Mason County, Illinois - The whole text, 1876 (part 2 of 6)

459 " As nearly as the limits of the formations can be made out from this section, I think that at least that portion between the base of the alluvium and drift, and the bituminous shale and limestone of this section, number seventeen, may be referred to the coal measures. The remainder is Devonian, with perhaps some of the upper beds of the lower carboniferous. The exact equivalent of the two beds of the coal passed through, may, perhaps, not be stated with certainty. The lower one, however, is probably No. 1, of the Illinois river section. The greatest depth reached in the boring was seven hundred and seventy-four feet, and the lowest rock was a gray porous limestone, the fragments of which, brought up by the instruments, were exactly similar in appearance to some of the upper limestones of the Niagai-a group, exposed in the northern part of the State, with which this formation may doubtless be properly identified.

The coal seam which is worked in this immediate neighborhood is No. 4, as has already been stated. A good exposure of this coal may be seen near the track of the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw Railroad, at a point of the bluff where the road enters the valley of Farm creek. It is here immediately overlaid by loess and drift, and is about four feet in thickness, the same as its average in other localities thereabouts. It is worked in various places, both in the river bluffs and for a mile or more up the valley of Farm creek, by horizontal drifts into the hill sides, some of which, in their various branches, are of considerable linear extent. The beds overlying the coal are not exposed to the surface at any point north of Farm creek, but the seam is generally found to have a roof of sandstone or sandy shale in the interior portions of the drift. - 8

Along the Illinois river bluffs, between Fon du Lac and Wesley City, there are several points where coal is now, or has been, worked, and there are a few exposures of the overlying sandstones in the bluffs near the main wagon road. South of Wesley City there are scarcely any exposures on the river face of the bluffs, but up the side ravines they are more numerous. In one of these ravines, some distance from the road, on the land of Mr. Davis, I observed the following succession of beds in a vertical exposure for about sixty rods along the sides of the bluffs:

It seems to me that the vein of coal observed here is still above both the seams which are worked in this region. The distance between this and the next vein below it, I should judge to be not more than forty or fifty feet. The limestone which always overlies the coal No. 6, is entirely wanting here, although, as may be seen bv the section, a bed of limestone occurs below its under clay, and farther down the creek. Below the exposures from which the above sections were made up, numerous thin beds of limestone may be seen intercalated in the sandstone outcrops. These limestone bands seem to be somewhat fossiliferous, but no good specimens were obtained. In the northeastern part of section twentvfour, township twenty-five, range five, on a northern fork of Lick creek, I noticed a quarry in a ledge of soft, light gray and brown micaceous sandstone, generally thin bedded and shaly, but in some places with beds thick enough to answer for building purposes. The total vertical thickness of the exposure was less than twelve feet. Passing farther down the branch, in a general westerly and southerly direction, we find the hillsides along the banks strown thickly with fragments of similar sandstone, indicating the probable existence of the same beds but a short distance under the soil. At a point on the immediate bank of the creek, near the centre of the section, I observed an exposure of about twenty feet of sandy and argillaceous shales, containing a thin seam of coaly matter, not over one or two inches in thickness at its best development, and from that down to nothing. About half a mile farther east, near the centre of the eastern line of the section, alongside of the road which crosses the creek at this place, and well up the bluffs, I observed the outcrop of a coal seam which had been worked to some slight extent, and which I take to be the upper workable vein of this region: No. 6 of the Illinois river section. The whole exposure of this point presented the following section:

Farther to the eastward from this point, and higher in the bluffs, I observed limited exposures of reddish, shaly sandstones, or arenaceous shale, which seems from its position to overlie the uppermost beds of the above section. In the vicinity of Pekin there are but few natural exposures of the underlying rocks, but the lower coal is mined at several points in the neighborhood of the city. The coal is generally overlaid by black slate. Above the slate there is generally from twenty to forty or fifty feet of sandstone, or sandy shales, according to the locality of the shafts, on the edge of the bluffs, or farther up towards the rolling uplands.

This sandstone may be seen in the bottom of the ditches at one or two points on the Fremont road, about a mile east of the city of Pekin, and in the vicinity of the principal coal mines. At Mr. Hawley's place, about five miles southeast of Pekin, a shaft was sunk, which passed through both the upper and lower coals, affording a section of the intermediate beds, which, as reported to me, were as follows :

About two mile- cast of Mr. Haw-lev's place, in the southwest quarter of section twenty, township twenty-four, range four, on a branch called Lost creek, there is said to be another exposure of brownish sandstone, of very limited extent. I failed to find the locality myself, but if sandstone occurs here, it may be that overlying the lower coal, or possibly the higher bed not represented in the above section.

In the central and eastern part of Tazewell county there are fewr localities where borings, etc., have been made, but satisfactory records of the variation of the strata could not in all cases be obtained. At Rapp's Mills, near the centre of the north line of section twenty, township twenty-four, range four, a shaft wras sunk to the depth of eighty-five feet, but, as it was reported to me, it struck limestone at that depth. If this be the case, it is very possibly the limestone overlying the upper coal, but without more reliable data it is impossible to speak with certainty. The shaft was abandoned before completion, on account of the difficulty in keeping it free from water. At Delevan, in the southeastern portion of the county, a boring wras made, which was reported to have passed through sixtv feet of sandstone, and below that seventy -five feet more of arenaceous and argillaceous clay shales. No coal was reported in this boring.

In Mason county there are no natural exposures of the older rocks, and as far as I can ascertain, no good artificial sections afforded in shafts, wells or borings. Passing eastward, however, into Logan county, we find along Salt creek, some distance above Middletown, a few tumbling masses of bluish limestones, which have evidently come out of the blufFs, but no good exposures. In southeast quarter of section thirteen, township nineteen, range four, a boring was made in the side of the bluffs by Messrs. Bovd, Paisley & Co., of Lincoln, which passed one hundred and thirty feet of alternating beds of limestone and arenaceous and argillaceous shales, passing through the drift and surface deposits at the depth of only fifteen feet.

A seam of coal was stated also to have been met with near the bottom of the boring, but its thickness could not be satisfactorily ascertained. I also heard it stated that a seam of coal about twro feet thick had been worked by the early settlers of the county in this vicinity, and afterwards abandoned on account of its poor quality. No traces of the outcrop or the old workings are now visible, and I am not able to state with any degree of exactness the place in the series of this seam of coal, though it is undoubtedly among the measures of the upper beds.

At Rankin's mill, about two miles farther up the stream, in the northwest quarter of section 7, township 19, range 3, the creek flows over a bed of limestone, which is also quarried at one or two places on the southern bank. The rock is a light gray or bluish gray, irregular bedded limestone, and contains a few of the common coal measure fossils, of which Sfiiriffer, Cameratus, S. LineatuSy Athyris Subtiliia, and a few others only were collected. Its thickness here as ascertained by means of a well dug in one of the quarries, was eleven feet, and underneath it was found four feet of black slate, underlaid by seventeen feet of fire-clay, and then six feet of limestone. The hole is continued by a boring to a depth of eighty feet from the surface, at which depth a seam of coal was struck, the thickness of which I was unable to ascertain. This, or a similar bed of limestone outcrops on Lake Fork of Salt Creek, in section 23, township 19, range 8, in a ledge about three feet high, which has been quarried to a slight extent at one point near the center of the section.

The above comprises all the natural exposures within the limits of this district. There remain, however, various shafts, borings, &c, which, over the larger portion of the territory, afford us the only means whatever of ascertaining the character and the thickness of the underlying beds. Of these, with one or two exceptions only, the shafts alone furnish sufficiently reliable sections of the strata, and as yet but two or three have been sunk. At Lincoln the shaft afforded the following section after passing through about seventy feet of soil and drift:

The black slate which had been taken from the shafts was too much decomposed at the time of my visit for me to obtain from it any very well preserved fossils, although among the rubbish I observed various indistinguishable fragments of what had apparently been fossil shells. The coal in this section is probably not below No. 6 of the Illinois river section, and may possibly be still higher. About four miles south of Lincoln, on the land of Mr. J. Brancher, near the center of the south line of section 14, township 19, range 4, a hole was sunk by boring to the depth of two hundred and fifty feet, and three seperate seams of coal are reported to have been met with. Unfortunately, however, the thickness of the variation and the thickness of the beds could not be obtained, and we are therefore unable to form an opinion as to the equivalents of these seams. In a boring at Atlanta in the northern part of this county a seam three feet and six inches thick was reported at a depth of two hundred and forty feet; the overlying bed as reported consisting of alternate strata of slate, soapstone, limestone, &c. This is probably coal No. 6, although without a more positive evidence than is afforded by a single isolated boring, nothing can be stated with absolute certainty.

The two shafts at Bloomington, which have been mentioned in the remarks concerning the drift in the previous portion of this chapter, affords us the most satisfactory section of any excavation in the district, enabling us to identify the two seams of coal which they penetrate, with Nos. 4 and 6 of the general Illinois river section.

