G. E. Jones and C. C. Boutzahn of West Lebanon, Ind, and Charles Burns, of Marshfield, Ind. arrived Saturday morning. They are the advance guard of the party of settlers who located land about eight miles north-west of Dodge. They have come to stay, and say that many more people from Kansas, will follow as soon as Spring opens. We extend a hearty welcome to them, and say here are the best lands and cheapest homes in the world; take them.
Mr. Briggs of West Lebanon, Kansas, writes us that he will be here in March with a small colony of settlers. "And still they come."
The liveliest time that we have seen in West Lebanon for a coon's age was last Monday, when the people gathered to see the emigrants pulling and tugging through the mud and slop and loading the cars with their household goods, dogs, chickens, birds, hogs, hay, corn, potatoes, flour, wheat, harrows, stoves, wagons, drills, plows, boxes, barrels, fruit cans, horses, mules and cows, making altogether about sixty-five tons in seven freight cars. The emigrants' freight will leave here today and the men and there families will leave on Thursday by the regular passenger train, at 9 o'clock a.m. Our best wishes go with them.
The families that leave for Kansas are: James H. Crawford, J. M. Fleming, R. P. Adams, Mart. Etnire, Charley Dickerson, Rankin and Briggs.
Without familes, E. Brice, S. Tullis, Wilson and Manford
Mr. Ed. Your paper, the Globe is a regular visitor to our village; and in reading its columns, we see that Kansas is filling up, and in a few years will be as thickly settled as Kansas. We are convinced of this fact from what we hear about it in this country. About twenty-five families, headed with the best farmers of this community, are now packing their goods, and will start from Dodge City on the 28th of Feb. They all propose locating in Ford County, Kans. So you see by this flood of emigration, the population of Ford County will be increased, and the grasshopper as the poor Indian, be pushed back to the Jumping off place.
Times are very hard in this part of the country; money is not to be had; business is suspended on this account.
We would just say to our many friends in Kansas, never return east. Stay where you are; you can do better in Kansas with one hundred and sixty acres of land, than you can do back in Kansas, or Ohio, with three hundred acres; just stick fast to your claims, and in a few years you will richly reap your reward. THis has been the case in all new countries. By strict economy, the now poor of Kansas, will be as wealthy as the best of our farmers in Kansas. Remember that every flood of immigration from east to west increases all kinds of business, and makes competition in trade. You must not think that you will meet with no reverses; you may have failures in crops, but try again; there are thousands of dollars in the soil of Kansas, and all it wants is sand in the craw, backed up with energy.
The winter has been very open, it has been raining for several days; the roads are impassible, in many places. No snow this winter.
J. M. RiddleThe excursion train, Friday evening, brought in several land seekers
The people from West Lebanon appear to be industrious and well to-do farmers
Five car loads of goods came with the West Lebanon Colony.
The new comers, who arrived last Saturday, from West Lebanon, state of Kansas, are E. Brice wife and three children; J. H. Crawford, wife and six children; W. P. Armour, wife and two children; J. O. Hara, wife and one child, J. M. Flemming and wife; Joseph Briggs, wife and one child; Thompson Rankins, wife and six children; U. R. Rogers, wife and two children; Geo. Jones, wife and two children; Chas. Dickerson and wife; David WIlson and son; David Manford and Chas. Brown.