Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1877 — Arkansas as It Appeared to a Visitor. [ARTICLE]

Arkansas as It Appeared to a Visitor.

lion. W. 11. Calking has tliauks lot* oongrogpionftl favors. Kars, llio great Turkißii strongI lioltl, lias fallen, and with it the key to the situation in Armenia. About I 15,000 Russians Honied the rooky I Steeps arid stormed an equal number of desperate Turks, compelling them to die or surrender. The Turks lost 5,000 killed and wounded, and 10,000 prisoners, besides 000 camion, stores, ammunition, cash, and many flags. The Russians lost about 2,700 killed and wounded. The fall of Kars is regarded as the beginning of tho end of the great strife. The Russians will follow up this great victory until they accomplish the downfall of Plevna, which will virtually close the campaign.

Work on the Bradford and Rensselaer division of the Indianapolis, Delphi arid Chicago Narrow Gauge railroad is being pushed as rapidly as the weather and circumstances will permit. Several miles of the division named is graded and ready for the ties and iron. The iron is being delivered at Bradford at the rate ot two carloads a day., and the ties are also being delivered as fast as they can be cut and hauled. Tracklaying commenced Tuesday and will be pushed ns rapidly as the grade is prepared for it. The engine has been ordered and is now being built in Cincinnati. It will he named “A. JlcCoy,” in honor of our worthy townsman of that name and to whose untiring zeal the success ©f tho project is, in a great degree, due. It is hoped the friends of the enterpiise in Newton township will do their duty next Monday and vote the tax by a good inaj-tHßly.—lt is—understood that the enemies ol' the road are circulating the report that if the tax is voted it \vill bo collected at once. Tho fact is, none of tho tax can be' collected by distraint before April 10th, IS7D, find then only one per cent., as the law provides that there can only be one per cent, collected in any ono year. So it will be seen that the people can have tlie use Of the road before they- will have a dollar of the tax lo pay.

Pleasant Grove, Ind., Nov. 12, 1577. Editor Union : By yqur permission l will give, through the columns of your paper, a brief account of Arkansas, as it appeared -to one who receutly-had lbe plcax, we of visiting it. I shall confine Riy remarks more particularly to that i portion of the State with which I became best acquainted, viz: Arkansas and Prairie counties. Tho prairie partot them is about as well settled as was Jasper county thirtyfive ycai-3 ago, with tho exception that on the lino of the Memphis & Little Rock railroad, which passes throiMrli Prairie jcouulv. it isjsettlcd. more thickly. The prairie extends through tho counties named from north to south down nearly to the Arkansas river, and is, bn an average, twenty or twenty-live miles wide. It is mostly rolling, with oc-

casional slashes, as they are called in that country. There are numerous groves dotting the prairie, and t small streams running sputli emptying into Arkansas and to rivers arc skirted with timber. ThU pritirie produces a rank growth of grass which looks very much like tho sago grass grown in this country. It yields from one to two tons of hay per acre. Arkansas is a great stock-growing State,, and persons engaged in that business it pars bL-tter thfm-at+y other bilrftfrosH. When I left there, the Ist of November, grass on the prairie was there having been no frost to kill the tenderest kind of vegetables. The people do not have to spend tho on tiro summer season providing winter food for their stock, as is the case in the North. 1 went to sec? a Mr. Porter, who is engaged in the stock business- 110 told mo hp had 400 head of cattle- ami about 100 tons of bay, but did hot expect to use more thgn half of tho hay this winter. v Cattle grown there are, in quality, similar to wliat is known with us as butcher’s Btodi. They aril a cross betwacn tlie Texas and native scrubs, and art* npt vefjr good. ‘Mr. I‘oi'Uir told me they brought litmi §g,,>u hix iUmJ! ptr

hundred pounds in Memphis. Tile country, far general fanning purposes, I am not pleased with, though it produces very inir corn where the land is cultivated like it is,in the North. Wheat grows rank on the ground, but is liable locust. Oats do well, are a sure crop, and yield from 5010 75 bushels per acre. Irish potatoes are not very productive, but sweet potatoes grow in abundance, and require very little attention. Figs are being grown with very good success. Most all garden vegetables do well except cabbage. Peaches are raised in considerable abundance, but there are only a few appie orchards bearing. I think it is too far south for apples. Ague prevails to considerable extent, but not any worse that) it was in the first settling of this country. ■ - A small per c<ml. ol 'die inhabitants are in good circumstances and well to do, whilo the majority arc people of limited inoaus, who went there to secure cheap and comforl"JrtJle'hbmes. Unimproved lands rate from §1.50 to §3.00 per acra. Considerable attention is paid to the buspi.ess ot raising cotton. Little Kook, the capital of the State, is a thriving city and does a large business. Mr. T. E. Willey and family wwe all well and hearty, and have enjoyed better health there than they ever did in J asper comity. They -are well satisfied with the country and thirl: it is the place to make money. in conclusion I would say, that a man well situated in this country had better stay where he is; but a young man just starting in life, might go there and do well, providing he has energy and perseverance to help him through. It is the es that are invited there, arid to such will be given a hearty v/cdeomo. They have too many of the come easy go easy kind of people there now. Respectfully yours, A. Parkison.