The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-11-06
LETTER FROM KANSAS.
A GROCERYMAN OF REYNOLDS
WILLIE DESCRIBES THE STATE.
A Good State for Grls-Poor Place for
Bachelors.
HAzELroN, KAN, Oct. 20, 1875.

American continent has been so thoroughly
doomed rs the territory known ms Southern
Kansas. Nor Is there n country from the
borders of Austria to the vine clad shores of
California whose natural resources will ad-
nit Of more booming than this. The first
impression one gets of this country after u
tircsomc Journey OF fifteen hundred miles is
by no means pleasant. You are greeted by
n broad, Hat prairie hundreds of miles in cX-
tent at every point Of the compass. with
nothing but blue sky above and prairie grass
as far ms the eye can carry, which Is often
thirty or forty miles. without the slightest
variation In the scenery person Is liable to
be siezcd with the "Jm jams or, In other
words, n weird, lonesome feeling very forci-
bly, presses itself upon you. So great Is the
monotony at first that one readily imagines
that the line OF ghosts which Macbeth saw
or even the jackson street monster would be
n relief To the tired vision. This, however
soon wears or. The first inhabitants OF this
country, although hardly necessary to state,
were the buffalo and the red man. | mention
the buffalo as an inhabliant In connection
with the Indian, though not Intentionally
doing him-the bufralo-any injustice, for In
comparison he IS by far the superior aud as
long as the plains are inhabited his memory
will be kept sacred by the ever present and
understandable buffalo wnllow n shallow pool
made by tramping and wallownF. Buffalo
were said TO be Ms plentiful on these pralrIes
fifty or sixty years ago ms the stars in the
milkyway. Plenty Of men, with tinge OF
romance In their makeup and as is suspected
only u slight tinge of truth, are willing to
testify that their fathers saw herds of them
that took hours for them to pass and that
LODI ,l.t,
and miles nothing but n moving, surglng
mass could be seen. The events which form
the basis for these highly colorcd stories,
like the earliest Greek history Is seen only
through the curtain of tradition We are
certain that the buffalo existed here IN large
numbers and amid these myths and tradi-
tlons facts grew rapidly into fables. Kansas
people never hesitate to tell good story.
The buffalo and Indian finally gave way to
the Cattle Baron, cowboy and Texas steers.
This is the burly, brusky cowboy of fifteen
years ago who is so thoroughly advertised all
over the known world, the hero of every
school boy and the terror of the plains, not
the quiet, mild fellow that now looks after
"kows." The above triumvirate finally re-
treated southwark before successive waves
of immigration and thus the most formidable
and threatening barrier to civilization was
removed. We have before us to-day the
Kansas granger In all his varied experiences,
at times on the top crest OF prosperity, only
to be preclpitated TO grovel in the depths OF
adversely. Farming in Kansas until the pres
ent, especially for the last four years, has
been both successful and unsuccessful. Sue
cessful because the Kansas farmer is OF q
peculiar makeup; not in Afrlca's dark forests
or burning deserts. nor In the land where the
crescent towers above the cross can such ener-
gy be found as in these gritty, sandy sons of
toll. Unsuccessful on account of hot winds
burning up crops. Notwithstanding all these
failures the Kansas farmer is by no means
discouraged. They are as hard to discourage
and as truly heroic as were the Spartan sol
dlers at Thermopylp. Ingalls, says Kansas
can promise more In June and pay less I'm
September and promise less I'm September and
pay more In June than any state In the
Union, due 10 the hot winds burning up crops
In July and August and heavy wheat crop
the following summer. These, after an un-
due amount of experimenting have found the
crops most suitable for this locality. The
wheat crop this year was Il failure, oats only
fair. Corn Is II good crop and is now being
husked-"shucked' Is the western term.
Most of II Is being crlbhed MS II only brings
twelve cents II bushcl of SO pounds, shellcd.
Koair corn. one Of the greatest feed crops
that was ever grown. Is oyerywbere abun-
dopt stock men claiming tn be sunerior IN
onv other grain for feeding cottlo and hogs.
This. above all otbcr cereals soems IN he es-
peclally adapted to the Kansas climate. as IL
Is not injured by dry weather. Two crops
can be raised in n single season from one
plantipo. Whom wheat raising was the rope
the country was strinned of nearly all the
hogs and CATTLE Every enerov was turned IN
raising wheat The wheat belt seems tn have
changed and again the country Is filed with
cattle and hogs II is conceded Inv All that
this is one of the best stock countries between
the Rockies and the Atlantic. Winters are
mild and short recurring far less feed than
I'm eastern and northern states. The financial
troubles of the last two wears. coupled with
the moor wheat crops and low prlces have had
N very depressing effect. but now thew seem
IN have n turn in tho road and are in n fair
wov IN make money. and when we consider