The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-05-10

] the march. 1t was an event that HUI
cotton will never forget. And after the
| march, Mrs. John Mulliken, wife of a
| Hugoton lawyer, was the most proml-
nent woman in all. that southwest
/ country
The special trains were just starting
back to Dodge City when rain began
! to fall The rain came in big, heavy
drops and splashed against the WIN
! dows of the Pullmans as the tired Wis
/ itors hunted their berths. From up
! town, a half mile away, there came
! loud cheer. 1t was from the resi-
| dents of the short grass country, eX-
pressing thanks for the blessings OF
I the day and benediction of rain. For
out in that country it never rains too
! often.
| Fred Vandegrift was on the Hugo
| ton trip. Vandegrift has been visiting
| the southwestern country in the ca
pacity of a newspaper man for many
! years. He knows all of the old timers
! in the country and many OF the heart
p9punoLLns 9Aeu lBul s9!Iols 1s7I94ul
| their lives. So with the opening of
| the new road and the big celebration
! by the Hugoton people, Vandegrlft
| could not resist the temptation of an
other visit to the district.
The Hugoton picnic will probably be
| the last of it's kind in Kansas. In
! former years big picnics in celebration
/ of the opening of railroads through the
! railroadless counties, were common
events. With the exception of Morton
| and Stanton. which adjoin Stevens and
| Haskell counties the railroads cross
! practically every county in the state
| and the Hugoton picnic will be the last
| of its kind in Kansas.
| Windmills. They are a feature of
Hugoton. Walking over the town with
the party from Topeka, the visitor
| counted 6S of them-one for every I'VE
people in the place. None of those
windmills belong to the union, either
! At night as the Topeka party went up
| town to the biggest country ball ever
| held in Stevens county. the purr of the
windmills came as sort OF accom-
paniment to thu music of the cowboy
| band, Even at night there is good
stiff breeze in Hugoton. The wind
mills kept right working and no
| one ever thinks of stopping the pump
! ing of the water from the bottom OF
| the wells 100 feet below the surface OF
| the sandy SOIL
! Off on little side street is the Stew
ems county court house. 1t is a two
story frame building. painted blue and
| with a bright red spire and belfry
| Once the building was the Hugoton
church and public school building. But
| new meeting house was built, the
i old frame church-court house two
blocks distant. was badly wrecked and
Seward county people decided to annex
! the church and school house Tor new
| temple of justice.
! Over in the big tent, stones throw
| from the court house. a dozen real es-
tate men were busy among the visitors.
They distributed pamphlets telling the
virtues of the resurrected ra1lroadless
counties. Still other men who were
not agents for salable land. were Of
| fering to divide their farms to prospec-
| tive neighbors at prevailing Seward
county land prices. And what was
| one of the strange things, was the
fact that there was a good deal of land
| sold in the course of the day. Leaning
lanquidly against guy rope of the
speakers tent, 1 saw two Ford county
men buy farms. each contracting for
section of soil in the new country
Possibly because Geographic service
is not the best and because for years
the mail has arrived only twice week.
the people in the once railroadless
counties haven't learned of race sui
eide. At least it isn't practiced. Look
ing at the show with sober after
thought, it is probably safe to say that
500 youngsters under three years old
were at the picnic. There were per-
ambulators of the vintage of 1878, mod
ern and rubber tired ones. But the
popular way was to carry seven men,
popular way was to carry the baby
in the arm. One mother had an origi-
nal idea She brought seven mem
years of age. Around her waist she
tied a strong cord and attached cords
to the waists of her young ones.
Everything went all right until the
mother started to the barbecue. Then
a portly party wearing a Liberal badge
became entangled in the lines of rope.
AS a result of his haste. nine people
II in I1n a M
dirt and it was ten minutes before the
thoughtful mother was able to collect
her brood and resume her journey to
the free lunch counter.
Stepping from an automobile after
the trip from the depot to the picnic
grounds, Mr.. Kountz remarked to
native of the country which the Santa
Fe had penetrated, that the town had
picked a beastly windy, dusty day for
the show The native citizen who had
seen Hugoton and the Santa Fe spring
from the sand hills into actual exist
ence stroked his ten-day beard and
glared at Kountz in disgust AS the
Santa Fe official held his hat with
both hands to prevent its loss in the So
mile gale. he listened to discourse
that was perfectly unprintable. From
this fluent speech, Kountz stated that
as he gathered the facts. Thursday was
a perfectly ideal day, that he himself
was unIanl1l1aT WIN proper
facilities in the half-mile high town
and that any person who would raise
question against such beautiful
day as had blessed Hugoton and her
celebration contained in his soul no
appreciation for the grandure of ma
ture.
Judge Smith, attorney for the Santa
Fe once owned a timber claim in the
Hugoton district. He was riding out
of f11o a fv-oi T11
Thursday when Fred VandeGrift asked
him about his old claim.