Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-03-08
JOTTINGS FROM IOWA.

EDITOR CHRONICLE pIolnIseui III
my last, to give the readers of The
CHRONICLE q few more jots from this
section of Iowa-so L will endeavor to
finish my remarks about the town ot
Fontanelle. There is an unoccupled
square in the center, and the town is
built around this square, with wide
streets, having plank sidewalk along
the same, and each lot is large enough
to contain dwelling house and garden,
or grape arbor. So you see that market
gardening around Fontanelie don't pay.
This town covers about as much terri
tory at present as St. Clairsvllle does,
but as there were nearly 100 houses
built in it last summer, l predict 1t Will
eclipse YOUR town before this time next
wear. Our town contains several trad
ing marts-two drug stores, two first
class restaurants, two hotels, two har-
ness shops, two or three placKsmith
shops, one barber shop, one ]ewelfy
store, two hardware stores, two mllli-
uer and mantuamaker shops, one
printing Office, (the ObserVer), Two art
galleries, three resident doctors, one
boot and shoe shop, two lawyers, four
preachers. five or six dry goods and gro
Gerry stores, ,one or two wagon and dgrlcul-
tural implement repair shops, two meat
markets, two lumber yards, about doz
en- good grocery and provision stores,
ten Thousand dollars school house, anu
and one bank. This speaks we'll for as
Young a town as Fontanelle; and one
citizen of this town is member of the
well-known firm of Adams, Eldrldge y
Jackson, live stock commission mer-
chants of Chicago. SO you see we have
some men here that posses backbone, In
financial point of view. We have a
grain elevator and Touring mill, and
an express office, and several insurance
offices, and one creamery. There Is one
thing we have not got in Fontanelle, land
that is a drinking saloOn-so you can
bet on it's being a Republican town. The
buildings are neat and artistic frame
structures-there being but one orlck
block in the town. To take it all IN all,
this town is a very desirable place to
live.
The surrounding country is an undu,
laUing plain, the most of which Is pral'
rie, but along the streams of water and
the sloughs there is an abundance oil
timber, composed mainly of hickory
elm. linn or Eastwood, burr oak, black
walnut, Jack oak, and there are some
red oak, maple. ash and buckeye.
There are some points here that are
thatched with stone, but as a general
thing there is no stones in the ground
here. 1t is somewhat hilly around Fon
taneIle, and to this | attribute its great
CAPACITY for corn and stock raising. LII
days Of yore there has been great de-
structioE ara waste of TIMBER here
but pow, if the men had their timber
back asair, they would find some other
way to ges their whisky than by trading
timber for it. They begin To see the ne
cessity of fencing their farms more ex
teusively than heretofore; nut now, the
majority OF citizens are industrious ano
economical. Of course. there Is here
and there a rich man lntersperseo
among US poor class, but TO take the
whole community around here, they will
equal any other people in the world fol
honest dealing. Nothing strange about
this. when we take into consideration
that the community is largely Republic
can.
There is fair share of painters, car
penters, cabinet makers and JOiners IL
our town, and many other trades toe
numerous to mention. The principa
religions are the Methodlsts and the
Congregationailst but still they have
a race course near the town.
The public square is decorated al
around with shade trees. 1t would
make as nice seat for a court house ol
city hall, as any square l ever saw.
We had very hard winter here. W.
have had about 1S or 20 inches Of snow
and as cold weather as was ever known
here. The winter commenced here
about the 25th of November. and we
had no real let-up till the last few day:
of February. The wild geese began t6
90 over here on the evening of the last
day of February, so the backbone of oul
winter is considered broken.
| RFI MONTER