Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1891-11-11
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5ySEsHN Story efweSteeQ Life
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"John, there is nothing for which 70
plane you." Mary replied. sYou in
vested the money, as hundreds of others
invested. and tried to act for the best.
1t was n mistake. and nothing more.
such mistake rs anyone might have
made. and as almost every poor settler
did make. There is no use to condemn
yourself, or make yourself miserable
with vain regrets The money is gone
let it go. We can live over the loss,
and in short time won't feel it."
Il hope So" replied John, .'but it is
hard to raise expectations where there
Is SO little 10 base them on. There are
poor prospects for crops this year, for it
Is already late in the season and there
Is not moisture enough in the ground
to sprout the seeds. II it does not rain
soon we will raise nothing, and again
we shall have to go through the expe-
riences of ayear ago. Sometimes feel
like turning loose and cursing this God
forsaken country from end to end. /
wish we had never set foot on Kansas
soil There is nothing here for us but
suffering. hardships and disappoint-
ments. From year to year we have got
to contend against drought, hot winds,
ehinch bugs. grasshoppers, greedy
Shylocks and swindling schemes, and
the settler has a poor showing among
them"
1t Is discouraging, John" said Mary.
but where can poor people do better?
The east is overcrowded, and the poor
man cannot hope to get a home there.
dc cannot go into business for himself.
and TO work on n salary is uncertain.
Thousands do it, of course, and a small
Per cent OF them get on very well, but
such cases are rare. We have had ex-
perience in that way, and we know
what 1T is to be thrown out of employ
ment and left stranded without money
and with sickness. We have hard times
here. and suffer many privations and
disappointments, but / would not ex-
change it for the east, for here we have
a hope of home by and by, and there
we could hope for nothing. Here you
are your own master, there you were
the servant of your employers, who,
because they paid you n pitiful salary
sufficient to keep yourself and family
alive, felt that they owned you body
and soul. I'll take Kansas with its
trials and disappointments in prefer
ence to the east"
Yes, so will T. said John. but / do
think the settlers who come here to
build up homes and improve and beau
TRY the land. ought to receive better
treatment from the government. There
rs no justice in giving up to corpora
lions and cattle kings all the choice
portions of the public lands, leaving to
the homeseekers the sandy, arid plains,
where nothing but sand burs and coy
'otes flourish. But the rich men. sup
pose, must be cared for, and whatever
they don't want is rendered to the
poor. But after all this is. perhaps
as good as any place for the poor
man, for he don't seem to be wanted
anywhere except as convenience to
the wealthy. 1t is truth, verify, that
there is no place in this world for
the poor. They are cumberers of the
ground
John and Mary, being heartsore and
discouraged, We're probably prone to
take melancholy view of the situa-
ton, as people are apt to do under such