.Tan. 19, 1912. — Roads — Highways — "Lanes." — 

 I have had a g'ood deal to say about in this 

 booklet, and pardon me coniing batk to the 

 subject, but if you so down there to live for 

 a season, or work for some one a year, as 1 

 have suggested to you that you do before in- 

 vesting: in a piece of land, you will not wonder 

 that they are on my mind to such an extent 

 that I can hardly forget them. 



Well, us Northern people had taken so man.\' 

 exceptions to the honible ccmditions of the 

 roads, and how a Northern farmer who had 

 been used to gravel or stone roads would pa>' 

 more for lands did he have a good road to 

 travel over, and this seemed to break throug'h 

 the moss, and so along the King's Highway for 

 a distance of 10 miles and 1.000 feet south of 

 Sikeston they organized a Road District for 

 the improvement of this historic "Lane" with 

 a stone road. I do not wish to enter here — to 

 burden this booklet with a long-drawn-out de- 

 scription of how the specifications were pre- 

 pared or what they were — how that to file a 

 bid you had to put up a large certified check 

 as a forfeit — how that the contract was to be 

 let as one entire contract — how the success- 

 ful bidder had to give a $50,000 bond, etc. — but 

 it is sufficient to say that on the above date — 

 Feb. 5th. 1912 — the contract was awarded to 

 the Murray Construction Company of Sikes- 

 ton. Mo., who was composed of. as it was gen- 

 erally known, Mr. A. J. Matthews & Sons, and 

 M. S. Murray, Civil Engineer, Surveyor of Scott 

 County, of Sikeston, Mo., at a bid of $88,000. 

 which would make, as you will see, $8,000 a 

 mile cost of construction. Now, should thi.s 

 contract be carried out and this road mac- 

 adamized — it has been in litigation ever since 

 the awarding' of the contract to determine the 

 legality of the building of it and issuing of 

 bonds — you ought to lide over an excellent road 

 for that money, as you farmers who live in a 

 macadamized road country no doubt know. I 

 hope they get the improvement, for if ever a 

 country needed roads. "Swamp-east" surely 

 does. 



Schools. — No doubt should you go down to 

 this country on a prospecting tour your atten- 

 tion will be called to the school buildings of 

 Sikeston, and I will admit they are g'ood, but 

 get out in the country and study the school 

 condition among the people that are not able 

 to and in many cases too indifferent to care 

 about their children's education. 



Out in the "swamps," where you will live 

 should you buy some of this new land and move 

 on to it yourself. 



Mrs. Studabaker and I counted up one day 

 the children in our community that we knew of 

 school age and were not going to school and 

 we had 15, and among them we knew of one 

 girl 14 years of age who did not know her 

 A, B. C's, so we were informed. 



I»ook well into the school facilities of the 

 community where you expect to locate before 

 you do, and on this point the trying out of 

 the country, so to speak, as I have all along 

 sua-gested, by going down there and either rent- 

 ing a piece of land for a year or working for 

 somebody will give you that much desired op- 

 portunity. 



It seemed to us that the matter of educating 

 the rising generation was not so much of a 

 public question as it ought to be — that is, it 

 looked as though the people that had this 

 care of the future men and women were in- 

 different as to whether they could read or 

 write, just so they were able to drive a team 

 of mules or do the housework in a way was 

 all that was going to be required. Other peo- 

 ple would do the figuring for them. 



Jan. 20, 1912.— On this date I called at the 

 Bank of Sikeston — that is, Mr. C. D. Matthews' 

 bank — for my abstract of title of my farm, as 

 I wnshed to make a copy of it to send Mris. 

