The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-02-01

live better every way than the people east of
the Rocky Mountains do. They seem to have
more leisure, too.
Nov, if they didn't have the money they
couldn't do all this. You see dollars here
where you see dimes and quarters in many
other States, and the dollars here are no harder
to get than the dimes and quarters there. A
good many OF the people here don't know how
well off they are.
''Wichita is good town. 1t has been a very
good town. But with hard times all over
Kansas and that entire region. and the popula-
ton of the town down from fully 40, 600 to
$4,000, there is hard road now to live. There
lsno money there, so some thing has to be done.
1.-THE different political creeds that have
been espoused in Kansas for the past six. or
eight years have done the business for US. If
we had stuck to a consistent course. and stuck
to Republicanism, as we did for so many years,
we would have been all right"
Mr.. McLain and Mr.. Oliver are both old resi-
dents of Wichita. Mr.. Oliver and others of his
family were at one time ranked among the
millionaires of that city.
J. A. Filcher, secretary of the State Board of
Trade, had select audience Of friends who
congratulated him yesterday on his return
from the Atlanta Fair. While in the sunny
South Mr.. Filcher observed many peculiari-
ties of the people, his newspaper instinct as
serting itself in various directions, with the
result that he has brought back with him
quite collection of good stories, which others
in all probability would have passed as mat
tiers hardly worth narrating.
His little audience yesterday were newspaper
men and one or two public men, vino thor
oughly appreciated Mr.. Filchers anecdotes of
the South.
"Moonshine," said he; "do any OF you know
what 1t is-moonshine?
81 know you all think you know what it is
But you can get moonshine in broad daylight
only down there in Georgia.
''Moonshine knocks the pins from under
California wine down in that country 1t is
found everywhere you go, and appears to be
household product.
CHOW much does it cost?' / asked q Geor-
gian.
"'Well, you get bushel of corn for so
cents he replied.
"'Water costs nothing.
1t don't cost nothing for labor. All you
want is nigga to keep the pot boiling round
thar. That's jess all, and you have three gal
Ions of moonshine. Three gallons from
bushel at SO cents. That's three gallons of
good stuff for half, amt it?'
"And that fellow grinned all over. Thought
liquor was cheap enough at such a price, and
saw how the people could have moonsi;ne in
every house and cabin
but what is moonshine ?"
whisky that pays no duty"
How do you keep it without being caught
by the revenue men? asked this fellow.
Keep it? We've never more than a gallon
in any one place.
"Can you tell me what chance wine has
against moonshine?
"That reminds me, too, of what happened
when we were packing the exhibit. There was
some wine lying round and 1 gave it to the
colored workmen to revive them, for the work
was trying and had 20 be done rapidly.
u lost the corkscrew, and wanted badly to
open bottle for two industrious fellows who
were getting tired. I got my pocket-knife and
cut the cork out as far as could and then
started to push the rest of the cork into the
bottle did 50, but my knife followed it.
"a big colored man who did not know that
the knife was in the bottle was the first to get
drink. He opened his mouth until thought
ne would let the whole bottle down, but he
mad scarcely taken the first gulp when that
KNIFE caught in his throat. He was almost
heightened out of his wits, but we saved him
from mt by getting out the knife
snakes alivep he exclaimed. Il thong hit it
was something that grew in California wine'
IT was his first experience with the native
article"