The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-01-09
A Trip to Kansas.

| EUfLOIS HerQtQ The writer, &C
companied by W. @ Smith, left OF
the evening of De ember 8, to investi
gate the six southe astern counties o.
Kansas with a view of investing II
conditions seemed to warrant. Oul
first stop was at Moran in Alien coun.
ty, 81 miles south OF Kansas CITY
There we found A j. Efin, former
resident of Worth Mahsska He has
farm within one half mile of town
and is prosperous and happy. He
has two SONS located on farms near.
by that are doing well. Moran had
been rather sleepy in the past but we
found it enjoying big boom-prop-
erty out OF sight. Itlooked as though
people were a little visionary. The
explanation of the excitement was
that they had struck both patural gas
and oil; but to Us being ignorant OF
the workings of these products it still
looked fairy like until we drove seve n
miles to La Harpe where there was a
smelter in operation and a rolling
mill about complete, which together,
will give employment to some 500
hands. La Harpe two years ago had
only about 100 Inhabitants all told.
Two miles west of La II arpe is Gas
City which two years ago was farm
but to-day it has four smelters and
1900 men on the pay roll. Five miles
west of there is lola, the county seat,
a city Of 10000 people and three
shelters, making total of seven
smelters in radius of five miles,
three ofthe best brick yards on earth,
foundry, sash and door factory the
lola Portland Cement Company (the
largest in the world, the plant will
produce so cars or 5000 barrels every
"a hours, the brick yards 20 cars per
day. The factories of Allen Co. en-
pIoy over 1900 hands and the pay roll
is over $4,000 every month cash
paid out for labor, and that money is
paid to the merchants, farmers and
produce raisers. Does this mean any
thing for the country? And these
three towns are connected by two
railroads and an electric line will be
in operation within thirty days, max
ing the third band of steel. So we
might conclude that the people OF
Moran might not be 80 far off in their
judgment as we first imagined. But
as we were not looking for gas pro-
ducing land we concluded to move on
but found the whole country for a
distance of rs miles south was a gas
country, the towns being heated and
lighted by gas and for about one-fifth
the price of coal, and the extent was
so great that the price of farm lands
had not been effected by it.
Our next stop was at Parsons, in
Labetta county. There are large rail-
road shops, division mills, factories
and other enterprises. Ten miles
east of this place we found Ed Clay
worth, another of Mahaska's former
citizens. He is on good 800 acre
farm with plenty of stock and feed
and is prosperous and happy. We
stayed over night with him and went
to McCune in Crawford county by
team then back to Parsons and from
there by rail to Fredonia, the county
seat OF Wilson county, where we
spent several days looking the county
over. There is some very fine bottom
land on the Verdigrise river, the most
of it issin wheat and is extra fine.
They were pasturing it with horses
and cattle, and the cattle were fat
enough for beef. After leaving Free
donna we stopped at Chanute. Here
there Is division of the Santa Fe
with shops and round house and a
pay roll of $50, 900 per month, two fine
brick yards, mills and elevators with
tile and sewer pipe works. Then
stopped at Erie, the county seat OF
Neosha county. 1t has a population
Of 1900 and has a fine farming coun-
try surrounding it. This is fine
fruit country producing all varieties
of apples ,Epeaches, pears, cherries,
plums, ounce, apricots, strawberries,
blac kberries, raspberries and grapes.
The annual rainfall is from % to AZ
inches; the surface of the country is
gently rolling, well drained and not
rough. Timber in abundance all along
the streams. Coal you can buy at the
banks from 5 to cents per bushel at
stations and towns from 9 to IA cents
per bushel, Water is usually obtain.
ed from 10 to IA feet and of good
quality. This year the corn crop was
almost failure. Usually it aver
ages 25 to so bushels per acre, wheat
from 20 to 40 bushels per acre.
We were eighteen days looking
over seven scounties, and what we
know about Kansas would fill a book
and what we don't know about II
would fill mighty sight bigger one
JOHN ABER.
0skaloosa, Jan. 81.
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