Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1865-09-22
Editorial Correspondence.
BARAnoo wfs srpr l,th u;

w o~S"lJ A'S sAAiAS vim eoSoAc ~ AAis
attention.
Your weekly visits to the old town
have fanniliarized many of the people
with Northern Iowa and especially with
the enterprising town of Cedar Falls
I have met those, in consequence, who
have formed the idea that they should
like to seek home near US, If they
could but break away from their present
moorings without too great sacrifice. 1
find men here almost as familiar with
Iowa as l am, who have gained their
knowledge chiefly from the columns of
the GAZETTE. They call you a good
paper, and it makes me little proud to
hear them bestow their compliments,
be they deserved or otherwise. In this
can be seen the advantage to a commu-
nifty Of good local paper; and in this
also men may understand why they
should support as well as they are able
their home organ, that it may be rend-
cred as useful and creditable as possible
to themselves and their locality.
Ispent day in the hay field last
week, on the old farm where I worked
when boy for ten dollars a month.
I swung scythe little time, and Bills
tered my hands and got pain in my
back. Rugged the old horse, Billy,
who used to be SO gay when / was q
boy, but who is old and staid and lazy
now. I took dinner under a tree with
the men, stretched myselfon the green
grass, drank ont of the jug water, and
munched my bread and pie with an
old-time relish. Istrolled off into the
thickcts after wild plums and grapes ;
killed snake and chased butterfly.
/ got somewhat sunburnt and badly
bitten by the pesky mosquitoes, but the
happy remembrance of theday in the hay
field with my good old boss shall go
home with me and keep long company.
/ used to think was made for farm
err; but behold am an editor. How
vain are the the calculations and expcc-
tations of men!
Invent over to the DEVILS Lake the
other day, one of the widest and most
interesting spots in the world. 1t is
about two and half or three miles
from Baraboo, a pleasant drive through
timber and across beautiful winding
streams. The charming lake bursts in
to full view all at once as you emerge
from the woods and stand on its sandy
bank. What a sight! On the right
and the left the great Jagged rocks lay
piled up almost perpendicular to the
highth of four and five hundred feet
The body Of water is about q mile and q
half long by mile wide, and is situat-
ed right i'm gap Of the great bluff,
which seems to have been upheaved by
some volcanic action to form its bed
1t is curious fact that this lake has no
inlet nor outlet. The water
is as clear AZ crystal, and in some parts
very deep. The high, steep bluffs which
rise up on three sides are dotted with
pines and mountain ash. 1t is great
sport to climb these great rocks, hand
over hand, to the top of the bluff, and
there overlook the lake, and the vari-
gated country for miles and miles
around, decerning the villages in the
distance, and losing the vision in the
blue distance. 1t is the most charming
picture that / ever beheld. Once falnil-
iarly known and the place would be-
come delightful and popular resort
Messrs. Blake and Marsh have bought
fifty acres or more of land on the borders
of the lake, and are now engaged in
ground, and fitting up buildings,
boats, etc, for the entertainment Of
pleasure seekers. Any one loving nat
ture may witness there the sublime and
beautiful in very great degree, and by
another season find such accommoda-
tons as will render their stay altogether
delightful. A wealthy Englishman by
the name of Claude has settled on the
border of this lake, and has fitted up a
residence which is pleasantly
Fish are abundant; game is
not scarce, and huckleherries in their
season are more prolific than can be
told. ate of the berries till could eat
10 more, and then longed for the pres
ence of my friends, and for once pitied
their forlorn condition on the monoto-
nous prairies of Iowa. Your readers, my
dear GAZETTE, must not fail to go to
the DEVILS Lake if they ever approach
this part Of old Wisconse. l could give
you many interesting legends among
the Indians in regard to this peculiar
body of water, and also a much fuller
and more readable description of it and
its wild scenery, but time is lacking.
The hop crop is the most important
of crops in this county at the present
time, aad is receiving much attention.
One man / kRow Of will clear six thou
sand dollars On his yield this season.
Some estimate that half a millioa Of
dollars will be the profit of the pres
ent crop in Sank county.
Why can't our farmers make hop rails
ing profitable also? There is money in
1t, though the price should decline very
materially.
Crops of all kinds are very good in
this part of Wisconsin. Many of the
farmers have had their thrashing done,
and are taking their wheat to market.
Corn is better than usual, though earlier
in the season it was feared the yield
would be very light.
I hear that big thing is to be had at
the Falls on the 18th. / shall try and
be home. The Iowa Central is talked
of way out here, and it is generally UNI
derstood among those of any familiarity
with our portion of Iowa, that Cedar
Falls is bound to be large and flourish
ing town I trust it may be, and feel
that it surely will be. Let the people
keep up their honest reputation for en-
terprise and public spirit and / want NO
other or more desirable heme. Keep
the wheel rolling, let the red never GO
out of the iron, and thus shall our town