The following section, made up from records furnished by both shafts, illustrates well the variation of the strata of the middle coal measures of this region. This section commences at the base of the drift, and its upper portion, from 1 to 4 inclusive, was afforded by the Bloomington Coal Company's shaft, and the remainder by that of the McLean County Coal Alining Company, a mile further south, along the railroad track :

No. 2 of this section is light colored laminated sandstone, containing a few remains of fossil plants. In the more southern shaft it seems to be replaced by a conglomerate. No fossils were obtained from any of the other beds excepting the black slate No. 12, over the lower coal, which contained in great abundance Lingula umbonata, Aveculofecten rectalaterarea, Cardina frag ills, and other fossils characteristic of the shales of this coal. A rather peculiar feature, however, is the comparative rarity of the Discina Nitida, usually the most abundant fossil in this State, only one or two specimens being found in rather a protracted search.

In the northern and eastern portions of McLean county we have only the records of several borings, which afford but few particulars as to the character of the underlying beds. Just over the county line in Livingston county, about two miles from Chenoa, in a northeast direction, a ledge of blueish-gray, irregularly bedded limestone outcrops in the side of a ravine. In general appearance this rock is similar to that noticed in the preceding pages as occurring on Salt Creek, in Logan county, and like it, is probably in the upper part of the coal measures.

Economical Geology

From the preceding remarks it will be seen that although four of five different seams of coal underlie different portions of this district, but two of them have been worked to any extent. The upper of these two, No. 6 of the general section, is worked to a slight extent along the Illinois river, in the region of Peoria and Pekin, and is also the upper seam in the Bloomington shafts. Its thickness in these localities ranges from three to four feet. The coal in this bed is generally softer and more impure than that of the next seam below, and its workings have frequently been forsaken for those of the lower bed. The sixteen-inch vein of coal which has been mentioned on a preceding page as occurring on a ravine a short distance back of Wesley City, and which I have there considered as still higher vein of coal, may possibly be this seam, in spite of its lesser thickness, as is a characteristic of this bed, in other parts of the State, where it has been identified, to vary considerable

The more reliable indications of the accompanying limestone beds, with their characteristic fossils, cannot under all the circumstances, be well observed, nor, indeed, do they appear to be invariably present.

The lower coal, No. 4, is the seam which is now mined in nearly all the principal workings within the limits of this district, and will, generally, average here near four feet in thickness.

It, however, contains in some parts its share of impurities, but often so disposed in the vein as to render them easily separable. In some of the shafts near the citv of Pekin, the seam of coal which I have referred to in the preceding pages, contains in its lower portion, about sixteen or eighteen inches above the base, a thin seam of fire clay, separating it into two unequal portions, and sometimes a vein of slate or slatey coal is reported to otcur only five or six inches above the bottom. In the upper portion, also, there is often what is called "hickory," or mixed coal and shale or sand rock. The thickness of good coal, however, is sufficient to render its working profitable.

At Bloomington, the shafts were first sunk only to the upper coal, which was worked for a short time, and then the shaft having been deepened, the upper bed was abandoned, and only the lower seam was worked. The difference in quality was very marked at this place, the lower coal was very much superior to that of the upper seam.

Beneath this coal, No. 4, we find by the boring, opposite Peoria, by Voris & Co., two seams of coal, at the depths of one hundred and twenty and two hundred and thirty feet, and, respective] v, four and three feet in thickness, which are most probably Nos. 1 and 3 in the general sections referred to. Although we have no positive data as to the existence of these or other beds under the coal No. 4, in other .portions of the district, yet, from their existence at this point, and from our general knowledge of the development of the lower coal measures of this State, it seems quite probable that these seams of coal might be found at the proper depths in other parts of this and the adjoining counties.

A boring of from two to two hundred and fifty feet below the known horizon of No. 4, or to five, seven or eight hundred feet from the surface, in different parts of the district, would probably penetrate all the coal ' measures, and settle all the questions in regard to the existence and development of the underljdng coal seams.

The upper coal seams are perhaps represented in this district, by the bed reached in the Lincoln shaft, and it may be, also, by the small vein near Wesley city, in Tazewell county, which I have in the preceding pages referred, with doubt, to a higher level than No. 6, though still admitting its possible identity with that bed itself. In neither of these localities is the seam of sufficient thickness to be worked with much profit, excepting where it might perhaps be profitably worked in a small way by stripping along the line of its out-crop.

Building Materials

This district is, as a whole, scantily supplied within itself, with building stone, the greater portion of its surface being occupied by drift deposits.

Along the Illinois river, in Tazewell county, the sandstones of the coal measures have been quarried, to some extent, to supply local demand, and in some localities appear to afford a stone suitable for foundations, cellars, walls, etc.

The limestone beds which also occur in the coal measure strata in this region, though generally of inconsiderable thickness, may also furnish a limited supply for the same purpose, as well as for the manufacture of lime.

The limestone ledges, noticed as occurring on Salt creek and Lake Fork, in Logan county, also furnish fair material for the rougher kinds of masonry, and have been considerably quarried for this purpose.

Clay and loam, suitable for the manufacture of a fair quality of red brick, are found in nearly all parts of the district, and have been made use of in most of the principal towns within its limits. Sand, for building purposes, is also sufficiently abundant.

Mineral Springs

We may, perhaps, properly mention under this head, the artesian well sunk by Messrs. Voris & Co., on the edge of the bottom land along the Illinois river, opposite Peoria, in which a current of water, holding in solution sulpherated hydrogen, was struck at the depth of seven hundred and thirty-four feet. When struck, it was stated to have had a head of sixty or seventy feet, and the flow is said to be nearly as strong at the present time. This water appears to be derived from the upper portion of the Niagara group, but before the boring had reached its present depth, a vein of saline was met with at a distance from the surface of three hundred and seventeen feet.

Copperas and saline springs occur in various places in this district, and occasionally give names to some of the minor streams. Such names as Salt creek and Lick creek occur here as in other parts of the State. These springs, however, are few in number, and can hardly be considered of any economic value.

It is, perhaps, superfluous to mention at length the agricultural capabilities of this district, since the capacities of its soils, etc., are so well known, and its territory so generally taken up and occupied by actual settlers, and now under high cultivation.

I may safely say, however, that, with the exceptions of some sandv portions along the rivers, there are no extensive tracts of what may be called poor land. There are, indeed, some tracts of comparatively low bottoms, or marshy land, which are not at present available for all kinds of agriculture, but these are generallv of limited extent, and are rapidly diminishing under an improved system of drainage, which places them at once among the more valuable lands of the district. The numerous railroads now traversing the country, those projected and in process of construction, by making all portions readily accessable to the centers of trade, will add greatly to its present wealth and guarantee its future prosperitv.

Treelessness Of Prairies

[ To Prof. Winchell, L. L. D., Professor of Geology and of Botany, in University of Michigan, we are indebted for the following interesting contribution : ]

The prairies of the Mississippi valley, especially those lying within the limits of the great State of Illinois, constitute one of the most remarkable features of North American topography. Hundreds of thousands of acres, stretching through all the central and western portions of the State, present a scene of almost unbroken level and treelessness. The great prairies are neither a perfect plain, nor in all cases completely undiversified with arboreal vegetation. The surface is generally undulating, and here and there rise gravelly knolls and ridges on which the timber has obtained a foothold. But these wooded spots are often many miles apart, and scarcely serve to rest the eye, wearied with the monotony of an interminable view of fenceless meadows and unsheltered farm houses.

The traveler, leaving Chicago by one of the great southern routes, passes out through the muddy and straggling outskirts of the western metropolis, and, ere he had thought of the great prairies through which he had expected to pass, he finds himself at sea. Looking from his car window, the country landscape seems at first to be entirely wanting. He feels as if passing over a trellis bridge, three hundred feet above the surrounding region. The customary objects - forests, shade trees, fences, houses, distant hills - which elsewhere lift themselves to the horizontal plane of the eye, are not here. The traveler must make a second effort, and look down upon the level of the country upon whose bosom he has now launched.

The sensation is that which one experiences when going to sea. The rattling of the train is easily transformed into the puffing and creaking steamship, while the interminable prairie, mingling its distant and softened green with the subdued azure .of the summer sky, can be likened to nothing but the ocean's boundless expanse. The ever recurring undulation of the prairie is the grand ocean swell, which utters perpetually a reminiscence of the last storm, while the evening sun, with dim'd lustre, settles down into the prairie's green sod, as to the mariner he sinks into the emerald bosom of the sea.

The prairies - I behold them for the first - And my heart swells, while the dilated sight Takes in the encircling vastness. Lo! they stretch

Illinois has been styled the garden State of the West. The deep rich pulverulent soil of the upland prairie, and especially its readiness for the plow, without the intervention of a year's hard labor in opening "a clearing," have always constituted powerful attractions for the settler from the stony hills of New England, and the wooded regions of other States.

