The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1910-03-12

AN OLD pANsE HEwsrAPER.
Copies Of The Industrial Age Present.
ed to Houghton Library.

The Houghton Public Library has
been presented by Richard Treloar with
bound copy Of the II issues Of The
Industrial Age, the first newspaper is
sued in L'Anse. The paper was edited
by Joseph C. Waldron and its first issue
appeared April 25,ls74 The motto
"Open to all Parties; Influenced by
None, appeared at the head of its front
page. The volume contains only II
issues and the last one, published August
Is, states that those indebted to the pap
er must settle before September Is or
be sued. This notice was the papers
valedictory. The paper contains lot
of matter which seems interesting now.
Will A.Childs appears in the table of
county officers as Judge of Probate of
Baraga county.
The L'Anse market may offer an in
teresting comparison with present pric-
es: Kerosene oil 80 cents a gallon, pork
SIT to $50 barrel, beef SIS to SIG, ham
II to o1S cents per pound, butter IS to SO,
lard 12A, white sugar 10, tea rs to 81. 76
per pound. raisins rs cents per pound.
The paper gives December 16, 1872 as
the date of the first train on the Hough-
ton & Ontonagon railroad. which must
then have been the first day of railroad
transportation into the copper country.
Some Of the names of mercantile
firms are still known; ;Penberthy &
Brennan, general merchandise; Peter
Ruppe, general merchandise; A. F. Is
ler, drugs; E. L. Mason & Co., bankers;
L'Anse brewery, McKernsn & Stein
bach, proprietors.
The issue of May 2 contains story
Of the attempt to forego Calumet &
Hecla drafts by the order of lot Of
copies Of an original draft blank
through Milwaukee firm. The firm
became suspicious and asked the COM
pany to confirm the order, which frus-
trated the plot.
The issue Of May l6 talks of pro-
posed blast furnace for L'Anse.
This notice appears in the issue of
June IS: mick Demgen, Dray No. l,
now draws water at 20 cents per load. I"
An item in the same issue credits the
Portage Lake Mining Gazette with say
ing. "a cold air cave has been discov-
cred on Isle Royale which furnishes an
atmosphere in summer which is at
freezing point"
The Fourth Of July celebration at
L'Anse for 1874 is advertised June q
and gives the name Of Thomas l.. Chad
bourne of Houghton as orator of the
day. But an issue following the Fourth
of July shows that Thomas N. Brady.
the late Judge Brady, was the orator,
Mr.. Chadbourne evidently being unable
to be present.
The first Michigan legislative junket
to the copper country isreported in the
issue of August 8. Representative r.
M. Hoar had induced the legislators to
come and that body, of committee,
naively advised the people of the cop
per country that they would be here
August Ia leaving Chicago August IL,
and that their transportation had been
provided free of charge by the railroads
concerned.
Ingot copper was quoted June n at
"a cents per pound and ON August II
at 10 cents, which would Indicate q
serious slump in the copper market of
those days. Houghton Mining Gazette.
This paper was issued about six years
before the SENTINEL came into ex-
istence. 1t would, be great pleasure
to read again little bits Of happenings
in those days. Our files were nearly
all destroyed in the fire of 1896, which
laid our little city low.