davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

Last Saturday, when the case of President
Garfield began to look so desperate, Coz. Cork.
hill district attorney AT Washington, was sud.
denly summoned home from Cape May on &C.
count of the threatening movements of certain
secret organizations which he knows To exist
and whose purpose is, should the president die,
Immediately upon that said went to take Git
ieau from The JAIL and inflict upon him such
torture as Will he ~ warning to assassins.1
Even the jail guard, ii is alleged, avail! AL ex-
cnse to shoot the fiend and nothing but the
presence OF a strong military force can save
him from The instant vengeance of the pOpu-
lace should the president die. Gtteau seems
to he aware of it and 1t Is saiu had scarcely a
hours sleep from the relapse of the president
last week until he WAS reported better on Mon
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
CASTING STONES.

The Chicago Tribune having amused itself
| by casting stones at the democratic misgovern.
ment of New York city and contrasting 1t
with the benign sway of republicanism IN Hi.
nols, the New York World takes peep into
tho recently issued sixth biennial report of the
Illinois Board OF Public Charities and finds
in 1t some pretty big rocks with which it must
be owned it comes fearfully near dcmolshng
the Illinois glass house in which Joemed,ll
lmaglnes himself 30 securely ensconced while
casting stones at his neighbors. We copy
from the World, taking occasion at the same
time to call the attention Of our readers to
matters near home of which they will be sur.
prised to be reminded by paper printed in q
distant state:
According TO this report one insane woman
IN Adams county is confined in large wood
en- box filled with straw; :" IN Gallatln county
the impression made by an inspection Ct the
pauper establishment il painful in the ex.
treme;" In Lake county the grounds of the
county lair are on the poor farm, land visitors
to the fair appear To regard the crazy house
as il is called. as the greatest attraction of the
0ccasion;" in La Sale county 1.-THE condition
OF inc Duilding Tor the care of the insane is
horrible; the impression upon q spectator is
inexpressibly disgusting. Six Of them remind
one of hogs upon the floor OF pigsty;" IN
st. Clair county is IAN insane woman whose
condition Is not creditabie to the county au.
ihorites, for she is crippled ana bedridden on
a pile of straw In nude condition. exposed to
observation on the part of all visitors and per.
sons who pass through the corridor" in Win
nebago county 'the horrible insarc depart.
ment Is still IN use;" in Bond county 1.-THE
Jail has miserable ventilation, its cells are dark
and the 0dOr from the vaults oirensive;" and
similar statements are made as to Brown. Cal.
houn, Carroll, Edgar, Clark, Clay, Clinton,
Lawrence. Putnam and Woodford counties. In
Champaign county 1.-The jail Is disgrace to
civilizations" IN Coles county "the jail is one
of the worst In the state, unlighied by sim
gle window and alive with vermin :" in Jersey
county the jail is SO abominable in its char
acter that 1t Is not surprising to hear that the
|pr,soners cry and beg to be sent to the peni-
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

ton 1t causes among the New York half
breeds. One day the halfbreed warriors have
on their war paint and are reaching right aud
left for the scalps of the sialwarts; next day
unfavorable news in regard to the President
drives them in panic to washing their faces
and Sinking on Conkling and Arthur.
Then /. is said there is distressing uncertain.
ly in regard to old Lapham. The halfhreei
caucus nominated him, it will be remembered,
as a stalwart, but rs he was elected by half
breed votes, this was of course understood to
be sham, and nobody dreamed that Lapham
would take it seriously. But 1t seems he don't
comprehend the joke at all and the old gen.
tlcman IS sailing about in Western New York
under the stalwart flag.
Then the bearing Of Collector Robertson Is
perplexing. Should he commence cutting oft
the heads of the stalwar,s IN the New York
custom house, who knows how soon Arthur
may be president and his own head tumbled
into the baskety Besides Window has n word
to say about il, and Window and the stalwarls
are on rather amiable terms.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