From our earliest knowledge of the prairie, speculation has been rife as to their treelessness and origin. The old and popular belief was that which attributed their treelessness to the annual burning of the grass by the Indians. But the prairies present other phenomena, which the annual burning fails to explain besides; the treelessness remains in regions where the burnings have ceased. And, further, the treeless prairies were not the only regions burnt by the Indians. And if they were, it seems more likely that the Indian burned the rank grass because the region was treeless than that the

It has been suggested that the region was originally forest-covered, and that the southern cane flourished in such luxuriance among the trees as to rob them of their moisture and nourishment, and thus caused their extinction, and the cane having deprived itself of the forest shade and protection, was itself scorched out by the rays of the summer sun. This theory is in every way unsatisfactory.

With others, the absence of trees is to be attributed to the absence of moisture in the atmosphere, and also of the soil at certain seasons of the year. It cannot be doubted that the treeless plains of the far west, and also other regions, have failed to produce arboreal growths through an insufficient supply of moisture. Still other treeless regions are such from an excess of saline constituents in the soil. But all such regions have nothing in common with the prairies of Illinois, except their treelessness. The topography and soil constitution of Illinois prairies points to a different and peculiar history. Moreover, trees occupy the dryer knolls of the prairies in the midst of common atmospheric conditions.

Exactly the reverse of this theory is that which attributes the absence of trees to an excess of moisture in the soil at certain seasons. But we well know that there is no soil so wet and stagnant but certain trees will flourish upon it - the willow, the cottonwood, the beach, the black ash, the alder, the water oak, the American larch, the arbor-vitas, or some other tree - some of them standing joyously half the year, if need be, in water most stale and stagnant. Many swamps and sloughs are, indeed, treeless, but is this in consequence of the inability of the willow to take root and maintain itself, or rather in consequence of the formation of the swamp so recently that the germ of the tree has not yet been scattered over it ? Moreover, wetness cannot be attributable to large portions of Illinois prairies which are entirely treeless. Is there a different cause for treelessness here? It has been suggested within a few years by high geological authority, that the lack of trees is caused by excessive fineness of the prairie soil. It can scarcely be denied however that other soils, as pulverent as that of the prairies, are densely covered with forest vegetation, and that in the same latitudes, and under the same meteorological conditions. On the other hand certain soils of a coarse texture, are equally treeless. But the final objection to this theory, and to all other theories which look to the physical or chemical condition of the soil, or even to climatic peculiarities, for an explanation of the treeless character of the upland prairies of the Mississippi valley, is discovered in the fact that trees will grow on them when once introduced - not water-loving trees exclusively, but evergreens, decideous forest trees and fruit trees, such as flourish in all arable soils, and habitable portions of our country. Every one will now admit that trees will flourish upon prairies. In proof of this fact the prairie farmers for many years have been actively and successfully engaged in their introduction. "The prairies," says a noted author, "may easily be converted into wooded land by destroying with the plow the tough sward which has formed itself on them. There are large tracts of country where, a number of years ago, the farmers mowed their hay, that are now covered with a forest of young, rapidly growing timber. In like manner, the uplands of St. Louis county, Missouri, which were, in 1823, principally prairie lands, are now covered with a growth of fine, thrifty timber, so that it would be difficult to find an acre of prairie in the county." This testimony is confirmed by numbers of persons from various parts of the State with whom I have conversed on this subject. The introduction of timber as a branch of rural industry, is now systematically pursued. A drawback to the cultivation of forest and fruit trees, is the violence of the prairie winds, and the occasional severity of the winter weather.

There are pretty satisfactory evidences that the soil of the prairies is of lacustrine origin. It has the fineness, color and vegetable constituents of soil accumulated upon a lake bottom. We find in it, moreover, abundant fossil remains of a lacustrine character. Fresh water-shells of a species still existing in lake Michigan, are found in localities many miles from the existing shore. Finally we have found all around the chain of great lakes, abundant proofs that their waters once occupied a much higher level than at present. We have discovered the object that dammed the waters to this extraordinary height. In short, we have ascertained that the prairie region of Illinois must have been a long time inundated - whether such inundation contributed to the characteristics of the prairies or not. I think it did. If I ascertain that the cause for an inundation exists; if I see the traces of an inundation all the way from the Niagara river to Illinois; if the barrier which shuts out Illinois from the lake is not one-third the night of the ancient lake flood; if I find throughout the region exposed to inundation, the peculiar soil deposited by fresh waters, together with traces of lacustrine animals, which never wander over land, do I not discover a chain of facts which necessitates my conclusions? During the floodtide of the lakes, Lake Michigan must have found an outlet towards the south.

We find a corroboration of this. The broad, and deep, and blufflined valley of the Illinois river was never excavated by that inconsiderable sti-eam. The deserted river valley discovered at intervals farther north, indicates the former southward flow of large bodies of water. At Lemont this valley is distinct, with its bounding bluffs and its "pot-holes," worn in the solid rock of the ancient river bed. This was the work of the lake in its declining stages. At the earlier period, when the waters of Lake Michigan stood one or two hundred feet higher than their present level, how much of the region south and west of Chicago must have been submerged? The ancient lake must have reached its arms into Iowa, Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan. While the expanse of lacustrine waters was brooding over the region destined to become a prairie, they busied themselves in strewing over the tombs of pre-glacial germs a bed of mud which should forever prevent a resurrection. Lake sediments themselves inclose no living germs. You will see the seeds of grasses and of fruit trees washed in by the recent storm, floating upon the surface and eventually drifting to the leeshore. If they ever sink to the bottom and wrap themselves in the accumulating mud, it is after they have lost their vitality. Sunken and buried, they go to decay. Let a lake be drained and the bottom remains a naked, barren, parching, shrinking waste. No herbs, or grasses, or trees burst up through the pottery-like surface. But everywhere, from beds of ancient glacial materials, vegetation is bursting forth and announcing itself. "Lo! here lam!" speaks the nodding young pine, that has been slumbering just beneath the surface through the long and undisputed possession of the deciduous forest, which the axe had just mown down. Not so in a lake bottom. Here are the cerements of the dead, not the wrappings of the slumbering. When, therefore, the ancient lake relinquished dominion over Central Illinois, it left a devastated and desolate country. Around the ancient shores of the abandoned area the emerald forest had stood noddingand blossoming and fruiting, while the inundating lake had washed

Ever since the time when the Atlantic and Pacific held carnival in the Mississippi Valley, these vigorous trees had stood smiling upon the face of the freshening residuum left in Illinois on the final retreat of the ocean.

A resurrected forest had risen from the tombs of the preceding epoch. And not alone around the borders of the widening lake, but upon every island knoll which raised its head above the denuding waters, this encircling forest, and these isolated island clumps still stood and flourished when at length the lake receded.

No turf carpeted the abandoned lake bottom. No oak, or beech, or pine raised its head through the covering of lake-slime that seperated the slumbering place of vegetable germs from the animating influence of the sun and air. By degrees, however, the floods washed down the seeds of grasses and herbs upon the desert area, and humbler forms of vegetation crept from the borders towards the centre. At length the entire area smiled with vernal flowers, and browned in the frosty blasts of winter.

The bulky acorn, and walnut, and hickory nut, traveled with less facility, and the forest more sluggishly encroached upon the lake's abandoned domain. In this stage of history the Indian was here. For aught we know, he was here while yet the prairies were a lake bottom. His canoe may have paddled over the future spires of Bloomington, or the towering dome of the new State House, at Springfield. The muscalonge and pike may have been pursued through the future streets of Chicago or Peoria, but at least the Indian was present in the interval of time by which the herb distanced the tree in their race for the possession of the new soil. In this interval he plied the firebrand t?6 the brown sedges of autumn, and made for himself an Indian summer sky, while he cleared his favorite hunting ground of the rank growths which impeded both eye and foot. While the Indian was engaged in these pursuits, and while yet the forest had not time to extend itself over the prairie, the white man came up the lake from Mackinac, crossed over the prairies to the Mississippi, saw the Indian engaged in his burnings, and hastily concluded that this was the means by which the trees had been swept off, ignorant of the history that had passed, and which was even then, as now, in very progress, and which was even then, as now, actually crowding the forest upon the prairies, bringing about the day when, perhaps, a thousand years hence, the prairies, like the forests of Lancashire, will live only in history.

Early Efforts At Fruit Growing In Mason

The following articles and correspondence was prepared many years ago, by the author of this work, for the Warsaw Horticultural So'ciety, and are here copied from the Journals of that efficient and commendable organization. Little thought had the writer at that time that the communications then prepared would be used at this date, for the Centennial History of Mason county. We extract from the proceedings of that Society:

Dear Sir - Your esteemed favor of the 17th inst., was duly received. Please to accept my thanks for the accompanying article from your pen; also, for papers received a short time since. I will comply with your request in regard to the history of the Gardner Orchard, at an early date. I herewith send you a condensed statement, furnished me, of the Fisk orchard, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in this county.

"In the fall of 1837, we planted a lot of apple seeds, plum and peach pits in a small space of ground dug up for that purpose. In the spring following, many of them came up, and, with diligent culture, grew finely. In two years they were ready for transplanting.

with large timber. The flat is of our richest black sandy loam, at the depth of three or four feet underlaid with a stiff clay subsoil. The ridge has but little soil upon it, towards the south part of the orchard. Soil, light sand, subsoil yellow sand, yet blue-grass will grow upon it. A few years later we purchased about a dozen of trees from near Decatur, of the large Romanite variety.

