McHenry County, Illinois - Chapter 22: Miscellaneous, 1922

Chapter 22: Miscellaneous

In this chapter will be found many items of historic interest, which in and of themselves, would scarce make a chapter, but when coupled together make one replete with interest to almost all classes of readers.

Taxable Property

When this county was first organized its rate of taxation was one per cent, on the following schedule : slaves or indentured or registered negro or mulatto servants, stock in trade, horses, mules, asses, and meat cattle above three years of age, swine, lumber, and one-horse wagons, clocks, watches, etc, but no revenue was raised on bank or railroad stock, pianos or silverware. The tax of 1837 realized $370.86.

Early Rates

Among the curiosities of ancient legislation is a tavern license of 1837, for which the fee was $8. There was a provision that the landlord should not overcharge his "dry" customer for the price asked for drinks. The license stipulated the rate he might charge, which was as follows : brandy, rum or gin, twenty-five cents a pint ; wine, thirty -seven and onehalf cents a pint; whisky, twelve and one-half cents per pint; beer or cider the same rate last mentioned. Meals were not to exceed thirtyseven and one-half cents each ; lodging, twelve and one-half cents each ; while a span of horses might chew hay all night for twenty-five cents.

Going To Market

In the thirties and forties the nearest market was Chicago, and the only means of reaching there was by wading through mud in warm weather, and riding over frozen trails in winter. The wagons were for the most part drawn by oxen, the trip taking at least three full days, and the prices received for all kinds of produce was what farmers today and even for the last thirty years, would regard as not worth considering. The seed, sowing, cultivating, harvesting and marketing cost more than the amount received in many cases. Thirty to forty cents a bushel for wheat, and that was the only article the farmer was certain he could sell at all for cash, after he had hauled it to the lake, camping out on his trip to and from the market place. The great yield of the early wheat crops was all that helped the pioneer out. He many years realized as high as forty-five bushels per acre for his spring wheat. Twenty teams in a line, thus going to market with their only staple product, was no uncommon sight.

Prices By Periods

Beginning with the year 1885, taken from the Republican Free- Press of Woodstock of January that year, and winding up with quotations from the successor of that newspaper the Sentinel of the present day, may be had the following quotations:

1855 - brown sheeting, five to nine cents per yard ; bleached shirting, six to fifteen cents; linen pants from sixty-two cents up; linen coats, $1 to $1.50; sugar, twenty pounds for ninety-nine cents; coffee, thirteen to eighteen cents; teas, three to five shillings per pound; molasses, forty cents per gallon; salaratus, eight cents; salt, $6 per barrel.

1862 - No. 1 spring wheat, eighty-eight cents; corn, thirty cents; oats, thirty-four cents; barley, seventy-eight cents; green hides, seven cents per pound; dry hides, fourteen cents; lard, seven cents; eggs, per dozen, thirteen cents; chickens, per pound, nine cents; turkey, six cents ; butter, twelve cents ; potatoes, fifty-five cents, per bushel ; onions, sixty cents, per bushel.

cents to $1 ; oats, thirty-five cents ; ear corn, fifty-five cents ; shelled corn, sixty cents; clover seed, $14.50; beans, choice dull at seventy-five cents to $1 ; live chickens, $4 per dozen ; hides, four and five cents per pound ; eggs, per dozen, fourteen and fifteen cents ; butter, good roll, twenty-five cents; firkin, fifteen to twenty cents.

September, 1881 - cattle, extra choice, $5.90 to $6.20; butcher stock, $2.75 to $3.75; hogs, $6 to $7; sheep, $3.50 to $4.25; creamery butter, twenty to thirty-three cents; fine dairy butter, twenty-one to twentyeight cents; eggs, twenty cents per dozen; No. 2 spring wheat, $1.31; corn, sixty-eight cents; oats, forty-one cents; barley, $1.13; lumber, (common boards) $15 to $17 per M; fencing, $13 to $15 per M.

Fall of 1885 - cattle, $5; hogs, $4.50; mess pork, $9.40; lard, seven cents per pound; cheese, five to eight cents; wool, twenty-seven to thirty-six cents; creamery butter, nineteen cents; dairy butter, fifteen cents; eggs, fifteen cents; No. 2 wheat, seventy-nine cents; corn, fortythree cents; potatoes, forty cents; lumber (common boards), $12.50 to $13.00; fencing, $10.50.

