Telegram-herald., 1889-04-21
4 eoonsRs METROPOLIS.
uow Purcell spTaHs ~ Like 5oa@i.
Gourd. @nd Hoe IL wln WltAsr.


sfs tl8r followed favn. lo,.eA sHa others il
.leir rails sTill alive ard ID waiting @noat t1e
borders oi OAiahorna. bgt th-re are rea.lll
thousands ~ others wlo. having heard of the
richness II the land au1 II tae probability of
iIs l.sinS % olsne1 lor settlement. have sagh,r--
nsside the Old boor -, ana s.ll down comfort
ablv cAeek b lo~i
4 description u Purcell, the town FROM
wh.eA t1is story OF Okahoua is written, vii
CONVEX "a idea Il the boomer s.tultiou
around the territory furccAs history ls
worth telling a. another TINS. There never
was q town like Purcell. and there never yfll
le another Ike II. AZ least Ia the United
States Think ~ 80 people sIueftng down
ol Tie border line 81 a country auI wAltll-
there Tor mouths ard even years. constantly
ready % jump AMI run across TIE limo az
moments warning That Is just what has
happ-nal here.
Purcell wll be two years oil on April e.
next. On that day, 1851, tho santa t. w.
cOmpleted 20 this point Tho company de-
clded "a mako a station here because ~ Is IA
the Chickasaw nation, and the Chickasaws
favor white emigration
After a while 10 was noised about that
whites could settle here Tho boomers
Jumped ~ the chance. Tho squaw man own
Ing the cluin laii out enough lois and streets
for a citv II Oklahoma remains unopened
for year or two longer that squaw man
Robert Love- Will be immensely rich out Of
ground rents. The city Is matcriali1ing at IA
remarkable rate
And such a city, There is no counterpart
elsewhere, although Beaver City. No Mans
Land, narrowly escapes being twin sister in
appearance. TIE chief difference l., in the
character OF tine w,.lings. Beaver Is built
in great Ipart, Of sod walls, but there Is
srnattering of wooden sAantes and dugou's
Here, TO quote the barber shop joke there
are shantles galore, dugouts that q lower,
and tents most glorious. Tho variety Of
dwellings Is even greater. There are people
a-penty living IN covered wagons. There
are houses that are q combination OF dugout
shantv and tent, and one that is n combina
ton of sh2nty and wagon
There il but one pllstered house in town
and that belongs u the railroad. 1t was
built for tho agent The houses arc ceiled,
and the ceiling Is covered with paper. There
are no brick chimneys, but the town may
boast Of what even Beaver City has not-a
sod fireplace. II is built against "a shanty
occupied by negroes.
The houses are, Of course. all new in ap-
pearance, and, as a rule, unpainted. The
most of thcil arc less than eight months old
About twenty are in course of construction
q, this writing Mr. Lane collects from a.
T. 50 pr annum ground rent for each
house Not exorbitant
Trade is remarkably good Tho constant
influx Of population keeps up the supply Of
cash The high water trade mark was 500
/ cross receipts ar one store in one day
The people are as interesting rs the houses
Everywhere on the streets one Sees men with
rcyolyers and repeating rides and shotguns
and car,ridgo belts At night The cir re-
sounds with screams and yells and tho sounds
/ Of exploding cartriIgs At the Clifton
house, an excellent frontier hos;elry, the
+ landlord receives his guests with a Winches-
ter rife hanging within the easiest possible
reach. and double baIreleI shotgun stand
/ iny in the corner jus; as handy Us the Win
/ chester. The son Of an English gentleman
/ cleans the sp.ttoons and docs Ike work for
his board AMI lodgiag only. In The dining
/ room a young woman, who has held an ex-
/ cel!c1t government place IN Washington.
aud has letters Of commentator from two
! senator's ani ono from President Cleveland.
serves the guests for So "a month
/ There Is bat ono drawback % keep the
a
I've frontier town of ;he sort Of waich the
frontier writer's tell There j, sery little red
paint t. bs had t. is unlawful o "a whisky
l.. the Indian territory However, there are
a few cider joints of TIE Kansas variety, q
fegT gambling layouts, AID ono daaco house.
With au tLs building, all thi, trade, all those
evidences ca material pro perity and future
+ greatness. the town wo-ld go dowa ike a
card house in a gale OF v.s1 to-rlorrow could
+ tire president declare Oklahoma open TO set
tiement today.
While Fmssll Is tho only boomer settle
rnent. there Is not settlement os any other
sind within "A DAYS journey OF Oklahoma
proper bat has hosts of boomers Their homes
are easily distinguished, specially ia tho
/ KIusls towns. by thc frail character Of ;he
+ structures H. is really mods. estimate %
say tlat Up 60 people are hv.lg in d1gouts
+ slon0 IN ts1 Ea44.s border towns waiting for
I Oklahoma - open v.rhap, one should say
' they exist rather than live People read of
+ ,hr henos II the Chlsaf inj-ns in Alaska
rnd wcop for sympsthy. fle Oklahoma
/ bonner waiting in a cus.ut for a homo in
/ the rrosui-.,i and. Is about a. h.diy OF in
T srcss ard homo - the chikat Indian. And
F vet they are a chealfullot In e NcCord 8
/ hotel the other dsv NcCori was boomer a
/ ict of boomers sat about tne stove when The
/ sun reporter entercd
They 70 ell boomers said McCord. nod
ding toward the men, "but solomon 90 al
/ Dis glory 7vae not arrayei lse orc = thee
Thst was true Tho poverty stricken
boomer does have hard irt hgt fhs boom
er --r hy 20 means al poverty stricken
+ Thes sre men vorta hundreds ~ Thousands
f- r-r ..t.- 77rr~a are rr..r, rreffh -s ra