"Now, as to the results. Some winters the water would rise in the flats, but to obviate this, we hilled up the place for the trees, and by after cultivation the mounds were increased. The first trees were set out in the spring of 1S40, and in 1846 a number of them bore fruit, but the hard winter of '45 and '46 killed the Decatur trees to the ground and some of them never sprouted. The seedlings remained, some of them I have grafted, and some bear apples I am loth to part with, and do not care to graft. Two of them bear a small striped red and green apple that will keep until August. Two of them bear early apples; one is a striped apple, sheep-nose in shape, medium - sub-acid - juicy. The other, striped red and yellow - medium - sub-acid - juicy - flesh firm.

"Another bears a white apple, skin tender, flesh white, brittle and firm, sub-acid, September, medium. Another produces a yellow fruit, very juicy, intensely sour, and very rich, as are all the preceding. Still another grows a large green apple with red streaks. In size and color somewhat resembles the Rambo, ripens about the 15th of August, sub-acid, tender and delicate. Others bear good, common fruit, and from these trees I have a succession of fruit the year round, and every year.

"The peach trees bore in three years. They bore well for several years, and at the winter aforenamed, they went the way of all the earth. There are a few now on the place, but their fruiting is like angel's visits. The plum trees were suffered to remain without transplanting. I have quite a thicket of them; they bear every year; are not equal to some other varieties, yet some persons consider them worth stealing."

I am now getting another orchard of grafted fruit. Some of the trees, gotten five years ago of Prof. Turner, of Jacksonville, fruited this and last year. Also, quite a lot of Chickasaw, Blue and Lombard plums; all except the latter have been bearing. I am not troubled with curculio so as to suffer any inconvenience. Mv remedy is to do nothing, hence not expensive.

Our county Horticultural Society is in its tottering infancy; we hope to see it able, at least, to be standing alone during the present summer.

I am urging the matter of our folks taking horticultural journals, and will do "what in me lies" for the State Society. Anything you can put in our way, in the future, as in the past, will be duly appreciated.

The Secretary remarked that the history of the Fisk orchard should encourage all to experiment in raising seedlings, and thus increase the varieties of fruits, and at the same time secure hardiness and productiveness.

The Secretary said he would read to the Society a history of the " Gardner Orchard," furnished by Joseph Cochrane, Esq., Secretary of the Mason county, Illinois, Horticultural Society, as follows :

Dear Sir - According to promise, I proceed to give you a brief history of the " Gardner Orchard," in Fulton county, near this city. The "improvement" was begun by the father of the present owner of the Gardner estate, many years ago, before the time had come (in this vicinity) that

The furrows were deep that the plowman had made, And the engines of war were the harrow and spade; That the Soldiers of Labor had homes on their lands, With their great stalwart chests, and their big bony hands; Where the Farmer sat down in the stillness of even, And their children sang songs to " The Father " in Heaven.

A lot of apple seed was obtained from Griffith's orchard above the mouth of the Missouri River, near St. Charles, Mo., in the fall of 1824, and planted in a nursery the succeeding spring, where the young trees remained till three years old, when four hundred were selected and planted out in orchard. The ground selected for the orchard site was high prairie soil, rich sandy loam, with a clay subsoil, sheltered on the East and North by timber and bluffs.

and for long periods; the fruit from many of the trees keeping well till June, and even later. It was not generally of the largest size, hut good in quality and variety. Among the trees of this orchard, which hear early fruit, is the Fulton strawberry, an apple which has become too well known to be described here, and as favorably as widely known. The old, original tree is still standing, full of blossoms, to-day, and bids fair to produce an abundant crop, as for thirty yearspast it has rarely failed to do. The fruit of this orchard generally was 'of so good a quality that a nurseryman sought and obtained the privilege of cutting grafts of about forty varieties therefrom, for the purpose of propagation. What the longevity of these trees would have been under favorable circumstances cannot be stated, as the very disastrous hailstorm of May 2S, 1S40, destroyed nearly the entire orchard, or so injured the trees that they were cut down as cumberers of the ground, excepting a few, among which is the afore-mentioned Fulton Strawberry.

None of the trees of this orchard were ever affected by blight or other disease, but they were magnificent specimens of thriftiness and healthfulness.

Early settlers in Mason and McDonough counties came and selected trees from those remaining in the original Gardner apple tree nursery, thus raised from seed brought from St. Charles, Mo., and did themselves and their posterity good service thereby, for the fullness of time had not yet come when philanthropic individuals should disinterestedly perambulate the country, recommending, with exaggerated pictures and studied eloquence, the "wonderful strawberries and marvelous grapes1' they have to sell, at the low price of $3 per plant, to the " hard-fisted yeomanry " of the land.

If I were called upon to name the obstacle to the general planting and cultivation of fruit in this country, I should unhesitatingly say it is the Tree Peddler, who, being itinerant, does not hesitate to tell the most stupendous lies, in praise and recommendation of what he has to sell. Thus purchasers are imposed upon, and after

On motion, the thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr. Cochrane for his very interesting and instructive contribution to Apple History, in giving us this valuable account of the " Gardner Orchard."

Since the above account of the Gardner orchard was written, the old Gardner homestead has descended to Mr. James Gardner, the grandson of the original proprietor, who, with his accomplished wife, now occupies the old home.

In addition to the above, we find, in the early history of the county, there were apple trees planted by Mr. O. E. Foster, three miles northeast of Havana, about the year 1835 or 1S36, and by another party, whose name we have been unable to learn, in the vicinity of Crane creek.

Agriculture In I 776

In the course of a century, within their narrow fringe of country, the colonists had transformed the wilderness into a fertile and productive territory. Agriculture was their favorite pursuit. Travelers from Europe were struck with the skill with which they cultivated the rich and abundant soil, the fine farm houses that filled the landscape, the barns overflowing with harvests, the cattle, the sheep. The northern and middle colonies for wheat and corn were famous. Pennsylvania was the granary of the nation. In New Jersey the farms that spread from Trenton to Elizabethtown excited the admiration of the scientific Kalm. Long Island was the garden of America, and all along the valleys opening upon the Hudson, the Dutch and Huguenot colonists had acquired ease and opulence by a careful agriculture. The farm-houses, usually built of stone, with tall roofs and narrow windows, were scenes of intelligent industry. While the young men labored in the fields, the mothers and daughters spun wool and flax, and prepared a large part of the clothing of the family. The farm-house was a manufactory for all the articles of daily use. Even nails were hammered out in winter, and the farmer was his own mechanic. A school aud a church were provided for almost every village. Few children were left untaught by the Dutch dominie, who was sometimes paid in wampum; or the New England student, who lived among his patrons, and was not always fed upon the daintiest fare. On Sunday, labor Ceased, the church-bell tolled in the distance, a happy calm settled upon the rural region, and the farmer and his family, in their neatest dress, rode or walked to the village church. The farming class, usually intelligent and rational, formed in the northern colonies the sure reliance of freedom, and when the invasion came, the Hessians were driven out of New Jersey by the general rising of its laboring farmers, and Burgoyne was captured by the resolution of the people rather than by the timid generalship of Gates.

The progress of agriculture at the South was even more rapid and remarkable than at the North. The wilderness was swiftly converted into a productive region. The coast from St. Mary's to the Delaware, with its inland country, became within a centurv the most valuable portion of the earth. Its products were eagerlv sought for in alla^the capitals of Europe, and one noxious plant of Virginia had supplied mankind with a new vice and a new pleasure. It would be useless to relate again the story of the growth of the tobacco trade. Its cultivation in Virginia was an epoch in the history of man. Tobacco was to Virginia the life of trade and intercourse; prices were estimated in it; salaries of the clergy were fixed at so many pounds of tobacco. All other products of the soil were neglected in order to raise the savage plant. Ships from England came over annually to gather in the great crops of the large planters, and Washington, one of the most successful landowners and agriculturists, was accustomed to watch keenly over the vessels and their captains who sailed up the Potomac to his very dock. The English traders seem to have been often anxious to depreciate his cargoes and lower his prices. Virginia grew enormously rich from the sudden rise of an artificial taste. From 1S24, when the production of tobacco was first made a royal monopoly, until the close of the colonial period, the production and consumption rose with equal rapidity, and in 1775, 85,000 hogsheads were exported annually, and the sale of tobacco brought in nearlv $4,000,000 to the southern colonies. This was equal to about onethird of the whole export of the colonies. Happily since that period the proportion has rapidly decreased, and more useful arti-

One of these was rice. A Governor of South Carolina, it is related, had been in Madagascar, and seen the plant cultivated in its hot swamps. He lived in Charleston, on the bay, and it struck him that a marshy spot in his garden might well serve for a plantation of rice. Just then - 1694 - a vessel put in from Madagascar, in distress, whose commander the Governor had formerly known. Her wants were liberally relieved. In gratitude for the kindness he received, the master gave the Governor a bag of rice. It was sown and produced abundantly. The soil proved singularly favorable for its culture. The marshes of Georgia and South Carolina were soon covered with rice plantations. A large part of the crop was exported to England. In 1724, 100,000 barrels were sent out from South Carolina alone. In 1761, the value of its rice crop was more than $1,500,000. Its white population could not have been more than 45,000, and it is easy to conceive the tide of wealth that was distributed annually among its small band of planters. They built costly mansions on the coasts and bays, lived in fatal luxury, were noted for their wild excesses, and often fell speedy victims to the fevers of the malarious soil. Indigo, sugar, molasses, tar, pitch, and a great variety of valuable productions added to the wealth of the south. But cotton, which has grown through many vicissitudes to be the chief staple of British and American trade, was, at this period, only cultivated in small quantities for the use of the farmers. It was spun into coarse cloths. But it was not until Whitney's invention, in 1793, that it could be readily prepared for commerce, and to the inventive genius of Connecticut, the Southern States owe the larger part of their wealth and political importance.