1893 - World's Fair Year shipping steers, $3.50 to $5.24; cows, $1.25 to $3.10; hogs, $5 to $6 per cwt. ; sheep, $2 to $4; butter, creamery, eighteen cents; dairy, fifteen cents; eggs, twelve cents; lard, ten cents; wheat, sixty-seven cents; corn, forty cents; oats, twenty-eight.

In the month of July, 1919 - cattle, prime steers, $16.40; medium, $14.25; prime cows for beef, $10; hogs, choice light butcher's stock, $22.50 ; heavy weight butchers, $22 ; butter, forty-four to forty-eight cents for best ; eggs, thirty-six to forty-one cents per dozen ; cheese, thirty-one to thirty-four cents; poultry, thirty to thirty -one cents per pound ; beans, hand picked $7 to $7.50 per bushel ; sugar, ten cents ; wheat No. 1 Red, $2.28; No. 2 hard, $2.32; corn (Chicago), $1.80 to $1.90; oats, sixty to seventy cents; gasoline twenty-three cents per gallon (small lots) ; Milk, $2.13 per cwt.

" The hog is king. Long live the hog ! " Prices quoted now are $22.50 a hundred pounds and still "going strong." Bacon and eggs will soon be on the menus of millionaires only ! The 1919 model hog is silver-lined and gold-plated. Who wouldn't be a farmer if he could?

Village Plats

Since the organization of this county the following village plats have been executed, and nearly all are still in existence, though some are long since defunct.

Algonquin was surveyed by -I. Brink, county surveyor, September 26. 1844, in the northwest of the oorthwesl lit' section 34 and the southwest of section 27. bounded by Fox River on the east, anil on the south by Crystal Fake outlet, all in township 4:!, range 8 east. The proprietors were Eli Henderson and Alexander Dawson. Its original name was "Osceola."

Cary was platted in section 13, township 4.'i, range 8 by John Brink county surveyor June 4 to 7 in 1856, and filed tor record February 23, 1859. The proprietor was William D. Cary.

Nunda was platted by land speculators and filed for record August 13, 1868. It was platted in the southeast quarter of section 32, township 44, range 8.

Richmond was platted in the west half of the southeast quarter and the east half of the southwest quarter of section 9, township 46, range 8, by Charles G. Cotting, September 2, 1844.

Woodstock was platted in the south half of the southwest quarter of section 5, township 44, range 7 east. It was at first named by the county commissioners who laid it out, "Centerville" as it was near the exact geographical center of the county. The plat was executed April 10, 1844, by County Commissioners - Messrs. Troop, Hayward and Tryan, and was received for record June 10, 1844, by Recorder William H. Beach.

The burying grounds of the county are numerous, and many of them are well improved and cared for by tender hands. Of course there are several of the older ones" that were used in pioneer times which have not been used of later years, and hence have run down and are not cared for as well as the others. The record for severalof the cemeteries is not to be found in the county books, but the tombstones speak louder than printed record that the departed dead are within such sacred enclosures.

Interesting Items

The first justices of the peace in Fox precinct, and consequently Hist iii the county, were William H. Buck, and William L. Way, elected July 3, 1837.

Tornado Of 1862

From newspaper and personal accounts the following is gleaned : "On Monday, August 4, 1862, a tornado, which was very destructive to both life and property, passed through the southwestern part of McHenry County. The storm began at three o'clock in the afternoon, with sheets of rain, heavy thunder and extremely sharp lightning. At the Deitz school house in Seneca Township, school was in session. and about eighteen scholars and the teacher, Mary E. Goodrich, were present. The house standing directly in the track of the storm was taken from its foundation and carried several feet, turned half around and torn to pieces leaving only the front end of the building standing. Strange to say. not a single scholar was seriously injured, though all were badly frightened.

"Fences, buildings, stacks and bundles of grain - everything that stood in the way of the terrible storm - was madly seized and torn to pieces. The residence of John E. Green, in Marengo, was blown down.

