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Polk County's Fertile Fields Are Inexhaustible Producers of Wealth
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FEED YARD ON KENT ft BURKE'S RANCH, POLK COUNTT.
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FARM RESIDENCE OF T. D.
OLK COUNTY. In th Piatt val
ley. Is one of Nebrska'i most
fertile spots. , Nestling in one of
the richest valleys of the west.
It holds promise and opportun
ity for many. And the prosper
ous farms, orchards and dairies now found
here are only forerunners of many more
which will come Into existence under the
guiding hand of the home-maker.
Down the length and breadth of Polk
county, no matter what crop may be
planted, It Is the same story fruit, corn,
wheat, oaU, alfalfa and clover grow with
profit to the farmer and pride to the whole
county. Though much of the county is
under cultivation, many acres have not yet
been touched by the plow. What the freight
and passenger business will be in this
county when there is a family on every
eighty acres of land and the dairy Interest
shall have become one of the leading in
dustries of the county. It Is, of course, dif
ficult to tell.
Polk county Is a plain sloping gently to
the southeast, in harmony with the greater
portion of the state. The Platte forms the
west and north boundary. A valley
stretches' back from the river a distance
ranging between ten and fifteen miles in
width to where a low line of hills sepa
rates the valley from the upland. A branch
of the North fork of the Blue river passes
through the county, making it one of the
well watered counties of the state. Native
forest trees, embracing walnut, ash, box
elder, soft maple and- Cottonwood, fringe
this stream, and are alno found along the
Platte.
With the exception of those portions
broken by the streams, the general surface
of the county la a gentle rolling prairie.
The principal development of the county
has been In agricultural wealth. In 1871
there were but 700 acres under cultivation,
and in 1876 there were 63,000 acres under
cultivation. In 1879, when the Omaha & Re
publican Valley branch of the Union Pa
cific railroad penetrated the Interior of the
county, giving direct communication with
the outside world and transportation to the
Great War Game to Be Played Around Cape Cod and Boston Bay
EW YORK. July 24.-Ths war
N game mat is to Ds played
I next month along the Mas
I KnnhllnMH rnnit u n 4 Inland fa
regarded by regular army of
ficers as the most Impor
tant work of the kind ever attempted
In this country cr elsewhere. It Is to be
mora like real war than anything this
country has ever seen In time of peace.
There have been war games tn this coun
try, both on a large and a comparatively
small scale, but nothing Ilk that which
will be played this year hase been at
tempted before. Moreover, the one this
year. It Is declared by the military ex
perts. Is the only one ot value that should
be played consistently.
The game for 1309 Is that of a real In
vasion by a supposed foreign enemy. The
forts defending the city of Boston will be
attacked. A real attempt will be made to
capture them, by a real force In our for
mer games two armies have been pitted
against each othqr on land and have gone
through various strategical performances,
chiefly forced marches snd deploying, with
a rattle of skirmish drill and some artillery
firing to give It spice.
This kind of a game has been played
regularly by the regular army out near
Fort Riley In Kansas, and It has devel
oped much that is useful in ths way of
field maintenance, field signalling work
and In rapid movement under constantly
changing conditions. There was once a
large game or this kind played In Chatta
ntoga's national park. Later In Virginia
ai ft of field maneuvers was worked out,
la ahlch state militia and regulars played
eo,ual parts. Last year, up near the Can
adian Una. at line Camp, regulars and
militia united In uuit a large game In
various battle exercises and field move
ments. Virlitlssi tin Ik Coast.
For the last three years there has also
been played along the .Atlantic coast an
artillery war game. Kmall tugs supposed'
to represent battleships, cruisers snd tor-
i!o boats have steamed ud the harbor
of New York and other places, and when
they have come within a certain range
it by day or hve been picked up by search -'
f lights at night ths forts have biased am ay
4 at them with big and little guns. Invarl
ll ably tits attacking boats have tees de
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RICHARDS NEAR OSCEOLA.
great markets of the west. It gave the cltl
sens many comforts and facilities they had
before been denied. Towns began to put tn
the appearance of thriving villages. The
sod house or dugout of the settler gave
place to a comfortable frame dwelling sur
rounded with waiving grain Instead of
prairie grass. Many settlers were con
stantly arriving, attracted by the evidence
of universal prosperity among the :iew
home builders.
