The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-07-21

| died away
| Floating one summer night upon a
| moonlit sea. heard far over the still
waters high, clear voice singing:
| To the Vest To the West. To the
| land of the free,
Where the mighty Missouri rolls down
to the sea;
| 10 toll,
And the humblest may gather the fruits
| of the soil.
A few days later. my studies being
completed, l joined the uninterrupted
and resistless column of volunteers that
marched to the land of the free. St.
Louis was a equalid border town, the
outpost OF a civilization. The railroad
ended at Jefferson City. Transcontinen-
tai trains with sleepers and dining cars.
auninilating space and time, were the
vague dreams of a future century.
Overtaking at Hermann a fragile
steamer that had left her levee the day
before. we EN- marked upon q monoto-
nous voyage of four days along the
treacherous and tortuous channel that
crawled between forests Of cotton wood
and barren bars of tawny sand 20 the
frontier OF the American desert.
1t was the mission of the pioneer with
his plow to abolish the frontier and to
s1ibjugate the desert. One has become a
boun Diary and the other an oasis. But
with 50 much acquisition, something
has been lost for which there Is no ooGn-
pensation or equivalent Ee Is uafor-
tunate who has never fe1t the fasctna-
ton Of the frontier the temptation Of
unknown and mysterious Soiitudes; the
exuIta ton Of helping to build STATE. Of
forming It's institutions and giving d.
rection to Us career,
Kansas, n ats re3imeatary stage ex>
tended westward 65S miles 10 the crest
Of fhs Rocky mountains, tns eastern
boundary of Utah By subsequent am
putation and ourtaifnent- 1t Eas storn
10 i1s present narrow limits of 81 mill
ION aores+3,Oo0 square miles IN excess
OF the entire area Of New England Den
yer, Mapftou, Pueblo. Pixies Peak and
Cripple Greek are among ths treasures
which the state-makers of 1853, Like the
base Indian. richer than al his tribe.
threw Irnr0nsciousfy away
Thirty years ago, along The eastern
margin OF the grassy quadrangle which
geographic called Kansas, the rude
forefatrers OF Atchison, Leayenwurth,
WyRndotte. Lawrence and Topeka
flept in the intervals OF their strife
with fire pretty tyrants Of their fields.
and beynnd their western horizon tho
rest was silence, solitude and the viii
derness Of fhe Rio Grande, to tine Yel-
hwsuDns Of the Sierra Nevada; like the
3Dnely steppes of Turkestan and Tar
tary, inhabited by wandering tribes
whoss occupation was war; whose pas
time was tine chase; pastured for untold
cen turtes by roaming nerds that fol-
lowed the seasons il thsir recurring mi
gratinn8 from tha Arctho circle I'd the
guff.
1t HAS been sometimes pbscurefy tn
ffmated that the typical Karnan lacks
in reserve and occasionally exhibits o.
teudency to exaSgeration N dwelling
upon the development Of the state and
the benefits End burdens of its Citizen
Ship.
CersnrfUus srDffers. actua ted by envy.
Jealous, malignfty and other evil pas
stons have limited that fls unduly vannt-
nth hirngelf; that he bIags and bsrpnes
vainglorious; that he is given 10 hnnnce.
tail talk and magniloquence
There have not been wanting 1hose
VIM affirm that he masnties his calarn-
ities fs we'll as his blessings, and DIS
sires nothing ed much as 10 have fhs
ways m the ears end mouths OF MEN,
Such accusations ars we'll calculated
n MAKE rns 5uficfous Erfeve They TO
suit frum a rriscmrcsprfun or rns man
end his environment
TIE normal -coustfr-un OF Ine genuine
KsInsan 70 tnat slrr and sensitive Diff
fideINe. He suffers from exaess oc mod
! estE- He brushes TOO easily. There Is
nothfnss hs dislfhes So MITCH SIS to hear
himself talk. H. hides hSs hight under
Dashel. He keeps as near tbs tail
end OF tins rJTy9cesson as possible. He
never advertiSes. ds bloweth not his
own hTun. and Is indifferent 10 the hand
wagon
he is oppressed by f1ae Tass rsE@nn-
sihilftF Of being an nina b1rant OF q
commonwealth 50 immea surQhdy supe-
rtor tn an ths elements Of present glory,
in all the prophecies OF futnie renown
10 a1c inferior companions
To be a denfzen OF state xaat SUI
p1asas all other oo-nlnNnatiss as Mag
ara eErsts all other cataracfs. as tbs
sun Sransoends all other lt1n1fna aries. i'm
poses Obligations that render LEFTY i'm
possible
The every Cay events OF Kansas would
be marvellous elsewhere: our piatirudes
would be panesyrfcs: ths trife and conn
ncnplacs are unknown II Is fmDosSl-
bic to cverestimate the value CT cit:-
zenship in a STATE that sent moro SOL
diers into the Union armies than II had
voters when Sumpte4 EEL; that exceeded
all quotas without draft OF bounty: that
had the highest rate Of mortality upon
the field OF battle That state SO be-
gotten and nurtured should be as IN
domita,ble in peace as il was IN war was
inevitable. Its CESSATION WAS heroic. Il
represented ideas and principles: con-
science, patriotism. duty: the 'uncon-
| queraSle mind and freedoms holy
flame"
No other state encountered such for
midable obstacles of nature and for
tune. Our disasters and catastrouhes
have been monumental. Swarrns Of 10
Gusts eclipsing the sun in their fight,
whose incredible voracity left the for
ests and the orchards and the felds OF
June as naked as December; drouxats
changing the sky to brass and the
earth 10 iron; s!roccos that IN a day
devastated provinces and reduced
thousands from comfort 20 penury:
these and the other destructive asen-
cieS OF the atmosphere have been met
by courage that no danger could
| d2unt and by constancy mistaken by
adversely
The statistics OF the census tables are
more eloquent than the tropes and
/ phrases OF the rhetoricar. The story of
/ Kansas needs no reinforcement from
the imagination. It's arithmetic is more
dazzling and bewSldering than poetry.
and the historian is compelled 10 be eco
noInicSl in truth and parsimonioas in
his recital Of facts In order NOT 20 I'M
pose too great a strain upon the capac-
/ ity Of human crsdulity
| Notwithstanding the rnishaos OF hus-