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Newspaper
Freeport Journal
Location
Freeport, Illinois, United States of America
Date
Jul 31, 1867
Page
4
A late 19th century column notes scorching thermometer readings, dull business, and farmers busy with mower and reaper. It laments slow local items, urges harvest celebrations, and critiques sentimental death notices while urging fresh verses.
The work on macadamizing Exchange Street and the State Road toward the stone church is progressing favorably and should finish in good weather. Other streets undergoing the same process are going well. The late Mr. O Clayton residence on Chicago Street undergoes repairs including a rear barn and a new front piazza. Tarbox's new block brickwork is underway with cellar walls near completion and prospects for rapid finish. Crosswalk holes remain unfixed and hazardous requiring immediate attention.
A July 18 1867 game in SIEAMON between Hill City Mount Carroll and Prairie club Win City resulted in Hill City defeat. Scoring shows Upderaff Giddings Duncan Newcomer Moran and others with Prairie 37 to Hill City ? Umpire John H Lasher Prairie scorer Hallhurst and Mover noted.
Thursday's Daily notes residents lament delaying gas mains on Exchange street during macadamizing. With five nearby churches and the second ward school in reach, gas would boost usage and profits. Also mentions petroleum cures itch, coming political offices, strong harvests, a thanks note for a floral bouquet, and journalist Wirt Sikes in Chicago with the Silver Palace excursion.
Readable fragments report a thirty day ree ot period tied to a local tax or service assessment. The note mentions officials and a schedule but leaves key dates and actions unclear. Further transcription will clarify involved parties and deadlines.
The writer records 30 days of readings from the Oriental Hygro Barometer and finds it surprisingly accurate compared with the mercurial barometer. He notes the instrument forecasts next day weather by the pointer’s 2 to 4 pm position, with rain, changeable, or dry predictions. He urges publication and stresses proper initial adjustment for reliable daily use.
An Eastern exchange notes Elmira New York plans a new railroad depot costing twenty eight thousand dollars. It contrasts Elmira’s growth with Freeport’s, criticizing our city’s old depot and urging local business leaders to fund a substantial improvement via a subscription, to attract residents and investors.
Yesterday Jake examined a new invention for the county a cast iron chimney tops and flues. The patentee Mr B W Laher aims to replace brick flues entirely with this design promising simpler construction and potentially improved durability.
The offer promotes chimney caps that fit ridge or aide positions and stop water leaks around chimneys. They reportedly prevent drafts, are durable and ornamental, reduce fire risk, and allegedly draw better than current chimneys. Easy to install within an hour, they require no special tools. Col W Ae Coth er & Co. hold the agency for the region and plan a county canvass soon.
The Friday Daily presents verses from Tennyson’s Princess as a meditation on death and a long goodbye. It also reprints a letter from Lewis F. Burrell to the Freeport Bulletin detailing the Old First Presbyterian Church’s origins. He lists early members, ruling elders, pastors, and the community effort to build begun in 1847 with funds in kind, outlining subs, materials, and key contributors. He notes later splits and enlargements, with a current total of about 500 on the church books, about 230 remaining.
On Wednesday afternoon a house belonging to Mr Charles Frank two miles northeast of Cedarville was struck by lightning. The building had no lightning rod but damage was not serious. The First Presbyterian church congregation will meet temporarily at Fry's Hall until a new edifice is ready.
A brief note highlights French's Oriental Circus arriving tomorrow with two exhibitions, afternoon and evening, touted as the best equipped traveling company. A Chicago baseball dispatch reports Forest City of Rockford defeating the Nationals of Washington, marking a notable Rockford win and pride for local supporters who joined the team in Chicago.
Yesterday we met Rev Weldon former rector of the Episcopal church in this city. He plans to stay a few days, with headquarters now at Winnebago, where he is ruralizing for the health of himself and his family. He appears well.
The 26th Illinois regiment U S W plans a September reunion. Capt Jas Davis and Lieut W Polk were members of this regiment. Gen G D Atkins has been invited to deliver an address at the event.
Saturday's Daily reports Bishop Whitehouse of the Episcopal Diocese of Illinois has convened a special convention at the Cathedral in Chicago. The session is set for Wednesday, August 21, at 10 a.m. to handle all business of the annual convention, replacing the regular September session if allowed by the convention.
The piece reflects varied reader motives for a local paper from entertainment to truth seeking, noting some readers want sharp commentary while others watch the editor’s choices and wonder about what is or isn’t recorded. The narrator acknowledges the editor writes to earn an honest living and keep the paper attractive.
Dr Knapp formerly of New York who has visited Freeport regularly for nine years and cured chronic diseases cancers and eye and ear ailments deemed incurable by many consults at the Howard House Thursday August free consultation as shown on his card in another column his visit lasts one day only and no charge for the consultation
Yesterday Mr H R Wheeler delivered a specimen tomato to our office measuring 183 inches in circumference and weighing 10 ounces. The fruit is described as a perfect monster and suggests Gen Shaffer's farm is exceptionally productive.
A fisher boy yesterday pulled from the Pecatonica River a three foot eel weighing four pounds thirteen ounces. Such large eels are a rarity in the river with few records of similar catches.
The Freeport Cornet Band gave a fine serenade last evening from the Exchange block roof. The music sounded splendid and the citizens are urged to support and encourage the band to keep it organized and strong for what it should become.
The Dixon Telegraph reports Arlington's Minstrels in Union Hall last Friday with evident talent but little audience taste. The piece notes high admission receipts from half dollars and extra reserved seats, calls the show nonsensical, and warns citizens to avoid such acts as the troupe moves west.
The Ena youths talk of forming a brass band using secondhand instruments. The Star advises purchasing new instruments, arguing they are cheaper in the long run and endorsing the sound plan to go for the best.
A stark poem portrays Emperor Maximilian facing execution in Mexico, betrayed by enemies, with thoughts of Carlotta and his wife. It emphasizes personal sacrifice, love, and the fall of a monarch as riflemen prepare to fire.
Mr J R Lemon of Freeport Illinois visited Council Bluffs last week and expressed plans to establish a local home insurance company. He praised the city and suggested a home institution could provide as good protection as foreign firms, promising to report back after returning home.
A longtime observer of local pages explains how readers scan the locals for distinct aims. The old maid seeks marriages and deaths, the businessman reads editorials on neighbors, the doctor checks for injuries, travelers hunt for railway accidents, witnesses seek the editor’s version, and others want all details or proof.
The Union Agricultural Society of Jo Daviess Stephenson and Lafayette counties lists premiums officers and rules for the seven annual fair to run September 10–13 1867 at the Warren fair grounds. Committee members include Matthews Young and vice president William Corning.
The year’s promise centers on a bountiful wheat harvest as mown hay scents linger in the summer air. Reapers’ songs rise across fields and meadows while grain yields grow abundant, filling granaries and inspiring gratitude for divine Providence’s blessings.
A Greenwood Garden picnic yesterday drew a large crowd for the Union Cornet Band fundraiser. Music by the Saengerbund Turnverein and a French circus band added to the attractions, with no incidents reported. financial results not yet known.
The city thronged Saturday as French's Oriental Circus performed twice near the German School. About 1,700 attended in the afternoon and over 8,000 in the evening, with orderly crowds and high praise for a show deemed superior to recent years. The paper endorses the bona fide attraction for readers. Also noted is a patent issued to B. Weiland of Orangeville for a new corn planter.
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