esume to say what is harsh or what is kind in the
discipline of life? The earth as she flies on her track through space
deviates from a straight line less than the eighth of an inch in the
distance of twenty miles. We, seeing only twenty miles of her course,
would declare that it was perfectly straight, that it did not curve in
the slightest degree; yet flying on that same course the earth makes
every year her vast elliptical journey around the sun. Could we see a
hundred million miles of the track, we should discern the curve very
plainly. Could we see a part of the boundless future of a life whose
circumstances in this little span of existence were limited and
depressing, we should discern the meaning of much that viewed separately
seems hard and bitter and useless.

The settlers of this State have chiefly emigrated from the older
States--Indiana, Ohio and the Eastern and Middle States. There are many
foreigners--Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, Dutch and Irish--who generally
live in colonies. The German element predominates, especially in the
cities. In the south-western part of the State there is a colony of
Russian Mennonites, and at Amana, in the eastern part, there are several
flourishing German colonies where the members hold all property in
common. They preserve to some extent the quaint customs and costumes of
the Fatherland, and one set down in the midst of their homes without
knowing where he was might well believe himself in Germany. The Swedes
and Norwegians bear a good character for industry and sobriety: the
young women are in great demand as house-servants and command good
wages.

The emigrants from older States were many of them farmers of small
means, who came through in covered wagons with their families and
household stuff. In pleasant weather this mode of travelling was not
disagreeable, but in rainy or cold weather it was very uncomfortable. No
one could walk in the deep mud: the whole family were obliged to huddle
together in the back part of the wagon, wrapped in bed-quilts or other
covers, while the driver, generally the head of the family, sat on the
seat in front, exposed to the cold or driving rain. The horses slowly
dragged the heavily-laden wagon through the mud, and the progress toward
their new home was tedious in the extreme. The wagons were usually
common farm-wagons with hoops of wood, larger and stouter than barrel
hoops, arched over the bed and covered with white cotton cloth.
Sometim