could not live a year there, unless two of them 

 were doctors." 



On the 27th of October, 1910, the Smith Bros. 

 Land Company of Sikeston had a prospective 

 buyer liere for the farm and they asked him 

 SllO per acre for it. (Note the price asked.) 



On the 30th of October, 1910, the Smith Bros. 

 L.and Company liad a prospective buyer here in 

 the person of a Mr. Emerick of Casey, 111., and 

 Mr. Eniericlv stopped at Matthews and besides 

 looking over the lands in this community, he 

 worked on several of the farms around in this 

 neighborhood, learned what they were making 

 in the way of crops, what the owners were to 

 get for their lands and what the real estate 

 agents were to get for them. To the best of 

 my knowledge, Mr. Emerick, or his father, who 

 visited the country some time in the following 

 year, never bought any southeast Missouri 

 lands. Don't forget what I have been teUing 

 you all along, before 5'ou buy in this country 

 either farm a year on a rental proposition or 

 worlt for someone a season. 



December 4th, 1910, Mr. W. A. White of the 

 Hoosier Land & Improvement Company brought 

 a Mr. Bond, said to be from near Memphis, to 

 see the farm and Mr. White was afi*aid before 

 they started out to look at it that Mr. Bond 

 would not buy as there was so much SAND 

 on the farm and Mr. Bond was afraid of sand 

 land. Mr. Bond did not buy. 



December 20th, 1910, sold corn for 40 cents 

 per bushel and not very much of a crop at 

 that. Will give complete gross receipts in gen- 

 eral summary at end of booklet. 



December 31st, 1910. Boy home from helping 

 a neighbor haul off corn laid vip with boils, 

 "risings" they call them in this country, and 

 I guess the name fits all right. While I have 

 not had the chills myself in this country, I 

 have shed enough poison by the "rising" way 

 to suit most anybody. You see you cannot help 

 breathing tliis malarial poison in the air and 

 drinking it in the water and you must get it 

 out of your system sonae way, if not by taking 

 its antidotes such as ciuinine, strychnine and 

 arsenic or their combinations as put up in the 

 many different brands of chill tonics that are 

 sold in this country you get rid of it by boils 

 or as they say "risings" and many do the 

 people have. One Indiana person. Ben Prouty, 

 told me in the fall of 1912 he had had 56. 



January 7th, 1911. A wet time. Our boys 

 with the Narx boys, who were working for us, 

 went to town and laid in a supply of gum 

 boots. Twenty-three dollars' worth. 



January 12th, 1911. Smallpox in the com- 

 munity. Our nearest neighbors, Samuel Green- 

 lee and family, had the smallpox and sucli a 

 thing as health officer, quarantine, etc., is not 

 known down here in the country districts. We 

 quarantined ourselves and glad to say we 

 passed through the epidemic and have no marks 

 to show for it. 



Now, a railroad stock that does not pay a 

 dividend, a business that cannot meet its run- 

 ning expenses and show a little interest on the 

 investment and a farm that will not pay its 

 taxes, the living of the man that works it and 

 at least a fair portion of the interest on the 

 mortgage, or I should say in this country, the 

 trust deed that is held against it, is a bad thing 

 to be tied up to, well, we were tied up to the 

 latter and trying to get loose, but while trying 

 to get loose the above enumerated expenses 

 had to be met and right along about now, 

 February, 1911, the man that held the TRUST 

 deed, Mr. C. D. Matthews, was getting rather 

 Insistent about that interest. He knew that 

 our backer, Mr. H. D. Cook, had been taken 

 away by that Kingsland Interurban horror, 

 that we were working overtime with the real 

 estate agents to try and dispose of the property 

 for us and let us out with a little something, 

 but get the interest and finally we did suc- 

 ceed in getting the folks back home to put 

 up $5.50 more for us and so we were given a 

 little longer lease of life, and with the $111.42 

 that I had left from the proceeds of the farm 

 from the crop year of 1910, after paying the 

 taxes and running expenses, making a total 

 payment at this time, February 7th, 1911, on 



interest of $661.42. 1 will give a summary by 

 years in the back of the booklet of the gross 

 receipts, taxes, running expenses, etc. 



