The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1901-01-25
FROM lola Wanderers
Harry Thomas Tells About What He
Thinks of the Country and
People Down South
New Orleans, La.
January %, 1901.

EDITOR REGISTER:-Wi your per-
mission | will try to tell some of the
Allen county people how the Southern
country looks to me. We left Kansas
by the Missouri Pacific and Port
Arther routes. The latter is very
slow outfit. 1t follows very closely
the line between the Indian Territory
and Arkansas, being most of the time
in the Territory, but wobbles over
into Arkansas just often enough to let
the passengers get something to drink
once in while.
Our first stop was at Mena, Ark, a
small town of about 5000 population.
1t is sawmill town, having three or
four sawmills but none of them large.
The first thing to catch the eye of an
lola man is the very bad condition of
the sidewalks. If lola had such walks
there would be constant suit for
damages. In all Iola's sleepy days
I never saw the walks in half so bad
condition. The fact that lumber is
much cheaper at Mena would warrant
a better lot of walks. They build
their walks from six to eighteen inches
above the ground. l don't know why
it is unless it is to make a good shady
place for the razor-back hogs that
run at large to lie under. They will
have to be repaired considerable be-
fore they will make good shade.
Our next stop was at Texarkana.
Here we found better condition.
They have some large saw mills and
handle "a small amount of cotton.
The cotton-ware house and compress
burned last year and has just been
rebuilt. In this place we found a
large percentage of the residences to
be good and there are some very good
ones. They have there the third larg-
est Y. NJ. G. A. in the United States
there being nearly 900 members.
Their building is a very handsome
and well arranged one. Texarkana
is good, live town with a popula-
ton of $4,000 people, but their light
went out when the power house burned
and the Company doesn't seem in
clined to start it up.
We left that place for Shreveport,
La, and there we found plenty of
business, the town being on the Ped
river which is navigable for large
tug boats there. There are at this
place several large saw mills and
many large cotton-ware houses about
which the streets are piled full OF
bales of cotton as it comes from the
gin. The bales are about the size OF
bale of broom corn and all three OF
four men want to load into a wagon.
When these bales go to the compress
rolled into the press and pressed to
the size of l00-pound bale of hay.
| was very much impressed with the
rush and push with which work was
done here in the South. All traffic or
the streets is done in a hurry. more
than half of the hauling being done
with the old time down South cart, tC
which is hitched a mule. The en-
gineer is always negro. You may
think it a queer combination to hurry
hurry with, but they all seem to want
to see George.
We left Shreveport for Beaumont
and when we got there we struck i
rich. Bad streets Why lola never
had "A street so rough and muddy u,
they were there. | thought the hack
men were all "bleeding Kansans
when they wanted "a to S. to take us
out three miles to the oil we'll. Blu
/ it was all right. The soil in Beau
mont is about the same as it is il
lola but the drainage is not nearly 81
good. | expect you think that il
pretty Hat. Beaumont is a good saw
mill town and the rice-mill business
here is large, but the people have for
gotten that they have such mills, anC
all have gone wild over the oil bust
ness. | will not say much about tn,
great oil we'll except that have reaC
no statements about it that seem to b.
overdrawn. We saw it just fey
minutes before it was shut in and i
is certainly great. With nine o
Iola's citizens there we got to tel
them about our gas in good shape
We are off for New Orleans and vii
write more soon. H. f.. 7.
| Gas Land For SaIa