The Newtown bee., 1903-02-06
IT. A. TODD IN TULSA, l.. T.,


Brother Smith: In compliance with your request, and in fultillment of the
 promise made you before I left the ''land of steady habits," 1 proceed to give you little idea of where 1 am, and what is doing in this part of h. dian Territory.
 I left New York at 1 D. m. for St Louis via New York Central to Buffalo, where we arrived at 11.45 p. m., and by change to Central time, we left there for St Louis at Il o'clock D. m. tor 45 minutes before we reached there), via Lake Shore to Cleveland, thence on the Big Four over the c. c. I. through Indianapolis to St Louis, where we arrived about p. m. the following day. Took the train on the Frisco system at 10 D. m. for Tulsa, where we arrived at about 5 p. m. next day, three hours behind time. The distance from St Louis is 424 miles. We saw no snow after we passed Terre Haute, Ind, and l have not seen any since. With the exception of two or three mornings, the mercury has not been much below S2 degrees. The weather has been fine all the time, with the exception of one or two part ly cloudy days. They put up no ice here, but there is plant to manufac- ture it for summer use. I do not sup pose there is a pound of ice in the town. The village of Tulsa (city, they call it here) is a very enterpriSing lively little place, situated in the Creek nation; just south of the line between them and the Cherokees on the north and the Osdges still farther west. The tribe is said to be the rich est people per capita in the world, hav- ing over SIP, ,0OO, 900 to their credit with the United States government, the interest on which amounts to S55 quarterly, or $22O per capita annually, besides the grass money, and royalties on the mineral and oil lands. Then there are l, 800, 900 acres of land to be apportiOned soon, which will give to each person about 900 acres in round numbers, in theirl own right. Tulsa is in the best of situations for a large town. It has now about $500 inhab- itants, three or four churches, two large schools (north and south), four banks (two'natiOnaD, several large busi ness blocks of brick and three more in process of erection. The resources of the country are almost unlimited. Coal is worth, delivered at your door, II cents per bushel, or about S2.5O per ton. Not many houses have cellars, and they dump the coal on the ground in the back yard. l have seen a wheat field of 25O acres, and corn field of 300 acres, and the corn is not gathered yet. The cattle and horses run out all winter, as not many farmers have any barns, and they are looking in fine condition. I saw one herd of 150 cat tie out on the wheat fields, rather than eat the hay or straw in stacks, if they cared to. The people here are very nice, orderly people and I like them oio1 teous to strangers, and welcome them especially in their churches. None of the churches are very large. The Presbyterian is the leading one, with the Methodist north and the Methodist south, and the Baptist coming next. The first Sunday l was there I attended the Presbyterian, as here is no Episcopal here. The seats are fine, and 1 quietly dropped into one in the rear of the room, unnoticed las supposed) but the minister in his the stranger among them" and at the close of the service, before l could leave the seat, he was there, intro ducing himself, and asked my name. He said he had seen me on the street during the week previous, and hoped to see more of me. No less than five or six others came and welcomed me there, an example our Eastern churches would do we'll to emulate, especially q am sorry to say) our Episcopal churches. The town is laid out in squares, the streets being 60 feet wide. running east and west, north and south. There is not saloon in the town, nor place where any intoxicant is sold, even at the drug stores, of which there are four nice large ones. There is large flouring mill, grain elevator, and cotton gin in the town, besides several large lumber yards. A new three-story hotel is to be opened about March 1. You will begin to think, where is the end of this, any way? and so we will close here. If you have not enough we will leave it for another time. Very truly yours, I'M A. T