Arizona republican., 1891-12-12

the Burlington, the Northwestern, the St. Paul, the Santa Fe, the Rock Island that they have pushed their lines from time to time far out into the frontier belt in hopes of getting ahead of some threatening rival. Settlement has fol- lowed the roads. Not content with all the prairie country west of Chicago, these leviathans of the railway world are pushing their lines into the noun tains and promise to go on to the Pa citic coast.
 Fasteners and foreigners are surprised at the magnitude of the prairie country, at the magnificent distances there to be encountered, at the manner in which ag- riculture and civilization have swept over those mighty plains. It is a fact that by simply looking out of the car win dows you cannot tell whether you are in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, in Minnesota, in Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota or Kansas. They are all alike super fcially. They have the same farms, hedges, artificial groves of trees, houses, barns. villages The country 100 miles west of the Missouri river appears to be just as old and rich as that 100 miles west of Chicago. Here is a vast region as big as eight or ten New Englands, every county of which is as nearly like every other county as one ear of corn is like another.
 Notwithstanding this sameness, the country is full of interest to the tray eler. The people themselves are a continual study for you. You have no difficulty in making their acquaint- ance. On the cars especially intro ductions and all other formalities are waived, and every man has the right to go to talking to his neighbor just us if he had known him a dozen years. These casual conversations are often most interesting, because confiden tial. It is the style out in that country for every man to talk of himself, his achievements and troubles, on all occa- sions. One railway friend told me he had farm out near Kearney Junction, Neb. Last spring" said he, ''l wanted to sell it for $400, cash. Could have got twice that in old horses and wagons, but wanted cash to get out of the coun- try. with Not finding anybody to buy my place for cash l was compelled to stay there. Am very glad l did, for this year l have harvested off that farm nearly B, 900 worth of grain, nearly all with my own labor. Where am l going now? Down to Omaha to have good time, b'gosh."
 Farming pays in the west, and farm ing doesn't pay in the west, said man from South Dakota. Tn ten years have made $50,O0O farming, starting with nothing, Men all around me have starved to death, or pretty near it. One thing is certain. Big farming doesn't pay. There's Dalrymple, whose place is not far from mine. He tried farming or a large scale-G0, 900 acres, believe. Ht was good farmer too. He had real ex ecutive ability, fine organization. He had a tremendous advantage in getting most of his machinery for nothing. I've known the agents of a reaper and mower factory to put sixty machines on Dal rymple's farm without charging him a | cent, simply for the advertisement. Yet Dalrymple has not made any money. don't know whyvt is, unless a large farm cannot make use of the small economics which make a small farm self sustaining the eggs, the butter, the garden, tht womens work in kitchen and round , about"
 The saddest thing l saw in d journey to the west was the old fashioned raj fence in Pennsylvania, Ohio, easterr Indiana and southern Michigan. How cruel of fate not to permit the wirt fence to be invented 200 years before i was. Probably enough labor and tim Der have been wasted in the building O the old "worm" fences in the east to pa. 1 off fifty national debts like ours. l makes one almost weep to think of th
 backs that have been broken, of tn
 hands worn out, the energies sapped, tn
 boys kept out of school-in felling trees