Mendoza Is preparing for stupendous In
vaslon of the colored population on the 22d
inst, who meet there from all parts OF the state
to celebrate the 10Th anniversary Of negro
emancipation in the United States. The Men
dota Driving Park IS to be given up to the ce'.
ebrants, and the advertisements, aside from u
grand barbecue, are to consist of monster
procession, in which the goddess of Liberty l.,
to be borne on huge decorated chariot, escort
ed by negro military companies, and scenes ri
plantation life, &C., &C., are to be represented
A number of eminent speakers" negro and
Caucasian, are on the programme with vocal
and instrumental music, sham battles, SC. A.
there is no adequate hotel room in Mendoza to
accommodate quarter OF the crowd expected,
should the weather prove unpropiuous for
camping out, the citizens are expected to throw
open their private residences to their dusky
visitors.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
THE DROUGHT,

For now about Six weeks very large por-
tion of the west and southwest has been DESC
lated by consuming drought The region at.
fected includes about all of Illinois except the
northern tier Of counties, most of Iowa, part
OF Nebraska, all Of Kansas and Missouri, part
of Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky, all of lndi-
ana and portions OF Ohio and Michigan,
and part of New England, Pennsylvania and
New Jersey, though there may be here
and there isolated spots and belts that
have been favored with showers. The
region includes the three.four,hs of the
entire corn belt of the country, and the
effect must be to shorten that crop fer the year
to the extent Of 25 or 30 per cent. Potatoes
flax, cabbages all the root crops, and hay
where prairie hay Is relied upon, must also be
more than half cut Off while all the pasturage
being burnt up, cattle and hogs are suffering
enormously, and the yield in that department
will be materially shortened. The general
condition everywhere is that the earth Is parch.
ed, vegetation dead or scar and yellow and
moribund, trees losing their foliage, streams
drying up, the water supply everywhere def,
cient and farmers greatly troubled to find wat
c tor their stock, the heavens bearing heated,
brassy face and the air like the breath of
colossal and internal furnace abroad in the
world, whitening all the sweet influences Of
nature In its blast" While occasionally there
have been cool and cloudy days with promise
Of rain, in general the heat has been intense,
the dust filing the air like smoke and coating
everything.
There was a slight relief from the "demni-
ton broil" at Ottawa on Thursday morning In
a light shower Uhe first In six or eight weeks,)
q slight mitigation of the heat and proms-
ing sky for more RAIN before a permanent
cleanup; but 1t will take twenty such showers
nothing short of two or three days of steady
rain In fact-to bring back anything like a
normal AMI healthy state OF moistness to the
land. There is ground to hope, however, that
the general commotion stirred up by the recent
cyclone on the South Atlantic coast, and which
never wholly spent itself until 1t reached Ne.
braska, may have permanently broken the
drought At least its end at all events must
be near at hand, as such droughs never last
beyond the September cquinoxes
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

No doubt the soldiers and sailors reunion
nj Bloomington, on Wednesday of next week,
will be the gran lest affair of the kind ever
held In the For Invest Not only will General
sherman ard Gen. Grant be there, but several
tate governors will attend and there will DO
Brgadiers, Colonies and Majors nnumerable,
,esides, what is Of more consequence than all
else, the managers are assured OF an unprecs-
denled turn out on the part OF high privates.",
About four thousand of the state militia will
also go into camp at Bloomington to grace
the occasion. The city is cxpendlng $4,000
tn fitting up the fair grounds for the reunion.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

The Chicago Tribune calls attention to o
singular unconscious appropriation of ideas
by the late lamented Indian chief Spotted
Fail, in one of his speeches as reported by
Secretary Schurz, Indeed old Spot" as the
Toys on the frontier loved Familiarity to call
him, or Secretary Schurz for him, stole good
part OF his speech bodily from Arlovistus, as
reported by Julius Cesar. The Tribune thus
laces them in juxaposition:
s. Tail. reported by c. Schurz: If had
anything 10 say to you, would go where you
are. But if you have anything to say to me,
GU must come where am
Arioristus, reported byJ. Caesar: 81 quld
ipsi CRsare opus esset, sese ad cum ventu-
rum fulsse 81 quid lille Sc velit, illum ad Sc
'enlre opOrtere.
The merest tyro in Latin will see that the
one is a literal translation Of the other.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