Mr. Green's mother, wife and daughter were in it at the time. The old lady was so badly hurt that she died the next day, and the wife and daughter were seriously injured. Robert Smith's son, John, aged fifteen years, took shelter in a shock of wheat in the harvest field. He was struck in the side by a board, blown from a neighboring structure, and so injured that he died the next hour. The wife of G. H. Sumner, a tailor, wTas found among the ruins of' the barn, with her neck broken. Edwin Morris was so badly wounded that he died soon afterward. This storm was closely estimated to have caused a loss of .$30,000 worth of property in this county."

Cyclone Of 1883

McHenry County has been quite fortunate in not being located in the natural zones of periodical wind-storms, especially the ever-to-bedreaded cyclone. However, one did pass through the townships of Chemung and Alden, Friday, May 18, 1883. Three lives were sacrificed in this terrible storm, and an immense amount of damage done to prop- erty all along its pathway. Strange to relate, its direction was from the southeast moving northwest, and every building in its pathway was removed and swept out of existence. An account given by the local press says that near the Village of Chemung the farm buildings of Henry Baker, occupied by George Conn were utterly demolished. Seven persons were in the house at the time the storm struck. They fled to the cellar for protection. Patrick Corrigan, a hired man, was killed, and Mr. Conn injured by a falling timber. Just across the way the buildings of Mr. Downs were also destroyed, the owner rendered unconscious, and several members of the family injured. A near neighbor of Mr. Downs, R. J. Williams, lost his barn and a portion of his house. Owen McGee's buildings were destroyed and large oak trees were uprooted as if but mere saplings.

The railroad depot at Lawrence, and other buildings were damaged. Patrick Kennedy lost all of his buildings, and his hired man, John Mc- Guirk, was killed. J. W. Rogers lost all of his buildings, except his house ; also his horses, sheep, fences, carriages and farming implements.

In Alden Township the barns of James Vick and Mr. Campbell were destroyed, the residence of Fred Bombard damaged and his outbuildings ruined.

and four small children and one hired man. Mr. Bottlemy says they did net even have time to descend into the cellar; lie reached for the two children to take them below, and the next he remembers anything abont, he was lying upon the ground. The building was strewn to the four winds, the house in atoms, not one stick left upon another, even the stones composing the foundation were scattered for rods around. The scene beggars description. Parts of bedding ami other clothing were found in the tops of tall trees fully a quarter of a mile away. Huge oaks were torn up by the roots and carried along for many rods to be lodged against the house where were the family. The hired man. a German named Soule, thirty-two years of age, was found dead in front of the house; he seems to have been killed by being thrown violently against some sharp pointed grubs that were sticking out of the ground at that spot. His skull was pierced in several places; the body was removed to the residence of Casper Bottlemy, one mile distant.

"Mr. Bottlemy was seriously injured across the lungs and bruised about the head. The small children were unhurt. Mrs. Bottlemy was found with her back firmly planted against a tree, her left arm broken below the elbow, her right arm dislocated at the shoulder. Her ease is very critical. The oldest child, a girl of twelve summers, was badly bruised about the head and shoulders. These were all taken to the residence of Fred Bombard where they were kindly eared for. Dr. Barringer, of Alden, was sent for as soon as possible and arrived on the terrible scene about 6 :30 P. M. Dr. Brigham arrived about midnight. The sufferers were all properly eared for. An inquest was held Saturday on the body of the hired man, and a verdict rendered in accordance with the above facts.

"Mr. Bottlemy 's sheds and barns were leveled to the earth, one horse being killed. The next building struck was the sehoolhouse, a good frame structure which was actually swept from existence, not a single vistage remaining. The storm happily occurred two hours after school closed for the day, or the consequences would have been terrible indeed.

"A few rods east is the residence of C. L. Kingsley, a large square house with a cupola. The whole roof was torn off and carried away. The barn, over sixty feet long, in which twenty-five cattle were standing, was flattened to the earth, the fragments were strewn for a mile around. There were also three persons in the barn at the time it was struck, none of whom were seriously injured. That they escaped seems almost incredible. A cow and horse were killed, and one double buggy and a single carriage are entirely missing. The next place visited was that of Fred Mode, a quarter of a mile further on. The barns were all destroyed ; the houses were saved, although the porch was torn off. Still further to the east, the barn belonging to Mrs. M. A. Weter was destroyed. The storm was very severe further along toward the east, and much damage was done.

