The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-11-03
4e qalieha Daily Eae gusIay 7ornue gouenber B. 1896.

ily," and ''Signers of the Declaration" as
well as others that were hung by their
sides. With these before their eyes all the
time, can the westerner forget the east?
lie hears the wind whistle over the wide
plains and thinks: 81 wish I were back
among the Maine hills or the lakes Of New
York. where there s not this terrible howl
of the lost storms wandering over the
prairie"
Another thing binds the west to the east
the old home paper. Into every postof-
fee come week after week tightly rolled
Papers that bear the stamp of long travel.
Eagerly they are awaited and as earnestly
rad. They are not handsome papers
Their type is very biack-faced. and the en-
ergetic sheet at the county seat is many
times more exciting. There IS no politics
in the columns. and the reader may with
little trouble find many slips OF grammar
ardstyle But these papers have up IN the
corner beside the name White Hills Ca
zette" or Mohawk Citizen" little motto
Established IN 1897 or something like
that. which tells of long ard useful life
They are, TOO. perfect types of purely local
Journals, rivaltlg the old town meeting
as an expression OF the Independence and
equality Of the American people. Evident
Nv the editor has not heard of the cam
pasgn. but he is able to give a clear &C
count of the painting Of a barn and the
mending of a picket fence. These are of in
terest, too, and out on the plains the peo-
pie read all and find even in the adver-
t.sements food for table talk. The doligs
of the old school friends are chronicled,
and the deaths that are all the time thin
ming the ranks OF ne,ghbors are followed
with aching hearts. Scarcely family IN
the west is without such paper and hndS
il a solace and joy. The big city journal
Is left unread until these are perused. and
no magazine can for a moment rival them
in the affections OF the gray-headed wife
and husband who have come 10 the cheap
er lands to better their fortunes. And no
matter what other literature the family IS
compelled to forego. it VIII always be sup
piled with the paper from back home, >"
now the home no longer except in fancy.
Distance and time dull the imperfections
of the east and lend to its blessings some
glamour that is of delight to the SOUL the
newer possessions of the home in The west
seem tawdry and cheap compared with the
things of long ago. 1t is one OF he COM
monest possessions of the prairie settler
that he has a riding plow. and Yet he Will
tell you that he had almost as good time
doing the blowing back east" with a
plow Of the old sort. So with ali the west
II is only good IS compared with the
things of the east as they are remembered
with all the added ornament that time
gives. Once in a while there Is, il crops
are good, a trip TO the east. and while the
westerner is in delrium of delight TO
go back to the familiar scenes, he is al
ways as ready TO return to his new home.
One day the agent of a Kansas station was
| wonderfully surprised at the appearance
at the window of man who called for 10
tickets to Pennsylvania and return. His
first thought was that the man was crazy,
but that was wrong. The man was the
agent Of the River Brethren. who had re-
Gently settled there and were preparing TO
| go back for visit to the old folks. They
are a Quarterlike folk and their love for
| the old home is very strong. They go back
| in large bodies every year and are always
eager to go-though they do not want 10
| stay.
"They told me 1 was goirg into the en-
emy's country when I started west this
| time," said a Pennsylvania congressman
| who made addresses in the west during the
| campaign, but told them I would be
|
many of them in the prairie states that
| can scarcely turn around without having
] a native of my own state call TO me-" He
! was right, for there are no strangers ont
| on the Dla;ns-all are the children Of the
| great mother whose teeming acres have
! sent so many brave men and women 10
| build Up the domains of the level lands.
! And the build as they dream Their
| dreams are of gabled roofs and wide
spreading NAPLES and ash, of quaint cor
ners IN the pastures and wild reaches OF
! gray sea. They can almost feel the salt
air as 1t rushes upon them just from a
race across unnumbered miles OF water
! Then they wake and look upon that other
sea of sod around. with It's breezes dry and
enervating, and. like the woman who look
ed into Reeds face, they sigh for home.
| Never was there more arrant nonsense
! preached than antagonism between east
| and west Can the mother diSown her
Child, or the offspring forget the nursing
| of other days and learn to hate the land
| that is the mausoieum of his forefarhcrs?
| Hatred will never come so Tong as the
| settler talks in his present tone OF tender
| ness when he speaks the words back
east" c. NJ. fIARGER.
4 II marriage doesn't occur whNe there
! Ia still a novelty TO the engagement IL
/ oil ..~hF 1r.f.a