Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-01-28
C. N. Hslford Heard From.


winter in
"A land where they don't shovel snow"
There was certainly plenty of snow
to be shoveled in Grant county, aud
more coming. Along the Military
Ridge some of the trees were SO loaded
with snow, tina. great branches were
riven from the parent trunks.
With that deliberateness characters
tic of branch roads, our train swung
round the circle from Lancaster to
Platteville-a magic circle, inasmach
rs it enables some of the members of
the county board living twelve or fif-
teen miles from the court house to draw
mileage for fifty miles each way.
1t was about IL o'clock when the
long train on the Illinois Central-part
bound for Chicago and smaller part for
Cairo-in the latter part of which was
your correspondent. left the Galena
depot. As we glided up the narrow
valley of Fever river, the full moon was
cleaning on the snow which made the
low cliffs of the vale and the rocky
walls of the cut seem like q sort of
supernaturaliy white marble, crowned
with volutes more graceful than any
the chisel of a Greek sculptor ever ex-
ecuted. At this point the well regulated
correspondent would describe his re-
treat to the sleeping car and proceed to
make fun Of things in that gorgeous
palace; but there never was bit style
about me; so l remained in my seat.
and those two dollars remained in my
trousers pocket. About o'clock the
train stepped for breakfast at Ell Paso.
The name of this. little city is good
illustration. of the recklessness and utter
lack of thought and originality shown
by the Americans in many places. Ell
Paso, Mexico. named by the Spaniards,
is situated in real pass, where the Rio
Grande breaks through mountain
chain. Ell Paso, Illinois. named by the
Americans who probably had no idea
what the word means, is situated on a
fiat plain. Another illustration was to
be seen in the Summit House," while
there was not the slightest summit in
the whole region. The Americans,
though so ingenious in devising and so
apt in adapting things to circumstances
in mechanics, are. when it comes to
language, the clumsiest of all peoples-ua-
less perhaps the English--and in adapt
ing names to places are the most COM
plete bunglers. e
1t was quite as .wintry through Gen.
trail Illinois, as in. Southern Wisconsin.
This region is now by no means the
treeless plain we'll remember it when
passing over it in war time. What with
the shade trees and orchards about the
houses and along the roads, and the
thick growths of "black jacks on the
rougher and uncultivated spots. the
prairie aspect of the country is greatly
LuOuihVas AhdCCu lOl LOEbf lliOo off
each side of Vandalia it is rather tim
bered country than prairie. The
alarm which is SO often raised about the
extinction of American forests may be
true one, but it is exactly contrary
to my observations in all the Western
states. A fair example is Grant county,
which every old settler knows has now
several times as much timber as it had
thirty years ago.
About nine o'clock the train stopped
at Normal, and about dozen incipient
school na'am loaded with books got
off. In few minutes more we were at
Bloomington, that great magnet which
draws to itself so much mail and ex-
press matter which ought to 60 to our
little Badger Bloomington. Here is an
other exasperating example of the imbe-
cility of the Americans in the matter of
adapting names to places. When in-
vestigated the matter = few years ago
l found fourteen Bloemlngtons on our
post-office list. Probably some have
been added since.
l spent . day with old friends at
Greenville (another idlotic example of
nomenclature) fifty miles east of st.
Louis. Here the young folks were en-
ioying the excellent sleighing and the
splendid moonlight evening.
Wednesday evening, just before dark.
our train came into East st. Louis,
where the wide, level bottom is a gil
gantic network of rails on the ground
and still more complicated network
of wires overhead. 1t must take vast
amount Of skill to switch train through
this wonderful labyrinth, The river
was gorged with dirty and smoky ice
and on the mighty bridge, which seems
to dwarf even the Father of Waters, the
pure white frost and the ugly black
SCOT were contending on the pondersus
stone arches, though outside it was
raining.
When l arrived the weather was do
ing its best to sustain the reputation
of st. Louis as the coolest, hottest. dust
lest, muddiest and most uncomfortable
city in the land. 1t had been raining
all day but at night the wind changed
to the northwest, and when ventured
en- the street in the morning, the fiend-
ish cold almost took away my breath.
Another time may tell you what /
have seen here. though really there
seems to be very little worth telling.
G. n. HoLFoRD.
st. Louis, Mo-, Jan. %, 1886.
Beet0wn.