Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-10-17
old WGtertOiUnGGns 61t the "LGnd
Of the DdLcOtGS"


WOONsoCKET,. Dakota, Oct. Is, '83.
EDITOR Recommendation the III. and
D., and I. and D., and S, NJ. Divisions
of the @. NJ. & st. Paul Railroad lies the
town, not yet three days old, (by the
completion of the "Plat') with the
above euphonious name. The name is of
qeer sound at first, but soon becomes
wieldy, and to the sons of 'Little
Rhody' is not at all singular-being
the namesake of one of their principal
cities, Il great India Rubber manufacture
ing center. Indeed, I have a pair of
long legged rubber boots with Woonsocket
stamped upon the bottom. You will
wonder what man with short legs like
mine, wants of a pair of long legged
boot! But explanations are not in order.
l ought to have located the town at the
junction of the above named Divisions
of our greatest Wisconsin Railway. We
have already here, and in full blast, four
lumber yards; two well stocked general
stores; blacksmith shop; barber shop;
four hotels; a dozen or more resi-
dences, besides the r. r. offices. Fifty
business lots were sold the first day after
the plat was completed, and not by the
"boom" method either, and at prices
ranging from $4,000 to $4,000. The
stu alton of the town is beautiful if any
thing upon these broad, treeless prairies
can be said to be beautiful. Ground
rolling, susceptible of good natural
drainage, and water at the depth of about
20 to 26 feet of the best quality, as good
as that afforded by the famous carte
sians'' of Watertown. The climate, if
one can Judge after a months soiourn
here, is equal to that of Wisconsin, and
for people troubled with asthma it is SUI
perior. Of this I speak advisedly, for
having inherited asthma from my moth
er, it has been one of the pests of my
life. But since reaching this locality I
have not suffered with it at all.
Everything in the shape of society is
yet to be formed here, but I am happy
to say that, so far, the people gath
ing here are an exceptionally fine class
of folks, and our future in this respect
promises we'll For instance: the man
who represents the railway company's
interests here, in the sale of lots, fixing
business sites, &C., &C., in fact the Mayor
pro tenn, being Of the sort who not only
care for the material, but as we'll for the
moral health of people and town, arose
early yesterday Sunday morning, and
set himself about finding a place where
Divine Service might be held. Finding
large carpenter shop, he ''burglarized"
the door, swept out the shop, extempor>
lied seats with boards and nail kegs,
built a pulpit with dry goods box, Ga
hatchet-George's-being his only tool, J
making very artistic "book rest" with
pitch which forces us to believe that
somewhere and sometime in the past he
had been familiar with such things; and
after all these arrangements had been
completed, the said ''town-site-man," cir
oulated about the scene his labor, warning
people out to church cat II a. m. sharp!"
Well, you, nor any of Watertown's good
people, will not be surprised in the least,
when I tell you that the said "town-site-
man is your own whilom neighbor and
friend, ex-candidate for sheriff of Jeffer.
son county, VIM. F. Sommerfeld, ESQ.
lam building home here and expect
to have my family in it by the last of
November. Mail time and I must stop
short or "short stop, "sand say regards to
all friends, and ego west"
Yours truly,