St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-02-17

Letter from Perry,
OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.
February Is, 1894.
EDITOR ST.. TAMMANY FARMER.
The city of Perry is an example
Of what American pluck and energy
can accomplish. 1t is the begin
ming of q contradiction Of a saying,
(grown too old, that ''great cities
are the growth and accumulation of
centuries" Since its recent birth
it has already changed twice in APP
pearance. For a few days it was a
vast collection Of tents, recalling
to the soldier recollections of days
long past, as time chronicles events
in American history.
The now old days, when the
sharper. the shyster and the gam
bier gathered u lavish harvest from
the credulous and uninitiated, when
the plot Of land on which the land
Office stood was very aptly termed
'hell's half acre." when the soda
pop, tomala, lemonade and weiner-
wurst man, and the inverted bar
rell" lawyer we're equal to the oc-
casion and boosted of a wholesale
trade and golden opportunities =
those days are past and growing
mythical, and to be an old inhabit-
ant one must have been here one
hundred days, and have suffered
in the dust and remembered the hot
contests, physical the serenade
of pistol shots, the buckhorn, and
the eccentricities Of Jack Mitchell.
But the enterprising, with force
as potent as Alladin's Lamp, have
created q change as radical as the
first, and now . solid mass Of many
hued frame structures, with well
graded streets, and q good city
government. surprises the new ar
rival, who feels that he is in a new
world, and is cheered, invigorated
by the sense of such material we'll
being all around him.
The 1900 citizens Of Perry are
confident, and confidence goes a
long way toward success. All, with
a seeming unselfishness and stren-
uous effort, are seeking to make
Perry 3 great trade center, to de-
velop the adjacent country, and to
transform the rolling prairie into
pastures, wheat fields and orchards,
knowing that the prosperity of the
individual is inseparable from that
OF his home, and that as the city's
fortunes rise and fall, so will his
corner lots or the profits Of his
store. The trade even new is good,
as it is the natural point Of supply
for the wards of the Government,
the poor Indians-who, by the way,
are worth more per capita than any
other nation.
In the City Directory (for Perry
boasts of one) we find the names
Of l31 lawyers, so restaurants, ~
licensed saloons, 81 hardware
stores, Is feed stores. with other
mercantile interests proportionately
represented. Perry further boasts
of three daily papers, q Salvation
Army Post and q Board of Trade.
The country adjacent is q rich,
loamy, rolling prairie, with belt Of
timber along the water courses, and
the soil and climate make it especi-
ally adapted to pasturage. wheat
growing and fruit raising. The
climate is warm and healthful, with
scarcely any wintry weather, and
for new country the railroad IA
cllities are unexcellsd.
In the markets and restaurants
you can buy any delicacy of the
season. You see for sale pompano,
shrimp, crabs. Holsters, and in fact
all fish and fruits which one would
find in the markets of New Orleans.
On auctioneer's corner you see
the auction men constantly en-
gagged. There anything can be
bought, from . draft team to q
thimble. Everything is done on o
grand scale. The City Council has
granted a waterworks franchise, on
which they contracted for eighty
hydrants, at q rental Of $40 apiece
per annum.
Gambling goes on openly, al
though contrary to both statute and
ordinance, the proprietors paying
monthly fine. without prosecution,
as one would pay an occupation
tax.
Here we have the Government
Land Office for this district. There
are upwards of 1900 contests on
the docket, and to the lawyers this
is quite q bonanza, as the fees on
either side will be from $50 up into
the hundreds.
Speaking Of lawyers, there is a
marked distinction in the method
pursued in advertising here and in
the East. Many methods are used
which verge on the unprofessional.
One firm even distributes calendars
with their. likenesses printed on