Jasper Banner, Volume 2, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 April 1855 — The Work of an Inenediary. [ARTICLE]

The Work of an Inenediary.

The building occupied by Dr. Wu. Tichkkor, And its entire contents, was destroyed by fire on last Friday morning. I The family had left about two o’clock, j | the day previous, to visit a friend residing | some six dr eight miles from this place,; with the intention of being absent during | the night. JJefors leaving the fires were j | entirely extinguished, and the house care- \ ; folly secured. j About three o'clock on Friday morn-: ; ing the building was discovered to be on ( fire. The discovery was not made, how-ever,-until it was nearly - 1 Strange keys were found in frontof ! where the building stood, and on examining the lock to the front door, it was; discovered that the bolt had been thrown; back—affording grounds to conjecture, ; that the house had been entered and set on fire. The loss to Dr. Tjclienor, in property and valuable papers, will hot fall short of j ®!SUO. There was aft ifisiirance' of * i 8500 on the furniture. The house was | | owned by It. Westos. Fire. —On Thursday morning, the, sth Inst., the residence of A. Rowe*, one and a half miles from this place, was entirely consumed. The fire originated in the roof, and was communicated, as we are informed, from - ’ surancc. j JESTIt will be seen by referring to the j , new advertisements of this week, that j Wst. Pakky will in future fun a line of i four-horse coaches between this place and ! Bradford Station. We understand that i t t Mr. Parry has made every provision, that; could be desired for the comfortable and speedy conveyance of passengers on the above mentioned route.' Mr. Wm. Cran- | die. who is in the employ of Mr. P., enjoys the reputation of being one of the most accomodating and skillful drivers in the west.-

In Luck.—Our esteemed friend Je6BK R. Henry, of Delphi, who is one of the cleverest fellows on the Wabash, and always furnishes the very best wearing material, has presented us with a beautiful Vest which we shall regard with peculiar favor, coming, as it does, from an old | friend of our former place of residence, j Time* please copy.* ‘ [~ ~ 'Famine at Work.— The fence cor- ■ ners along the highways, says the; Brownstown Democrat . will demon-• etrate by the number of carcasses! and flocking vultures, that famine has been doing its work. The lank- j sided hogs and the lean cattle and horses, proclaim the fact. If we say that thousands of hogs hare died in county for the want of corn—-it; | !true;.and accounts from adjoining! j counties arc even worse. Cattle and} ! bouses have been dying in great j ! numbers for the want of food. Faro- ; ; ine may not have laid its hand on j man in many instances, but wc hear j | of a few cases, even in the opulent; ' city of Madison, and there is doubt-; | less want in many instances. Now lis the time for charity. Doubtless j many who have given largely to send j light to the heathen in foreign count tries, will now find a larger field and, j a more pressing demand for the ex-, , ercisc of this noble virtue, (charity) j | at home- - J The New Maine Lw:oa Law.— ‘ I The last session of tlie Maine Legis-: j lature enacted another Prohibitory | | liquor law which has been approved i ' by the Governed—The-penalty forj Sent,; for! UUJL mh-j one hey j hen 1 grown up iirey mane Tnctrnearts f jjj ' Men often blush In hear nf ♦ H bat they wer* Hot ashaHied tn act. :;r?sisgasasfcw^

i ■ r yeem no* *ahbas> 7 • The following let ter , written do one j of jouroitiapns) has been furnished us • for publication: l*Awvrx, Kansas Territory, J March 15,1855, \ j FRiE?»i) W atti.es.- Your letter of tho 28th ult., reached me a few day* ago, ■ and I avail myself of tho first con- ; vehient opportunity to answer. It affords me great pleasure to give you ; what information I can in relation to the Garden Spot of the Western ; World; although you would have jbeen better satisfied, probably, had , you applied to some one more folly acquainted with this country than myself—-but lam to hear from | you, and hop* you will write again, j As my letter must necessarily be j lengthy, in order to give full answers Ito your interrogatories, I will waive ! the expression of many thoughts ' which olhorwisq I should desire, to \ communicate, and proceed abruptly to the most important parts of the • subject; For Convenience sake I will | place your questions in regular or- : <ier, and answer likewise. 1. “The best time of the year to !• come, and the best mode of coining?” i—2. “Better to sell off here altogether and buy tliere?” 3. “Will it be better to have ox teams or horses?” 4. “If horses, where., and at what coat, can feed be got?” 5. “How far west must 1 go to get | unclaimed land, with timber, waters i stone-quarries, dec?” j 0. “Do you know of a pleasant ! unoccupied territory, aufficient for 500 families?” 7. “Would it be better for a man or two in each family to come first and prepare buildings, put in crops, "Sic., belW bringing the women and j children?” i 8. “What kind of building raate- ! rials are at band?” 1, The best time to come here isj ixi the fall, say the first of September, j i with families. There are three j months, then, before winter sets in, and no risk of having the “shakes” or any other billions disease, prevalent in the spring and summer in new countries. The first winter acclimates the settler. There is not much fever and ague, however, even in the spring. Another reason in fa-

