The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-09-28

II is not my intention to write up Omaha o
the towns generally, and will therefore omi
all description Of thc city and only say W
found the [. p. Land Office, ina fine fou
story brick building on one Of the pmucipa
streets, and we were most courcou,ly trcatcC
by Mcssrs. l.. Durham, Land Commissioner
r. l.. Perine, the cashier, H. Kennedy the SEC
rotary, and J.J Dickcy, Telegraph Supt The
contrast in thi, respect Wa, 50 marked from
what | have witnessed a~ 10 deserve cspeca
mention No grufl' "Wcll, sir, what can dc
for yoa" but innumcrablc questions, often il
relevant, were chccrfully answered, maps
shown, locations pointed out, information CIV
en- ON all points in pleasant genial way that
puts one at his ease and makes him feel al
home. As the officers named are all gentle
men, they could not do less but 1t is pleasant
to note all the same. Callers should remember
however, that there are many others who want
the same information and attention. and should
transact their business and leave walking room
for the next corners. This is precisely what
we did do, and the next morning took the train
for the beautiful Platte Valley.
We contcnted ourselves with views from the
car windows till after we left Elkhorn, where
in fact we first saw the valley proper; but soon
after we began to congrcgatc on the platform
the better to see the delightful panorama con
tinualy spreading out before US. Here and
there we obtained glimpses of the broad but
shallow Platte with its many sandy islands,
and many farms showing industry thrift and
prosperity, while on the other side were seen
broad undulating praires, stretching often for
many miles, with low bluffs IN the distance
have been over a considerable portion of the
United States, and it is no eyaggeratiOn TO say
THAT have never seen country OF such mar
vellous, bewildering beauty AS that we were
now admiring, say between Fremont and
lClarksvlle. While there was to some extent
a certain samenesS, there were also continually
lopcning before our eyes new scenes of beauty
that divested it Of monotonv and made us I'M
willing to stop looking even for a moment.
Gazing delIghtedly on the north, Hockey
would say, pointing in the opposite direction,
"Sce here, don't miss this when we would
see something Of surprising beauty, only to be
soon interrupted by Uncle Philip with the re-
mark, "LOok here, Doctor is not that grand 2"
and 50 we would turn from side to side, re
Igrctting that we had not the eyes of an Argus
that we might look in all directions at once
John finally suggested that we take in one side
lgoing up, and the osher on our rcturn-an cX-
Iccllcnt plan, but one we found impossible to
adopt, no more than one could turn his eyes
from splendid painting or close his ears TO
enhancing music. The curtain of night fell
upon us before we reached GAINESVILLE, and the
audience dispersed to their seats within but
the impress OF that grand, delightful panorama
Of natures making was left upon our minds,
only to be effaccd when we shall have seen the
last Of earth.
late supper-a part of us stopping at the Grand
Island House. where we got excellent meals
and beds at Il moderate cost. The rest of the
party being misled by Il runner from rival
road in the guise Of business man O. were
nveigled into Il ranch down town, wherc-but
] won't tell tales out of school, only ask Allen,
Miner, or any Of the Johns,
/ The next morning we started out to view the
town and make arrangements for thirty mile
ride in the country am not describing
towns, and will only say that Grand Island
is built on u sandy ridge, and that the soil
round about is of II very poor quality indeed,
so much so that it was under protest, as il were,
that we started at ALL but after "A time Il four
horse rig" was brought out, and we all set out
to see the country as it is. For some miles we
found almost the same sandy, inferior soil,
growing better, however, as we travelled to the
northwest, until we, ut Il distance of some six
or eight miles, struck" as pretty prairie as we
had seen the day before, and evidently rich and
fertile soil, as we inferred from crops occasion.
ally seen and by the use of spade we had
taken the precaution to bring along.
The surface soil is black alluvium, quite
! deep and closely resembling our La Sale Co.
lprairies, underlaid with the Loess deposits,
which have the properties of absorbing water
to great degree in times of excessive fan,
and in times of drOuth OF sending up moisture
Il
| by capillary attraction, thus rendering these
lands productive in any season. That it is
really productive, this year at least, is evidenc
| ed by the fact that we saw many stacks of fine
wheat the corn did not seem to impress
Hockey and Charlie AS favorably. The ears
were good, but they thought there were not
enough of them. | believe it is fact, howcv.
er, that new land always produces better wheat
than corn, and that the latter crop increases in
amount as the land becomes more thoroughly
| tillcd-older, as il is called One thing Is GER
tain, if | owned any one of three or four SEC
| tons have in mind, and knew how to cult
waite it, | would expect 10 have as fine crops as
man could ask, and don't think would be
| disappointed.
| We saw very few fences, the herd law" be-
al,