The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1901-04-26

haul but small load, as there were
no roads or bridges over streams
and sloughs. Sometimes, too, a
storm would come up suddenly,
when perhaps he was but mile or
two from home, and in the darkness
and blizzard he could see nothing,
not even his team and load of wood.
To stop was death, and so he would
tramp along by the side of the team,
until daylight revealed to the be-
numbed and frozen man the fact
that in spite of having dropped his
wagon at the commencement of the
storm and travelling with his team
all night, he was yet within few
rods of his wagon. In trying to
reach home after he had dropped
his wagon he had simply been driv-
ing in a circle-round and round
of mile or two. Yes, this wood
was expensive fuel, but it was all, ,
and there was nothing else that
could be done. A small vein of
coal was discovered on Cbetopa
Creek during the next winter, which
relieved the situation little. The
coal was poor in quality and cost
20 cents a bushel at the bank, but
for those who had the money to buy
it was far better than rotten wood.
Another thing was sadly against
us, but it was one from which set
tiers in all new countries must suffer
more or less-breadstuffs were very
scarce and high in price. Fairly
good crops of corn had been grown
in the older portions of the state the
season previous, in the river bot
toms and in patches in the valleys,
but the farmer who had few hund-
red bushels of corn was like the man
who owned few acres of timber:
he saw the chance to make his pile,
and corn sold at from $3.50 to s.
bushel at these farms. Mills !,
too, were scarce to grind our corn
into meal-when we had it. There
was a small watermill at Fort Scott,
another at Humboldt and one at
Usage Mission, but we never went
to mill there and don't know what
kind it was, though suppose it was
similar to the other mills. These
mills were all too small to supply the
great demand for breadstuffs. 1t
must be remembered that there were
no railroads to bring in supplies,
and the only dependence was the
slow moving freight wagons, and
these were subject to long delays by
high waters and storms, and when
the wagons started for Leavenworth
or Kansas City none could tell to a
week when they would return. No
wheat, to amount to anything, had
been raised in Southern Kansas,
and it is not remembered what -four
was worth, but somewhere between
SO and SI2 per cwt. Many settlers
were compelled by the scarcity of
mills to resort to the Indian method
of, grinding their corn, and those
who had good strong coffee mills
were in luck and kept them hot
grinding for themselves and neigh
bors. No eatables were wasted in
those times, and although all endur
ed these severe privations and hard
ships, yet we were far from beinS
unhappy. We were all on a com
mon level and all lacked many of
the things now deemed necessary to
life, yet we lived, and we never
knew or heard of a single case of
actual starvation anywhere. l re-
member some cases of much dis
tress and suffering, but as soon as
known they were relieved. We
would watch the dwindling away of
the little family stores during bad
weather with many misgivings and
sometimes alarm, but somehow they
were always replenished In time.
One of the best and most pleasant
features was the fact that we were
all IN the same "boat" and all on
common level, and a generous,
hearty, kindly and neighborly feel
ing pervaded the breasts of all. All
were hopeful, cheerful and courage
Gus under the severest trials and
hardships, and all were determined
to make the best of the little we
had. Few had any groceries at any
time, and wheat -four was out of the
question, yet many had little -four
or coffee or tea hid away in case of
sickness or for other occasions.
In order to keep up our spirits
and not become ''down in the
mouth" we organized schools and
sent the children daily, and then we
got up singing, spelling and writing
schools for ourselves, and held meet
ings to discuss and debate questions;
and even the old kissing plays we're
brought into use-anything that
would tend to draw the mind from
the stern realities of a Seffler,e life