Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-05
IN HOTEL CORRIDORS

Capt. P. II. Ray. agent at Fort Wash
axle, Wyoming where eighteen hundred
Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians are To-
Gated. is at the Ebbtt. He and all the
principal Indian agents of the country are
here or coming at the direction Of the
Secretary of the Interior to hold an i'm
portant conference in regard to Indian
Natters.
THE Indian" said Capt Ray, needs to
be let alone. He Is suffering from too
much reforming, too much interference
and too much coddling by the government
Some Indian reformers make the mistake
of thinking that the Indian needs CLASH
cal education. 1t will be utterly useless
TO him. At Fort Washable the Arapahoes
md Shoshones would now be self-support-
ing if the government simply stepped aside.
We have young Indians who have been
taught TO make shoes, saddles and har-
ness. but there is no chance for them to
work at their trades because the gov
eminent or the traders supply those ar
ticles. 1t should he borne in mind that
the Indians were self-supporting before
they ever saw the whites and would be
now without white interference or white
aid. We have built seven miles of canal
sixteen feet wide with Indian labor, and
put in stone headings throughout. With
this canal are going this year to irri-
gate land and raise all the wheat which Is
needed on the reservation. If l am there
flour will only cost the government $3.50
a hundred. instead Of S3.25 as now. We
have 100000 acres, which, when irrigated,
will be fine agricultural land as there
is in the state.
'"The Shoshones are mountain Indians.
Lewis and Clark met them In 1904 at the
head of jefferson Fork. The Commanches
are a Shoshone tribe, which went south
some two hundred years ago. but they still
speak the same language. The Shoshones
are fine Indians and have never been at
war with the whites. They and the Arap-
ahoes. though once at war with each
other. get along together without fric-
tion."
Mr.. Fred Starr Of ST. Augustine is at the
National. FLORIDA has suffered a severe
blow" said he, ''in this recent freeze.
conservative estimate places the loss on
the orange crop at not less than S3.500,O0O
and on early vegetables. peas. beans, Gu
cumbers, squashes and such at half MILL
ion more. The freeze went all over the
state. even into the southern part. 1t Is
sad sight to see hundreds of thousands of
oranges in every large grove rotting on the
trees. They are absolutely ruined. and be-
gin to rot as soon as the freeze is over. 1t
is not merely the farmers who are hurt,
but every line of business in the state is
affected. Coming, as it does. on the heels
of the hard times. which have lasted for
three Years. it is doubly calamity. There
are good many poor people in Florida"
The western cowboy Is changing. He
doesn't always whoop and wear his hair
long. Mr.. Z. n. Carter of Fort BrIdger.
Wye, now at the E,bbitt. is the quietest,
lowest-voiced and most unassuning gen
tleman one could wish to meet, yet he
raises cattle out in the land of the rustler
and the quirt. There is money" said he,
"in the cattle business. We buy yearlings
and winter feed them. and when they get
big and fat ship them east. Nearly all the
Wyoming cattleman are feeling now, as
the homes tead settlers are cutting UP the
ranges very fast. We find the Herefords
better for our climate than tie shorthoTns;
they are harder and quite as good feeders.
The old trouble which occurred in the east
ern part of the state between the rustlers
and the rancEmen is all over now. There
Is some trouble over the sheep question |
Neither horses or cattle will Craze after
sheep. and the two cannot be raised on
the same range"
The dry plains of Kansas and Nebraska
may yet be sure OF good corn crop every
year. Mr.. William Butterworth, a son of
ex-Representative Benjamin Butterworth,
was at the Arlington last Eight. He is now |
connected with large agricultural nipple |
now known" said he, that even in the |
6riest parts of Nebraska and Kansas, |
Where the corn crop was shriveled last