The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-06-15
rHspEcrrNa THE CANAL AND RIVER.


Cullom, accompanied by the canal commission
u ers, superintendent, engineer &c, met at Pee
ria and on Tuesday, accompanied by numel
, Gus leading citizens of that city, proceeded il
a small steamer to inspect the Copperas creel
dam. Returning to Peoria in the evening, tin
: party on Wednesday proceeded to examine tn
lock and dam at Henry, and thence proccede,
n by rail to La Sale, passed into the canal ant
the same evening arrived at Ottawa in the Su
? perintendents steam yacht Illinois.
d The Governor at Ottawa was received will
; the display and formality his position of chic
4 executive of the state entitled him to. A large
; procession of our citizens was formed who
y headed by our military company and band
0 and followed by many citizens, proceeded tc
the canal and greeted the passengers Of the
neat little steam yacht as it moored at the
$ wharf with earnest cheers and present arms y
=, Carriages were in waiting for the Governor
: the commissioners and others comprising the
party and the whole were formally escorted
down town and finally to the residence of Col
! IIapeman on the East Side, where they were
to be entertained for the night. In the even.
ing. however, the Governor was escorted to the
| Clifton Hotel where he was cordially greeted
by and shook hands with many of our citizens,
and about 10 o'clock being sercnaded by Bach's
18th Battalion Band, he appeared on the hotel
balcony and made a short speech to quite a
large crowd who by this time had assembled
in the street and ON the opposite sidewalk.
The Governor said he had left home in his
working clothes for the purpose of taking Il
canal and had not anticipated and was not pre-
pared for anything like a demonstration on
his account Yet he could not help feeling
hatiercd by the cordial reception the people of
Ottawa had given him, and he returned them
his profound thanks. The Governor then spoke
briefly of the boundless resources of our great
and beautiful state and had no doubt that but
few years more would elapse before our canal
would be enlarged to ship canal and become
indeed what il is now but feebly in name, the
great highway between the lakes and the Mis-
sissippi. The Governor, at the close of his re-
marks, was greeted with loud and prolonged
cheers. Indeed, by his very pleasant and alta
bic ways, he took the hearts of our people by
storm, and even his stoutcst political opponents
are ready to admit that he is an exceptionally
courteous gentleman and hearty, jolly good
fellow ,-"f H"
Early on Thursday morning the party re-
turned to their pleasant little yacht and depart
ed for trip up the canal, accompanied by
few citizens of Ottawa, the capacity of the boat
admitting of but very limited number of
guests AS now organized the party consisted
of His EXcellency Gov. Cullom, Hon. j. O..
Glover, President; b. F. Shaw, Secretary and
NJ. kingman, Treasurer, Of the canal board
VIM Thomas. Superintendent, and ID. C. Jennc.
Chief Engineer, and c. d. Trimble, VIM. ii.
Transcript, and few other citizens.
Arriving at Marseilles little after eight, the
company were surprised to see the whole town
out, with their neat military company in the
lead, to greet His Excellency. As there was
no time to lose, the intention being to reach
Morris in time for the noon train, the Govern.
or flew around among the people shaking
hands right and left with Il pleasant word for
ALL and in less than twenty minutes seemed to
have interviewed the whole town sersdtim
Amid hearty cheers the little steamer again
pushed off, the party being reinforced by sew
eral prominent citizens of Marseilles, with
their wives, which was soon realized rs u very
pleasant addition. The ride thence to Morris
was as pleasant as oaly ride IN such neat,
trim craft can be, with the weather elghtful
and everybody in the highest state for enjoy
ment
Morris was reached at about IL, but the city
had evidently had no notice of who was com
ing, for there were but two solitary citizens at
the wharf to greet His Excellency, who with
the rest was obliged to shoulder his satchel
and foot it to the Hopkins House. There,
however, there was quite an influx OF the ma
lives" and the Governor was soon easy about
having no friends in Morris After hasty
dinner, the party took the 1 10 train for Lock
port, arriving there in the evening, while the
"strag.lcrs" from Marscilles and Ottawa took
the train in the opposite direction
Gov. Cullom is not making this trip as n
pleasure excursion. but with sincere purpose
to inform himself thoroughly in regard to
works and interests of great moment to the
prosperity of the state and in his next message
doubtless we shall have evidences that his time
has not been wasted lie avoids show and dis
| play, though as man of sense of course he L.
not avcrse to little courteous attentions in an
offhand, transformations way
FLORIDA INVESTIGATION.
Il \ branch of the Potter committee, il will be