Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-11-26
Notes hy the Mayside.
We heard it first at dawn of day,
And it mingled with matin chimes;


And we call II now 'sold Times"
A few days since, business called me
to the town of Potosi, and it occurred
to me that | ought to follow the custom
OF travellers in general and write up an
account of my trip.
The day was lovely for the time of
year, though the golden haze of the
Indian summer sun tinging the hilltops.
the thick carpet of fallen leaves in the
woods, the variegated colors of the
leaves still clinging to the trees, all
told too plainly that
The melancholy days have come,
The saddest Of the year.
Passing down over the Lancaster
road, we first came to Rockville, little
hamlet of small pretensions, though
containing many men of sterling worth.
such as Hon. John Carthew, D. C.
Phillips, 10 Walker, and others.
Next we reach Buena Vista, local
nameforthe upper portion of BritishHoi-
low, which, as we pass notice, like other
mining towns, seems to lack the APP
pearance of thrift that characterized it
in The long ago.
As we pass on, we catch a glimpse
of the spire of the Catholic church at
Dutch Hollow, another of the little
towns that belong to this group.
Next we enter Snake Hollow, in which
Potesi is situated, and by which name
the place was formerly known. But
long years ago, Goodhue, in his s'La-
ment of Pete Tiff, SAID:
Snake Hollow, too, among the race,
Has changed its name as well as place.
This is true, as the place was first To-
Gated at La Fayette. at the mouth OF
the hollow; but the ague shook it out of
there and up to Van Buren,, from whence
the next shake sent it up to Potosi
proper.
Time was that Polosi was place of
Importance, in many respects even lead
ing Dubuque. Forty years ago it
showed all the push and enterprise OF
the average mushroom western town of
to-day. II enjoyed heavy trade, its
mines yielded largely, it was one of the
principal steamboat landings of the
upper Mississippi, and had a good class
of buildings for that day. But the gold
fever of 40 caused stampede from
which it never recovered; tho canal
.connecung Grant and the Mississippi
proved inadequate for the passage OF
boats except in high water, and its com
MERGE ceased, its mines failed, and its
many projected railroads did not ma
terialize; SO for years it seemed that all
Potosi needed was burying to make it
thing of the past. But now its aspect
has changed, and it seems to have taken
a new lease of life. Old buildings are
being repaired and new ones built !;
business is brisk and the place has
boom generally. 1t may never regain
its prestige. but the good people are
anxiously looking for the good time
coming. Her railroad is now fixed
fact, and the whistle of the locomotive
which has so long been listened for in
vain, will soon be heard reverberating
among her bills. First among the ia
miliar faces is that of Hon. j. w. Seaton,
too well known TO need any notice here;
| though as he is dressed in common
| garb, it mrst have been mist AXE about
his wearing an ascens' ION robe in the be-
lief that the millennium was to be
ushered in with the Inauguration OF
| Cleveland. Here also is Uncle Frank
Bonham, who moved into town to rest,
and although we'll up in the seventies,
is perhaps the hardest working man in
town-fxing up to live Next is the
Hon. Henry B. Coons; but | will pass
him by, as he was erstwhile written up
for The Teller by he Hurricane poet,
who saw HIM when he
| A pilgrim from the eastern shore,
Stood on Nevada's strand,
tear was in his hisher eye,
pickaxe in his hand.
| tear was in his hither eve,
/ And, in his left, to match
There might have been another tear
But for healing patch
| And o;her patches. too, he wore,
Which on his garments hun9,
| With two upon that i'll starred spot
Where mothers smite their young.
Here, too, is Sam Morris, who in the
long ago, as constable, was held as
threat over the heads of delinquent
debtors; and c. Kaltenbach, who has
been postmaster for 4S years, with the
exception of five years, when the office
was held by three different men, one of
whom defaulted, mulcting Mr.. K, who
was ON his bond, in the amount of his
defalcation. also notice among the
merchants the veteran III. w. Wright,
the handsome and gentlemanly Geo. I'll.
Lewis, and the wide-awake Henry Hunt,
who, though small i'll stature, as BUSH
ness man is good for twenty ounces to
the pound. But cannot stop to notice
all the familiar faces, so pass on down
the serpentine street, and the faces and
places see wildly recall old incidents
some lively, some ludicrous, some sad.
Here are still standing the former resi-
dences of some of the earlier Potosi
merchants, among them those of S. E.
Lewis, Sam Wilson and Julius Angus
tine, while pile of debris marks that
of ID. A. McKenzie-all their former
occupants having passed to the other
shore. And here, too, is the old circus
ground, where my boYish eyes were
dazzled by the tinsel and spangles of
the actors, and where | munched my
/ gingerbread by the quarter section
Yes, and here still stands the house
which calls up another "Reminiscences,
for here / first tried to dance. You
may wonder why don't express it in
modern parlance and say "trip the
light fantastic toe," but a regard fer
truth will not permit me to express it in
that way, for it isn't true. Yes, l
tripped, but didn't do it on purpose
In fact, | tried not to do so, but | kept
tripping myself and everybody else in
| the set until IL looked like an an.ohatio