Now, don't forget as you read along that if 

 you follow my suggestion you will either rent 

 for a season down here or work for somebody 

 Ijefore you invest your "little roll" or big one, 

 for that matter. Should you fall in love with 

 the country, there will be yet time to pick one 

 of the :nany bargains in land and should your 

 experience be somewhat like mine, you will be 

 yet untied and ready to travel. 



On the 5th of March, Messrs. Smith Bros, 

 had a party of land men to see the farm and 

 they talked and acted as though they were well 

 pleased with the land and might buy. So, when 

 Messrs. Smith Bros, sent out for Mrs. Studa- 

 baker and I to come in the following evening 

 and sign up a contract, to say that we were 

 happy hardly expresses it. We went in with 

 one of their firm ready to sign the contract but 

 we found it was an option that they wanted 

 signed. They just wanted us to put them in a 

 position so tliat they could close up the deal 

 in case these parties did buy. I will here in- 

 corporate the contract and you can read it 

 as well as I. 



"Sikeston, Missouri, March 6th, 1911. This 

 is to certify that we the undersigned, Hugh D. 

 Studabaker and Mary R. Studabaker, his wife, 

 of their own free will and accord do this day 

 option to C. M. Smith Bros. & Co., of Sikeston, 

 Scott County, Missouri, all of our following de- 

 scribed real estate lying, being and situated in 

 New Madrid County, Missouri, upon the follow- 

 ing conditions, to- wit: That said C. M. Smith 

 Bros. & Co. push the sale of our land so as 

 to net us Eighty-five ($85) Dollars per acre, 

 and it is further agreed that said C. M. Smith 

 Bros. & Co. pay all their own expenses while 

 pushing the sale of our lands, free of charge 

 to us. We also further agree and do hereby 

 bind ourselves to make warranty deed and fur- 

 nish perfect abstracts for whatever amount the 

 said C. M. Smith Bros. & Co. sells our lands for 

 over the Eighty-five ($85) Dollars per acre net 

 to us. We also agree to accept one-half iVz) 

 cash, balance on terms to suit the purchaser 

 with six per cent interest from date of the 

 deferred payments as set out in the deed of 

 trust. Said land is described as follows: All 

 that part of the south half of Section 7, Town- 

 ship 24, Range 14, as is lying west of the right 

 of way of the St. Louis & San Francisco Rail- 

 road, and containing Two Hundred and Fifteen 

 and Four One-Hundredths measured acres. 

 And it is further agreed that C. M. Smith Bros. 

 & Co. have- their purchasers to pay all taxes, 

 ditch taxes and special assessments falling due 

 against all of the above described land for the 

 year of 1911 and thereafter. And it is further 

 agreed and understood that we the undersigned, 

 Hugh D. Studabaker and Mary R. Studabaker, 

 his wife, are to pay Six ($6) Dollars per acre 

 cash rental for the year of 1911 on the entire 

 above tract of 215.04 acres for the use and rent 

 of same for year of 1911. Should C. M. Smith 

 Bros. & Co. sell this land during the life of 

 this contract, which is ninetv (90) days from 

 this date, or until June 6th, 1911, at 7:30 p. m. 

 of that day said $1,290.24 cash rental is to be 

 discounted at six per cent interest for the un- 

 earned rent to January 1st, 1912, and is to be 

 deducted from the above $1,290.24 and the bal- 

 ance applied on the purchase price of said land 

 herein described. 



We also agree to pay all ditch taxes and all 

 special assessments against all of the above 

 land for the year 1910 and all prior years there- 

 to. "We also agree to give C. M. Smith Bros. & 

 Co. ALL over the E'ighty-five ($85) Dollars per 

 acre net to us which they sell our land for. 

 Witness our hands: 



Hugh D. Studabaker. 

 Mary R. Studabaker. 

 C. M. Smith Bros. & Co. 

 By J. E. Smith, Sr. Manager. 



Now, you have no doubt read the contract 

 and you will wonder why we would offer to 

 take $85 per acre and then be dissatisfied with 

 our deal. To fully appreciate our position, of 

 course, you would have to have experienced it. 



16 