Polk county is in the fourth tier west o
the Missouri river. It comprises about io)
square miles In extent and has about r3S,00
acres of land susceptible to cultivation. It
was originally attached to and a part of
Butler county. By order of David Butler,
governor of Nebraska, a special electio.i
was .ordered for August (, 1X70. The county
seat was located in August of the same
year. On the 14th duy of October, 1ST1,
after a heated and exciting campaign, tho
county seat was moved to its present loca
tion. In 1877 Osceola furnished Nebrask i
with a speaker of the house of representa
tives in the person of Hon. Albinos Nance,
who later filled the governor's ihair fur
four consecutive years. Osceola also fur
nished the state with another governor In
1302 in the person of Juhn 11. Mickey, who
was re-elected In 1904.
Osceola, the county seat of Polk county,
was first located three miles suulheabt vi
the present site in the year 1S70, and the
present location was established and made
a permanent site October 10, 1871. The Itrst
building erected was.the court house, which
was completed in January, U72. In the
month of May of that year William H.
Watters built the first frame store build
ing,' stocking It with general merchandise.
Osceola was Incorporated as a town Au
gust 26, 1881, with E. L. King, J. P. Heald,
W. H. Meyers and others as trustees. Thi
postofflc was established in June, 1872,
with William E. Lorlng as postmaster. At
this date Osceola was the terminus of the
overland mail route from Lincoln to
Ulysses. The first railroad train reached
Osceola June 23, 1879. The population of
Osceola is about 1,100, and they are a pro
gressiva, Industrious, enterprising people.
molished In theory, under the Idea that
any ship which could remain such and
such a time under the firs of ths forts
would bs sunk.
In the game at New York three years
ago there was a diversion. On man ot
the attacking party slipped by the forts
at the Narrows in a small craft while th
guns were being fired at th vessels,
landed on the shore of Slaten Island above
and then made his way by the back door,
so to speak, right into Fort Wadsworth,
where he actually shut off the power plant
and rendered th fort useless. Similar
games to that in New York harbor were
played at Portland, Me., and Boston. Th
attackers were always beaten off.
Th practic was very good for th men
In th forts. They stood at the guns by
the hour. The alarms were responded
to with great activity and during the time
that the shooting was going on excellent
practice In loading, sighting and firing
tho pieces wss obtained. There was also
good work done In range finding. The
local militia regiments were in the game,
some of them working at the guns and the
Others defending th forts from theoretical
attack in the rear.
Theory Good, 1'ractlr Poor.
Th great trouble with those theoreltcal
attacks in the rear was that they were
only theoretical and not real. No body
ot soldiers ever appeared for an extended
plan of attack. Once a force did march
overland to try to get at Fort llahillton,
but it was not sn extended movement.
What th importance of such an attack
may amount to can be Judged from a
statement which Brigadier General Fun
stun of th regular army made at a din
ner given to Admiral Evans and his of
ficers In San Francisco a year ago last
May, when Evans' fleet sailed Into San
Francisco bay. Funston declared In a
public speech:
"That fleet of yours when It cams in
here the other day mad a magnificent
spectacle. But let us get down to facts.
1 want to aay to you that If It had been
a hostile fleet you could never have got
In this port Ws could have kept it or
any other fleet out No fleet in th world
could get Into this bar bur It w wanted
to keep It out
"But Ut m also say with equal frank
ness that if that fleet mad a landing down
th coast sight or ten tulle and sent Its
w
The city has electrio light and water works
and a good start with cement Sidewalks.
The flouring mill is one of the chief manu
facturing plants of the city.
Btromsburg was located and surveyed In
June, 1872. The Stromsburg Town company
was the original owner of the site, which
was selected by Lewis Headstrom. The first
building was erected In the fall of 1872,
In which Messrs. Ileadstrom & Buckley
opened the first stock of general mer
chandise In the winter of 1873-1874. Nearly
all lines of buslnens are well represented
here today. It Is the largest town In the
county and Burrounded by an excellent
farming country.
Upon the advent of the Union Pacific the
town of Shelby was located. In August,
1879, J. P. Dunning erected a grain elevator.
In April, 1S80, John T. Dunning built the
first drug store and John Stalnecker the
first hotel. It Is a thriving business center
wlch an up-to-date class of business men.
Polk, a thrifty village located In the west
ern part of the county, Is fast coming to the.
front as a trading point for a large circle
of an excellent farming section, and it
large force against us from the rear, all
these splendid fortifications for this har
bur could have been captured easily. In
that case we could not have kept you
out and it is a startling situation to which
this governisrnt should be alive."
Trouble with tbe Forts.
That is the point. All the forts in the
world, placed at a harbor's mouth, are
useless unless defended from the rear.
In the war games that have been played
there has been no demonstration thus far
of what could be done In the way of ef
fective attack or defense from the rear.