"From Alden, the cyclone passed over the line into Wisconsin, and just north of Hebron station, destroyed Levi Nichol's house, barn, etc. His hired man was killed outright. His father's barn was also wrecked. At Racine, eight persons were killed, a large number injured, and one hundred and fifty buildings destroyed."

Unusual And Unfortunate Occurrences

A snow storm in December, 1856, blocked up roads and the new railroad so effectually that travel by any method was impossible for days at a time. On the railroad running through Woodstock several trains were snowed in between stations.

In the Fremont political campaign in 1856, this county was won by the Republicans, and in ratifying the news what was styled as the "Woodstock Cannon" was used. By some mismanagement it was prematurely discharged, thereby badly injuring Orson Bates so as to require the amputation of his right arm, and the left hand above the wrist.

Sunday, August 28, 1859, James Ashe, a prisoner confined in the jail for beating his wife, probably through remorse, hung himself and he was found dead.

In the spring of 1859 a young man named Deming, son of Jedediah Deming, of Harvard, started for Pike's Peak as a gold seeker. When near there he was taken ill and being almost overcome by hardship and exposure, he turned back; but being joined on the Missouri River by his brother John, concluded to start for California. He was sick enroute most of the trip, but upon getting through was much improved. On January 20, 1860, he went out hunting, and not returning when expected, his brother went out to search for him. Seeing tracks of

Indians he at once concluded that John had been foully dealt with, and went to the neighboring miners for aid. The body was found Shol through the head. While the brother of the murdered man was

On October 22, 1859, William Dalzell, while bricking up a thirtyfoot well, on a farm a mile or so northeast of McHenry, was buried alive by being covered by the caving in of the walls to a depth of eighteen feet. When his body was recovered it was found that his head and face had been horribly mangled and that probably he met death instantly. A man named Babeock was drowned in the Nippersink, near Spring Grove, while fishing with a seine. May 10, 1860. He was thirty-five years of age and had recently come from the East.

A. ('. Wilson, twenty years old, was killed at Harvard. July 20, 1860, while attending to his duties as a railroad employe, in trying to get ears on the track that had accidentally backed off.

Adam Schneider, a very worthy farmer, was killed near Greenwood, October, 1863, while at work in his field. His team became frightened and ran over him.

In April, 1865, while celebrating the fall of Richmond, an anvil which they were fixing exploded, and a large piece struck H. G. Otis, who died two hours later.

On June 16, 1865, John Dolan, of Woodstock, nineteen years old, was shot and killed while trying to enter the house of Kutledge Harris, near Crystal Lake, He with a companion, both drunk, went to Harris's

In August, 1867, Michael Dwyer, of Woodstock, aged seventeen, was accidentally drowned while bathing in Crystal Lake. The next day efforts were made to recover his body and the old cannon from Woodstock was brought into use. The second time it was discharged, it exploded and so injured the drowned boy's father that it was thought he would die; it also injured several others.

In May, 18G8, a boy named Ira Clason, eighteen years old, was struck by lightning, while plowing on a farm six miles south of Marengo. The team he was driving at the time were also killed.

T. J. Hobart was instantly killed in October, 1869, by the falling in upon him as he was digging, a cellar under a building. This was on the McIIenry road six miles east of Woodstock.

In October, 1869, a four year old girl belonging to Patrick Crowley, of Marengo, was so badly burned by her clothes catching fire, that she died ten days later.

Jeremiah Halesley was killed near Harvard by a railroad train. He was riding a horse and had crossed the track, but the horse had become frightened and ran back with its rider, who was thrown in front of the oncoming train and killed.

In August, 1873, Watson Heath, of Dunham, had both legs and an arm cut off in a mowing machine, and died soon after. He had lived in this county sixty-four years, and was a popular man and a good citizen.

On December 7, 1872, the night watchman, Jacob Hurst, at the Woodstock brewery, met his death in a singular manner. A bin of malt above him broke through the floor, and he was buried in it and smothered to death.

