The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1922-04-20
rHE 0vHRwORKED
TENDENCY TO FLY,
J., old, Friend D. V. DOwd' Touches
prairie Condition With the
pen of Experience
r. The Herald:

i. letter. in other days, was no
.;ans kite flyer; Chicago being nj
..n. m Of operation. He delighted z
'''' "a kite sail enormously high. The
= ros the limit One day, in the
y ho,opce of his spirits, he allowed
nlaything to become too heavily
,ad Wheat was the ballast. II
down with crash that was
ss.ra all over the country. When Joe
n;.led M himself up in the wild scramble
s was terribly squeezed-short $2,-
100000. Kite-flyers, as rule, sink
,hsir sense when they begin to bloat;
rtowise their-honor and dollars.
BEGINNING 20 years ago, Nezperce
and the prairie have been infested
n;tb Joe Letters in embryo; not kiting
q very high, but practicing the game
&c far as their nerve and pocket book
would permit. Up to 1911, over mill
Inn and a half of dollars went down
df that prairie for fake schemes in
uumerable-$125,000 swallowed up at
one gulp for an electric railway from
] lewiston which never materialized.
cold bricks, mining stocks, California
fruit tracts, adding machine stocks,
gambling with cards, stalking $1,000
or Al 500 on the simple twist of a ball
in a closely contested game, employ
inc expert foreign ball players for the
season at high rate for sailing pur-
poses, investments in foreign prize
fights, betting on cock fights held sub
rosa, cayuse racing on Main street for
money-in fact, no other place of its
size on earth has bred so many blood
ed sports as that rich little prairie.
In 1903 the writer assessed the val
uation of that country extending from
Dublin to Kamiah, from Lawyers cam
yOn to Peck. Comedies were of such
frequent occurrence daily our risibil-
tiles were often convulsed in slumber
hours. Some would insist that their
assessments should be higher. They
wanted people to believe that they
we're rich. But few kicked on the as
sessment as being too high. Every
health past known to humanity was in
evidence; every nationality was rep
resented among the old timers. At
that time the reservation was just
emerging from the homestead period
into the decided land period, and those
fortunate ones with homes their own
could be seen perambulating their
highly priced possessions with probos-
els elevated, the occiput directed to.
ward the center of earth. We could
always diagnose a man with decided
land at sight. We were proud of them
for holding up their heads, for the
jealous and covetous devils at the
then county seat called all of us Res
erVation Rats" in derision, and when
some small appropriation was asked
1Or and, may be, received, were dub
bed liability they had to pay in can
cehng some grudge the devil had in
store for them. We never owed 1ne
old county anything. We always paid
more than we got That year the valu-
atlon was raised by the commission
ers from $500 to $40. DEPRESSION
seven years later the argument was
advanced (the point finally gained)
mat new county would not cost as
lauch In overhead expenses as was
inen paid in extra clerk hire to do the
work IN the old county. Wonder if
ome has proven that trueq That was
10 valuation at all for that rich land
,nen from a present day view point.
y was worth more then than it is now
'fom a productive agricultural stand
point.
we rode into Nezperce then on the
hurricane deck of cayuse. The last
lme we saw the "boss assessor of
LEWIS county" afield, he peregrinated
= high-power car, the mechanical
apartment manipulated by a careful
'aauIfeur. He did not even revolve
~ body to salute an old timer. The
''eets OF the city were lob-lolly Of
Auu AT the center of the four cor
'efs at Fourth Street and Maple stood
Scantling, adorned at the top with
ieo flag, signifying danger. At the
1se Of this huge mud hole, Curry Felt
= !, tne one corner of Fourth Street and
'naries Hutchins on the other (north) i
1u the foundations for their present
ely comfortable fortunes.
environment does not make the
-au the man makes the environment.
as our presence became known to
= uenlzens, every tax payer set siege
nave property assessed five times
! nigh as authoritive instructions. A
-, 70 show the enormous tax to bsl
- N proportion to the outside coun-
evoked the following reply: "We
i ~ care d-n about the taxes.
1, 3 want to make showing to the
1'sloe world. That was the only
.lle we ever did business with a COM
lunlty of kite flyers, who were anx-