From the suddenness with which he seemed
to drop INTO Oblivion the notion became cur
rent that The Hon. p. c. Hayes, late represen.
,ative in congress from this district, was either
dead or had gone west. Not so! The General
is both ut home and alive and kicking. AS to
he latter he kicks poor Webster, of tie La
Sale Press, through nearly two mortal col
umns Of last weeks Morris Herald or course
Web. kicks back with equal vigor, but which
has the advantage thus far in the interesting
,oot toe duel we are too impartial or rather in
fights IN which somehow one never gets inter
"s,ed until the under dog begins to squeal
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
OUR CLUBBING

We are prepared to club the FREE TRADER
with the following publications, furnishing both
at the prices named, postage prepaid. The
offer-open 10 old subscribers or new at any
post Office IN the county-ls the CHEAPEST
EVER MADE IN this county:
FREE TRADER and Chicago Weekly Times. 81, %
FREE TRADER and Chicago Weekly Trilure lido
eRgE TRADER and Chicago Weekly Inter
Ocedn ..........-......... .'''''. 100
FRIs TRADER and Chicago Weekly Journal. 2 10
Pace TRADER and st. Louis Republican. .... LOO
PRss TRADER and st. Louis Hiobe Democrat. 2 %
FREE TRADER aed N. Y. Weekly Herald -. 2 30
ERnR TRADER and American Aaricuitursf. =. 2 60
FRBx TRADER and Prdire Farmer. 1885,. 3.U
FREE TRADER and either OF llarper's publ
cstions 40
RRBE TRADER and !Sc,ibner. ................ 40
FRBE TRADER and Godey's Laiies' Book. 300
FREE TRADsR and Physiological Journal. 800
FREE TRADER and st. Nicholas. $40
Ease TRADER and Democrats Nonthy..... $40
FREE TRADER and Littelrs Lining Age...... $40
YREE TRADER and Western Rural. ......... 800
FREE TRADER and Moore Rural New Yorker $50
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

The Elgln Leader has changed its name to
the Frank-not meaning old Ben Franklin for
short, nor the vivaclous youth of the name oil
Frank, nor Frank in the sense in which that
term is applied to Europeans by the Asialcs
but the simple adjective frank, meaning can
did, plain, open, sincere. While no doubt II
is an odd way to use an adjective, it may not
be altogether inadmlssible As the main OBJ
ject of the name of paper Is to indicate lis
character, the end may after be more easily at.
tanned by the use of adjecuves than substan-
tives. Following the Leaders, example, We
shall next have the Bungtown Smart, the
Bloody Hollow Loud, the Washington Saga
cious, the New York Discreet &c. The Elgin
Frank no doubt will do well enough with its
name so long as 1t tone and conduct don't he.
lie it,
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
FOREIGN.

The British parliament was prorogued on
the eth, but three peers and about forty com
moners being present to hear the queens
by the ministry and read by Lord High Chan.
cellor Selborne. 1, was purely formal and
very dry document.
None but the most gloomy reports come this
week IN regard to the harvests IN England,
The Mark Lane Express Of Monday says:
The past week has brought general disaster
and ruin to the harvest. A series of iniermit.
tent storms eliminated Thursday in general
thunderstorm, with u deluging rainfall. To
adequately estimate the damage we must re-
member that the dOwnpour of rain was on
sheaves which had been repeatedly wetted and
dried, or on standing grain, which Is literally
eaten up by mildew, In the flooded districts
the disaster Is complete.
And the Times of later date says:
The weather has turned against US at a crlt
cal moment. The loss to the country from
the late rains is to be reckoned by millions. II
is impossible to gather corn, and II will soon
cease to be worth gathering The situation
for our farmers is dismal. For many OF them
bad harvest must mean absolute rum.
w nav siNAp oSChlo W NC kIOWluR uIbpOSl-
ton IN Ireland to give the land bill fair trial,
Dillon and other landleaguers are open in the
expression of their opposition. At a banquet
given at the Rotunda in Dublin on Monday
night, Dillon said he was very strongly of
opinion that the passage CT the bill would i'm
mensely increase the difficulty, if it did not
render impossible the carrying on of the land.
league movement on the old lines. He feared
the yoke of landlord ascendency would be so
much altered as to make tho people once more
bow their heads beneath it, whereas If the
fight had been continued another Six months
Internationally they would have been In o.
position to dictate their own terms and abolish
landlordism altogether
Heavy shipments of gold from London and
Paris to New York continues On Saturday
insurance was effected IN London on $5,OOO,-
900 OF gold to be shipped to New York and
on Monday $3,OOO0OO we're quietly shipped
from Hamburg with the same destination The
London Times, in Its financial article on Mon.
day says: 1.-THE Bank of England has refused
to sell any more bars, and reduced the price of
Imperials and Napoleons 70 IT'S. 101sd and
76s, 615d. per ounce respectively The search.
ty OF gold is causing renewal of the bi-me.
tallic agitation.
The Union mailsteamer Teuton, with twol
hundred souls on board, was wrecked near
Quoin point, in South Africa, on Tuesday
Only twentyseven persons we're saved in tue
steamers boats. The British corvette Dido
had proceeded to the scene of the wreck The
Teuton arrived at Cape Town from England
Monday, landed some and embarked other
passengers, and proceeded on her voyage to
Olgoa bay and other ports. Quoin point Is
near Olgoa bay, and is the scene of u previous
wreck of q Union malstesmer.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