It Is a fact, based upon the authority ot a
military man of national reputation in
the United States army, that there are
not enough regulars in the entire army
NEVER saw Mr. Cleveland
more elated than att;r he had
thrown the presidency out of
the window by his anti-free
silver letter. In February, lOl,"
writes Mr. Richard Watson
Glider in the August Century. "The situ
ation was typical of his career. The ques
tion had arisen as to what reply he
should make to the Invitation of the Re
form club to attend a banquet at which
free coinage ot silver was to be attacked.
Some of his advisers thought l.c should
keep silent on this subject, so that the
chances of his renomlnation might not be
Injured. But he characteristically uh iI the
occasion to reaffirm his opposition to what
he regarded as a financial hrresy. and in
unmistakable terms he denoum -M the
dangerous and reckless exptrinunt of free,
unlimited and indi-penrivnl sliver coinage.'
"At once the cry went up from the ma-'
chin men of the party all over the coun
try that this was the end of Cleveland.
Mr. Wilson (afterward postmaster general)
told me that when h and a friend saun
tered out of the house of representatives
together they soon found that they were
th only members ot that body who did
But believ that Mr. Cleveland was m
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TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: JULY
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GROUP OF POLK COUNTT OFFICIALS.
bids fair to be one of the leading towns of
the county In the near future.
Polk county, taken from every standpoint,
will compare favorably with any and all
the counties in the Platte valley. It nas a
valuation of $25,000,000, a population of 12,0X1
people, with thirty-five miles of railroad,
together with twenty rural routes, cov
ering over 600 miles. Its public highways
exceed over kuO miles, and It is in every in
spect an up-to-date county of the state. It
has 184,000 acres under excellent cultivation,
from which the farmers last year grew 77,
000 acres of corn, 62,000 acres of wheat and
29.000 acres of oats. These farmers sold and
shipped out last year over 1,700.000 bushels
of corn, 320,000 bushels of wheat and 1,000 000
bushels of oats. Besides this, they sold
and shipped out of the county 8.SO0 head of
beef cattle, 84,000 head of fat hogs and !,700
head of sheep. It Is one of the strong
counties of the state In the production of
poultry, but the dairy Industry has not re
ceived the attention It merits. The farmers
of this county are keeping 5,300 cows cn
their farms and using 173 hand separators.
HIGH SCHOOL AND PUPILS, OSCEOLA.
of the country even to man effectively
all the fortifications of New York harbor,
the men standing at their guns In three
watches. This authority says that he in
cludes in this statement every branch of
the army, cavalry and all. The same
authority also declares that there are not
enough men in the entire National Guard
of all the states of the country success
fully to protect the New York forts and
these include those at the eastern end of
Long Island Sound from attack by an
invading army of one of the great powers.
Nevertheless It Is recognized that pro
vision must be made in these times of
peace for some sort of practice in repel
ling a teal invading army trying to cap
ture the forts of one of our harbors. For
that rcai-on the attack this year will not
Cleveland's Joyous Battle for
buck number.' In fact, among tlfose re
garded as democratic leaders the opinion
seemed to be well-nluh unanimous that he
would never again be the standard bearer
of his party.
"As fur Mr. Cleveland himself, he was
pot only undismayed, but Joyful. His in
tense delight In the Incident seemed to
spring from two sources First, his pleas
ure In having availed himself of the op
portunity of telling the truth and circu
lating the right doctrine, and, second, his
satisfaction at having been able to show
that he was not 'waiting around' for a
third nomination. In other words, he felt
that he had demonstrated that he cared
more for principle than fur the presidency.
Every once In a while Cleveland 'Hire
away the presidency.' and l never saw
him so happy as when he had dune If, aV
for Instance, after the tariff message and
again aflei the silver letter.
"But back of his action in thus alarm
ing some of his anxious political advisers
was evidently a prophetic sense of th
ultimate fortunate effect of a brave word
of conviction on a burning question, lie
cared nothing for the conventional opin
ions of professional politicians; ha was
looking tor Ui decisions of a wider audi
23, 1909.
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Last year they shipped out about 8a..d
pounds of butter and 05,000 gallons of cream.
They also marketed over 9.000 dozen cf
eggs and 612,000 pounds of dressed poultry.
This county Is fast gaining ground In the
production of alfalfa and tame grasses, as
the farmers have at the present time about
4.000 acres seeded to' alfalfa alone. It is
plain and self-evident that the future great
ness of this county as a county will come
largely from the dairy and alfalfa Industry
the two belonging together and In Nebraska
especially are almost Inseparable. They are
twin brothers to plenty and prosperity.
