Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-01-14
Our Chicago Letter.

man life IS constantly moving in great
ethyl Every phase of existence. dancing
upon the stage, day and night. and fit
ting away like shadows. and as rapidly
followed by others equally varied. Life
and death. JOY and sorrow, riches and
poverty, virtue and vice. all the good
and evil of human nature are concen-
trated within the city's narrow limits.
and because concentrated seeming to
differ more from life in the country than
is really the case. ''And do You know
said my old Chicago friend. .tthat YOU
newspaper men are largely responsible
for giving the city worse reputation
than it deserves? In your thirst for the
sensational you give glaring promi-
nence to all the evil, and comparatively
little to the good, often passing it by
without even mention. Reverse
the rule-and the city and the world
would appear much BETTER
The oldgentleman spoke truly For
every good noticed by the papers,
hundred crimes are heralded abroad.
gathered from the four winds of heaven.
Here in this town nearly seven hundred
thousand decent people are daily at
tending to their duties, honestly and
faithfully. unnoticed. when if but a SIN
gle cashier skips off to Canada with his
employers funds, so much publicity is
given 10 his act and SO much attention 4
as TO lead the careless reader to con-
clude that the fleeing rascal is a fair
specimen of all the employees in the city.
the truth being the very reverse.
''There goes little news-giil,n added
my old friend, ''who, when / gave her
nickel for penny paper. thinking /
had made mistake, ran after me TO
correct it. Why don't the papers pub
lish such things as that. and put great
headlines over it, as they do over sc-
counts of petty or other crimes Why,
do you know, sir, that am sometimes
tempted to establish paper myself
and devote it entirely to the publishing
of the good deeds of mankind? Suppose
I'd get any subscribers, eh?''
Speaking of newspapers, there are
two hundred and ssventy-eight of all
descriptions, issued in this place, in
Gliding eight morning and ten evening
dailies. the whole representing every
imaginable interest and opinion, relig-
ious and political, from the cradle to
the grave, even the undertakerS having
an organ, whose somber title, 1.-The
Stroud" can hardly make it "a well
come visitor to every home" The pa
pers are printed in nine different lam
guages, and jaw one another in many
more. The exiled Poles have three or
gans, one the excellent 'Dzienswietsin'
There goes a mail-carrier." contin-
ued my guide. philosopher and friend
why don't yeu give them puff for
honesty and faithfulness? Last year
they delivered nearly seventy-ive mill
lions of letters in this city-332 ofthem,
and there is not thief among them.
The total pieces Of mail handled by
them was 5,505, 900 delivered, and
collected 101, 545, 0O0 Think OF the
walks those fellows had to take, and at
scarcely living salaries, while the big
guns who loaf half the time carry off
the plums! II makes me mad to think
of such injustice. You look grave, my
young friend, as if my prosy facts were
not sensational enough for you. Well,
il you want grave items go out to
Graceland cemetery and see old John
Kane, the grave-digger, who has been
there twenty-six years and helped put
under the sod thirty Thousand people in
that period. Good day, now, I'll see
you again"
| The butter and the butterine men are
at war, and both with oiled gloves are
stripped for the fray. The state board
of agriculture was asked to take sides
with Old Brindle and positively refused
to enter the arena, declaring that the
butterine is good enough, If we'll made,
but favored having it sold under its
proper name. The fight between the
"buttersn waxeth warm, and now we
have even butterine candles by the light
of which to comb our hash Another
war is begun on the elevator men,
which will be watched with eager inter-
est by growers and shippers of grain.
One of these concerns is said to be
grinding 40 per cent net profit out of
the producers, paying salary of ten
thousand year to their superintendent
alone, which facts and their
heavy charges for storage
threaten to destroy the grain trade
of Chicago. To bring these thieves TO
their senses farmers and country deal
ers should combine and build their own
elevators and ship directly eastward.
The grading of wheat here is another
evil which robs the producer. of which
more 1t another time.
| The recent cold blizzard has again
convinced the wayward Chicagoan that
possibly there may be warmer place
in the universe, and lowered his proud
estimate of this place as winter re-
sort. IT has filed the stations with
tramps, about fifteen thousand of them,
and drawn heavily upon the city for
aid to the worthy poor The freezing
of water-pipes has given the plumbers
plenty to do, but with our $500 saloons
the cutting off of the water supply is
not serious matter! Nearly all rail
ways have been blockaded. Since
the holidays the town has been very dull
for Chicago, but everybody is hopeful
and looking for better times. Col c.
Chicago, Jan. y, 1886.
The cold snap has wrought incaleu-
liable damage ts the orange trees OF
Florida. and it is believed thousands Of
trees have been killed. The thermome-
ter has been lower than during the great
freeze of 1885. and the loss in fruit alone
| for this season is estimated at $500, 600.
Postmaster-(,eneral Villas house in