Barbour County index., 1901-05-22
THE RAMBLER ON HIS RAMBLES.
UNION CITY, IND.
May IA, 1901,

May IA, 1901.
1 arrived here yesterday and found
my long lost sister and hers all well
and enjoying the few blessings of life
allotted to hoosier. Yesterday pas
sed through Howard, Grant, Black
ford, Jay and Randolph counties, pas
sing through various towns and cities,
built up from small hamlets to thriv-
ing cities since 1 passed through the
last time in 1856, when I was prosecut.
ing attorney, and making speeches for
John Z. Fremont, the first republican
candidate for president. There where
Gass City now stands in Grant county
was low fiat level tract of land, heay-
lily timbered. now wonderful city of
5000 inhabitants, having no less than
six or eight mills among them being
glass factories, roller mills, wire and
nail mills, gass pipe factories, wood
factories, wheel factories etc. etc., en-
ploying two to three thousand laborers.
city full of hustle and activity.
Hartford City Is the county seat of
| Blackford county. This is a county
only IL miles square. When L attend
ed the last term OF court in this county
in 1852, just before 1 entered the army.
it was small village of about 300, and
the principal diversion Of the inhabi-
tants of the county was hunting coons
and gathering cranberries from the
various cranberry marshes in the winter
and hauling troop poles and pumpkins
to the railroad at Muncie, Delaware
county, my old home, In the summer.
distant about 25 miles, now it is q WON
derful manufacturing city of 10 900 peo-
pie, containing the usual number of
glass, iron, wood aud other factories.
with court house costing $125, ,OOO. 100.
The county is we'll settled up, the old
lily constructed log cabins have given
way to substantial brick and frame
houses. The old rail fences are still in
existence. Many new fields are cleared
and are being cleared up. In many
places you can walk for quarter of q
mile over cultivated land, stepping
from one stump to another without
scarcely ever stepping on the ground.
Think of plowing rich soil, worth from
$75 to 500 per acre, when the owner
could sell out and 60 to Kansas where
he could plow the year round, in ten
dollar an acre land, and never strike a
stump. stone or root with his plow, and
raise more wheat and more corn to the
acre, for let 1t be known that this is a
corn country, where corn. hogs and
hominy are the principal products.
And all this prosperity is due to the
discovery Of natural gas. Farmers
here are burning up thousands of cords
Of best hickory. ash, oak, beech and
sugar tree wood every year to get shut
of it. A few farmers JOIN together and
bore and pipe gas wells to their houses,
rather than TO chop and haul wood
without money and without price.
The people here are just III the midst
OF making gardens and plowing for
spring crops. Recently passed through
thousands Of acres Of unplowed land,
the cornstalks Of last year still stand
Ing. The ground here is usually wet
and packs so easily that farmers can't
| pasture down their stalks but have to
cut, rake and burn them. They are so
heavy on the ground that stalks with
shucks and blades on can't be plowed
under. Corn here. when we'll cuitiyat-
ed. runs from SO to 100 bushels to the
acre. But with all this, good old pro-
hibition Kansas is still ahead, and now
you can see hundreds Of derricks where
they are boring for and finding plenty
OF oil. More anon,
DAVID NATION.