On June 9, 1874, a very sweeping storm caused heavy damage in this county as well as adjoining counties. Trees, houses, barns and fences suffered severely. The damage was especially great at Harvard,

McHenry, Union and Richmond. At Harvard the new engine house of the Chicago & North Western Railroad was destroyed and much other property damaged.

On Oetober l'_\ 1S74, a ten-year old son of lssae Mussey, of Seneca, went to the pasture to eateh a horse. While returning home his hands got eold, and to warm them he tied the rope by which he was leading the horse, about his body. The horse, taking fright at something, ran, and the boy was dragged until killed.

On December 15, 1874, on the farm of J. E. Xourse, two miles west of McHenry, William Grant, aged twenty-four years, was buried in a well, sixty feet deep. Eleven feet of earth caved in from the top and fell upon him. It required the work of two men for a day to recover his body.

On Oetober 30, 1875, two miles from Woodstock, on the Austin Frame farm, George Schneider was struck by lightning and instantly killed. He and his wife were sorting potatoes in the cellar at the time, and she was uninjured.

In March, 1876, a man named Sweet, at Harvard, while sawing wood with a horse-power, was caught by the coat in the machinery and killed by being drawn into the saw frame.

In August, 1878, a German named Christian Beir, six miles west of Huntley, was standing on top of a threshing machine and slipped down into the cylinder while it was at full speed. His body was horribly mangled, too shocking for description. He lived an hour, being conscious to the end.

Frozen To Death

"On last Sabbath afternoon the lifeless form of John Burk, of the town of Greenwood, was found in McHenry Township, near the old residence of Hon. H. McLean. The circumstances connected with this sad affair are substantially as follows: Mr. Burk left his house on Friday morning for McHenry with a load of oats, and not returning that night, his mother, who lived with him, notified his brothers of the fact on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning they started out to find him. They went directly to McHenry and were informed that John was there Friday afternoon and left for home in the evening. They also learned that there was a sleigh, from which the horses were detached, near the railroad track north of the village. On examination, it was soon found that on leaving McHenry Mr. Burk took the railroad track instead of the wagon road, driving over cattle-guards, etc., until he came to the outlet of Lake McCollum; and at this point it seems the horses refused to cross the bridge, left the track and undertook to cross the stream on the ice, but it gave way, precipitating horses and sleigh into the water. It appears that Mr. Burk left the sleigh and succeeded in detaching the horses therefrom, removed the fence and started to cross the slough, but ran into a soft place or spring and here the horses left him, he traveling in one direction and they in another. Mr. Burk went but a short distance from where the team left him, took shelter under some bushes on the shores of the lake, where he was found by his brothers, frozen to death. His clothes were wet nearly to his waist, which proves he had been in the water. John has been in the habit of drinking strong drink too freely for several years, and no doubt but this was the case on Friday night, causing him to lose his way and bringing about his untimely death."

An Early Temperance Society Meeting

It is not the province of this work to discuss the Prohibition and liquor questions of the long ago years in this county, as doubtless it is best to cover old John Barleycorn's putrid corpse with a mantle of charity. He no longer lives here, enough mean things have been spoken and written of him in the last seventy-five years to damn him for ever and a day, and we cannot find a record of authority showing that he had any saving traits of character, so let him rest where he fell, at tin' hand of the people of America in 1919.

But it may not be out of place to give the reader of this volume an account of a meeting of the "Ladies Temperance Association of McHenry County," held at Marengo in 1855. We give it as written up by a delegate from Elgin, who attended it and wrote her report in the Elgin Palladium of January 18, 1855 :