Havana

Havana is beautifully situated on the east bank of the Illinois river, and is the county seat of the county. The situation is somewhat elevated, perhaps an average of forty feet above the river. It contains many fine residences and pleasant homes, and more than ordinary taste is exhibited in the improvement and ornamentation of grounds.

The town contains, as near as we can estimate in the absence of precise figures, 3,000 inhabitants. During the past year has erected a fine school edifice on the bluff east of the court house, at an expense of nearly $30,000, an improvement of which our citizens are justly proud. In addition to this main central school house, there are smaller houses for the primary schools in both the north and south ends of the town.

The churches are as follows: The Methodist Episcopal church, corner of Main and Broadway, is a good, plain house, and the place of worship of one of the oldest societies in the city. Being centrally located, and of easy access, it is as well attended as any. The Reformed church is located on the second block south of the M. E. church; a neat, well finished house, of unpretentious appearance, erected at a cost of about $7,000.

The Lutheran church, on the bluff northeast of the court house, is still smaller, though the average attendance is larger than in the two preceding. It is as old, if not the oldest organization in the city, and its membership is the wealthiest of any. A neat parsonage is attached to their grounds, and their pastor has a pleasant home.

In the northern part of town is the Catholic church, a neat, commodious frame building, as are all the others, very tastefully finished. This society has a large membership, and some of the most substantial citizens of town and country are included in its numbers. All the foregoing churches have pastors in charge, and regular services, though .the minister of the Reformed church receives his salary from the Board of Domestic Missions of that church in the East.

The Baptist church is a neat frame building, near the southwest corner of the public square. The membership is few in number, and without a minister at this time.

Our Swedish citizens, of whom there are about fifty, are making efforts to hold religious services in their own language, and a minister of that nationality has recently visited them several times for that purpose. A word in reference to our Swedish population. Though not wealthy, they are in fair circumstances, and are rightly ranked among our most valuable citizens. Honest, industrious, temperate and reliable is the reference we must make to them, and a personal acquaintance with each enables us to know " whereof we affirm."

Mechanics

We have a large number of mechanics, in all the various trades usually pursued in inland towns. Carpenters, machinists, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors, painters, jewelers, printers, tinners, etc., etc., that are equaled by few and excelled by none. Strangers have remarked to the writer, in regard to some of our mechanics, whose abilities they had tested, that they regard them as very superior, indeed. It is ever our pleasure to give honor to whom honor is due, and we hold it as a fundamental principle of a democratic government, that the masses, the man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, either in common or skilled labor, is the bulwark and stay, the anchor and safety, of the institutions of our country. Hence the value of the free school system in our country, where the property is taxed for the education of the poor man's children. With few exceptions, the best minds in America have sprung from the laboring classes, and been educated in the common schools. More of this under another heading.

years later, or 1835, a town was laid out - O. M. Ross, proprietor. The second family was named Myers, and the third was the Krebaum family, some of the members of which have been identified with the public and business interests of this city and county down to the present day.

The details of the early settlement of Havana are so fully set forth in the biographies of Pulaski Scovil, A. W. Kemp, N. J. Rockwell, O. E. Foster, J. H. Neteler, and others, that a repetition here would be a work of superogation. In lieu there of, we will refer the reader to the biographies above named, to the extracts from early newspapers, and the railroad department.

Havana contains many substantial business houses, warehouses, steam elevators, and three hotels ; and her trade, though not as flourishing as many towns, has had a slow, healthful growth. In 1856 there was no brick building in Havana. In 1857 J. H. & D. P. Hole built the first brick store, and in the same year Wm. Walker built the first brick dwelling.

Havana's improvement in trade and the e-rection of new buildings, has been equally slow. A reason for this is readily seen in her manner of doing business. Manufactures of various kinds have been undertaken here and failed for the want of patronage, and from being driven out by competitive articles being brought in and sold at such rates that an honest workman could not compete with shoddy articles, and from a determination of the people to buy nothing at home that could be shipped here from abroad. This system of business has been felt here in every department of trade. We aim to state facts and facts only, and the preceding we would gladly have omitted had candor allowed it to have been done.

No city in our knowledge can claim more beautifully laid out or better improved streets than Havana. All are regular and crossing each other at right-angles, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass, and beautifully ornamented with trees. Our town viewed from some of the fine elevations within its limits, presents the appearance of a densely peopled forest, many of the buildings being entirely obscured by trees. Among the many fine improvements we can name, are the residences of Adolph Krebaum, R. R. Simmons, C. G. Krebaum, F. II. Cappel, L. Dearborn, S. C. Conwell, and others.

all were desirous that an enjoyable time should be the order of the day, with our guests who might favor us with their presenee on that occasion. To this end, many of the buildings were ornamented with shrubbery and flags ; wreathes and arches spanned the streets.

The skies brightened, and the faces of our people partook of the same blessing. Wagons and carriages brought their hundreds from the country, and the later trains brought other hundreds.

A band of music enlivened the scene. At the park, all was life and enjoyment. A tall liberty pole, with the national emblem, graced the summit of the mound in the park. The tables were being loaded with the abundant supply of food for the assembling mass.

To omit a reference to the decorations of the engines and the passenger coaches would be unjust. The employees of the P., P. & J. road took especial pains to make their display of evergreens, wreaths and bouquets tasteful, while hundreds of banners were attached to all trains. A passenger coach on the fast express, Mr. McSherry, conductor, was especially tasteful. The inside of the coach was a profusion of wreaths, bouquets, evergreens, flags, etc., etc., commendable alike to the taste and patriotism of this gentlemanly conductor, who spared no expense to make it attractive.

The proceedings at the speakers1 stand were opened by the president of the day, in a few introductory remarks, followed by a brief prayer by the chaplain. The reading of the Declaration of Independence, by Judge J. A. Mallory, was preceded by a few well timed remarks by the Judge that were as happily conceived as they were beautiful in their expression.

The reading was followed by an oration by Prof. Williams, of Wabash College, Indiana. For conception, delivery, matter, language, intonation, etc., we have heard few to excel it. Space forbids even a synopsis.

Atter the speaking, ample justice was done to the large supply of viands. All had plenty. The five thousand were fed, not with five loaves and two fishes, but with five hundred loaves, eight hun-

S6 History Of Mason County

The old squatter sovereignty doctrine was amply illustrated during the afternoon, to- wit: that every body should enjoy themselves as their taste and inclinations dictated, and most thoroughly and effectuallv was that done.

In the evening came the display of fire-works, but these were superceded and displaced by a most magnificent display of the pvrotechnics of the heavens, and the booming of the artillery of the skies. The vivid lightning blaze, and the reverbration of nature's heaviest ordnance continued most of the night, accompanied by the extraordinary rainfall of three and one-half inches of water.

We hazard the opinion that the 4th will be long remembered by those who partook in these centennial festivities, and as time rolls on into the second century of our National' existence, ushered in this dav, it will be with gratification and great satisfaction, that we can all look back on our participation in the celebration of July 4th, 1876.

Meteorological

I append an abstract of Meteorological observations, taken in Havana, on latitude forty, longitude ninety, above the sea level four hundred and seventy-five feet, by the author of this work, who is observer for the Signal Service of the United States Army:

The annexed table exhibits the annual aqueous precipitation at the several points named, from observations taken during the various lengths of time, ranging from one to eighteen years. By comparing the amount of actual rainfall, the latitude, the elevation, the proximity to lakes and rivers, or the per cent, of timber in the vicinity of the point of observation, we have been unable to fix any rule or cause for the variableness of amounts.

There may, however, be a slight observance of increased precipitation in the line of extended river bottoms covered with timber. From our own point of observation we have abundant reason for arriving at this conclusion. Havana is situated on a high, sandy bluff, on the east bank of the Illinois river, averaging about seventy feet above the river. The west bank of the river is low bottom lands, covered with timber, and about an average of four miles wide, and they are bounded on the west by the wooded bluffs of Fulton county.

