Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1920-11-26
Mr. JED DUBOIS :

w III
DEAR SIR while on my vacation
and visiting up at Hot Springs, AR.
kansas, for two or three weeks, i
thought l would write you a letter OF
my observations and experience. Left
Wildwood on Monday morning, No
vember 9Th, and arrived at Forth
Worth, Texas, Thursday night at ten
O'Clock. Not being partial TO night
travel 1 stopped of at Pittsburg, ST.
Louis and Little Rock, enjoying a
good nights sleep in a hotel, starting
out early in the morning.
On the trip through Pennsylvania
there was not much satisfaction In
looking at the long trains on the sidings
loaded with good old Lehigh and
Schuylkill coal, kno wing you had
practically an empty bin at home.
The farms through Ohio, Indiana
and Illinois certainly had a bumper
crop of corn, aud while some of 1T has
been gathered there are still thousands
of acres to be harvested.
There has been a vast change In Ar
kansas, where for miles and miles it
was nothing but swamp timber land
some six years ago, it is now producing
corn and cotton. This change was
brought about through a system of
bitches being dug and drained into the
White, Black and Arkansas rivers.
Most of the cotton, however, is going
to waste on account OF the low prices
in the market and the planters refusing
TO pick it. In many instances they
have gathered their harvest of cotton
aud then were Lot able to get it in
marketable shape, as the cotton gins 10
that immediate vicinity have been
burned down In some mysterious man.
ner. This has happened in several
places, both in this state and Texas.
There will be thousands of acres In
these two States alone that will Ibe lost
to the market.
In all the large cities you can see re-
cruiting officers at the depot, and it was
surprising to see the number Of young
men enlisting. AS a rule they were
not of a type that would be classified
as the cream Of any community, al
though some of them looked like clean
cut young men. In conversation with
some of them l found they were far
from home and had been lured to large
cities from the country by the high
wages that have been prevailing. They
are now out of work aud broke and
ashamed to go back home, even if they
had the car fare, and the army looks
good to them as a haven Of refuge at
this particular time. Thirty-two en-
trained at st. Louis for Jefferson
barracks.
On arriving at Fort Worth on the
evening of November 18th Armistice
Day celebration was still in full swing
1t reminded me of the old dime novel
description of the "Wild and WoolIy
West" All traffic regulations had been
called off and the police sent home for
the night. Automobiles running at
reckless speed and in every direction,
most of them being filled with young
men and girls, with Roman candles,
shooting right into the faces of pedes-
trians and occupants of other autos
going In opposite direction. They were
certainly shooting up the town" l
oon discovered, If you wanted any
information, 1t was best to be a Demo-
crat; but if you were looking for an
argument just say you were a Repub-
lican and satisfied with the election.
AS one old Texan expressed it: 1.-The
people had gone hog wild, dern 'em."
While it has been generally reported
that President-elect Warren Harding
had gone to Point Isabel to fish and
rest up, it is stated down here his real
object was TO hunt up the lone Demo-
Graf who voted for Cox, shake hands
with him, and appoint him to an
office. Point Isabel has SO voters and
81 of them voted for Harding. That
takes the sugar aud lemons away from
West Wild wood.
Fort Worth is cure some hustling
town. Full of business every minute;
everybody on the move, and you have
to move with them or get run over. In
all the banks there are from eight to
twelve receiving and paying tellers,
with a line of people at each window.
The Farmers and Mechanics Bank ia
erecting a new building twenty-four
stories high, while directly opposite a
new twenty-five story hotel is going
up. Both OF these buildings are OF
fre-proof construction. To give you
some idea of the building operations
here, 1 learned that up to November
lst there had been building permits
issued amounting to twenty-three