It Is doubtful If the younger generation
living In Polk county today thoroughly
realizes and appreciates the blesnlngs and
advantages that the modern conveniences
of this county furnish and supply. The
older generation, who knew much of the
ox team and prairie schooner, are much
more likely to appreciate some of these
modern conveniences. Recently a young
traveling man stepped up to the ticket
window in the depot at Osceola and regis
tered a vigorous kick as to the train serv-
be by little tugboats, supposed to repre
sent battleships, or tho nuvy, but by an
armed force of real soldiers. The force
will consist of militia from Connecticut
New York, New Jersey and the District
of Columbia. The defense will probably
be made entirely by the Massachusetts
National Guard. It may be that some
of the Connecticut troops will help the
Massachusetts men out The details have
not been worked out at this writing, and
probably will not be given out fully before
the Invasion of the eastern shore of Mas
sachusetts below Boston takes place.
Plan of the Boston Invaslom.
So real is the invasion of BoBton and the
attempt to capture Its forts to b that
about 10,000 men will be embarked on four
Principle
ence, and he was not disappointed.
"One ufternoon, very soon after the let
ter, we were driving uptown together,
when he expressed himself with frank en
thusiasm: 'I don't believe any man in the
country,' he sa!d, 'can be having such an
experience us I am having; letters are
coming to me from all parts of the coun
try commending that letter. I tell you,
the people always come out right when
they have a chance to look into a thing!'
In this same conversation he said that so
tar as ha was couoerned he would be
willing to enter upon a presidential cam
paign without the support of Tammany
Hall. I find among my notes concerning
the Incident of the silver letter this re
flection: 'Cleveland always is mors cheer
ful, always at hi best when he Is making
a fight for principle.'
Johuuy's Eicsm.
'Mother "Johnny, Johnny, why are you
sleeping little sister?"
Johnny tsullcnly) "Aunty made me."
Aunty "Why, Johnny, how can you tell
such a falsehood?"
Johnny "Well, you did. You said ou'd
never kUs ws again IX I burled uiy Utile
sister, H
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FARM RESIDENCE OF JAMES
TEED TARD OF A. A.
Ice at this point Just then an old gen
tleman with a gray beard, slouch hat and
a look of prosperity stepped up and un
folded an old handbill yellow with age.
It was an advertisement of a line of stage
coaches that ran from Atchlnson, Kan.,
to San Francisco during tho excitement
In the early mining days. The circular an
nounced that the trip was made from Atch
ison to California In thtrty-flve days and
tho fare only $200 In gold. The old gen
tleman compared the ancient handbill to
a modern timetable and tle great change
that had come over the country since he
located on the Nebraska prairie. This old
handbill was Issued by the Atchison & Cal
ifornia stage line In 1R67. The Inducements
held forth were in strange contrast with
those of modern railroad advertisement.
The stage coach line advertised that It
had recently refurnished the entire road
with absolutely new wagonettes atd It told
what kind of couches they were, how the
springs were made and of what strength
they were. It even stated that the coaches
were painted In the best manner possible.
The horses that drew the coaches were de
scribed, too, as the best.
An Inducement held out by the timetable
to prospective passengers was the stop
over privilege a passenger might resume
his Journey whenever there was an empty
seat in the stage coach. "We mako
quicker time to California than any other
bta0 coach line and ut a cheaper rate,"
the pamphlet stated. It went on to say
that for ?2t0 a person .could ride all the
way from Atchison, Kan., to the gold
fields of California. The distance is 1,913
miles, as stated on the timetable, the long
est distance ever attempted by a stage
coach llne and the entire trip made In
thirty-five days. A buant was made that
there were twelve telegraph stations on
the road to California and that eating
places had been established along the road
where good meals could be had at the
nominal price of 13 each. Every passen
ger was allowed twenty-five pounds of
baggage; all over that must be paid for
at jO cents a pound.
The faded pamphlet aiso advertised a
fast freight line between Atchlnson and
of the regular army's transports and prob
ably one other vessel to be hired in this
harbor on August 12. It will represent a
strictly foreign force. It will take with It
every means of maintaining Itself in a for
eign country, food and ammunition. The
only thing for which It will depend upon
the country Invaded Is th water. Other
wise it will take along all Its food, all Its
other supplies, all its transportation and
equipment and It will not try to live on
th country lu any way.
It will be rought campaigning In a hostile
country in every sense. It will destroy tel
egraph and telephone wires, theoretically,
and it will Inch its way from its landing
place up to Boston harbor. Its landing will
be secret but that It Is expected, will be
discovered promptly. After that It will b
a case ot fighting or outmaneuverlng tho
defenders. Umpires will decide these com
bats. There will be all sorts of military
work, scouting, skirmishing, flanking work,
on or more downright engagements, and
the result will ba that one side or th other
will win, and as that decision goes Boston's
forts will be taken from the rear or will be
defended successfully.