One of those terrible cyclones which are so
frequent on the island of ST. Thomas and
neighboring islands IN the Vest indies occur,
red there last week, and then took course
northward, striking on Saturday night our
South Atlantic coast. Besides terrific havoc
among shipping, the chief destruction on land
was along the Georgia and South Carolina
coast The wind blew over Savannah, Ga, at
the rate of forty miles an hour, rmroofing
houses, sweeping the sea into houses along the
wharves, and playing havoc with shade and
iruit trees. An intirmary was wrecked, and
the patients barely escaped Meny of them
were badly bruised. Sailing craft IN Savan.
nah Bay suffered badly, and many persons on
board persisted. The loss of life among the
colored people on the rice plantations and
along the river ana bay is reported TO have
been very great All the people in one of the
islands In the river persisted. At Port Royal,
Beaufort, and other points along the South
Carolina coast hundreds Of persons are believ.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
WHEELER.

II. N. Wheeler who few years ago as edi
tor of the Elgin Leader, obtained good dea
of bad newspaper notorety by writing ghoul
ish obituary on the death of Zachary Chand
Ter, finds himself impelled, as the present edi
tor of the Quincy Herald, by pruriency fol-
more of the same kind of bad fame to make q
similar hyena assault on the dying president
In late number Ct the last named journal, he
raves IN this beastly style:
ave believe Gulteau to be just as honorable
as the man he shot, and mighty sight less
dangerous to the country at large then the
plausible, smoothe tongued unprlncipled man
who with snifile ana pious groan would
turn from a prayer to take bride, commit a
perjury, or steal presidency"
Wheeler seems to be one of those unhappy
beings who have no conception of the decen,
cies Of time or place He seems to be wholly
unconscious that there can be any difference
between casting filth at a man in health and
vigor, with stout limbs and abundant pluck to
resent an insult, and befouing man lying
helpless on sick bed or removed wholly be-
You'd the reach of human spites and resent
ments In the grave. 1t betokens the meanest
cowardice thus to assault the sick-none but
ghouls and hyenas assail the dead Happily
In the present case such savagery can hurt no
one but Wheeler himself Even IN the height
Of last summers campaign, when to give and
take was the rule and the foulest tongue was
uncurbed no one ever questioned Garfelds
genial, kindly nature. To say of such man,
when helpless on a sick bed and when the
sympathies of the world are flowing out in his
behalf, that he is no better than base assassin
and murderer, argues disposition so degrad-
ed and fiendish as must place its posessor i'm.
measurably beyond the reach of all sem blance
of human respect. We are sorry for Wheeler,
for In reality he is man of many good traits
but rs IL is said even the soundest head is not
wholly free from cracks, SO in the case of poor
Wheeler, It is all through one big unhappy
assure IN his Uranium that he has been led IN.
to making such an ungainy exhibition OF him.
self
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

