Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-27
The Dust at Guthrie.
1t Provides a First-Class Quail
ity Of Misery.
EFFECTS OF A PRAIRIE ZEPHYR

Tired Boomers Packing the North Bound
Trains-Dinicuity of Organizing Munich
pal Governmental Primitive Election
That Wouldn't observation-disclosures ring
Method That Came to Grief-A Kansas
City Man Who Is Booming for Dollars
and Cents.
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan, April 27.-A dis
patch from Guthrie has the following: 1t
blew fierce prairie gale all day yesterday
and enveloped the future great" in chok-
ing cloud of dust The people, choked and
blinded, were unable to make any progress
in town building and practically surrendered.
Tents were blown from their fastenings and
several shanties were unroofed. In one
large tent in Guthrie score or more persons
were eating at o'clock The dust entered
in such quantities that the food was rendered
utterly unfit for use. People who had stood
in line at the land office since o'clock were
disposed to regard the storm lightly at first,
but as the red sand gradually filled their
nostrils and mouths and ears they saw the
folly of remaining, and retreated to less ex.
posed places.
A Wild Rush to Leave.
AT the railway station, where hundreds
stood clamoring for baggage and express
matter and fully 1000 were waiting to take
the north-bound train, the misery was most
complete 1t seemed as il every inch of loose
soil in Oklahoma had been carried to this
point to increase the sufferings of the disap-
pointed home-seekers. Without refuge Of
any sort they were obliged to wait hours in
the face of the gale for the train to arrive
When it did come putting in, crowded to the
platform with men who had hidden adieu to
Oklahoma City, there was rush which
threatened to result in a riot Every inch Of
space on the train was taken mp in q twinkling
and men clambered to the roofs of the cars
and lay with their backs to the wind. Even
the tender Of the engine was covered with
human beings, and several mounted to the
engineers cab. Two men slowed themselves
on the pilot beneath the headlight, and others
would have joined them but for the lack of
something to grasp for support.
Beauty Only Skin Deep.
The beauty of Oklahoma is but skin deep
Its prairies and its woodlands are enhancing
to the view, but they are not calculated to
sustain a large population Thousands who
left more fertile localities have already dis
covered this, and they are cursing the coun-
try and those whose representations caused
them to come here. They find the soil is al
together to light and dry to make good crops
Without irrigation it can never he made to
produce adequate returns for the time and
labor expended upon it Even if irrigated
there is no guaranty that a crop put in will
mature. The prairie gales are apt to cause
as much havoc as the chinch-bug or the fes-
tive grasshopper. During these windstorms
recently planted fields are hidden by dense
clouds of dust and when they have subsidized
the farmers discover that much Of the soil
and seed have flown. The fact is it is too
late to make a decent crop in this region.
The season is unusually forward, and wheat
and corn are well advanced
Trying to Organize the Town.
The excitement attending three or four
daily surveys and plattings of this city Of
wind and wretchedneSs has been partly
eclipsed by the attempts now being made to
elect a mayor for the central or main por-
ton of Guthrie The voters number q little
over 4, 200, and the first rule made to govern
the election was that majority and not plu-
rality should determine the result There is a
lamentable absence of all that approaches a
reasonable, fair election Ballot-boXes have
not even been mentioned, and registration is
guards recourse was had to that most prim.
tive method known as the New England sys-
tenn, the chief feature of which is that the
voting population is called out and then di-
vided into as many lines as there are candi-
dates, each man, of course, taking his place
in the line which represents his candidate.
vigorou. Political Methods.
There are three candidates for the mayors
chair, and their names are Volney Hoggeit,
of Dakota; DR.. Hill, of Oregon, and Judge
Kelley, of somewhere in Kansas. 1t tool
several hours to form the line yesterday
morning, and when it was seen that the Hog
gett and Hill lines were nearly equally di
vided, with chances in favor of Hoggett, the
Hill men undertook to execute a coup d'etat
A big, hurley fellow, well mounted and well
armed, rode down the Hoggett lines and in 9
loud voice called upon the honest men in the
Hoggett camp to come over to Hill Thi,
method of Oklahoma electioneering soor
reached its climax when he denounced al
the supporters Of Hoggett as thieves AND
gamblers. A quarter section of the Hoggeti
followers moved toward the exhorter as one
man and the next minute they had him on
the ground with his mouth and ears filed
with red dust and cuss words. He was car
ried to the water-tank and his clothing was
torn from his badlybruised body. In the
meantime several other fights had taken
place and the first attempt to elect mayor
ON the New England system had proved a
dismal failure.