The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1891-11-20
A DREAM OF THE FUTURE
THE CITY OF owosso FOR THE
YEAR 1900.
A Version of Our City's Future Greatness
as seen by Charles d. Haines.

and COrunna road, returned to Ow0ss0 We'd
nesday evening. After retiring for the
night, he meditated on the present greatness
and future possibilities of our young city,
and when ''sleep kissed his eyelids down,
he dreamed dream of Owosso, which he
thus narrates:
'skfound, myself, enc bright morning in
the year 1900, in a sumptuops hotel, in a
city that was strange to me. l stepped to
the door and looking out saw that elegant
buildings surrounded me on all sides, while
paved streets echoed to the tread Of hundreds
of hurryiDg feet. After breakfasting in the
elegantly appointed dining room OF the hotel
l strOlled out into the streets. Everything
was new and strange to me, but knew that
was in very large city. for l met and
passed hundreds of people. AT last / came
to what seemed to be one of the city's prin-
cipal streets through which motor street cars
were running at frequent intervals. Some
were lettered "Main and 25th ST., via COrun.
ma Ave-, and others were lettered to show
that they ran direct to railway stations, the
names Of which were new to me. One car
/ noticed bore the legend to detroit and
Owoss0 Air Line depot" and from this felt
convinced that was in Owosso.
had been i'm Owosso during a portion of
the winter of 1891, and though then a busy,
bustling, enterprising place, it was nothing
like the city in which now stood. Motto
ing that the cars were all we'll filled as they
went gliding almost nOselessy by, asked
gentleman who stood i'm the entrance of q
large wholesale boot and shoe store, what
was the occasion of such a rush of travel
He answered i'm surprise, "Why. there isn't
any rush. That is only the usual every day
travel on the cars" Surprised and astonish-
ed, asked what had caused the great
growth of the city. "Well," he replied,
OwossO got its great boom when the motor
line was built something like ten years ago
and has gone right along ever SINCE"
''And of COrunna," anxiOusly inquired,
having an atfectionate regard for that burg
years before
''Corunna," he repeated, while smile of
incredulity passed over his beaming cOunte-
nance, ''Corunna! well, this is Corunna, or
in other words Corunna and OwOssO are
one, welded, If | remember correctly, in
1894. A stranger l take it," he queried,
yankee like.
Upon my giving an affirmative nod, for l
was too astonished to speak, he continued:
at was a queer sort of annexation; not
mite of jealousy, for while the people of
COrunna loved That name and OwOsso folks
were equally proud of hers, both parties
were anxious to please. So it was decided
to leave the choice of names to A. j. Patter-
son and that is how you are in Owosso in
stead of COrunna."
''Such generosity and angelic dispositions
border upon the divine" 1 thoughtfully re-
piled, just as policeman, i'm a gorgeous suit
of blue, took me by the arm and said ''Come,
young man, move on; funeral professions
only permitted on the fourth avenue above
and you've got to get better gait on you at
that to catch up with the tail end"
Twelve o'clock edition EvENIN' TIMES"
cried little tot, nearly knocking me off
my equilibrium in his mad rush down the
street.
For the distance of three or four blocks |
kept up with the surging crowd until OPP
pOsite a very fine structure which was called
''Ball Street Opera House." while almost
directly opposite was an equally fine build
ing which was known as the "OwOssO
Casino"
l was anxious to see more of the city
without being jOstled and pushed from one
part of the sidewalk to the other, so board
ed the Corunna Avenue Line cars and was
soon being carried rapidly past large stores,
many of which were devoted to the whole
sale trade, past extensive haii Ifactnring cs-
Establishments, fine residences and several
beautiful churches. One of these manufac-
turing institutions apparently covered be-
tween eight and ten acres 1t was the |
EStey Manufacturing Co., as l was told, |
that it was the largest establishment of its |
kind in the world, employing over 10000 |
men.
After / had ridden several blocks the |
conductor called out Arbeiter Verein Park. |
With large number of others left the car |
and entered the park, which found to be a
very beautiful one, large trees adding much |
TO its beauty, while elegant shrubbery, |
beautiful flower beds, we'll kept lawns and
smooth walks showed that it was well
cared for. There were rustic seats scattered |
about the park, children were playing on
the grass and nursemaids were flirting with |
the park policemen. There was a fine
pavilion for band. The park was COM
plete in every detail and the number of peo-
pie in 1t showed that the citizens appreciated |
its beauties and advantages as breathing |
place. After spending an hour or more at |
this lovely spot l again took the car and |
was rapidly carried by the base ball ground, |
which from the crowds surging in a. the |
gates, concluded must be well patrOnized. |
Over the entrance at the grand stand |
q flag was floating to the gentle |
breeze bearing this inscription, champion |
Western League" A short distance beyond |
was the Shiawassee fair grounds and con-
or STORES, residences ana wholesale /
business houses. AS the new Court House |
had been completed a year or so before, l |
again left the car so as to be better enabled |
to enjoy looking over what was claimed to |
be the finest and most complete structure of |
its kind in the state. 1t was indeed a beau
titul building and the pride of the whole |
people of Shiawassee. After walking |
through this part of the city, the tenth and |
eleventh wards. for an hour, l came to the |
boulevard, very wide and handsome street, |
paved with asphalt and the popular drive of
city. was just at the right time of day to
see the wealth and style Of the city out for
an airing, and saw hundreds of handsome
carriages, many horseback riders and scores
of natty buggies, drawn by fast trotters.
Once again boarded a car, this time to re-
turn to the hotel. / had ridden but short
distance when the car met with an accident
ran off the track and began humping over
the stones and rose to my feet, when the
car gave sudden lurch and 1 was thrown
to the ground and woke to find my wife
preparing TO pour pitcher of water on my
head, all other efforts to waken me having
been of no avail.
1t was a dream, but even dreams come
true sometimes, and what saw in my vision