The Aurora Herald accuses the FREE TRAD
Err of misquoting its language, and gives thu
following as what it did say
No man of intelligence pretends to deny tina
there mas been an expansion of the volume o.
money in circulation IN the last two years. and
to this expansion is due the present business
activity. The expansion consists IN the i'm
pOrtation of large amounts of gold the coinage
OF large quantities Of silver, and in the very
large increase in the amount of bank notes Is
sued. THIS expansion is due to the acts of
Providence and the national banks. Prov,
dence gave US good crops and withheld boun.
teous crops from Europe, which gave US Its
gold, and the banks have Inflated the currency
of their own sweet will, because they could
make more money that way than in any other
The Herald, however, fails to give that other
part of its editorial in which 1t said "The
object of the Greenback party is to make such
condition of prosperity permanent" and
modifes it by saying:
With the help OF providence" the Nation.
al party will take away from the national
banks their power to contract and initiate the
volume Of money in circulation and delegate
it to the government. That's the idea.
What the Herald objected to was that the
FREE TRADER said 1t thus proposed that "the
greenback party should take the place of Prov
idence," and we fail to see how that idea is
eliminated by its modification. The present
it says is caused by shor. crops in
Europe and abundant crops at home, causing
a large importation OF gold, which In turn
causes the banks to expand the currency, and
that causes general prosperity The primal
cause is still short crops in Europe and good
crops at home, and that must remain the work
of providence. whether the currency Is after
wards inflated by the banks, the greenback
party or the government"
The fundamental error, on which the whole
structure OF greenbacklsm rests, remains that
money can be made plenty or scarce and times
good or bad, 10y currency initiation or an in
creased issue of greenbacks or any other paper
money. Paper expansion is the attendant, not
the precursor offs good times. As business be.
comes active large transfers of money become
necessary and these are effected by bank bills,
greenbacks or bills Of exchange, but most
largely always by bills and drafts. These are
paper money as fully IN every sense as bank
bills or green backs, and If the two latter were
wholly wiped out ofexis,ence TO morrow, drafts
and bills would take their place and in week
paper money" would be just as abundant as
ever. In short, neither the greer back party
or the government ever can. and providence"
never will, make anything but gold and silver
money" in this world, and no issue of paper,
therefore, no matter by what sanction, or under
what name. can increase the volume or value
of that money" or of the real money" of this
or sny ether country.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
Indians are like great many white men in

Indians are like great many white men in
souielimes losing their courage after getting
on ground for duel. Slitlip Bob and Square
Sam. young braves of the Santee Sioux, were
so equally attractive In the eyes of Sal Molly,
their chiefs daughter, that she would not
choose between them. She promised, however,
to accept the survivor Of duel, and It was
agreed that the fgh, should be deadly one
with stone headed war clubs. The meeting
was ceremou,ous in high degree, and 1t was
only after lengthy preliminanes that the two
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

The biggest blaze Chicago has had for sew.
eral years occurred ct the Union Stock Yards
On Friday evening of last week. Hatelys
involving IN bu lding and product a loss OF
over million Of dollars. Fortunately the
building stood somewhat isolated, otherwise,
on account of the dryness Of everything and
the scarcity OF water in that vicinity, the loss
might have run into half dozen or more mil
Il IONS
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

The Kendall county fair will be held this
year at Bristol, on the 9Th, 7th, 9Th and 9th Of
September. Elaborate arrangements have
been made to secure grand success. The
Aurora Light Guards have promised to grace
the second day of the fair (next Wednesday,
with their presence, and on the same day Gov.
Culom will deliver an address. Gen. Grant,
who has promised to attend the soldiers re-
union at Bloomington on the 9Th, agrees, If he
can possibly do so, to stop off at Bristol while
on his way to Bloomington, on the 7th, and as
Gov. Cullom will leave Chicago on the same
day for Bloomington, intending only to stop
over five or SIX hours at Bristol, Gen. Grant is
confidently expected 20 accompany him.
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03
OTTAWA FREE TRADER; SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8. 1881

ed to have persisted, and millions OF dollars
worth of property was washed away.
The signal service on Monday traces the
track of the hurricane as /. pursued its course
with constantly diminishing energy in north.
westerly track as far as Leavenworth, Kansas
Its path being accompanied by heavy rains
but no seriously damaging winds after leaving
the coast belt
The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-09-03

warriors, mounted on ponies, armed with the
murderous clubs, and hdeous IN war paint
faced each other for The encounter. They CIR
cled aroand tor an hour, hsrmlessly whoop,ng
and geslculating; then they came together,
whacked away wildly a while, hut injured
nothing except the ponies; and finally Sam
accepted B,b's offer Of five horses and a gun
to relinquish his claim on Sal Molly.