The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-06-18

in encircling arms Of century that wac waiting
for the Christian era. And what do you suppose
the enaly Circlevillians did" asked my historic
acquaintance. ''Iu the spirit Of iconoclasm, in
a spirit more devoid Of reverence and sentiment
that the clods under their destroying feet they
leveled them down. They took the baby town,
nesting in the arms Of its gray old nurse, veneer
able with the weight of centuries, and they nat.
tened 1t out! They graded the lofty mound and
graceful circle; they stamped them down as level
as u meadow; they made their town look as Nat
and Just about as interesting as kitchen table.
And that wasn't enough; they squared their
town; Strengthened out the converging streets
and circling lanes; they destroyed every vestige
OF originality the town possessed, they made II
look exactly like other towns OF its own size;
they utterly destroyed the very significance OF
Its name, and then sat down on their unsenti.
mental, irreverent, Unitarian, inconoclastic old
hunkers and saw that they had made their vii.
lage a common. place looking town, just exactly
like twenty five thousand other towns in Ameri.
ca, and they said 1t was good and they liked 1t.
And now they call 1t Circleville because there is
not circle within twenty thousand miles OF IT.!
And now, stranger" he added, what is your
opinion of ice tea?" "That the inventor deserves
q monument to his memory" And as we retired
from the portico to sip the icy beverage we were
unanimous that Circleville was pretty town,
with wide level streets, beautifully shaded, had
many other charming attractions and that the
old mounds and original plan OF the town should
never have been destroyed.
From Circleville the S. V. railroad takes us
down the beautiful Seoto Valley, along the
banks of the Scoto river, shallow stream,
whose banks TEEN with charming bits of seen
cry lovely landscapes and picturesque hills.
'You may talk about your Catskllls or the Ale
ghanies and the Rockies but did you ever in your
life see anything more beautiful than that!" said
a gentleman on the next seat to me, and he
pointed to range Of hills whose tops were
loosing themselves in the soft misty hue
OF the setting sun. 81 tell you" lie continued,
| ''there is no more beautiful or picturesque re-
gion on earth than the Scioto valley" The sun
was slowly sinking in the west, casting its beau
tiful lights and shades, with all their delicate
wirchery, over the surrounding landscape; and
though may have seen what may be termed
wilder, where the hills and mountains lowered
more lofty, atfording o scene Of more sublime
and rugged grandeur, Out nave never gaZeu on
scene more beautiful and enchanting than this
"Chillicethe, if you please" said the conduc
tor; and as We pleased we took it in. Chlllcothe
is one of those quiet pleasing towns particularly
noted for nothing remarkable and containing a
population OF about ten thousand souls, all Of
the pure Buckeye" type. The town is pleasant
ly situated on the south bank of the Ssioto river
and has on both sides picturesque hills and
wooded bluffs, which rise to a lofty altitude in
some places The streets are broad and beautiful
ly shaded cross each other at right angles and
many of them end against some hill or bluff,
giving them something of n romantic ending.
The buildings and residential portions are only
ordinary, with very few pretensions to style OF
beauty.
From Chillicothe to Portsmouth the road
traverses the most picturesque part of the val
ley Grand old hills, high wooded bluffs and
smiling valleys are its chief attractions. Now
and then some handsome little town fits by and
so we dash along and in due time reach Ports
!, mouth j. ID. II.