocks ibas weSe expected 70 be sccu-
pied bv dwellings into solemn patches Of
haek weeds. whfle the ideal streets are left
ia nnbroken prairie
when the town sites have buildings
the large proportion Of them which lie va
cart tells 81 past boom. A boon" IN
western Kansas town is q Psychological
wonder as q cyclone is a meteorological
cataeiysm. While the boom Is on, stand
ing room can hardly 5e got in the town
Strangers foek in BY thousands. and resi-
,leaees are built for them. The boomers
ARE generally all OF American birth. GER
mans are TOO "matter-of-fact, swedes too
skepticai, negroes too intent on gettiag
some enjoyment FOR their money, 20 pay
out shat they make so easily on one lot for
another larger. Bat Kansas Is almost
wholly American. hence it has had prodi-
giogs speculation booms That which
swept over Larnsd in 1878 left dwellings
enough for 800 people. of which perhaps
.JQ0 remain. Hence vacant houses are al
most As numerous as those which have oc-
eupants.
tsges. Two only have occupants. Among
these, one which rented for SO month
tso years ago now rents for 81. The people
who once occupied them have dropped
their ''wad " got discouraged and pulled
cut to begin life again. at the small end,
with nearer nothing than they had when
they thought they were beginning It here
two. three or FIVE years ago.
What car Eastern lenders do for these
distressed and distressing sesrchers after
homes and fiTesides under impracticahle
conditions? They can ~erect comfortable
dwellings for them. but from those com
Portable dwellings they ere long take fight.
Ike so many locusts, leaving the land as
barren a. they found IT,
Irrigation in few spasmodic instances
u being tried, and apparently with good
results, but the notion that the whole state
should or can be successfully irrigated
seems hardly yet 10 have taken hold OF the
Kansas mind. IL has no objections TO
offer, II even hangs with delight upon the
story, when an inkling of the great re-
salts achieved by irrigation in Colorado.
California, Utah and Oregon arc given
To the average Kansas mind, however. the
suggestions Of possible prosperity which
are called up by the mention of thG word
irrigation seem too good TO be possible, too
vast in their beneficence even To he prayed
for or worked for. But II it could be done
IF the water and the money with watch
20 dig the bitches, do bat exist and eDuld
be applied--the mere thought makes the
average kansan think of catching larks
from falling skies.