vor of the fall is, that the weather is j extremely favorable to out-of-door life. The heayy rains are in the j spring and early summer. If you come by land, starting from Indiana in May or June, and arriving here in August, you will find it decidedly! the best mode of emigrating. Ship what furniture you wish to preserve,' and other articles too cumbersome to! haul, to some point on the Missouri; river—Kansas City, Leavanworth,! Weston, or Parkville,—and pack; your wives and children in the wag-, ona, with plenty of bed-clothes and] food, and come over the prairies. 2. If vou come over laud, df course I you will not want to bring anything | more than what is absolutely ncces- j sary. Furniture, farming utensils,; be purchased in Missouri,: near Kansas, for less than if would j cost to bring them from Indiana.—: Bedding, clothing, dec., you can bring - along with you, Ido not think it 1 would be advisable to sell the teams; and cattle—cows especially—for j horses, oxen, and milch cows are very high here. A good cow isj worth fifty dollars, horses, from a j hundred dollars up as far as you are j pleased to go; oxen, seven a hundred dollars per yoke. 3. Either ox teams or horses.— J Both are valuable—horses more so, I should thiak. 4. Grain is scarce. But there wifi '. ■ 1 be plenty of grass. You can get corn in Missouri, for from one to two dollars per bushel. 5. Isolated claims can be got with* in fifty miles of the eastern boundary of Kansas, sparsely timbered and watered.' The best place to go w at 4bo head -waters of the Kaw—or Kansas—river, over 160 miles west. 6. “A pleasant, unoccupied territory, sufficient for 600 families” is j not-so easily found. You tell moi your plan is to have a village, in the centre off so many sections, ea<-h lauiilv a quarter section of land. ' '■ ■ i

i You mil find Midi a plan can be laid off* much cornier On paper thau on Urrttfirma. I don’t think such a spot can be found in Kansas. Therf are , ravines, blofle, hills, creeks; die., which would present insurmountai ble ojwtaclesto the laying off of such a quantity of land. But certainly there are places where that many people can form a neighborhood, and each one have a claim; but the prairies arc not like they are in Indiana; and Illinois—-they are entirely un-, suited to.the purpose for which you After you have traveled through this Territory you will perceive the truth of my remark. In the eastern portion, I am not so sure j but that you could find just such a place as you speak of—but unfortunately, it is too thickly*settled. 7. Instead of sending men from i Indiana out in advance of the families. bring them all together. Stop on the frontier of Missouri, where Iced and shelter can be procured —? j there leave the women and children, ; and some of the men—and those of the men who can take it “rough and | tumble,” and eat corn bread and bacon—(it’s a poor country for vegetarians) —take their teams and start ! out through the Territory, on an exI ploring tour. Co south of the Raw river, along the Neosho, and in the Opage country; then up to the head of jdie Kaw, and out west from there, directly, as far as you please. If k you can’t find locations there, go up | in the Nemaha country, between the j Kaw river and the Nebraska line.— 1 ~ The trip may occupy three or lour j weeks. Be well provisioned, forvou j will meet with but few “hotels” or j “houses of entertainment.” By’the j time you get back to your families yournlfUave found a place to suit you; and I prophesy that will not be more than forty miles west of Ft. Riley, either on the Smoky Hill, Republican, or Solomon’s fork. You will be kept busy through the remainder of the fall and winter in building, &c., and will be on the ground, ac- j climated to the country and used to I pioneer life, with its ups and downs, to put in your crops early in the spring. I 8. The building material will be stone, (or at least ought to be," after tile cabins are done with) of which < mexhauatable quantities (of the best quality of limestone) can be found in the bluffs. It can be quarried with but little labor, and rolls out in blocks, j ready for building, of various ?izes. j When first excavated,it is soft, and; yields to the slightest With a penknife you can cut it and, carve your name, age, country, and j hcoupation. After an exposure _tbj the atmosphere of several months, it j becomes hard as iron, and can be| broken about as easily. If you were ' to see a man buildiug a bouse of; timber when feady made bricks were] lying in piles all around, you would say he was a great fool; so; should I, if any one were to build his; good house of any thing else than this same limestone.

j Ido not know that I can tell you ! anything more just now, particular-; !ly interesting. You must come to j see tho country for yourself; and >comc to Pawnee. j Let me, before closing, say a word or two about Pawnee. It is situated jat the head of navigation on the Kansas river, within sight of Ft. j Riley, and where the Repulican and ! Smoky Ilill forks unite—is surroundi cd with splendid farming and grazing country, stone blufTs, chalk, marble, iron and gypsum beds, and cannot fail to become the great big town of Kansas. We have numerous buildings up and going up, a good wharf, expecting a steamboat every day, and have a printing press on its way here- And here, too, it is rendered almost certain, will be the Capital —for its location is just central enough; Gome, yourself, to Pawnee, and tell your neighbors to come. — There is no danger to be apprehended from the Indians, or from any otbr ! er source. ! Hoping you may receive little information from what 1 have; written, . 1 remain yours,

JAMES H. GREENE.

| An extract from another letter •ays: “Oar cattle have not teqdired any feeding, as yet, only about three days at times when the snow covered the grass, and as soon as it was off the cattle would do well, again. J think this a fine grazing country, ns there have been many hundred head of cattle, poneys and mules kept on the wild grass until now, March 20th. L-V""* { Ij * ‘ " ’ # •