CROSSVILLE FYI. May 7, 1913.
Well, Uncle Gib reader, having never been to Kansas, this front page article seemed worth sharing.
NOT ALL SAID. Condition in Kansas better than stated. An editorial comment on conditions in Kansas recently appeared in The Tennessean and American, in which an excerpt from an official statement by the Kansas Attorney General was included.
Among the things said for the named state was that more than half the prisons were empty; more than four-fifths of the counties were without fools; only nine counties had drunks; thirty-eight poor farms in the county had no tenants; some counties had not had a prosecution in those years.
A Tennessee citizen, inclined to believe the photo had been overprinted, sent a copy of the editorial to a friend in Sunflower State. An answer came, more than confirmed by the attorney general’s statement, signed by the company with which the friend worked.
It was as follows:
Dear Sir, its from the 15th to deliver us this morning. He sends us a small clipping from his newspaper about the effects of Prohibition in Kansas and asks us if it is reliable. He will say yes, in every respect. This report also does not do justice to his present condition, as it was from his 1911 report. The 1912 report is much better, but I still don’t have a copy. I will get one and send it to you.
The writer came from an anti-prohibition state—Indiana—just before the prohibition law took effect on this estate, and he has seen it work, and the differences between the two states are wonderful.
It’s authoritatively estimated that there aren’t 15 percent of the population of Kansas who would vote for saloons again. I was talking to the former Allen County Sheriff today (Iola is the county seat). When he was sheriff eight years ago, prosecutions in that county ranged from forty to fifty a term, and now they have none. Cases on the regular registry would range from 200 to 250 a quarter, and are now barely getting to 100.
We have some violations, in terms of smugglers, but sledging is very difficult for them. The foreigners referred to in this article ended up in the coalfields of southeast Kansas: Pittburg, Weier City, and Cherokee districts. They are all foreigners. They were so tightly forced into the wall that they severed it to a large extent. You don’t have to hide our name unless you want to. The condition of our state is something we are proud of.
Hannum Lumber Co. Cherryvale, Kan.
Uncle Gib’s note: Oh, my. Something happened in Kansas!
Looking on the internet, crimegrade.org reports that Iola, Kansas has one of the highest crime rates in America when compared to all communities of all sizes, from the smallest city to the largest cities.
The chance of becoming a victim of a violent or property crime here is one in 26.
On “areavibes”, he reports that the city has a crime rate 103% higher than the national average, violent crime 63% higher than the national average, and property crimes 110% higher than the national average.
As an indicator, “homefacts” shows that Crossville’s crime rate is just over 29% of the national average; violent crimes, 5.71% higher than the national average; and property crimes, almost 85% higher than the national average. Get hidden cameras on your stuff.
