Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-03

BRADSHAW, Neb., Dec. d.-To the Edi-
tor Of The Bees There Is much comment
regard to the present severe winter
ana its extremely early beginning. The
writer has been in Nebraska for almost
forty years and can call to mind but
one other like II as TO early beginning
with severity. We came to Nebraska in
1870 and took a soldiers homestead In Sew
ard county. about e,even miles west OF
the town Of Seward. There were many
other hOmesteaders who came to Nebraska
the same summer and fail. The winter
of 1S7o-u was a ost beautiful winter and
we believe hat we speak the truth when
we say that there was no month during
the winter that blowing could not have
been done.
homesteder to accept Il as a sample Of
Nebraska winter and no one thought 1t
necessary to rush matters very much in
getting ready for the winter of 1919. OF
course, there was not much that could
be done In those days to prepare for
winter. The sod corn was all cut and
shocked; the pumpkins and squashes were
al harvested: sod houses and dugouts
were all new and in good condition, but
at the time when the storm came, which
was, IL my recollection is correct, Novem-
Der II, In the form OF a drizzling rain
and lasted until the afternoon OF the
18th, when II began showing, and at mid
night the 18th a good sized blizzard was
on, which lasted three days and nights.
AT this time but few of the homesteaders
had made any provision for fuel. suppos-
ing, with sod houses and such a winter
as 1s7O-1, there would be no trouble along
that line. Here was the mistake, and
with some the question OF fuel was a
serious matter, but there we're a number
of noble hearted settlers living on the
Blue, among them I will name Judge
Shealds, George Reed, William Dobson and
Mr.. Cacy, who shared their timber with
the prairie settlers. The writer and his
father, who was a homesteader on the
same section, secured our winters fuel
by cutting wood on shares. 1 distinctly
remember some of the bitter cold mornings
when Brother Charley and myself would
shoulder our axe long before daylight and
trude away through the snow some three
miles to the timber on the Blue, where
1t required hard work to cut and put up
enough that our share would amount to
a good load In a day. Father, with a
team and sled, would come later In the
day and get it. and in this way-thanks
to the sod houses-both families were kept
-
quite comfortable.
II this winter, starting as It has, is to
be a duplicate of that winter farmers
who have corn In the field may just as
well take II easy, for April will find them
gathering their 1903 crop OF corn.
In the winter we are speaking about
there was no time from the 18th OF No
vember until the last OF March that snow
did not lay in the fields. where there were
stacks to catch the drifts, four and five
feet deep.
The writer and his brother had rented
ten acres of cultivated land on the farm
of the late Hon. w. W. Cox in the spring
Of II and planted it to corn and were
blessed with a fair crop. We had sue
ceeded in gathering and cribbing Mr..
Cox's share and had secured two loads
for ourselves, and practically that was
al we ever got of our share, for by the
time the field was dry enough to go in,
the jack rabbits, field mice and prairie
chickens had taken the corn and left us
only the cobs, which, of course, we picked
up-cobs were valuable fuel those days.
Forty years have made many changes.
Then you could look as far as the eye
would reach and one vast expanse of
prairie stretched out before you;ewith only
a "soddy" now and then to catch the
eye; not a grove to be seen, except as one
neared the Blue, on Lincoln creek. Now
what do we see? Beautiful farms with
elegant improvements; fine houses and
great barns and beautiful groves and or
chards.
We may have a sever winter but there
Is no room for complaint. The ~granarles
are full, prices are good and money
plenty. No one is in danger of suffering.
There are but few people who are living
in Nebraska today that can even imagine
the hardships that were endured by the
early settlers.
Should the remainder of this winter con-
tinue as severe as the last month has
been. let us be brave and Courageous and
rejoice that this is our own grand old
Nebraska, not with wide. stretching I'M
titled p~rairies, dotted here and there with
a ''soddy," but with fine farms, fine cities
an towns, comfortable homes and pleasant
surroundings.
Now, good people, in conclusion, l want
to ask you-you who have grown to man
hood long since those days have men
tionedand you who have emigrated from
oder states, and you who have came from
foreign countries-pleas do not kick good
old Nebraska-no, don't do lt-she is the
best state in the union; Of course she is.
or else 70 would not be here ENJOYING
her prosperity. JOHN b.. DEFY.
- 4 IA