About twenty miles south of this point the Illinois river receives the Sangamon river from the northeast, forming the southeastern boundary of Mason county. The bluffs and bottoms of the Sangamon are similar in structure and extent to those of the Illinois. After a residence of eighteen years at this point, and noting the rainfall carefully on my meteorological record, I am fully convinced that our summer rains, usually from the southwest, divide at the confluence of these rivers, and timber belts that fringe their shores, leaving the central portion of the county with much less rainfall than would be shown by observations taken in a central line of the timber belts:

Height above the sea of several localities in Illinois, taken by the writer at the solicitation of Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, for that institution :

The greatest amount of rainfall during any one month was June, 1872, when the enormous amount of 9.S3 inches fell, and nearly all of that excessive amount during the first six days of the month. The least amount was in October, 1872, and in August, 1873, when 0.S4 and 0.S9 of an inch respectively fell. The maximum temperature for August, 1S73, was 103 deg., and the maximum for October, 1872, was 86 deg. The mean temperature for August, 1S73, was 75^2 deg., and for October, 1S72, it was 50 deg. These temperatures, compared with the corresponding months of other years, show no excessive degrees of temperature over the same month, when the amount of rainfall was greater or of an average amount. [See table.]

My record shows, however, considerable cloudiness, and consequentl}^ an obstruction of sunlight, with the natural result, as a consequence, of a less generation of heat, as set forth and illustrated in a succeeding part of my subject. Thirty-eight and three-tenths inches is the average rainfall for a group of stations in this State, whose aggregate terms of observation amount to ninety-nine years. Every increase in the temperature of the atmosphere of 27 deg. doubles its capacity to hold moisture, consequently those localities most subject to frequent changes of temperature are liable to the most rainfall, more, also, in a southerly than in a northerly locality, because the high temperature makes the atmosphere capable of a larger amount of moisture, Temperatures are less changeable in the vicinities of the great lakes than farther inland, consequently the aqueous precipitation is more uniform in Northern than Central Illinois. I append, from reliable sources, some of the most remarkable temperatures of the earth, that the reader can compare his own locality with that of his more or less favored neighbor.

Thibet, in Central Asia, has valleys between her snow-capped mountains where they endure a heat of 150 deg. Fahrenheit; Senegal, in South Africa, and Gaudaloupe, in the West Indies, 130 deg.; the Desert of Sahara, 130 deg. during the day and extremely cool nights; Persia, 126 deg.; Calcutta and the Delta of the Gan- ges and Central America, 120 deg. is the limit. In the jungles of Afghanistan and the deserts of Egypt, no deg.; Cape Colony, in Africa, Greece in Europe, Utah in America, 105 deg. is the maximum; Arabia, 105 deg.; and Montreal and Quebec endure the same summer temperature. New York, Spain, Upper India, Canton in China, Island of Jamaica and the Southern United States, 100 deg.; Sierra Leone, in Africa, Guinea, in South America, and the Island of Ceylon, 93 deg.; France, St. Petersburg, Denmark, Belgium, Burmah, Shanghai, .Sandwich Islands, Buenos Ayres and Trinidad, 90 deg. ; Nova Scotia, S7 deg.; England, Ireland, Sicily, Siam and Peru, 85 deg.; Pekin, in China, and Portugal So deg.; Liberia, 77 deg.; Australia, Scotland, Italy, Venezuela, and Maderia, 74 deg.; Prussia and New Zealand, 70 deg. ; Switzerland and Hungary, 67 deg.; Bavaria, Sweden, Northern Liberia, Tasmania and Moscow, 65 deg. ; Norway, Greenland and New Foundland, 60 deg.; Central Scotland, Orkney Isles, Patagonia and Falkland Islands, 50 deg.; Iceland, 45 deg.; Nova Zembla, the last we shall note, whose extreme summer heat 'rarely comes above freezing point, or 34 deg. maximum. In all this range of territory, climate and temperature, wherever the foot of man hath trod, or eye could reach, from the scorching vales of Thibet to the inhospitable regions of Nova Zembla, in the deserts of Sahara, or the perpetual snows of Greenland and Labrador, the scenery is relieved and brightened by the growth of indigenous plants and flowers, cheering the wanderer in the desert, and the inhabitant of the snow hut, casting beauty and fragrance on the sand or on the snows, varying their form to suit their situation, from the fleshy prickly Cactii of Mexico, to the Algea tribe that redden the polar snows.

Light And Heat

In treating of this branch of the subject in connection with Meteorology, it will be our aim to give correct views of the nature of this all-prevailing and life-sustaining principle of light and heat, which leads, also, to the discovery of a wide and important set of truths, all tending to the conclusion that these great agencies, in connection with electricity and magnetism, " which uphold life and produce such collossal changes on our globe, are but expressions in different language of the One Great Power."

These various forms of energy are mutually convertible, and we can express the terms of each in the terms of any other. Dr. Tyndall, in considering the important influence exerted by solar radiation on the phenonema of life, says: "Each drop of rain or flake of snow, each mountain, streamlet or brimming river, owes its existence to the sun's rays. It is by the sun's rays that the waters of the ocean are lifted in the form of vapor in the air, and it is by the condensation of this atmospheric moisture that every drop of running water on the earth's surface is formed. The balmy breeze and the devastating tornado are alike the product of the changes of atmospheric temperature, while the gradual crumbling of the everlasting hills, and the consequent formation of stratified rocks are sublime illustrations of the might of the actions which, during geological ages, the sun has poured out on the earth. Nor is this influence confined to the inorganic world; no plant can grow, no animal exist, without the vivifying influence of the sun's rays. The animal derives his store of energy from the plant necessary for the maintenance of life, from the force locked up in the vegetable on which it feeds. The food of the animal undergoes combustion or oxydization in the bod)', and the heat thereby evolved is converted into mechanical energy, so that the same laws which regulate the labor of animals, regulate the work done by the steam engine supplied with fuel. The animal draws its stores of energy from the plant, and where does the plant obtain the supply necessary for its growth?" " The source of power in the plant is found in the sun's rays. It is the sun's rays that enables the plant to grow; for the growth of the plant consists, chemically, of a decomposition or splitting up of the carbonic acid gas which exists in the air, into its simplest constituents, the carbon assimilated for the building up of the vegetable tissues and the oxygen sent back into the air for the subsequent use of animals. To effect this separation of carbon and oxygen, a very large expenditure of force is necessary, and this energy is supplied by the sunlight."

How beautifully harmonious the discoveries of modern science with the profound depths of revealed truth, and how obtuse is man's apprehension of these truths, till forced upon a slow-to-beconvinced judgment by the practical deductions of science. "And God said, let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the light that it was good, and God called the light day, and the darkness (or absence of light) He called night." "And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit of its kind, whose seed is in itself." "And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night." "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." The atmosphere surrounding the globe had been called into existence - its constituent elements as they now exist. Light was created to generate heat that vegetation might clothe the-earth.

After vegetation, and next in order, there "went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." The laws of nature, as constituted, made any other order of creation impossible. Light must combine with the elements of the atmosphere before the vegetable creation could exist. The vegetable, in connection with air, light and heat (heat being a result of air and light), must exist before vegetable growth could occur or animals inhabit the earth; and the consequent rainfall recorded in our last quotation is the inevitable result of the action of heat on the aqueous element. There seems to exist more largely those elements of the atmosphere that combined with light to form heat in the lower stratas - more in the deep valleys than on higher tablelands, or on the hills, and not existing at all above the snow line; hence, snow does not melt in the full sunlight of meridian day even under a tropical sun. On the Andes the snow line varies from 14,000 to 17,000 feet. On the mountains of Colorado, snow begins at 12,000 and increases in quantity to the extreme height of the tallest peaks, or 14,250 feet, though in August the extreme heat of the deep valleys rises up, when the light of the sun is withdrawn, and the snow is melted to nearly or quite the extreme height.

In the ocean, water and salt are mixed together most intimately, yet the heat raises the water through the atmosphere and leaves the salt. Every increase of twenty-seven degrees of temperature doubles the capacity of the atmosphere for holding moisture; consequently, the large amount of rain at the points of greatest heat and evaporation, and the distribution and precipitation of rain from greatly heated localities to colder ones by the action of the winds, and by other causes, and precipitated by counter-currents of cold air.

Influence Of Vegetation

By respiration, putrefaction, etc., air is rendered unfit to support animal life, and, in extreme cases, will not support it. By the constant operation of the corrupting influences, the whole atmosphere would become impure, were there no restoring causes, and would come at length to be deprived of the necessary degree of purity. Some of the restoring causes have been discovered, and their efficacy ascertained by experiment. So far as these discoveries have proceeded, they open up to us a beautiful and wonderful economy. Vegetation proves to be the most efficient of these restoring influences. A branch of mint corked up in a small portion of foul air, and placed in the light, renders it soon capable of supporting life or flame.

