The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1898-07-08
An Interesting Letter.

triumphs in arithmetic, geography,
and spelling down.
When we came across the state
line | was sitting beside a Bostonl
man who is out in this country
looking after some loans made byl
the trust company, of which he is al
| looked out of the
window and saw the heavy post
marking the state line, "Illinois "
on ore side and "Indiana' on the
other. said to him; "We are
now in Indiana. ("
lie seemed startled and said :
Indeed" Then he had a renewed
interest in the landscape. After
studying it for about three minutes
he turned to me and said "The
country seems to be about the
same"
"Yes, it does, right along here, y
| replied, "but that is because we
are still so near Illinois. There is
strip in Indiana right along the
state line which shows many OF the
symptoms of civilization, because it
is in a position to absorb the Illinois
culture. In the same way down
along the Ohio river Indiana de-
rives great deal from Kentucky,
especially at about election time.
4 In the eastern part OF the state
there is region which is dimly il
Illuminated by the higher civilization
of Ohio. The same. is true OF the
northern part of the state. South
Bend has become center for liter
ature and the arts because it is less
than five miles from Michigan"
The Boston man stared at me
and said: "Indeed?"
eyes; Indiana is all right around
the edges, where it can come into
immediate contact with more en-
Heightened commonwealth and catcf
, the drip from the John r. Tanner
! administration, but when you ge
into the deep interior, clear ava,
from the beneiicent influence o
Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan an'
Illinois, that's where you'll fine
: Indiana, SO accurately described b.
the missionary, Mr.. Eggleston
You know, he was the first easter
man to 90 into that country ant
'let them feed from his hand. Yol
/, would believe me if | told you tha
about thirty miles ahead OF Us her
the natives will begin to come out o
the hazel brush and bark at tn
train as it goes past. =
"You startle me. y
! "This is your first visit to In
diana?"
81 rode through the northern
part of the state on a Lake Shor
train one night"
swell, that ought to give you
: pretty good idea. You probabl.
|, noticed the general improvement il
, ! the country as you draw near Chi
!. cago. But you've never been I
Indianapolis"
"Never."
"You ought to 90 down there som
time for week. Take along plen
. ty of reading matter and get pal
of lace boots, high ones-great pro
! lection against snakes"
"Let's see. Indianapolis-isn
: that the home of ex- President Har
!. rison?"
Harrison? Harrison? | neve
heard of him."
"You never heard Of Harrison?'
"No, sir; | never heard OF Har
!, rison or James Whitcomb Riley @
Gen. Lew Wallace or Thomas A
Hendricks or Oliver p. Morton o
|, Daniel w. Voorhees, or "Uncl
/ Dick" Thompson or any OF thos
fellows. The only great men
know out in this western countr
), are Tanner of Illinois, Alger O
{ Michigan, Hanna of Ohio, an
: Breckenridge Of Kentucky. Now
will you do me favor? Ask m
something about Posey county. q
on. Say something about Hoop
4 pole township ,"
The Boston man seemed to b
puzzled by my line of talk.
"Is there-such a county?' b
. asked, hesitatingly."
" "There is such county, and
although you may not believe Il
the people live in houses instead
= trees. Furthermore, the percentae
: OF illiteracy is less in that count
e than it is in the city Of Boston, an
: there are probably four times
many books per capita as there al
v. in New York city. That count
Y was settled by community OF ed'
Gated men and women. 1t is
wheat county, and the inhabitan
are well -to-do and happy and kno
as more Of what is going on in Il
world than you or | do"
to The Boston man wore skep'
cal smile. He knew that l W