The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1907-10-01
Mr.. CONVICTION
IN THE WEST
Writes From Far off South
Dakota
TELLS OF HIS OBSERVATIONS. ETC.

lanktpn. South Dakota, Sept -. l0O7.
Well. here am. 800 miles from You
and the dear lowed 'sle- oi blessed old
Nirginia can & I'll how long will re-
main here it took -. lays aud , nights
continual trav'l tu reach thi= wild
country
Just a short dlrtauce away is a large
Indian reservation. The Indians come
over To get drunk from VII q the white
man sells them. On Yesterday one was
released from Jail tor drunkness. paid his
line. mounted his horse aud bid ndieu To
the trcwatcr SELLERS. telling them they
would not treat "a stranger a. he was
treated.
l.ft Charlottesv lie 7.O5 p. IN. Tues
day. took the &. \ O. train, which was
packed with vi-itors from jamestown.
On my Whole ruut. did not see any
iruit of any kind. Ia Piedmont Virginia
l- all I've seen anywhere
The corn crop except Ia the northern
part OF Indiana hud west Iowa is short.
At those places u is very heavy
CONDUCTOR on the route told mo
more corn meant morr whlSkey. more
whi-key meant more D-mufrnts and
more Democrats meant muu trouble.
The D,mocratic party out here il r.
gardeu az the " aiskey party.
At Chicago | went To the stock yards
and the halt had never beeu told me. 4
twelve hundred pound be,f il hung up
and ~ uuy around as easily ~ | would
handle "a rabbit. 1900 heavy b.eves.
$500 sheep, 1000 calves, 1000 hogs are
daily handled. $50 cars are daily loaded
and 1000 are ON the yards continually.
ney claim that they have not cleared
over cents on every one dollars worth
- fsa.s. al O.. D
All along my route this Scripture rang
into my ears, Cast Thy Bread pou the
Waters and After Many DAYS il Shall be-
Returned Unto Thee. and Whatsoever
ye Soweth, That shall ye Reap"
Right here in town the theAter adver-
tises The Girl / Left Behind Ne"
Whenever the " ind blows here you can
see sand from Nebraska coming or sand
from here going there
Steamers used "a run here. but the
trcacherous Missouri stopped them: you
do not know from one day to another
where the channel is This town Is
about the size of yours, but the churches.
pOstotiice, Masonic temple library and
courthouse, far surpass anything there.
Cement of the best quality, which sells at
90 cents per barrel, is made here and
over 1000 barrels per day are turned
out. il j. called the beet Portland
cement.
Board il about the same here ~ in
Virginia. Clothing much cheaper Very
little dew ever falls here: the climate is
very dry and healthful. Whanit rains in
certain sections you can hardly walk a.
the soil sticks 50 badly To your feet.
Sometimes IL will adhere until il Is six
inches thick. Talk about your bad roads.
why Just get in "A vehicle here after a
heavy rain and you would wish you had
never left Virginia.
The insects here are about the same as
in Virginia. No big game at all here
Rabbits in great abundance. No pleas
ants or partridges as the weather is too
severe for them. Fish in the Missouri
and other streams are of the poorest
kind, such ss catfish. GELS, carp. DC. The
usual weight OF a catfish is about 40
pounds. Some are caught that weigh
as much as 30 pounds They are skined
and sliced on in market and sold by the
pound as you would beef, about Zoe.
There is n farm here with quite a good
residence upon IL, 6 rooms, a small barn
and usual outhOuses, with a good corn
crop upon IL, and in 1881 the channel of
the Missouri river was right under the
house. Now arrangements are made 70
build railroad right along there. the
grading being already done Fully a
mile of Nebraska is over here in Dakota
and no one can help il either. Millions
of dollars have been spent by the gov
ernment, but Of no avail.
Cattle, horses. hogs are the finest
ever saw. Goodbye.
T. r. Covington.