Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-07-13
A Visitors View oT Warren. etc.
CLEVELAND, July 5, 1870.

CLEVELAND, July s, 1870.
EDITOR Observation-Disclosures been {
~sojourner in your beautiful city for a few
days, and meeting with many pleasant
and social acquaintance while there, ]
cannot refrain from expressing to you
the pleasure derived from so short an
acquaintance.
Warren is truly a pleasant old town,
susceptible of being made n of the
prettiest cities in Ohio, and your people
have got tolerably well started in some
respects, in that direction. No town can
boast of a finer located public square
handsomely decorated with trees, and
skirting a beautiful sheet of water-the
pool of the Mahoning above the lower
mill dam. Then your business blocks
are well filed, many of them very fine
specimens; would do credit to any city
in the State. The two bank buildings
would do credit to any city, n of which
can hardly find its equal in the State,
outside of the cities of Cleveland or Gin
| cinnati.
Then your system of sewerage, now
extending over some three or four miles
of street, is much better than can be
found in many cities twice the size OF
Warren.
You have commenced the work of pa
wing your streets, and with the fine paw
ing stone so near to you and SO easily
obtained, it is a work I think you will
continue until all of your main streets
are completed.
Then your fax mill, employing some
100 hands and turningout 10000 yards of
cloth per week, under the energetic man
agement of Messrs. Camp & Randall,
gives much life and activity to the north
part Of your city.
Then your furnace and rolling mill,
now progressing SO rapidly towards COM
pletion. The workmanship under the
energetic and experienced proprietor,
VIM. Richards, Esq, will compare ia
Yorably with any work of the kind in
the State.
Then your machine shops, founderies,
oil and Touring mills, &C., &C., give
life and energy to the place, and afford
pleasure to the observer duringthe BUSH
ness hours of the day.
Still your beautiful city is not without
its plague spots, some of which it would
seem to be hard to bear.
And first: "Trumbun County" (once
covering the whole of the Reserve, but
now somewhat reduced in territory but
not in wealth or population tenaciously
holds on to her old County jail, construct
ed some As years ago, then regarded as
tolerable for the time, but now, with a
population five times as great as then,
subject to the decay of time and depre-
dations Of prisoners, has become a nest
not fit to harbor an inmate from the vilest
brothel in the land-and still 1 am told
that the citizens of this old county on
every opportunity of voting on the ques-
ton, show their bowels of compassion by
voting a continuance of the nuisance.
The front of the building will not, in
appearance, command respect among the
common and ordinary doggeries of the
and the rear punched through and
through by prisoners, is plastered up
only to be opened by persons sufficiently
stepped in crime to induce them to pick
out the brick and mortar, which is an
easy task. If a prisoner is, from the
enormity Of his crime, worthy of a bet
ter place, you march him to Ravenna, at
the expense of your worthy tax payers,
where he remains until the sitting of
Court, when he is returned to the Trum-
bull County safety valve. and if the in
ducements are sufficient, without a guard
he easily finds his way out to commence
his work anew. This is a beautiful insti-
of which the voters of Trumbull
County may claim its paternity.
Another feature of your city is the bad
occupancy of some of the best property
in it. Dog in the manger like, the OWN
ers will neither sell nor occupy it for
any decent business themselves, and
what is very remarkable, the city fathers
give aid and comfort to wne of such
property by suffering it to go free from
doing its part in making the necessary
grading and sidewalks to improve the
while the energetic builder, the
moment his new structure is in shape is
called upon to at nee put down his side
walk to correspond with his building
This beautiful arrangement I am told
has been of long standing.
That venerable body I am told has en-
tered upon new branch of bushes, or
it may be are making it more successful
than under former administrations
The city being possessed of a piece of
ground "a Park of some three acres) west
of the river, the city fathers have it in
charge and regularly at every freshet
ship tons of that beautiful park down the
river to enable our southern brethren to
reconstruct those levees that General
Grant made such havoc with during the
war; and the business is becoming so
pleasant to that body that it has been
proposed in Council to deposit on their
dirt wharves west of the river, the earth
from the Park east Of the river, for ship
ment at the earliest freshet. 1 trust
such stupidity will not for a moment be
tolerated. You have the material for a
beautiful town and You had better hold
on to It than to dispose of it to southern
planters. Itmay cost you a little money
to save it, but no citizen can in any way
so well appropriate his proper proper
ton Of tax as in protecting and beautify-
ing that river park.
Your city contains many other objects
of interest that might be noted to its
credit, with others hat do not reflect
much credit, but enough from me at
this time has probably been said, (of the
latter especially to satisfy.
Yours, truly, q.
A Card.