"First in the order of events, after leaving Elgin depot, was the demand by the conductor for our fare, and we were greatly surprised at his unwillingness to accord to our party the courtesy, which in every instance heretofore has been shown ladies of this Association, in their frequent interchange of kindly regard and sympathy by attending the meetings of the differenl societies; by allowing them passage at the half fare usual rate Ami still more were we surprised when upon representation of these Eacts to the superintendent, who chanced to be on board, be also refused the customary tribute to the cause of temperance. Sorry we arc to record such an ungallanl act. We Eel1 indignanl at such ungentlemanly treatment, but not sufficient to disturb our equanimity, and we arrived at Marengo in good spirits were received by the ladies of that place with great eordiality - partook of their cheer and repaired to the Presbyterian meeting-house, where after the transaction of business, we listened to an entertaining address from .Mrs. Randall of Belvidere; after this resolutions were discussed, one being with regard to the rightfulness of mob force if necessary, for the restraint of the traffic in ardent spirits. It elicited a spirited discussion from Mrs. Safford, Mrs. Lindsey, and Mrs. Misick of Marengo, -Mrs. Randall of Belvidere, Mrs. Hubbard of Huntley, and Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Waldron and Mrs. Tefft of Elgin, and was put to the house and lost. A number of resolutions to the effect that the rumseller is equally izuilty and alike deserving of condemnation with the rum-drinker; and that they withdraw all patronage from all those who deal in intoxicating drinks we adopted unanimously. If lived up to this cannot fail to be of great good and it should enlist the energies and zeal of all temperance people. Thi seems to be a great amount of talent among the ladies of Marengo, compared to their numbers, some few noble-minded women, who are willing to hazard much in the cause they have espoused, and to 'hope on and hope ever,' until they see that accomplished for which they have been swelling the number of petitions to our state legislature, a prohibitory law similar to the Maine Law."

Cextexary Drive

The Centenary Celebration, or the 100th anniversary of the sending the first church missionary from the Methodist Episcopal church, was celebrated in 1919, and among other plans in this great movement, started by the Methodist denomination, and carried out by most of the Protestant denominations, for the betterment of the world's people, was the raising of an immense fund to carry on the missionary, home and foreign, cause. The Methodist Church alone asked for subscriptions for $105,000,000, to be paid in five equal annual payments. A staggering amount, seemingly, to confront a war-ridden people who have been

McHenry County "went over the top" in this, as well as in Liberty Loans. The exact figures are not at hand, but in the single case of the local Methodist Episcopal Church at Woodstock, it may be stated that its allotment was $15,850 for the five year period, and this amount was oversubscribed by about $1,000, enough to make up all shrinkage.

Among the logical arguments used in appealing to the church-going people here was one, that Woodstock expended on an average of $20,000 a year for picture shows, and only $25,000 for all her churches. And going outside, it was shown that the United States spends $320,000,000 a year for soda and other light drinks and $1,000,000,000 for tobacco. These and like arguments, properly presented, brought the subscribers to see that it was only their Christian duty to spend, at least $105,000- 000 for trying to help answer the Lord's Prayer "Thy Kingdom Come."

Home Bureau

During the late World War the women of this county organized what is styled the Home Bureau, the aim of which is to better look after the domestic and home side of life. In a meeting held in the City School building in Woodstock, July 7, 1919, the women from all parts of the county were present with reports of the work accomplished during the past year. Miss Bunch, of the University of Illinois, and Mrs. Dunlap, of Champaign, were present and made addresses. The following officers were re-elected for the ensuing year: Mrs. A. E. Seward, Marengo, president; Mrs. G. A. Miller, Pleasant Valley, vice-president; Mrs. Fred McConnell, Woodstock, secretary ; Mrs. Will Hoy, Huntley, treasurer. The executive committee consisted of the following: Mrs. E. G. Turner, Richmond; Mrs. Fred Baier, Harvard; Mrs. Will Dyke, Crystal Lake; Mrs. J. C. Furlong, Spring Grove; Mrs. A. J. Gafke, Woodstock.

Work was begun by this society in July, 1918, with 272 members enrolled. During the year work was carried on to the best interests of housekeeping and home-making; how to use better methods, and adopt better equipment to save time and energy in daily household tasks.

taughl the preparation of war foods, canning of fruits, vegetables and meats and the remodeling of old clothing, forty-two Lectures were given on better kitchen arrangement, labor-saving devices, poultry-raising, gardening, planning of meals ami feeding of children. The total attendance at these meetings was 11,956. .Miss Blair, in charge of the work, travelled during the year 2,7;!7 miles by rail and 1,457 by ear. holding meetings in every township in the county. As a result of the work, hoi lunches were installed in three country schools. Twenty-four women are making a special study of the planning of meals, keeping records of the time, expense and amount of food used. Twenty-nine women are keeping records of their gardens; thirty-seven are making special study of the poultry business. Six townships are studying the care and feeding of children. A week's sewing school has been conducted. Three days' instruction in poultry raising were given by a specialist with an attendance of 153. Besides all this much food was canned and dried, especially vegetables and meats and much wool saved by the re-making of clothes. This is an excellent innovation.

