The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-12-31

Prom THURSDAYS Dslis

accepting instruction along many line'
from the general government, nc
cortiing TO Walter r. Brooks, senior
highway engineer of the United State'
office of public roads. with headquar
tiers at Washington. who is nov
spending his Christmas vacation Al
his home in Mankato.
Mr.. Brooks. on behalf of the gJv'
eminent. has been doing good roai'
missionary work I'm Western Ken
lucky. In an interview with Free
Press representative Mr.. Brooks SAT-
today:
You have heard a great deal about
blue grass region In Kentucky. rms
Is indeed n very valuable district Ou'
IL is not very extensive. On the con
trary il Is very limited. being mostly
in the ne:ghborhooi of Louisville
Frankfort and Lexington.
Kentucky is not a. whole a rich
agricultural state. On the contrary
il is rather poor The government
is trying to educate the Kentucky
farm folks up in the idea OF diversified
farming, and TO get them ava? from
the n,tion of raising so much VIII 'at
and tobacco. This will enrich the
farm lands. which have been greatly
run down by unskillful agriculture.
and will also improve the condition
of the farmers II those Kentucky
farmers who are in the vicinity OF
Chicago would wake up to their won
derful opportunity they have OF get
ting splendid price from garden
produce from the people OF Chicago. 1t
would be worth great deal TO them
His Experiences Pleasant
NV experiences with the Kentucky
people have been very pleasant. but
one must understand those folks. ]
was recently invited to the home OF
one of those Kentucky magistrates.
He was as fine a man as | ever as
ISOLATED with. As we went indoors
caught sight OF his big gun. He saw
that I had no gun. He asked me
what | meant by travelling around tn"
country without gun. told him
olievad | was much safer without IL
as il was liable 10 get me into trouble.
lie advised me not to SO ont at night
with anything valuable in nv pocket.
IL
an officer If the law. advising me
10 carry n concealed weapon. and yet
he knew that that was strictly against
the law
Il knew 81 another occasion If Il
fellow being seen in barber shop.
with a gun sticking out Of the top OF
his pocket Somebody betrayed him
10 a police officer. and the result was
that he was heavily fined. This be-
travail was mere spite work
No Need To Have Trouble.
II get along splendidly with those
people and have not had a hit Of
trouble. ! have 10 he firm and in
sist on huYing things don" ju~t right.
! thought at first that somebody WOULD
take a C-a"k at me II did this. but no
hody C-or did. They are the incest
kind of people - get along with and
there is no need of having any trouble
trouble If you want II
Speaking II blue grass. in most
parts Of the state they have 10 fuss
and fuss with IL 10 get 1t to grow ut
all. The same thing is true about
growing the clover. There is very little
corn raised in Kentucky Wherever
they have tobacco land it is tobacco
and tobacco.
Most OF the farm land in Kentucky
is so cheap Just because II is not de-
veloped.
Roads in Kentucky are generally
very narrow AS rule the whole
right OF way is only twenty feet wide,
and for that reason il is hard to grade
the road up so that the water will
run off right. | had the nerve to in
sist on thirty foot roads everywhere,
and forty foot roads in some places
But | did not want TO scare those
people by asking for too much. +
have been explaining to them that
their roads are too narrow to allow
the proper construction of bitches.
Backward In Education.
The people are fearfully backward
in the matter Of education. In the
state OF Kentucky there are 200 900
whites who can neither read or write.
You go into the rural districts and all
the women know how 10 cook is pork.
corn bread and turnip green's.
In order 10 assist these people the
government is sending out agents of
the department of home economics.
Women. In the service of the govern
ment, go out to teach these country
housekeepers how to make bread and
can fruits. All this Is done under the
department OF agriculture, under
which my own work on the public
roads Is done. Agents are organizing
the farmers into clubs. and are teach
ing them stock raising. diyersification
OF crops. prevention OF hog cholera
and the like.
Up In the mountains. You find tho
purest Anglo Saxon stock that Is to
be discovered anywhere. You can go
INTO those homes AMI find COPIES of
the lliad and the Odyssey. You ask
what those books are and the Deopie
do'nnt know. They will tell you that
pap used tn have them. and that
he got them from "grandpap." These
people are the descendants or the ca
valiers. They have wandered OF in
To these mountains ami have deterio-
rated until they are almost as ignor-
ant as cattle.
AS rule the people OF kentucky
have great deal of respect for our
northern institutions. and when they
are able, they send their children to
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