Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1896-01-10
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NATIONAL SOLDIERS HONE, Va, I
Dec. "a, 1895. J

TIC emu vi my journey "hu oiS"'
seeing. ! had very pleasant trip,
and got into the drouth-stricken
country the third day out. 1t wac
30 dry had to buy water Tor my
horse at noon the third day The
drouth lasted clear through. All
the streams were either dry or very
low
/ went straight east from Greeley
to Jefferson City; then went to
Fulton, Mo-; east from there to st.
Charles; crossed the Mississippi
river at Alton, Ill.,; went east by
south from there to Flora, ILL.,,
through as dry and poor a country
as any of Illinois; crossed into
Vincennes, Ind. The further east
l went, the poorer | found the
land, until came to the Ohio river
All of the river country is good,
but the uplands are all worn, and
even their orchards and vineyards
are dying out. After | crossed
into West Virginia, the lands were
better.
crossed the Ohio river at Con-
trail City, Va, three miles south OF
Huntington; went up the river to
Guyandotte, then went up the
Guyandotte river as far as Cole
Mountain; crossed that into Tazies
Valley; stopped there with a cousin,
Jerry Bswles, at Scott's Depot.
Such valley as Tazies! 1t is a
succession of small, round-top hills.
with very rich, sandy clay soil
the finest tobacco, wheat, corn, oats
and rye land in existence, but it is
all chopped up into small hills-no
valley at all. laughed and said
"That's a strange valley" but
when looked again, l found ii was
. sure.enough valley if it. was all
hills. Land in this valley cannot
be bought.
l came to the Kanahwa valley
seven miles below St. Adams. That
is love Of country as far AS the
Kanahwa bottom goes.
There's lots. of Champes there,
around Charleston. Charleston is
twelve miles above St. Adams. At
Maulden, six miles above Charles
ton, the Kanahwa valley grows very
narrow, and a alfday's ride above
Mauldeu, the valley land quits, the
mountains close in as though they
wanted to stop the river Coal
and coke are all they get there. I'll
is series of coal mines for over
100 miles, and there is so much |
smoke from the waste coal and
coke.ovens that the smoke hangs in
clouds nearly to the mountains, so
thick that the sun does not shine
through any time OF day.
l crossed Gonley river at Gonley
bridge, just above Kanahwa Falls.
where Gonley and New rivers
make the Kanahwa river. A half !
days ride from Gonley brought me
to Lookout coal-mines, where | was
caught in an ice storm. About a
half.hour after left there, it began
sleeting, aud by the time | got to
Cliff Top, twelve miles east, was
covered with ice about half-inch |
thick. From there Dig Sewell
mountain) went Cliff Top coal
mine, ! 3.4 miles. The finest black.
smith coal sells there at 80 cents
ton; is taken out by the miners at
IS cents ton. Corn sold there at
$l.50 a bushel; meals, so cents;
board, SIG month, and all the
married men have to rent from the
coal company, and all the goods
they Guy must come from the CON-
pauy's store-even to meat and
butter-or they are discharged.
None but the company hotel is al
lowed to keep boarders; don't al
low any one in their employ to
keep man over night.
went from there to the old town
of Lewisburg. That is an old,
dead town; don't look as il there
had been a single put on q house