Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1903-06-12
! KANSAS STATE NEWS.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

Vic IOI years.
George j. Gould, of the Missouri
Pacific contributed $1,000 to the
North Topeka relief fund
The Mankato national bank has
been authorized to do business at
Mankato with $4,000 capital
After 80 consecutive days of rain
in Galena, with the exception of one
day, the sun once more shone.
The late John J. Ingalls, described
the Kaw river as a good place in
which to grow corn, If it was irri-
gated" Well. it has been irrigated.
The rainfall for the month of
March, April and May of last year is
as follows: March, 1.62 inches; April,
orc; May, 4.43, making total of 6.s1
inches for the three months. Cor
responding months of 1903 are March,
1.27; pril, sos; May, $40, total 1905
inches.
Mrs. Hester Richards died in Will
son county the other day at the age
Of 90 years. She was married IS
years ago. Her oldest son served in
the Mexican war and was killed at
Vicksburg in the civil war while hold
ing the rank of lieutenant colonel
Three other sons served in the civil
war, one as private, one as a sur
geon and one as a chaplain.
The miners of Kansas, Missouri,
Arkansas and the Indian territory
will hold convention at Pittsburg
on July for the purpose of prepar-
ing an interstate scale to be pre-
sented to the operators to take the
place Of the scales now in force,
which expire September 1. An in
crease of wages, averaging about IL
per cent, it is understood will be
asked.
Nemaha, Norton, Phillips, Smith,
Jackson, Brown, Usage, Lyon, Sedg-
wick and Butler counties are in the
worst shape of any in the high water
section. About a third of the corn
is drowned out by the water and the
weeds are smothering the remainder
Farmers have been unable to cult.
the highlands, and conditions are the
most discouraging for years.
Marion, situated at the confluence
of four streams, has been suffering
badly from the flood. About 700
people took dinner in the public
school building Saturday. The Elgin
hotel, the best in the city, served its
meals upstairs. The town is built at
the confluence of four streams. The
Indians told the early settlers never
to build a town there, and now the
people wish they had listened.
Prospects are that Kansas will not
raise more than half a corn crop
this year. Reports of the Kansas
section of the United States depart
ment of agriculture are to the effect
usual acreage has been planted. T1e
remainder of the ground has been too
wet to pillow and the farmers are I'M
able to get into it at even this late
date on account of constant rains.
The proprietors of the City of Erie
steamer thought they would test
their boat by going against the
strong current of the crooked Neo-
sho river when the stream was almost
bank full. They steamed up and left
Erie for Chanute, a distance of over
so miles via the Neosho river, and
made the trip in eight hours. This is
the first steamer in the history of Ne
osho river that has been capable of
cutting it's path through the swift
current when the waters were so
high.
A gas leak at the National hotel
in SaHna caused a terrific explosion.
Adam Smith, the engineer, and bell
boy were both injured. The explo-
sion was heard for miles. Smith,
the engineer, detected the smell of
gas and lighted match at the reg
lister. The explosion occurred imme-
diately. Nearly the entire front of
the hotel was demolished and several
hundred dollars worth of plate glass
broken into thousands of fragments.
The barber shop and billiard room
were entirely destroyed. The billiard
tables were thrown to the ceiling
and when they fell were ruined.
None of the guests were injured,
though the hotel was well filed.
The Lawrence bridge, which was
swept away by the flood in the Kaw
river, was built by the Lawrence
Bridge company under a special act
The act granted 'the exclusive right
and privilege of building and main
tanning a bridge across the Kansas
(Kaw) river at the city of Lawrence
for the period of 81 years to c.. W.
Babcock, S. B. Prentis, James Chris
tian,. Josiah Miller, Jose K. Goodwin,
Marcus j. Parrott, James F. Legate
or their assigns, and such persons as
may be associated with them for that
purpose" The authorized capital
stock of the company was 1915, 1000,
and the board of county commission
ers of Douglas county was empower
ed to fix rates by toll. A further
provision was that the bridge should