The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-20

Desert 800 miles to the base NJ tha g..
Nevadas. In 1858 gold was cisco,r.' 9iS'i d
Colorado. Then came the rusb ~ 81 a IN
Feak IN 1853, and with it came -. ' ine )
Tor the products of Nebraska Fal. Ac'
Great trains of wagons, drawn nv ro,,, iS.
r ,,1;,,,. departed daily for the westsrr
mining camps, forts and trading eeIerh
In the early sixties, when tbis posls'
ing business was at its hight. tbere suit
uhloaded from steamboat on H. was
ieVee at Nebraska City a monstro,,S eeP
chine, which the owner and inventor a 'lia-
ed steam wagon 1t was very ILL., az
traction engines we now see onara+' .'e
portable saw-mills and thrasbing n.a
cnlhe' nut 1t was much larger and weigh
ed many tons. 0ie''-
The wagon, he dhe owuer) cIain,ea
would pull thirty loaded wagons. carrv.ne,
TOUR tons each, eight miles an hour ~ -
Denver In about seventy-five hours U.oU
the little frontier city went wild VT 80
oxen and mules took a tumble in IN
market that threatened bankruntcv no 10
their owners WY, steer could not IDOL
you in the face; he had ceased tn nm
a place of usefulness, except in the hr,
cher shop. The riules-well, they I<icIIj
but no one LaH any attention. for tbesI
was only one SlLon wagon and W. h. y
it. Omaha. Atchison and Leavenvo ~
had hecn the rivals of Nebraska civ ~
the freighting business. Now thew sanit
to be objects of pity only.
THE city and county voted bonds .
build strong bridges and smooth no.
for the steam wagon to the west ijno
of the county. thirty miles away. bnt
no one lived in the next county w.
in fact, no one lived beyond a few MIL,
west of the Missouri but a ranchman az.
cry ten or fifteen miles, and as he rnod,
his living trading in mules and cattle.
am with their owners and drivers he
had no sympathy with the neW-fano1aS
wagon. 1t meant ruin to him.
The wagon would eat up about twenty
cords of wood in twenty-four hours and
there was not timber enough between tbo
Missouri river and Denver to run il =
month, and wood was worth $50 ner cora
at some of the ranches. / once knew of
its selling at so cents per pound in mid
winter, with no road for it west of onr
country. There were many drawbacks 70
the success of the steam wagon. Rut If
started, got about ten miles west. brota
down, and before repairs could he got
from st. Louis winter came on Ok teams
were hitched to the dead monster and IL
was pulled to the barnyard at ]. Sterling
Morton's home. Early the following
spring the Sioux Indians killed the owner
and inventor of the wagon. For ten years
the big, unsightly machine stood in the
Morton farm yard, roost for fowls and
a thing to frighten horses.
A merchant in town hung out a sign
which read: Cash Paid for Anything the
Farmer Has to Sell in the Field or Deliv-
cred at This Store This sign caught Mr.
Morton's eye. DO you mean what your
sign says?
e I most assuredly do replied the mer-
chant
"'Well. I've got steam wagon to sell:
what's the price on 'em this mornings?
THE merchant knew the wagon; he had
whooped and hollered for it ten years be-
fore, when he had expected it to make him
and everybody else rich; but he could see
no particular use he had for it now. Rail-
roads had crossed the continent. But not
to be outdone, and to make his word good,
he said:
Sterling, you've got me. But mean
just what my sign says. will give yoa
$50 for it, and agree to take it away in
two weeks
" It's yours replied NJ Morton"