In the summer of 1919, at Woodstock, druggist A. S. Wright had on exhibition in his show-window on the south side of the public square, a collection of valuable and highly interesting Civil War relics belonging to Col. William Avery. Colonel Avery's daughter. M. Ella Avery, in disposing of her household goods, tendered these war relics of her father's as trophies to the Memorial Hall in Chicago, which offer was accepted. This consists of revolver, saber, box of bullets; the bullet which wounded the colonel ; shoulder straps from the rank of captain to colonel; well preserved piece of "hard-tack"' (soldier's bread) now over fifty years old, still in good condition. Colonel Avery was county clerk of McHenry County for a period of twelve years. The Grand Army men took special delight in looking at these relics which reminded them of the days of their young manhood.

Installing A New Typesetting Machine

Editor Seott, of the Richmond local newspaper, had troubles of his own according to the following paragraphs written by him after the battle was over in the month of August, 1915. It appears he had purchased a new linotype machine and upon unpacking it found it

"Anyhow the expert linotype man, who knows bushels of things about printing machines, looked with some sconi on the mashed up machine and declared the "thing" was no good at all. Another was ordered and there was indigo atmosphere which lingered in the print shop all last week. The chief editor wouldn't even go fishing!

"The news editor was going tramping over the hills; going fishing and listening to the wind-waves in the trees and watch the shadows grow long when the sun was low.

"It rained there; there was no sunshine; there was no wind; and the fish wouldn't bite. The news editor was obliged to spend part of the time in a darkened room because of a vacation head ache, which was doubtless a just penance for planning to be a genuine gypsy for a whole week."

"There are several other chapters to this vacation story, but they are of the same color as those already described, hence we decline to enter further details. What's the use? The perfect linotype has arrived and is beiug installed and the glint of sunshine fills the office all around and back again."

War Waged On Canada Thistles

The state law concerning Canada thistles and other objectionable weeds is being rigidly enforced in the county at this time. The encroachment of late of the Canada thistle is something fearful to behold. The county has its regular thistle commissioners and they in turn have been authorized to engage scores of assistants to aid in doing away with these pests. June, July and August are the three available months in which to try to annihilate the thistles. The report shows that there were 743 different strips of Canada thistles on farms in Dunham Township alone, of which twenty-four were in the highways. The commissioners are provided with an outline map which they are supposed to fill in as fast as the thistle sections are discovered. When a farmer claims his farm is not in the thistle belt, the commissioner simply pulls out his map or plat and shows him that he is mistaken and that unless he gets busy and removes the pests at once that the county will hire a person to remove the same and add the expense, which is usually from $3 to $4 per day, to his next tax bill.

Many of the worst tracts are on farms which are rented out and the owners live so far away that they seldom visit the place, hence the thistles have grown almost beyond control of anyone.

In Chemung Township, the commissioner declared, "There is one farm in my district in this township that has sufficient Canada thistles, if permitted to ripen, to supply enough seed to cover all of the great State of Texas." One commissioner, Mr. Dacy, walks over his territory, going many days as much as twenty miles.

There is no escape from assuming the thistle obligation. If the land owner refuses to cut them down at the lawful time, the commissioner simply hires a man to do the work and reports the transaction and makes a bill which is placed against the land at the coming tax paying season.

During the great Columbian Fair at Chicago, in 1893, McHenry County had a large and complete assortment of corn grown from her rich soil. The men who under director James Crow, of Crystal Lake, furnished such corn exhibit were worthy a record in the annals of their county, hence find the list here annexed.

Spring Grove Fish Hatchery

many visitors present saw 50,000 rainbow trout, all four months old and at the same date there were 30,000,000 pike eggs just hatching out, also 25,000 brook trout two months old. Most of these young trout were to be planted in the spring-fed streams of McHenry County. In 1915, 350,000 black bass and 12,000,000 pike-perch were planted in the water courses and lakes of the county by the State Fish Commission.