The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-11-06
LETTER FROM KANSAS.
A GROCERYMAN OF REYNOLDS
WILLIE DESCRIBES THE STATE.
A Good State for Girls-Poor Place for
Bachelors.
HAzELroN. KAN, Oct. 90. 1905.


American continent has been so thoroughly
doomed as 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. Tho first
impression one gets Of this country after u
tiresome Journey of fifteen hundred miles Is
by no means pleasant You are greeted by
n broad fiat prairie hundreds of miles In eX-
tent at every point Of the compass with
nothing but blue sky above and prairie grass
as far as the eye can carry, which is often
thirty or forty miles. without the slightest
variation in the scenery person Is liable to
be slezed with the "Jim Jams" or, in other
words, n weird, lonesome feeling very forci-
bly, presses itself upon you. So great Is the
monotony Mt 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 OF The first inhabitants OF this
country, although hardly necessary to state,
were the buffalo and the red man. | mention
the buffalo as an inhabitant In connection
with the Indian, though not Intentionally
doing him-the buffalo-any injustice, for in
comparison he Is by far the superior, and rs
long as the plains are inhabited his memory
will be kept sacred by the ever present and
understandable buffalo wallow n shallow pool,
made by trampng and wallowing Buffalo
were said TO he rs plentiful on these prairles
fifty or sixty years ago ms the stars I'm the
milkyway. Plenty Of men, with u tlnge of
romance in their makeup and as is suspected
only n slight tingc OF truth, are willing TO
testify that their fathers saw herds of them
that took hours for them to pass and that
greatly resembled moving plain. For miles
and miles nothing but n moving. surging
mass could he seen. The events which form
the basis for these highly colored 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 trad-
tions facts grew rapidly into fables Kansas
people never hesitate to tell n 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 precipitdted 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 n
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 rs truly heroic as were the Spartan sol
dlers ut Thermopylg. ingalls, says Kansas
can promise more In June and pay less In
September and promise less in September and
pay more in June than any state in the
Union, due TO the hot winds burning up crops
in July and August and u 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 failure, oats only
fair. Corn is u good crop and is now being
husked-"shucked" Is the western term.
Most of It is being crlbbed as IL only brings
twelve cents bushcl of SO pounds, sheled.
kaflir corn, one of the greatest feed crops
that was ever grown, Is everywhere abun-
dant, stock men claiming to be superior to
any other grain for feeding cattle and hogs.
This, above all other cereals, seems to be es-
peclally adapted to the Kansas climate, as II
is not injured by dry weather. Two crops
can be raised in a single season from one