Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1918-03-28

1t is said that charity covereth a
| multitude of sins. Perhaps it is true,
but even so, charity is not the only
sentiment that is in the blanket bus
mess. A multitude of misdemeanors
| are permissible in the name of pa
triotism- Yes, it is all right to drill
on Sunday.
The great drive is on and the Huns
are said to be bombarding with rs
mile gun. However, yours truly is not
yet licked. Neither is he afraid of
that big father o'gun; partly because
'there aint no sich animi1e" but most
ly because he is more than rs miles
away.
Forty years ago today, Monday,
March 25, the writer of this gram
gave heed to Greeley's admonition,
go west young mani" and set his
face toward Kansas-the adopted
land of John Brown, the home of In
gals, not yet become famous through
his sonnet "Opportunity"; Kansas,
the native heath of Fighting Fred
Funston" of proud achievement and
regretted lossl That boy of scarce
twenty years since that day has often
crossed the line of this great common
wealth but not once has he felt like
turning back upon the people of the
jayhawker state and the sixtieth
anniversary of his birth finds him
content to live and die within her
boundaries
March 25, 1878, likewise fell on
Monday. The Michigan landscape
was fecked here and there by linger-
ing snowdrifts. The ground was
frozen, the spring thaw had not yet
made the roads impossible, and the
smaller streams remained icebound,
but the great lakes had lately broken
the manacle of thin ice which very
"open" winter had laid upon them
and lake navigation for the season
had just begun. The trip from Grand
Haven to Chicago was made on the
lake steamer "Alpena" 1t was her
fifth trip of the season. Thirty months
Later the writer made the same jour
ney on the same boat. 1t was the
fifth trip before her very last. The
captain refused to heed the warning
Of the despised weather bureau ar !
the gallant Alpena went to the bot
tom of turbulent Lake Michigan dur
ing the night storm which followed
her last Sailing and carried all on
board to a watery grave
There is one feature of that first
trip to Michigan 1 am almost asham-
ed to mention, and yet it may be the
most worth while-if needed by the
thoughtless youth who may read this
paragraph. I carried a revolver
little, insignificant, 5-shot, 22-short
just big enough to hurt the wrong
party, if anyone, and just the appro-
prate caliber to be carried by the pin
head who is willing to burden HIM
self with such a useless menace. How
ever, that pistol was in no danger of
hurting anybody At the first oppor-
tunity after landing in wild and wooIy
Kansas tried it out and not shot of
the five would go. Fortunately 1 hap
pened to light down in Quaker
neighborhood and among those peace
full people I was in no great danger.
What became of the pistol? 1t was
traded off for an old style army car
bine-almost but not quite as useless
as the little popgun. Years later the |
barrel of that carbine was made to |
serve as a picket pin out here on the |
prairies of Trego county And that is |
one way of beating swords into pfow-
shares and pruning hooks Selah,
Forty years ago this week Mich /
igan snowdrifts were exchanged for /
Missouri mud 1t had been a rainy |
winter in the more southern cline |
and the tracks of the railway that |
stretched from Hannibal to FIT. Scott |
was but little more that a long pom
toon bridge. The Missouri clay was |
surcharged with moisture and the |
weight of the Katy train falling |
suddenly upon the floating ties in the |
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