The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-07-15
WISCONSIN WILDS.
From, ottawa to Madison, With Glance nj
Milwaukee and Wayslde Towns.
I,~t no EreaT rah


From ottawa to Madison. with Glance at
Milwaukee and Wayslde Towns.
For the Free Trader.
Heavy clouds were swelling along the horl'
ION as the train pulled out from the depot OF
the C. B. e. c., and made its first stop at the
water tank There was melancholy look on
the face OF every passenger and even Matt
Kennedy's usually smiling countenance wore
a cloud cast expression. A ray of sunshine
would have frightened all, and cast splendor
on the bluffs around, but not even glimpse
through a half accomplished cloud'rlft flung
a passing charm over the scene.
1t was an extremely blue day. Cyclones
tornadoes and wind storms had swept over
the country, leaving railroads, bridges and
things in deplorabe condition. "Ihe bottom
had dropped out of the Rock Island at Gene
SEQ" some one said, and several trains were
"ditched" along the line. No official could
tell when train would be over that ROAD
again, and e7en there was doubt as to the
condition of the c. b. Il @.
Dayton was drowned" o. and the depot at
Serena looked like an island in the midst OF
a vast ocean. The "Natlon' was "ahoat," and
most of the buildings were on stills. Sheri-
dan-"only twenty miles away"-looked as
though it had been struck with waterspout,
but the denzens OF that burg can not get any
too much watcr-they need heap If only put
TO use. Sheridan has more churches to the
square foot than any village of Its size on the
American continent, and yet the people OF
Sheridan are none too good.
But all this time we are passing through
La Sale county, the paradise of Illinois,
or as some term 1t "a vertable land OF milk
and butter"-and gliding out upon those plain
like regions between that and Chicago moth.
ing particularly attractive strikes the eye, but
the eternal barb wire fence which seems to
have suppanted the old snake like raIl enclos-
ure, stretching away along the rail road track,
and back into the country rs far as the eye
can follow them. In due time we reach CHI.
cago and after day in that "city by the lake"
we ''lit out" via the G, M. 81 st. =. for
1.-THE LAND OF LAKES,
pine tree forests, and bubbling springs
which are found amid the regions of the great
Northwest. With our back to the sunny
South" and headed due north our train, COM
posed of magnificent coaches, pulled out
from the grand depot, and soon we were skirt
ing the suburbs of great Chicago. The re.
freshng breezes OF the open country began to
play around US and new life seemed to take
tha anal
prairlcs of northern Illinois we glide, where
on every hand thrift and bountiful display
of natures gifts Is seen. Aud now we enter
the Badger State" pass through charming
region of country, composed of rolling pral,
RE with occasional sloping hills, well watercd,
thickly wooded, and q soil that is rich and
deep; where pleasant little streams fit into
sight, and almost as quickly disappear, and
the young forests bow their leafy welcome as
We pass
"June, lcafy June" of all seasons is the
month to travel, for then the blooming flow.
ers, the blossoming trees and the vcrdure OF
the wood give to forest, field and hillside
that charm and attraction 80 much admired by
every lover of nature. June is the month to
leave the "brick piled Cities" and seek the
secluded retreats, away from the busy haunts
of man, where nature revels in her mldest
mood and the only sounds to reach the ear
the song of birds mlngllng in joyous revelry
with purllng brooks and ripping cascades as
they chafe and tres agsinst the rocks that OBJ.
struct their course What Joy Is a day of
June spent amid such scenes and whether
beneath the spreading oak, the grand old elms
or the leafy chestnut, there is something sacred
in their associations, and especially at this
season, when they are clothed in all the beauty
and loneliness that the God of nature can be
stow.
But time nies and so does our train. as
thoughts such as these occupy "revered
seats" IN memory's hall, aud as we look out
over the marshy flats to the right, the blue
waters of Lake Michigan, like an unbounded
sea- stretch away to the east. On the left,
lofty church spires with golden crosses, made
brilliant by the departing rays OF setting
sun tower heavenward numerous chimucys
and high buildings lift their yellow forms Tar
above the tallest trees, with everywhere the
creamlike appearance of the buildings, and
all lighted by the last lingering flashes of a
golden flame just disappearingi in the cloudess
west as the train stopped at the depot in Mil
waukee Through the departing twilight we
make our way along the broad streets, the re.
freshiug breezes of Lake Michigan playing
around US, and the thoughts of ioamng
"schooners" OF Milwaukee beer uppermost III
our mind, we finally reached the Flankinton
one Of the finest and best kept hotels in the
West-and drop our grip" for brief stay.