Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-02-18


prise chance 70 expand with Il wider
view. The Hotel Johannesburg was
owned by the Town company, and its
situation ol slight knoll at the foot
of Johns mountain had been chosen
with View to the prospect. Standing
on the steps Of the verGnda, Philip saw
a background Of wooded slopes rising
IN green bravery to the line Of rugged
cliffs al the summit of Jubal noun
tain: middle distance OF valley where
the course of the Chiwassee river was
defined By bed OF fieecy mist ruffied
into seai-transparency by the warmth
of the morning sun; to the left. be-
yond the narrower strip OF mist mark
ing the windings of the Little Chiwas-
see, the bold forehead OF Bun noun
tain overtopping the town. These were
the frame for the picture which human
activity was etching into the level area
inclosed by the two streams. Long
vistas of streets marked by burrows
turned at the curb lines open spaces
dotted with the stakes of the surveyor
and heaped with piles of brick and lum-
Der; uncounted numbers OF half-fin-
ished buildings upon which the work
men clustered like swarming bees; the
muffled drumming of hosting engines;
the strident exhausts OF the locomo-
tives in the railway yard; the clang of
hammers in boiler shop-everywhere
the sights and sounds of restless in
dustry and impatient progress.
Under such circumstances the gre
Carious impulse asserts itself irresisti-
bly, Thorndyke looked about him for
a possible sympathizer, and, by proc
ess of natural selection which is as UNI
accountable as it is inerrant. he pitched
upon young man sitting apart from
tie various groups on the veranda.
Drawing up a chair, he began TO I'M
burden himself
1T beats anything l ever heard of, :"
he said. What IS there behind it alp"
Standing as "a target for the gunnery
of other peoples surprise was no new
experience for the man of Philips selec-
ton. and he smiled good-naturedly. "a
good many people have asked that ques-
ton. can't answer it to my own salts
f. ,tion, but others would say the coal
StAlNA AlOls Tic Vi pm ltillA llltln
featuring centers in the south, and the
consequent pressing need for one just
here; the climate, and hundred other
things besides"
Are the coal and iron realities?'
"Qh, yes, very much SO; this noun
tain behind the hotel is a vast coal bed,
and that one over there"-pointing to
the cliffs across the Little Chiwassee-
lis equally rich in iron of fair quality"
Then the people are not merely crazy
enthusiasts. after all"
That's as you please to look at it,
So far as natural resources go, the place
is solid. There is any quantity Of build
ing material, marble, sand and lime
stone, fire clay, timber, coal and iron.
Ii city may be built upon the mere
presence of raw material, Allacoochee
is fact accomplished"
THAT implies a doubt; may ask the
reason?"
Certainly, though I'm not at all sure
1 can make it plain. All the advantages
/ have named and a dozen more are here
TO be sure, but they've always been here,
and it remained for our friends the pro
moters to find out that they would war
rant all this" including the visible part
of Allacoochee by a comprehensive ges-
ture. More than that, the same adj
Nantages may be found in plenty Of To-
calities in the south, some OF them
much more accessible than this valley.
And then | have an old-fashioned idea
that cities can't be created arbitrarily"
They smoked in silence for a little
while, and then Thorndyke took a card
from his case and handed it to his com
panion.
"Let me introduce myself" he said.
az just got in last night, and you may
be able to tell me what | want TO know"
Il am entirely at your service, Mr.
Thorndyke."
The reply was prompt and courteous,
and Philip read Robert Protheroe, c.
L." on the card which was handed him.
my physician has sent me here" he
explained, land he tells me l must live
out of doors. How shall go about it?''
How do you want to go about it?"
Philip laughed. I'll have to confess
that my plans are trife indefinite.
had an idea that perhaps ] might go
into the woods with the lumbermen Or
the turpentine gatherers.
You're still too far north for that;
there are no lumber camps or turpentine
forests in this part Of The state, and if
there were, hardly think the life would
be what you want. Your trouble is
pulmonary"
"Ycs; pulmonary"
Protheroe reflected for a moment.
This country is said to be favorable
for consumptives-on better authority
than that Of our friends of the pros
pectus, | mean--and if you ask my adj
vice" lie paused and looked inquir-
ingly at Philip.
Yes; please go on"
Il should say that you might find out
what it will do for you by getting board
at some farmhouse in the valley. You
could put IN your time tramping about,
and the scenery would give you an OBJ