From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Aug. 2, 1912:

• “John F. Morgan, who was born in Douglas county 56 years ago, says that the wheat crop for 1912 is the greatest the county has ever known. He does not believe that the county will ever excel the wheat crops of years gone by when the ground was new and more fertile, but we have broken the record for wheat.”
• “The ‘Battle of Kansas’ will be seen in motion picture houses this winter. A Topeka motion camera man is planning to join the army when it mobilizes at Lawrence and will follow it during the maneuver. This will be a big event in military affairs of the year and no doubt a good film will make a hit in almost any motion picture house in the country. In Kansas they will be particularly popular.”
• “Near the north bank of the river there is camped a small party of French people, who are making their way around the world. There are at present four people in the party…. The trip began in Paris in 1907. Since that time the travelers have visited European countries and many of the states and larger cities of this country…. The travelers take their time and try to learn something of the customs of the people in the countries through which they pass. They will probably remain in Lawrence for a week or more, awaiting the arrival of a fifth member of the party who is coming from Illinois on horseback…. The party take with them a camping outfit, including a covered wagon and a tent, together with the necessary materials for painting pictures. When they get ready to move to another place, they pack most of their belongings into the wagon, hitch up their white horse and, accompanied by their big mastiff, start for a new camping ground…. After leaving Lawrence they intend to go on to Topeka, then through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, across the Pacific to Hong Kong, through China, India, Persia, Arabia, Armenia, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, Austria, Germany, and Belgium, then back to France again.”