 Studabaker's relatives at Eluffton, Ind., who 

 were trying to find the money to help me carry 

 the proposition until I could sell it. I had left 

 the abstract here for safe keeping, but it could 

 not be found, and I was compelled to and did 

 go away without it being found, with the un- 

 derstanding that I come in again in a few 



days, and when I did return in a few^ davs 1 

 was informed that it was in the hands of the 

 C. M. Smith Bros. & Co. Uand Co. Now, when 

 1 wanted it incorporated in the renewal of my 

 oiition to this company to sell my farm that I 

 wanted the right to sell my land myself, there 

 were strenuous objections raised, but it was 

 granted, and to come in here and find my ab- 

 stract in their hands did not look right to me, 

 for to go and get it would at once notify them 

 that something was doing. I passed up get- 

 ting the abstract and my Bluffton, Ind'ana, 

 friends did not get me any relief; and I merely 

 put this in to suggest to you that in case yoii 

 go down into this country and have any papers 

 pertaining to the title of your property and that 

 are rightfully yours, and to which you may 

 want to refer to most any time, that you keep 

 them in your own immediate possession. 



Feb. 3, 1912. — Lost another mule with "blind 

 staggers." 



Feb. IS. — Along about this date there was a 

 gentleman by the name of .Joseph Schencks of 

 Cypress, Indiana, visiting his old friends and 

 neighbors in this community by the name of 

 George Greig and Augustus Gable, and they 

 were trying to get him interested in our farm 

 and he had been here several times to see the 

 land and talk with me about it. I asked him 

 $90 per acre for it, as we were anxious to get 

 all we could for the land, and besides, the 

 land company had the farm for sale at $85 net 

 to us, and if we offered it at the same price 

 they would have a just complaint against us for 

 so doing. Finally on the morning of the 20th 

 of February Mr. Schenck called at the house 

 and asked me if I would take $85 for the land, 

 and I told him I could not afford to. He went 

 away without buying anything in the com- 

 munity, and in talking with Mr. Gieig and Mr. 

 Gable about the matter afterward they told 

 me that the reason Schencks would not buy 

 the farm at $90 was that Mr. J. F. Cox of the 

 Hoosier Land and Investment Company had 

 told him that he could buy the farm for $85. 

 Mr. Greig told me that he was present when 

 Mr. Cox told him that. You can readily see, 

 friend, why they would make such a statement, 

 for should I have sold the land direct to Mr. 

 Schencks they would not have been entitled to 

 a commission and, so far as caring if I ever 

 did succeed in selling out at a profit. I don't 

 think any of the real estate men that were 

 instrumental in getting me to make this deal 

 ever lost any sleep over it. 



Feb. 22. — In to see Mr. C. D. Matthews and 

 give him a note and chattel mortgage for $1,200 

 against my wheat crop, $400 of which was to 

 be credited to me in the store, so that I could 

 trade against it, and the remainder — $800 — was 

 to be held in trust until I paid the note out of 

 wheat crop, when it was to be credited on my 

 land notes. You will notice from this that Mr. 

 Matthews was taking no chances that any of 

 the proceeds derived from the sale of crops 

 was wrongfully applied as this was arranged 

 for and applied four months before crop was 

 made. 



Feb. 23, 1912. — As I have shown and told you. 

 under my contract of sale of farm, or option 

 as they termed it, with the C. M. Smith Bros. 

 & Co. Land Company I had the right to sell 

 farm myself, but did not dare to allow any 

 other firm or real estate agent to act as agenr 

 for me, so when the Hoosier Land & Investment 

 Company asked me about showing up my farm 

 I told them of the contract I had with thy 

 Smith people but as I had the right to sell the 

 farm myself, I also told them that any time 

 that they wanted to buy the farm to come and 

 see me and I would sell it to them, and acting 

 upon this they never had any hesitancy in 

 showing up the land, relying upon the fact that 

 should they find someone that wanted the place 

 they would come and buy it of me and then 

 sell it to the other party. Well, on this date. Mr. 

 E. J. Keith of the Hoosier Land & Investment 

 Company called at our home and told me that 

 he thought without a doubt they would want 

 us to deed the farm to him before night; that 

 he would like for us to be at home in case 

 they wanted to see us, but not to come around 



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