150 YEARS AGO

JAN. 21, 1876

It is supposed that the beauty and natural wealth of Marion County that Coronado dilated so rapturously to his enchanted countrymen is what caused many to lose their lives in the desert wastes around us, hunting for this Eden.

Messrs. S.T. Howe, Levi Billings, Frank Doster, C.M. Rouse, F.W. Frazer, S. Harrison, and S.R. Peters of Marion Centre and Messrs. Chas. Barker, R.T. Battey, T.P. Alexander, C.W. Miller, and J.A. Pike of Florence met a committee from Salina last week at Topeka to talk up a proposed railroad from Florence to Salina.

Several of our exchanges have recently acknowledged the reception of a “dissertation on finance.” We call ’em bills.

A gentleman truly remarked in our presence the other day that one of the best evidences of Marion Centre’s prosperity is the fact that though new buildings are being constantly erected, there is seldom an empty house in town.

Prices at Marion Centre

Food

Bacon per pound $ 0.15

Butter per pound 0.20

Cheese per pound 0.29

Coffee per pound 0.30

Corn per bushel 0.25

Dried beef per pound 0.15

Eggs per dozen 0.15

Flour per hundredweight 2.00

Ham per pound 0.15

Mackerel per pound 0.12

Mutton per pound 0.10

Pork 0.08

Potatoes per bushel 0.30

Smoking tobacco 0.50

Syrup per gallon 0.90

Tea per pound 1.25

Veal 0.08

Whitefish per pound 0.10

Household and furniture

8x10 glazed window 1.75

Baby cribs 5.00

Bedsteads 4.75

Black walnut wardrobe 18.00

Chairs per half-dozen 4.30

Children’s chairs 1.00

Four-panel door 4.00

Heating stoves 40.00

Rocker with cane seat 3.50

Two-hoop bucket 0.25

Zinc washboards 0.25

Tools and implements

Axes 1.50

Mower-reaper combination 200.00

Hoes 0.75

Shovels 1.60

Two-horse wagon, brake 85.00