The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-06-16
HAND TO HARVEST
Advance Guard Arrived in
Wichita Sunday
HARVEST HAS COMMENCED
Eastern Young Men Will Help
Fake Care of Wheat

Harvest is on in Sedgwick county and
within a week it will be going in full
swing. Yesterday travelling men coming
in from the south reported many harves-
tiers at work in the fields of soft wheat
in this and all counties south of Sedg-
wick.
Sunday and yesterday the advance
guard of harvest hands began coming in
from the eastern states. All of the rail-
roads reported a big business from points
within three and four hundred miles Of
Wichita and toward the latter part of
the week the young men from points east
OF the Mississippi will begin to arrive
Yesterday ii was estimated that go men
arrived in Wichita for harvest Most OF
them were in this city two or three hours,
and every one could be pointed out from
their regaia.
4 harvest hand can be located a. far
as he can be seen. lie always wears a
broad -brimmed straw hat and at TINS
stage of the season that straw hat is new
md stiff. but the straw is pliable enough
q allow the brim to Zap in the wind. The
harvest hand never fails to wear col
ored shirt.
The crowd that came into Wichita yes
terday was a pretty good looking bunch
q young men. They were bright, clean
and with plenty Of spring in their heels
They looked like workers, and all were
hunting a job They had a little bundle
under each arm. none carried grips or
telescopes, they would not be harvest
hands of they did.
Immediately after alighting from a train
the fellows rushed to a restaurant for
something TO ca and then back 10 the
dopots where they procured folders, and
two or three hunted the shady side OF
the depot and began discussing where
they would get work in the shortest time
and the work would continue the longest
Some had circulars giving the amount of
wheat raised in each county last year and
the number of acres this year. good
many did not stop in Wichita at all but
went on into Oklahoma where the hard
wheat harvest is on in full blast.
The Missouri Pacific and Frisco each
brought 100 men direct to this city from
points in Missouri and eastern Kansas.
The Santa Fe's and Rock Islands crowd
came from Northern Missouri and Iowa,
and the greater number stopped only
few moments i'm Wichita or at most be
tween trains and then went south.
The men are all sons of farmers in
sections where the wheat crop is not the
important crop. All are young men. many
not past their majority and this is their
frst trip to the great wheat fields. They
came here to see the country They are
enabled to travel over a considerable
portion Of Kansas and in the fall return
home with considerable money in their
pockets. having had very pleasant sum
mer and visited the famous wheat fields
OF famous state.
The boys travel i'm groups Of two. three
and four and hardly ever five from one
locality They started west determined
L. keep together throughout the summer
and return together in the fall. Al will
get jobs within a mile of each otehr be
fore this week is ended. Perhaps all will
lee employed by the same man. Within
two weeks an viii he separated and may
not see each other again until they all
reach their eastern homes.
Everyone Will put in many hard days
work in the fields putting the grain in
shock or stack. then Will come the thresh-
ing season Everyone will have at least
1co days work before they can return
home and know that the Kansas wheat
crop is I'm the bins
Today the number of men will increase;
poSsibl- The number will be doubled BY
the end of the week there will he harvest
hands OH the street by the hundreds. and
the people Of this city will no longer stare
at the Jumpers and straw hats. Wichita
IS Che mecca of most of the harvest hands.
They come here and get their bearings.
The railroads are Ter- willing To furnish
them any information they may wish