214 
KANSAS. 
pendeuce, Missouri, acting counsel for Gen. Whitfield, had bush 
ness at home which required his immediate attendance, when he 
learned the commissioners were going to Tecumseh. The singu¬ 
larity and suddenness of the moye was explained satisfactorily, 
when examining the poll books of the 30th of March election, the 
name of Col. S. H. Woodson, Independence, Missouri, was found 
registered in full. 
We arrived at Topeka towards night-fall, after crossing two 
more deep ravines, and one strong bridge, a mark of civilization 
and progress. We drove to a building which had been kept as a 
hotel by an acquaintance. They had gone out of town, and were 
living on a claim. Having found the direction, we went out there, 
stopping on the way, however, at “ Commercial Head Quarters,” 
to learn if accommodations for a few days could be had there. 
The reply was, “We are building, everything is topsy-turvy, but 
we will see what we can do for you.” 
We found our Boston friend living some two miles from town, 
and no road running near. There was a lovely prospect in the 
distance, but solitude unequalled all around. The house was 
neither a shelter from the winds nor storms. The floor-boards 
were loose, moving at every step, with large cracks between, and, 
through fear of snakes, she slept upon a few boards laid upon the 
beams near the roof, and scarcely dared step from the door, so 
great was her fear of them. She was ill with a severe cold, taken 
by exposures, and seemed a little nervous too, in regard to the 
continual outrages of the Missourians, but was hoping soon to get 
back to her house in town. 
We returned to “ Commercial Head Quarters,” and entered 
through a long, narrow room ; cooking-stove and table were stand¬ 
ing upon one side, and table with chairs upon the other, while 
upon the end, leaving only room for the door into an entry, were 
a large number of shelves, with other shelves also near the door, on 
the side of the room. They were all empty, and Yankee inge¬ 
nuity does not suggest for what purpose they were hung. Two or 
three cages of canaries hung overhead, and they twittered and 
sung continually. Back of the little entry was the dining-room, 
with just room enough left for stairway between the two rooms. 
