The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-09-25
Serena.
Beautiful Scenery--A Pretty Village
Personal Items.

Monday last was lovely day, one such as
Lowell, the poet, would describe as mot all
white and glsten, but all green and blue,
and the leaves family turning towards the
lights of frost and fall weather. There is
no more beautiful scenery in this whole re
gion than the traveller sees along the railway
line upon Fox rivers picturesque banks
While grander scenery Of the far west is
sought for and written up over and over by
master pens; yet here Oh a smaller scale
may be found in rich profusion glen and
glade, waterfalls and dashing rapids, noun.
tain sides and sparkling streams, fairy caves
and elfn bowers, and the beautiful in nat
ural scenery spread around in rich, varied
and endless profusion. The far west may
have its Garden of the GODS here is the
bower of their goddesses.
This romantic region extends from Ottawa
to near Serena, distance Of about ten miles.
and to one of poetic or sentimental turn of
mind especially when the feelings are sen
sitive to beautiful surroundings, the run up
on the cars is all too short, for in the midst
Of delightful half.dreams, halfrealities, one
is suddenly whirled out Of a fairy realm
into region of every day labor, Of common
plain and level prairie farms, rich, It's true
in corn, and cattle grazing in the fields; but
the sameness and wholly unromantic plain
is before you-a fact in which there is little
room for fancy.
Serena is small country town with few
stores, shops, &c, good grain and live.
8 ock and provision arket, with an xcelle t
school, in which, it is alleged, a worthy
young school teacher, Miss Ball. Of Tonica,
through the excessive economy Of the direc-
tors, is being overworked in managing fifty
pupils and most of them very young.
The commissioners have begun series of
permanent improvements in graveling the
public highways, aiming to spend from $500
to $500 year on this work until every road
is made solid and every bridge and culvert
q structure of stone.
A PROSPEROUS FARMER.
Visiting Mr.. II. X. PARIS, our local was
greeted by the robust and hearty welcome
which never fails any friend of that hospita
BILE granger and his excellent lady. In her
absence from the rooms, once during our
stay, we took occasion to inspect q number
of beautiful drawings, the work of her own
fair hands, and were surprised to find them
more than excellent, and our admiration
grew to wonder when we learned that some
Of them-one in particular-was her ANA
teur effort, before she had taken a lesson!
Miss Rae Parr, her daughter, evinces much
skill in the use of the brush asd pencil. But
what cares Hank" las Mr.. Parr is called
for art +? lie led us to his mammoth hay
shed, containing one hundred tons Of good
hay, so ingeniously constructed that horses
and cattle, as many as can at once occupy
eighteen rods of hay racks, can be fed to.
gether. The racks are placed just outside
of the stack or rick Of hay piled within, and
beyond the immense roof covers hay, racks,
cattle, horses and all, while the outside is
protected by .esther,b boarding Mr.. Parr
has 90 head Of good one half to three-fourths
blood Norman horses and colts. He is build
ing new corn crib, 2Sxi0 feet, ~ feet to
the roof, TO take the place of one recently set
fire and burnt down by a stroke of lightning.
lie has also just completed q cow.barn and
corn. crib, 22x2s, 10 feet to the roof.
PERSONAL.
Kiss llukie neli.y. of New Orleans, a
young lady who numbers among her many
accomplishments that of being . ine must
oian, Is visiting with Mis- Rae Psrr. On