Ther will be all kinds of flank move
ments, false messages, ruses of one sort
or another, and the work will b as near
like that of attack and defense by real
soldiers, fairly evenly matched as to
numbers and equipment, as can be. Of
course, the Invaders will hav to tak
their horses and wagons and medical
supplies with them. The troopers will
probably have to swim ashor with their
mount. There will be hurry work In
making a landing and ther will b a test
of modern methods in loading and un
loading transports.
FacVlns; of Transports.
Th attacking foro doesn't expect to
find Its shovels down In the bottom of
the last transport unloaded, as was th
case In one of the landings our troop
made In the Spanish war. Nor does any
one expect to find l'JO lawn mowers among
th supplies, as was the case on on of
the transports sent on our very first ex
pedition to the Philippines. Th Japanese
are conceded to hav had th beat sys
tem of transport packing In actual wax,
and those maneuvers of next month will
go to show whether our arm has mad
any Improvement
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1IOTCHKIS3, TOLK COUNTT.
TOUNQ, OSCEOLA.
Denver, Colo. The round trip was mads
In the short space of twenty days. To
ship by this method all merchandise had to
be wrapped In waterproof packages. A
package weighing ten pounds could be sent
by that route for $6. The old man's eyes
sparkled as he said, "Just think of It, we
can get on tho train tonlsht and be In
I'fnver tomorrow. Yes, this is a wonder
ful age."
In no one feature of Polk county do its
citlrens tako more Interest and feel a
deeper prldo than In its public, schools.
Tlif. has been brought about by an ap
preciative people, who thoroughly realised
what the public schools meant to a younf
ar.d growing county. The Nebraska Wei
Uyan university was established at Osceola
on May 21, 187i, with C. W. Kyle as presi
dent and H. C. Blttenbender as vice presi
dent. The county has seventy-one country
districts with ninety-four tchools and 103
teachers were employed during the last
year. Tho county has 3.6H4 children ot
school age, with an enrollment of 2,811.
The total value of the district property Is
J'.iC.SOO. The total salary paid tho teachers
is 135,900, the average salary of the male
teachers is J62.ll per month and the aver
age monthly salary of female teachers Is
$43.12. The county has four graded schools,
with twenty-seven teachers. Miss LUlle M.
Cole is superintendent of the schools of
the county, she Is giving entire satisfaction
and the schools of the county are in a
most flourishing condition.
Polk county has prospered by virtue of
Its great resources, exploited and developed
by the energy of an enthusiastic people. II
can remain prosperous and attain the
maximum of Industrial development only
by the conservative use of Its resources.
Nature has been prodigal of good things
In this big free country of splendid oppor
tunities still referred to reverently in the
east as "out west." Much of the wealth
of this county Is yet to be developed, what
It has dona In the past Is only a small
part of the glorious future that awaits It
The landing and many of the Important
movements may be made at night. An
Important feature of the work will be that
of the signal corps In setting up telephone
and tek-graph wires and In securing In
formation sa to th whereabouts of th
defenders. Likewise the defenders will
get busy. All they will know Is that a
hostile fore Is to descend upon the Mas
sachusetts coast on or about a certain
date. Where It will land they will not
know. The defenders are forbidden to
take information from the public prints
or other messages. They must secur
their Information from their own scouts
and must act on that alone. The news
papers may say that the Invaders hav
landed at New Bedford, but the defenders
must not act on such information until
they get It from their own representa
tives and In a military way.
As soon as It Is settled that the attacker
are on shore In a given territory and It Is
certain that practically the entire fore Is
ther a movement will probably be begun
on both aides which ultimately will bring
them together not far from Boston, whero
th final and decisive engagement will b
fought out It will probably be on Cap
Cod.
What It All Means.
This invasion of a real fore Is declared
to be th only sensible kind of a war gam
for United States troops to practic. It
Is asserted that our fortifications are now
practically complete. In case of war w
must meet Invasions. They will be In ths
rear ot forts and by training not only
regulars but national guardsmen In the
methods of meeting such Invasions, It 1
asserted, real practic of value will be ob
tained In th military arts. Th practlo
also of landing real men and of real In
vasion will b equally valuable.
It is known that th War department
regards th coming war gam as th most
useful and th most Important war prao
tlc ever held In this country, and for that
reason It is giving th closest attention to
the details. Secrecy Is being maintained
about a lot ot these details. It t difficult
in the days to keep Information ot value
In military channels from other countries
and It Is altogether likely that foreign
governments will know almost as much
about the coming gam when It a all over
as our own.
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