Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1915-01-21
From The Travellers

FINALLY we got started Jan. 4Cn
at high noon. The eve" of
the company consisted of the
writer and the wife, with Mrs.
w. A Henderson, who chaper-
oned for us.
We spent the first night in
Missouri Valley with Mrs. Lab
man, who is the fourth number
Of our party, and early the next
morning sta ted for Oms ha to
spend the day i'll seeing sights
aud doing some shopping. We
left there at 4:3O for Kansas
City, and as it was a dark and
rainy evening, there was not
much to be seen from the car
windows. We started out with
the idea Of travelling only in
the day time so as to carry out
the fundamental principles of
the popular slogan "See Ame,i-
ca first"
We landed in the new depot
in Kansas City on time, ard by
the way, the change is 50 great
as to make you feel that you
have stepped out of the Old
World into the New. AS every
one knows, the old passenger
station at Kansas City was al
most a disgrace to the country,
on account of it's dark and filthy
surroundings, and wasso crowd
ed as to leave but very little
room to get a good breath. The
new station has just recently
been opened and is certainly a
marvel of architectural skill
and constructive genius, the
corridors and rooms all being
large and airy, the ceiling in
the main reception room being
80 #. high, gives the fumes Of
the smokers q chance to get
above the breathing point. Of
co lrse, the Kansas City boom
ers call it the finest passenger
station in the world, and really,
| doubt if there is in the United
States q more convenient and
practical station in alIof its APP
pointments than the new one at
Kansas City.
We spent two days in sight
seeing and visiting in the city
and left there early Thursday
morning for Topeka, Kas
which was listed as our next
stopping place. The ride up
the Kaw River was very inter-
esting on account of the really
beautiful scenery and the many
evidences of effort to pull some
of Old Mother Earth's bones
out so as to make them useful
in the erection of modern build
ings and railroads Its a line
of stone quarries. As we pass
ed further up the stream, the
farming interests are more in
evidence, and some very beau
tiful farms with splendid i'm
provements were to be seen
Arriving at Topeka, the first
move | made was to locate
cousin, whom / had not
seen for over 80 years. AS he
is a we'll kno- n lawyer there,
had little difficulty in finding
him. He then took us in charge
to show us the town, and he
certainly did a good job of it
for in a few hours we had seen
all the points of interest, except
seeing the live Governor, Mr.
Capper, but there was reason
for this, as he was not yet Gov
ernor, for the Inauguration was
to take place the next day; and
besides, we had not notified
him of our coming. Really, To-
peka might be called "Capper-
ville," for he has certainly made
a name and a mark, such as few
men make in any community.
Gov. Capper a few years ago
was running a little country
newspaper and was so poor that
he had to keep dunning his Gus
toners all the time in order to
get enouah to make a decent
living. He stuck to his job and
worked it for all there was in it
and now, he not only edits and
owns a dozen or more papers,
but he has built one of the fin
est newspaper offices in the
United States. and has also
built a reputation for himself,
such as few men can achieve.
He is the Governor of one of
the best States in the Union,
and has attained this exalted
position through his personal
work and efforts to better the
condition of the people.
We left Topeka over the
Rock Island with our next pros
pective stopping point as Wich-