The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1910-09-16
11aNEss OF THE wEs4.

= Few Stories, veracious Of Course.
Leave No Room for Donbt.
The great west is big. Every year
the east hears a new crop Of stories
ABOUT the bigness OF the west That
makes it marvel. Here is portion Of
tnis last seasons crop of big stories
OF the things of the west, says the Los
angeles correspondence of the New
York Herald.
During corn growing time Kansas
newspaper printed startling dispatch
from the southern part OF that State
saying that boy climbed cornstalk
70 see how the clouds locked and that
the stalk was growing faster than the
boy could climb down.
AT the date of the dispatch the boy
was clear out Of sight Three men
were engaged to cut down the corn
stalk with axes to save the boy from
starvation, but the stalk grew so rapid
~ that they could not hit twice in the
same place. The boy was living on
green corn alone and had already
thrown down more than four bushels
Of cobs..
The later fate of the boy is not
known. That is Of minor Importance,
anyway. The great and burning ques-
ton is: Does corn really grow that
fast in Kansas?
A man whose word has never been
disputed with any degree of success
went east with this story from south.
western Kansas. His two brothers
were working clearing out the weeds
In a deserted pasture lot. After a trip
to the farmhouse one of the brothers
returned to find the other missing.
Where are you, Ed?" he shouted
"Here am he heard the answer
ing voice of Ed. coming from some
where near the fence.
We'll, shake weed, so I can tell
where you are,'' commanded the
brother.
They tell down east that if farm
er in the west plants his ground with
corn and takes first class care of it he
will get 100 bushels to the acre, and if
he takes middling care of it he will get
seventy-fve bushels to the acre, and if
he does not plant at all he will get
fifty.
1t is also told in the east that west
60 hox r. 70 10 ~
out in the spring and pillow furrow
until fall and turn around and harvest
back; q while a man in Detroit has a
friend in Dakota who owned a farm
on which he had to give mortgage
and the mortgage was due on one end
before they could get it recorded on
the other
Not SO long ago perhaps it
was the same man-was telling some
acquaintance about pathetic scene
he witnessed on one of those big Da-
kota farms three years ago. He said
he saw an entire family FRUSTRATED
with grief-women yelling. children
.hawling and dogs barking. One mar
had his camp outfit placed on seven
four-mule wagons and was going
around bidding everybody goodbye.
Where is he going?" asked one Of
the party"
Half way across the farm to feed
the pigs was the answer.
Some one wanted to know If he ever
got back to his family again, but the
narrator said it was not time for him
to get back yet.
One man, it is said, started in to cut
a tree off his place. When he had cut
away at one side for about ten days
he decided to take look around The
tree, and when he got around on the
other side he found man who had
been cutting at that same tree fol
three weeks and they had not heard
the sound of each others axes.
The quick growth of Western cities
lis a matter of common talk and the
East no longer doubts these tales. Ar
engine driver of train crossing the
prairie was surprised one day to see
town of considerable size just ahead
at spot where there was nothing the
day before. He yelled over to his fire
man, asking what town that was, but
the fireman was stumped, too. Wher
he pulled into the station there were
nearly 1000 persons waiting to see the
first train come in When they pulled
out the conductor stationed brake
man on the rear platform to watch fol
any towns that sprang up after the
train got by.
They never have anything small OF
ordinary out in that section at all
Windstorms blow down wire fences
draw stoves out Of chimneys and blow
the bottoms out Of empty bottles. Dur
ing one of these remarkable wind
storms whisky barrel standing In
front Of a saloon was sucked out Of
the bunghole and turned inside out
and the dirt was blown from around q
post hole in the hillside, leaving the
hole sticking out Of the ground about
two feet with no dirt around It.
Refused to Be Fooled.
Thoro 10 M fooling a man Who love.