Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1899-08-03
pLUcKY jim SHANE.
Lawrence Rural World Tells Of an
Abilene Mans History.

Abilene Mans History.
The following story Of one Of Abb
lene's old residents will be interest
ing Capt. Shane is brother Of j
N. Shane Of Shane 4 Emig;
Handicapped from the start, Capt
Shane has gone through reverse'
enough to kill an ordinary man, bu,
be has never lost heart and today ht
is in comfortable circumstances and
is one of the best read men in the
State. A few words in regard to hi,
life will show the character Of the
man. As boy Of 20 he enlisted in
81 in Co. D., 10th Kentucky Infantry
was made lieutenant; re.enlisted as q
veteran and while on short veterans
furlough was married; went With
Sherman to Atlanta; at Resaca was
deafened by the bombardment, and
while leading charge at Atlanta had
one leg shot off above the knee and
the other foot wounded. The fight
was not all out Of him yet, however,
and with his hearing impaired and
the amputated limb hardly healed, he
returned to his regiment and served
on the staff until peace was declared.
After the war, Capt. Shane read
law one year and came to Kansas. He
was admitted to the bar at Salina and
located in Abilene before the Union
Pacific had been built that far west.
He built the first frame house in Abb
lene and served the county as clerk
and afterwards as treasurer. Here he
was appointed agent for the sale Of
100000 acres OF Union Pacific, or
Kansas Pacific, lands and had listed
with him 10000 acres of SPECTATORS
land owned by non-residedts.
He formed partnership with T. G.
Henry, one of the greatest promoters
Kansas has ever produced, as Shane
& Henry and did tremendous bust
ness in the sale of lands. Meanwhile
the town of Abilene had been organ
lied and Capt. Shane was a member
of its first council. This was in the
days when Abilene had the reputation
that afterwards passed to Dodge City
and then on to the border towns, and
Wild Bill served the town as marshal.
AT this time Capt. Shane commence
ed farming in Dickinson county with
disastrous results. Everything that
a farmer had to have brought extrav-
agant prices. Horses could not be
bought for less than 1925 and all
farm implements were three times as
high as today. He went to work in
earnest, but q hired man let fire get
into his hay lot and two horses and
all feed and implements were burned.
He recouped and soon had sixty-fve
acres Of corn that promised big
crop, but it was never harvested,
The grasshoppers Of '6S left nothing
but the bare stalks, and corn was
worth S1.00 a bushel.
The next venture was to put in
iorty acres Of forest and fruit trees at
an expense Of nearly $4,000 for trees
alone. Another invasion of grass
noppers ate the twigs and even the
bark from the trees and left simply
ot of dead brush.
The 40 acres referred to is the
Van Worst place on North Buckeye.
Shane finally succeeded in getting the
jrees to grow He also built the fine
prick house on the place at an outlay
If over $4,000.
Not yet discouraged, Capt. Shane
bought OF the Santa Fe 5000 acres OF
and in Reno county five miles below
and put $500 acres into
wheat. The company was greatly
Interested in the success OF the under
aking as big yield of wheat would
louble the value Of their lands and so
t was arranged that the first pay
nent should be made from the pro-
leeds Of the crop.
The tract was wild land covered
With the wild grass and to transform
his into wheat field required the
ervices of thirty men and eighty yoke
4 cattle in the field, besides cook,
river, two herders and two black
miths. The expense was enormous.
he cattle cost $50 yoke, men 500
month and board, seed wheat $1,000,
nd log chains, plows, ETC., ran up
L Al L..