The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-09-20
MAGIC change IN THE STRIP,
Great Rush for Homes.
Nearly 100000 People Now Camp
ing on the Promised Land

ARKANsA CRY, Kansas Sept. i6.-Nhen
the locomotive steamed across the Kansas
line at high noon :he misty plain, giTded on
the north by a mighty mass. was as bare of
population as the ocean off the Long Island
coast. When darkness fell two mighty
hosts. the one from the south, the other
from the north. were met, and mingled IN
homogeneous commonwealth. Between the
boom Of the gun at meridian and the sink
ing Of the sun wilderness Of agricultural
and mineral wealth has been transformed
into the actuality Of stste more populous
than any OF the members of the Union, save
New York, when The Colonies beoa me Re
pnblic.
Nor was the event destitute Of grand char
acterisiics. The Cherokee strip spread vast
snd misty below the Kansas border, unbro-
ken by yes;ige Of human life or civilized
activity. So that the instant the train shot
from the post marking the boundary the
spectacle spread out for ten miles or more on
either hand unimpeded by an obstacle. Dur
ing the night the crowd, like Aaebeth's un-
canny specter, dissolved, reaching for hun
dred miles or more, ready for the leap into
the unknown.
BEFoRE THE GUN DOOMED.
Admonished, apparently, by public pro
test, the Washington authorities did at last
Ehat they should Laye done at first. They
took some consideration for the life if not for
the comfort OF the men.
Ample booths were added to those already
in operation, and the roasted crowd were
permitted to sign their declarations in the
city.
The heat Of the day ran far into the night
followed by nipping air that filled the
morning atmosphere with snetzing and
coughing. The dust, compressed by weeks
Of incessaat travel, was reduced to a blind
ing film, that stiaed the lungs. a wind, al
most furious by fits and starts. swirled the
whole surface of the earth into the air.
From the hot air plateau surrounding the
city on the east, to those watching the taw-
ny, discOlored waste as the train shot out,
the Yariegated human tide seemed contin-
uous undulating chain, rolling in a grasping
uncertain mOyecl.nt Inward. The rail
way ran in perfectly straight line for four
miles from Arkansas City, and the train
seemed Ike the sharp beak of some mon
strous creature, curling and twisting over
the dusty earth.
THE DISPERSION.
Onit rushed vehicles, hOrssmen and even
f)o,men, alternating as the weaker yielded
to the stronger, the uncertain to the swift.
But the heart Of hope rose in every man and
woman, no matter how primitive the equip
age or inferior bis mount From the train
the dispersion could be plainly seen. MyT-
lads sweryed slightly from the 1irect line
and were thrown on the path Of the slower
rush, and dozen collisions were barely
avoided. Here and there the wary who
knew the land rested, sc, their little Gags in
the soil, and we're straightWay owners, ap-
parently, of lG0 acres.
The train, limited TO fifteen miles an hour,
was slightly dis-aneed by a rushing cayal-
cade, who went straight forward, as If e.
milliGr with every blade Of grass, every dan
ger 10 horse hoof on the route. Indeed,
score or more had ridden the course previ-
ousy, and their mission was TO secure dis
puted sections adjoining the Aladdin toSrs
that are tonight populous with tens Of
Thousands of homeless but very harry peo-
PIE.