Here, therefore, is a constant circulation of benefits between the two great provinces of organized nature. The plant purifies what the animal poisoned, and in return the poisoned or contaminated air is more than ordinarily nutritious to the plant; but it must be remembered that the renovating, purifying influence exerted by growing vegetation on the atmosphere, can only be done under the influence of light, and ceases altogether in the night, or if the light of the sun be withdrawn. This is a general characteristic of all plants; for, with all their manifold diversities of form and appearance, they are all constructed on the same general plan, " and are living witnesses and illustrations of one and the same plan of creative wisdom in the vegetable world." Plants work only under the influence of light. "There is conversion by the vegetable of foreign dead mineral matter into its own living substance, or inorganic matter, capable of becoming living substance." To do this is the peculiar office of the plant, "and it is done by the plant by the action of its green parts only, and by them only under the in- power which enables the living plant to originate these peculiar chemical combinations to organize matter into forms which alone are capable of being endued with life." The process is all the same, whether the plant is making a direct immediate growth or laying up material for future use. The principal ingredient laid up by plants is starch, in the form of minute grains in the cells of the plant. Some plants make these accumulations in the ro as the parsnip and the carrot; some in shoots or underground growths, for instance, the potato, while the onion and lily deposit in the embryo leaves, and the cactus family generally in their fleshy leaves and stems with green coverings, and only under the influence of light.

Origin Of Heat

Heat is generated in various ways, by friction, combustion, oxvdization, concussion, etc.; but a combination of light with one or more of the constituents of the atmosphere is the grand source from which this indispensable combination is derived. An able scientist in Europe says, "If our entire system were pure coal, the combustion of the whole of it would furnish but one three thousand five hundredth part of the amount needed,'' consequently we see the utter impossibility of receiving the amount of heat necessary from the sun, as well as the impossibility of the sun furnishing us the adequate supply. As stated in another part of this essay, the snow on high mountains, even in the tropics, docs not melt above a certain line. The deep valleys become extremely hot, though receiving less sunshine than the more elevated positions.

The valleys in Thibet, in Asia, endure a temperature of 1 ^o du-j;. E. in the shade during the day, and as the sunlight is withdrawn the warm air rises up, and the cold, dense atmosphere from the mountains covered with snow, settles in its stead, the inhabitants, who were during the day almost in the condition of the Hebrew children, now find it necessary to retire to rest under thick coverings.

Another proof that heat does not emanate from the sun is found in the experience of every green-house man and florist. The temperature is raised to a high degree under his glass, and there it seems to be imprisoned, being unable to return, although it apparently came in through that dense medium unobstructed. The facts of the case divest the subject of all mystery. These are, that the sunlight penetrates the glass, and the heat is formed beneath by a union of the light with some element or elements of the air, and instead of being a prisoner in confinement, it is simply an occupant of the place where it first had an existence in its present form. The eye in its complex and multifarious forms can only be the recipient of light, and cannot endure heat, hence it receives light only. The lenses of the telescope and the human eye bear a complete resemblance to each other in their figure, their position, and in their power over the rays of light, viz : in bringing each pencil of light to a point at the right distance from the lens, to-wit : in the eye at the exact place where the membrane is spread to receive it. Two things were wanted to the eye that were not to the telescope, at least to the same degree, and these were the adaptation of the organ to different degrees of light, and to the vast diversity of distance at which objects are viewed with the naked eye, as from a few inches to many miles. These difficulties are not presented to the maker of the telescope. He wants all the light obtainable, and never directs his instrument to objects near at hand. In the eye both cases are provided for, and for the purpose of providing for it a subtle and appropriate mechanism is introduced to exclude the excess of light when it is excessive; and to render objects visible under obscurer degrees of it, the hole or aperture of the eye is so formed as to contract or dilate for the purpose of admitting a greater or less number of rays at the same time. The chamber of the eye is a camera obscura which, when the light is small, can enlarge its opening, and when too strong can contract it without any other aid than its own machinery, which machinery is operated by the light itself and self-regulating.

Inasmuch as this organ has to operate under so many different circumstances, with strong and weak degrees of light upon their objects near and remote, and these differences demanded, according to the laws by which the transmission of light is regulated, a corresponding diversity of structure through which the light passes, that they be larger or less, the lenses rounder or flatter, or that their distances from the tablet on which the picture is delineated should be shortened or lengthened. This being the case, and the difficulty to which the eye was adapted, we find its several parts capable of the most sudden changes, and mechanical and artificial apparatus provided to produce these changes. These changes are made, this complex machinery is operated on by the action of light itself, which is another of its wonderful properties and adaptations of means to ends. When light enters the eye it falls on a dark background, and hence does not generate heat, as though reflected from a light surface in the air. The tropical sun shining on the dark colored races of the tropics is another illustration of the same thing. The negro will endure more heat than the light colored races, though physically less robust than the average inhabitant of the temperate zone. The eyes of birds possess the powers and properties described in the human eye to a more marked degree, as their necessities require it to be so.

The eyes of fishes compared with terrestrial animals exhibit distinctions of structure adapted to their state and element. The iris in the eyes of fishes do not admit of contraction or expansion. This is a great difference, and the reason is probably that the diminished light in the water is never too strong for the retina. Some interesting differences, also, in the eyes of the different varieties of fishes might be interesting, but enough has been said to illustrate this part of the subject.

Conclusion

One of the difficulties with which the popular scientist has to contend with, is, that presenting his subject in such a form as to come home to his readers in its true relations, not liable to be misunderstood, and to avoid painting one side of the picture too forciblv, and not losing the harmony of the whole. We would here remind the reader that much as science can do, it cannot explain everything; that although we may demonstrate that the body is built up by the solar rays, there are mysteries connected with life, animal and vegetable, towards the explanation of which science offers no clue whatever. It cannot explain the nature of that silent power that bids the mighty oak spring from an acorn, or builds from the simplest single cell the multiform differences of animal life. Could it do this it would give us truer views of nature's infinitude and man's littleness, expressed by Newton when he said : " To myself I seem to be as a child playing by the sea shore, while the great ocean of truth lies unexplored before me." On the agreement of science and revelation the asserted divinity of Christ itself is on trial. If the religion which he established falls short of universal acceptance ; if it encounters civilization superior to it; if pi-actical demonstrations of scientific facts that are incontrovertible, be against it, then the prententions of its author are brought to naught.

" We will not here inquire if there be anything inherent in the system, or in its past history, prophetic of universal dominion," but so digress as to inquire if there are disagreements between science and revelation. The system of truth revealed to us in the book of nature and the book of revelation, both emanating from the same Great Author, cannot conflict and both be true, hence disagreement is rendered an impossibility. Empires like China and Japan, embracing more than one-third of the population of the globe, resist alike the advancement of science and Christianity. Idolatry and stolid ignorance alike resist the march of truth. Millions of men are idolators, other millions followers of Mohammed, and still millions more the worshippers of Bramah and Budah; but a single christian nation outweighs them all. "Let there be light," was spoken by the Creator before the dawn of creation's morn, and science has continued to re-echo that grand acclaim to the teeming millions who people this vast globe. The lights of science are burning brightly on the broad domain of our own favored land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Alaska to Panama; in the isles' of the ocean, and in the darkest regions of Paganism, doors have been opened to our science, our commerce and our language. About the time the reformation dawned on the darkness of Europe, the polarity of the compass was discovered, and spread the light with the expanding commerce of the nations. Then came the printing press, "every pull of which casts rays of light athwart the gloom," and the world is learning the sciences that speak just what the bible speaks. No fact recorded by the sacred historians has been so favorite a subject of cavil as the Mosaic account of creation, before quoted. The objectors fail to remember that Moses described these things optically and not physically. Modern science proves that the phenomena of the heavenly bodies are not at all contradictory to the Mosaic history. Modern opposers of revelation have objected that Moses talks of light before there was a sun, and calls the moon a great light, when every one knows it to be an opaque body. But Moses seems to have known what modern science did not until very lately discover, and therefore does not call either sun or moon a great light, but luminaries or light-bearers. Will the objectors look into their Greek, Hebrew or Latin bibles, and their faith will be increased in reference to Moses' attainments in science. Though the moon is not a light itself, yet is that planet a light in its effects, as it reflects the light ot the sun to us.

But the sun and the moon are with propriety called great, not as being absolutely greater than all other stars or planets, but because they appear greater to us, and are of greater consequence and use in the world. And now, after all the philosophy and improvements in astronomy, we still speak of the light of the moon, and the rising and setting of the sun. The man who in a moral, theological or historical discourse should use any other language, would only render himself ridiculous. Hence we say that Moses' description of creation in Genesis is not in conflict with science in its best discoveries, but confirms it; that he speaks optically and not physically; and that we place implicit and impartially in detail, the utmost reliance on the Mosaic record as a proof of our position on the origin of light, the generation of heat, cause of evaporation and its effect, the philosophy of vegetable life and plant growth, and the consequent assimilation of force in the animal kingdom.

Anciently the sciences were locked up in the hands of the priesthood, and unknown to the masses, and hence not reduced to the practical wants of life.

To do so was spoken of as degrading science. Not so in modern times; the masses are educated, and in advance of the priesthood in all the literary, scientific and mechanical progress of the age. And I believe that to-day the heaviest drawbacks, the most ponderous dead weights that militate against the progress and advancement of the light that blazes in all its effulgence with more than meridian splendor from the midday sky of the nineteenth century, is to be found in the bigotry and lack of education and of general intelligence of the priesthood. We do not assert this in the spirit of faultfinding opposition, but with regret that such a state of affairs should exist in our country; and the world hopes and expects their speedy removal, by a wider diffusion of the truths of science and the bible.

