Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-04-25
ANIMATION.
A Truism-The village-Locstion and Sur.
roundlngs -Age-NIercantiie Interests Dill.
gers Mill w agon Mauufactory-oiher
Craftsmen " ants-Pine Knob
A singular singing School.

Craftsmen- W ants-Pine Knob
singular singing School.
That mans best things are near
est him, lie close about his feet. is q
statement which those nearing the
sober stages of middle life invariably
regard as an unqualified truism. We
thought just 30 the other day, when
entering for the first time The pretty
little hamlet whose somewhat femi-
nine appellation appears at the head
of this column. Had we been great
German poet on that occasion, and
had the place been Ms thing endow-
! ed with intelligent life, our apostro-
phic feelings might have found ex-
preston in words like these, Du Dist
so nah, ind dOch so fern For con-
slider. Animation in near enough to
several other places, geographically
hardly otherwise. la point of noto-
riety in the county, and among the
villages that neighbor it, it is about
as remote as lands beyond the sea of
time, or as "those stark wastes that
whiten endlessly in CHASTITY solitude
about the pole" Winch is deplora-
BILE, and not to be endured. 1t is a
place of considerable significance,
and it is our present purpose to- throw
upon it the concentrated and daz-
zhng light of some very brilliant
newspaper correspondence. And if
that will not rescue tho village from
it's unmerited obscurity, we shall be
constrained TO ask ia the words of
Truthful James," "Are things what
they seem ? or is visions about or is'
writing up places a failure Pa de-
termination which you may tell in
Gath, and publish in the streets of
Askelon.
In the western part of Clifton, and
in sight OF he town line of Liberty,
lies young and growing village. 1t
is situated on either bank of the Big
Platte river, about FIVE miles from
its source, not, in this case, as "the
crow makes wing" but as the people
travel. 1t is twelve miles from Lam
caster and twenty from Platteville.
Good roads lead to it from several
| directions, and a substantial bridge
spans the river right in the village
thus making its approach a pleasur-
able possibility at all seasons of the
gear. The surrounding land is suffi-
GENTLY fertile TO produce fair crops
without much extra tillage, albeit
the casual observer may fancy that
parts thereof present the most dreary
aspect of lean sterility that can well
be imagined. In approaching the
| hamlet from the southwest, the pic
ture that appears before you, is truly
a fine one. 1t is beautiful, it is pic
turesque, it it charming, and it is al
so something else, for the adequate
expression of which our present stock
OF adjectives is altogether too limit
ed. A dozen pine trees in the fore
ground, at the left; the neat white
houses of the village the rising bills
beyond, and CLASSY mill pond up in
the narrowing valley. This is An
nation.
A dozen years ago, the first signs
of its existence began TO be manifest
ed. Prior TO that time, the wild vii.
low may have nodded in the wind
and tho cold frog may have croaked
unmolested, where now the mill.
stones whirr and the anvils clang
The first founders saw that the open.
ing for a town was good. and built
1t may be presumed, each his house
upon "a rock-built it firmly, too and
with an eye to its standing unscath.
ed in spite of Fortunes wind and
flood.
The business or mercantile inter.
ests of Animation are represented by
Messrs Clayton and Woodward, two
gentlemen of great commercial enter
prise, and perfect trustworthiness
They do constantly increasing bust.
ness in the limo of drygoods, grocer.
les, farm machinery, etc, carrying
on trade that yearly amounts to q
figure OF some significance. There
is nothing in the agricultural nipple.
ment way that they cannot furnish
you withal, and nothing in the 'store
goods" order from "chaw" of good
gum to suit of Sunday clothes that
the efficient and obliging salesman
Mr.. Geo Wintersteen, cannot do M
for you on the very shortest notice
George can also, it may be parenthet
ically stated, make a somewh hat agree
able tipple called "eggnog," and i.
tolerabiy proficient in the manua
art of opening a can of peaches OF
cove oysters. Mr.. Wood is ,
genial and agreeable person, with ar
instructive and it may be unconsciou'
knack for business His partner
Mr.. Clayton, so Familiarity and uni
versally known as Eli" is, like Sill
John Falstaf, "a goodly portly man
i faith, and corpuIent; of a cheer
full look, a pleasing eye, and mos
noble carriage" The latter spends
much of his time on the wing as trav
cling agent for several manufacturing
companies at the East. He sells anc
puts up the well known Halliday
Windmill, but does not, as one of biz
waggish friends once remarked to US
furnish the wind that makes them 90
The large and fine appearing mil
building here is the property Of Mr.
Felix digger, unquestionably one OF
the best millers in the county. The
commodious and we'll built edifice is
made of wood, wears a becoming
coat of spotless white paint. is five
stories high, and 4Ox60 #. in horizon
tai dime nsions. It's internal arrange.
ments are well nigh perfect. The
machinery is all first class. and be-
ing operated by skillful hands. is
capable of producing number one
-four. Mr.. digger is a man of consid.
cradle Observation-Disclosures and will
surely do his part in aiding the ma.
terial development of A, naton.
How many of those who daily 90
to and fro in the earth, and walk nm
and down in it, have ever seen q
wagon or a buggy, on some part of
which was painted, "Wm. Kraemer.
maker, Animation, Wis.,? A oroot