The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1910-02-03
Some More spook Rsppings,
Spook, s. D.
Jan. %, 1910

~ = III
Spook, s. D..
Jan. %, 1910
Dear Mi. Bliss:
Perhaps you have sufficiently re-
covered from the effects Of the for
mer Spook Rappings to endure an
other seance, and as the Spooks
are growing restless and must find
an outlet for their pent-up energies
you will confer q favor by turning
them loose on q long-suAfferiing pub
lie through the columns Of your
paper. Tho responsibility for this
second cntburst may be ira ICED Q
the particular brand Of weather
that has been prevalent in this sec
ton OF the country, for while it is
not Of the spook variety ithas been
sufficient to repress the activities
Of the inhabitants of the ghost re-
gions and now that a warm spell
has come, like the coyote, they
must let out a few %hair-raising
yelps.
Slow, snow and more snow has
been the atmospheric diet for two
full months. We have not seen
the ground since Thanksgiving.
Two feet on the level is q conser-
vative estimate while the drifts are
SO deep that travel is almost i'm
possible. Wheeling is out of the
question, and in this new country
sleds are as scarce as hens teeth.
Occasionally a spook may be found
who has fastened two sticks togeth-
or who thinks he is sleigbing, but
most of the denizens of the deni-
zens of this unearthly region are
content to sit around all day and
poke the kitchen fire. It has how
ever been good weather to farm on
paper and as that 1850 uniformly
successful it is a source of infinite
pleasure. Even the impractical
species of the genus home called
preacher can secure amazingly sat
isfactory returns from paper farm
ing.
But this is not the only kind of
farming that succeeds here. For
example, recently the scribe spook,
to keep his chickens from feeling
the pinch of poverty, went on a
still hunt for some corn. After
securing the community he found
an old-timer who had some of the
squaw variety and was held up for
it at a rate of 2 cts. per pound.
Think of it, $1.4O per bnshel for
ear corn, and squaw corn at that.
And this ia only one of the com
modities produced here that brings
a fancy price. Potatoes are 8 cts.
per pound. Fresh pork is Is cts.
per pound in the half, beef 10 cts
per pound in the quarter, wild hay
$40 per ton ii. the stack. Talk
about the trusts and monope!!es-
they don't know how.
If Rockefeller had lived in Meade
county he never would have fooled
away bis time on Standard OIL
Such conditions are enough to
make even a spook turn socialist
+. The only consolation we have is
. that next year we may have a
chance to come back. If the prices
remain as they are and the crops
are good the spooks will all take a
trip to Europe next winter. But,
, of course, the combination will be
. broken by that time and competi-
tion will restore the market equi-
librium. Just there is the eternal
question of economics-but that is
another story.
The bulk of the winter is probab.
!, ly gone and thus far there has
been no suffering here. Occasion
!, ally we hear rumors of people froz
! en- but they have not in any case
: been confirmed. The most anx.
ious people are the cattle and sheep
! men. The crust on the snow makes
it almost Impossible for the sheer
to get at the grass and in conse'