Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1902-01-16

IN wheat to the
Fore In Western Kansas.
A significant movement in settlement
is taking place in connection with the
development of prairie lands at the ex-
IRENE western part of this state and
in Colorado, as well as in other parts
of the western Mississippi valley,
where cheap land is to be obtained,
writes b special correspondent of the
New York Post at Abilene, Kan. This
is particularly true of colonies made
up generally of foreign descended fam
lies, who are DESTROYS Of forming set
Elements that shall be distinctly for
their own people. Agents of the Ger
man American settlements of Pennsyl-
vania and b similar population Of
Ohio and western New York have
made many trips to the prairie states
to seek locations for the constantly
overlooking numbers that must go out
into the larger field and make homes.
A committee of Quakers has been
travelling up the Arkansas valley and
has just purchased for the use Of the
members of that sect 5000 acres in
Prowers county, Colo, On which will
be located 1000 families. The lands
they have chosen are on one of the
large bitches where the level acres
stretch away for miles in every direc-
ton and where the sugar beet can be
raised in great abundance and rich
ness. The Quakers nave located sew
eral colonies in the west in the last
few years, some of which have beer
successful and some not. This attempt
is based On a more substantial basis
than some Of the others. Only Quakers
will be admitted, and they will come
from Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. They
expect to pay $40 an acre for their
land. with an annual water assess
ment of 40 to so cents an acre. The
bitches that supply the lands are 6
miles long and are fed from the Ar |
kansas river.
Another colony just located Is in
Greer county, Okla, where 1000 fami-
lies from Germany are to settle, each
family getting forty acres. This land
was bought through agents and is to
be owned at the outset in common. !
In western Kansas there is growing
up a large colony of Russians. who are
taking the wheat grounds and succeed
admirably in producing that cereal.
They began coming III the early eight
les, and Of late years their numbers
have SO increased that they are practi-
cally the possessors of two or three
counties. They build churches that cost
$4,000 each The towns are closely
built. The neighboring lands have been
bought up by these people as fast as
they could II the money until the
prices have been raised to the highest
known in the western part OF the state
since the boom times. Many are COM |
ing from Europe at frequent intervals. |
n their friends here are buying lane
for them in advance of their arrival.
The DunkardS. or River Brethren, |
who are allied to the Quakers without |
being of their sect, are buying more
land steadily. taking, however, the
higher priced farms of central Kansas. |
They are bringing many hundreds of
immigrants out from the east to ex- |
tend their colonies and are proving |
valuable citizens in that they have no
paupers and scarcely a criminal
The colonists who have moved into
Oklahoma during the last few months
have had some difficulty in securing |
farms in a body. They have been
more successful when buying up the
cheap and in the western parts, |
where the homesteaders are not so ca
ger to ocate. In h northwest. where
the railroads have been behind the i'm
migration movement, whole neighbOr- |
hood in the middle states, such as Il
linois. Iowa and Wisconsin. nave been
transported to new homes. 1t is estf- |
mated that 100000 people ave settled
in the northwest since March / through |
the homeseekers' excursions. These |
excursions are becoming notable for
the crowds they bring.
The wheat successes have. been re-
sponsible for a great deal Of the pur-
chasing of land. Hundreds of sales
have been made for the purpose of
speculation all through the wheat |
belt" which now extends into what
was ono thought only fit for grazing. |
The lands that eastern investors once
loaned money on then took through
foreclosed mortgages and finally sold
for a trife or abandoned to go to the
counties for the axes are coming In the
market. One western Kansas county
held $50 quarter section farms. 16O
| acres each, that came to it in this way.
For three years it has been trying to
sell them for approximately $40 a quar-
ter section under tax title. Recently, |
owing to the demand for land, the
farms have been withdrawn from the
| market and will either be redeemed by
the original owners or will be sold to
| newcomers for larger prices. One spec |
| ulator has just bought $4,000 acres for
an immense wheat ranch in southwest
| Kansas. 1t is said that his land cost