The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-11-20
correspondence.

LACROSSE, Nov. 18Th 1861.
Dear Times - The receipt Of paper
from home brings wildly to mind that ones
o,cn local newspaper is theme Of all others
that is most carefully peruscd, and most in
tcresting especially as we meet it in a
were looking into the face of an old friend
as we glance over it's columns, and then
you know it talks to us just as u friend
would of the events that are Transporting
around home in our absence Has some
one been wounded by stray dart from
that noted archer Cupid and entangled in
the bonds Of matrimony? we smile at the
good fortune Of our friends as related so
happily in the list of marriage notices;
but if death has called any familiar form
| away to the tomb, we look the fact in the
| face with fearful interest, and sigh for the
safety of those We love at home Then
! again, every improvement, every change of
and prosperity Of our to,oa or the Cry we
! live in, makes us more and more interested
| in the friend that keeps us posted in home
| matters, and that friend is the local news
paper. And now a word Of gratuitous ad
| vice to the patrons Of the Times, who have
friends abroad that have once lived in Nc
uregor-just send an occasional copy of
your paper to that friend and see how long
he will live without becoming regular sub
scriber. In this way you can easily confer
a lasting benefit to the editors and pub
fishers of your local paper, whose prosper
ity is fair index to the prosperity of your
growing city, that is greatly indebted for
its reputation abroad and its real prosperity
to the untiring zeal and editorial ability
ever exhibited in the columns of the Times.
As the opportunity Of stopping a .few
daysat this place has presented itself, we
couldnot resist the the inclination to write
our impression of things and events as
they occur for the Times, even shouldlyour
| read ers vote us bore.
On our way up the river, Nov. 8, we had
| our first experience of winter for this sea.
son, and the little snow that fell on that
| day made the bluffs so conspicuous at night
that the steamboat pilots had good time
| in guiding their respective crafts, provided
they did not sleep at the wheel. Sundays
Sun-obscured as it was-soon diSpeled
the last vestage of snow, while the haZy at
mOSphcre and warm soft air made prone
made on the upper deck desirable, so we
prontnaded, and while admiring the majes-
ty of the bluffs and watching among the
numerous islands, studying the route our
steamer was lik,ly to take, we had the sat
isfaction OF approaching very near to large
hocks Of wild geese without the slightcs,
possible chance Of bagging any of them
Indeed the fowls appeared to be fully aware
of our inability to harm them, for they
swan, ran and frolliked about with provok-
ing freedom, considering our close proximi-
ty. Landing at Lacrosse, we were soon in
comfortable quarters at the Augusta House,
kept by Pierce l. IIartwcll and while here
we may as well say that Lacrosse is far
ahead Of McGregor in the line Of hotels
and Messrs. p. & II know how to keep a
hotel cor any other man" But when you
come to talk about trade, no river town of
its size need attempt competition with Nc
Gregor. Here at Lacrosse the streets are
never blocked by wheat teams; indeed since
have been h re have not experienced
the slightest difficulty in etftcting crossing
in any street at any time of day. There
are no long line of grain warehouses, sur
rounded by busting, jostling transfers,
eager to deliver their loads and get away
or they arc crowded into the river but La
Crosse is one of the pleasantest Of our
many river cities 1t has excellent hotels,
a good trade, sociable men, beautiful and
intelligent ladies, FOUR shing schools, secret
societies, spacious public halls, n jill, five
churches, streets deeply sande,l, railroad,
a grain elevator that looks like pain ed
shingle set up on end, plank walks without
street crossings, and gas,-yes plenty of
gas from two rival companies, one of which
manufactures its gas coal the other from
Brick The last named is bound to win.
X.