The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-03-02


In the way of property Of saloons and eat
ing houses we make lively showing-thc
third in the state. Cook claims Of this sort OF
truck, $l9s, 2S4: Adams, $4,000; and La Sale,
Sl4,GG7 Peoria follows, with $l3,425.
In household and Office furniture Cook is
ir-t-$2 2GT ,0GG; and LII Sale is second
$357,515.
In shares of bank stock Cook is first
5? ,212 800; Logan ,ccoal; and La sale third
$3Ol,350
Our assessors have uniformly assessed La
Sale county too high Every year the State
Board of Equalization has reduced our assess
ment on personal property lots and lands by
different sums, varying between 1913 to 1917
from l3 per cent to - per cent. on some one.
of these three divisions Of property. Cook
on the other hand has been invariably
too low. and the Board has raised assessments
in that county from b, the lowest, to 1872 per
cent
Oui ncighbor Bureau county has uniformly
put herself far too low, and her assessed rates
have been raised from 30 per cent in 1876 TO
AS in 1873.
The total c.ualizcd value of all property as
scsscd in La Sale county for 49,, is $23,j95,-
Oj4 and she stands second in the state, Cook
being first Mclean, our rival in many things,
falls below us only S2G,2Gi.
With this large amount of taxable property
in La Sale county how lightly would be the
burden on the taxpayers Of building sub
stantial and, above ALL fire-proof Court
IIousc-such as the great stack OF records,
papers and other valuable property Of the
require The cqualized assessed value
of all property in La Sale county in 1877 was
$23 ,595 ,O54, but owing to erroneous totals Civ
en- by the assessors the true sum and upon
which all tie taxes Of this year are based Is
SOB ,G32, 900 A tax of one mill on the dollar
would realize in one year 1862, and if left
on for five years would produce $l1S,l6O,
which would build a Court House; and the
sum of two mills for the same lenth of time
would give $23G,320, which would build a
good Court House and Jail and the amount
would never be felt by the people. The fact is
apparent that the county surely needs these
buildings, and the time will speedily come
when this question will be no longer dcbata-
BILE one, but absolutely demanded. This mat
ter may be delayed just few hours too late
some tme-when the old shell may have tum-
blcd around the inmates heads or have been
by fire together with its valua
bic contents, which no amount of money could
ever replace
OTHER STATISTICS.
Secretary Fisher, Of the State Agricultural
Society, furnishes pamphlet of valuable sta
tstics, from which we abstract the following
relative to La Sale county
For the year ending Dec. 20, 1874, in this
county
Corn averaged, per bu,hcl, 29c.
Winter Wheat, $1.25.
Spring Wheat, $l00.
Rye, 45c.
Buckwhcat 40c.
Potatoes, SOC.
Winter Apples 800
Hay per ton, $50.
Beef Cattle, per 100 lbs. gross $50
We had 100 per cent more cattle on hand at
this date than on Dec 20, 1876.
Our corn crop in 1876 amounted To 225,tSl
acres. In 1917 it was the same number Of
acres; but in 1876 we raised III this county
61O3, i0G bushels, while in 1871 it was ! ,2222i
992. The average yield was 10 bushels per
acre The value Of La Sale county'S crop
was S2,O95,2iS. The acreage of different crops
in 1877 in this county was
Corn, 225,1Sl acres
Meadows, S0,2i5 acres.
Winter Wheat, 2,914 acres.
Spring Wheat, 2,3;9 acres.
Oats, 45,50j acres.
Potatoes 102, l53 acres.
Orchards, 1881 acres.
Hogs marketed in 1Si;-numbcr 55,SG0;
average weight, 3l2 lbs; total weight 1888,
02S lbs; value. $lI399,92s; value per cwt
live, $43j.
The number of sheep in this county IN 49,;
was 1874 The per cent. of sheep killed by
dogs, per cent The number was 615, val.
ucd at 81 ,53i
The value of the crops of 1871 was: Corn,
S2,005,24S hogs, $92G,94O; winter wheat,
SlOO3;2; spring wheat, Sj1,096; oats, $455,-
$50; pasture $500, ij9; orchard products, Sill
36s. Total, 1891, 533
Hog cholera, while far less in lis dcvasta-
tions in La Sale county than in many others,
was serious enough. In 49,; we lost per
cent of this crop, the value being $:39G2
j. G.. ARMSTRONG.
From Garfield.
GARFIELD, ILL.,, Feb. 2lst. 1873