To a resident of the slow moving, staid and close calculating Eastern States it is not easy to comprehend the springing into a healthful existence in the brief space of a few years, of an active, thriving, energetic business town of over two thousand inhabitants, with its tall church spires, its noble school building, its extensive and substantial business blocks, its banks, its printing offices, grain elevators and commodious warehouses, its long lines of railroads, the best in the State, in fact, all the elements and facilities of a first class business town, where but a few brief years ago the writer hereof has crossed those prairies on horseback, and frequently a house of the pioneer was not in sight, and when nearing the place where Mason City now stands, with her tall spires pointing high and glistening in the sunshine, we have ridden four to six miles without seeing a human habitation. Yet, such has been the history of this pleasant city. Its past is not only thus pleasant to retrospect, but it needs no prophet's ken, to truthfully say that "it doth not yet appear what it shall be," in even the near future.

About twenty-four years ago, what is now the site of Mason City, was government land, and was entered in 1849 by James Maloney, who afterwards conveyed it to George Straut. Mr. Straut conveyed portions of the tract to various parties, who subsequently re-conveyed to him, and in the autumn of 1857 rie employed E. Z. Hunt to survey the original plat of the

Town Of Mason City

This plat was filed in the Recorder's office by Mr. Straut, September 29, 1857. It includes a tract three-fourths of a mile long and one-half a mile wide - 240 acres. It is bounded by Walnut, Jefferson, Division and Keefer streets. It consists of 37 full blocks (each 320 feet square), and 22 fractional blocks, which are divided into 623 full lots and 7S fractional lots. The streets are 80 feet wide, except Keefcr street, which is 60 feet wide. Block 30 was reserved for public buildings, and block 36 for a park.

Was surveyed by J. C. Warnock, and the plat was filed by Henry T. Strawn, the proprietor, August S, 1S66. It consists of 6 blocks (each 320 feet square), of 14 lots each - S4 lots in all.

Was surveyed by J. C. Warnock, and the plat was filed Sept. 25, 1S66, by Collin J. Elliot, the proprietor. It is divided into 24 lots, the average size of each being about equal to the quarter of an ordinary block.

Was surveyed by Bentley Buxton, and the plat was filed Oct. 18, 1S67, by B. A. Rosebrough, the proprietor. This is the smallest of all the additions. It contains about 8 acres, and is laid out after the style of Elliott's Addition. It contains six full and seven fractional lots. Morgan and Main streets run south through this addition, and Prairie street (50 feet wide) runs east and west through its center.

Northeast Addition

Was surveyed by Bentlev Buxton, in Sept., 1S67. The plat was filed February 29, 1S6S, by William G. Green, Richard Yates and John Mathers, the proprietors. This addition embraces 80 acres. It contains twenty-eight blocks, which are divided into two hundred and eighty lots.

West Addition

Was surveyed by J. R. Falkner. The plat was filed September 29, 186S, by George Straut, the proprietor. There are fifteen blocks, and two hundred and six lots. This completes the list of additions.

From an examination of the figures given above, I find that the whole number of lots in this city, as shown by the recorded plats, is 1,30s. The sub-division of business lots would of course

And now, having disposed of these, perhaps, somewhat uninteresting details concerning the several recorded plats, I desire to turn the attention of the reader back to the condition of this locality eighteen or twenty years ago. In an interesting editorial, entitled "Mason City Then and Now," from the pen of Mr. Warnock, which appeared in the Independent, December 22, 187 1, I find the following :

"Fifteen years ago the present site of Mason City was, in autumn, a waving, and, apparently boundless, sea of blue stem prairie grass, so high that, in many places, a man on horseback could not be seen one hundred yards distant. Wolves had their dens in the ridge where High street now runs, and night was made hideous by their howls. Deer, in great herds, might be started up at any time, but their course could only be known by the parting of the tall grass. Every fall the whole face of the country was swept over by fire, the flames of which would reach high up towards the heavens, then swoop down, reaching a hundred feet ahead, and taking into their grasp the tinder-like material. None but those who have seen our prairie fires of fifteen or twenty years ago can comprehend their magnificent grandeur.

"About a year before Mason City was laid out, a man with a team was so nearly overtaken by a prairie fire, a couple of miles west of this place, that he was compelled to cut his team loose from the wagon, jump upon one of the horses, and 'lay whip' for his life. He succeeded in finding the irons of his wagon afterwards. But such scenes, in this country, are now numbered among the things that were. The tall prairie grass has been made to give way to wheat, corn and oats. The once broad expanse of open prairie is now divided into fields in cultivation. Land that was then for sale at $1.25 per acre, is now worth from $50 to $100. In the summer of 1856, in July, the engineers of the Tonica and Petersburg Railroad ran a random line about a mile west of this place, crossing Salt creek near the then little and now defunct villane of Hiawatha, vulgarly called Slabtown. A short time after, another line was run further east, which forever blasted the hopes of Hiawatha as a railroad town.

Io4 History Of Mason County

"On this second line a town was laid out about a mile and a half west of this place, by Wm. Young-, on a forty acre tract, which he bought of John Y. Lane, for that purpose."

But Mr. Young's hopes were blasted, too, for a third line was afterwards run, which is the present line of what is commonly known as the Jacksonville Branch of the Chicago and Alton Railroad.

I remember that this road was completed to the south line of our corporation on the Fourth of July, 1867, and on that da)' the first train made its appearance, bearing about two hundred excursionists from Petersburg and other points along the route. That was a happy day in this community. The locomotive was the most welcome new-comer we had ever seen. Scores of staring, wondering children gathered about the strange visitor. Our women were never more amiable and pleasing. Our business men smiled contentedly, held their heads higher, and walked with a firmer step; and that evening, when they retired to their homes, many of them who had never been known to possess any musical talent, astonished their families greatly by singing with exceeding gusto, "Ain't we glad to get out of the wilderness," or "We'll have no trouble any more!" That day was the beginning of the season of our city's greatest prosperity.

Late in the fall of '57 David Dare put up a blacksmith shop on the northeast corner of Chestnut and Menard streets. This was the first building erected in the original plat. It was torn down several years ago. The next building erected still stands upon its original site on the third lot north of Chestnut street, on the west side of Main street, and is now owned by Mrs. E. Bell. Mr. Straut gave this lot to William Hibberd, upon condition that the latter woidd erect a hotel thereon. Mr. Hibberd employed Henry Howell, a builder, and a few Petersburg mechanics, and on the first day of December, 1S57, the erection of the "Hibberd House " was commenced, and on the twenty-first day of the same month Mr. H. and his family moved into it, although it was unpainted and unplastered till about the first of the succeeding month. The framing timbers were hewn out in one of the nearest groves, and the lumber was hauled from Pekin. In the same month of December Henry Keefer put up a twro-story frame building on the west side of Tonica street, where it still remains, just north of the lumber yard office of J. A. Clcgg & Co. Soon after Mr. Hibberd com- menced building his hotel he caused a notice to be circulated, after the fashion of those days, that a " Grand Dedication Ball," as he called it, would be given at Mason City on Christinas night. Christmas came, and so did the ball. Mr. Hibberd says that fully three hundred guests were assembled. There were saints and sinners, old men and matrons, young men and maidens. They came from Peoria, Pekin, Havana, Delavan, Lincoln, Petersburg, and " all the regfion round about." The ball was held in both stories of the Keefer building, which had not yet been plastered. There was a " string band " in each room. About one hundred and fifty engaged in the dance, and about an equal number were mere spectators. The dancing commenced about seven o'clock, p. m., and was continued, with but brief intermission, till daylight. No one retired at the Hibberd House that night. All night long the cooks and waiters were busy catering to the appetites of those who had come to the ball. For once, at least, "consumption" assumed an epidemic form. Says Mr. H.: "I had laid in a large supply of 'provender,' but those people ate me out so completely that I had to go to Delavan - the nearest town - the next day (Saturday) and buy provisions for Sunday."

In January, 1858, A. A. Cargill and W. L. Woodward opened a store of general merchandise, in the lower story of the Keefer building, and soon afterwards the first public school was commenced, in the second story of the same building, with Miss Rhoda Allen, (now Mrs. Loring Hastings) for teacher. In this school-room the first religious meetings were held.

Rev. Mr. Holdsclaw, a Baptist, who resided down on Crane Creek, was the first regularly employed minister. This room was used by all denominations, however, until the erection of a large two-story frame building by Joseph Elliott, in the fall and winter of '58, on the northwest corner of Tonica and Chestnut streets. Early in the spring of '59 the Presbyterians organized a church in the second story of Elliott's building, and employed Rev. John Andrews for pastor. The public school had been removed to this room, however, before the organization of this church. Cortes Hume purchased the Elliott building before it was completed. After its completion he opened a store in the lower story. This building now stands on the northwest corner of Tonica and Elm streets, having been removed from its old site by the present owner,