Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 11

Author: McDonough, J.L., & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.L. McDonough & Co
Number of Pages: 578


USA > Illinois > Perry County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
USA > Illinois > Randolph County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
USA > Illinois > Monroe County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 11


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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1776


1857


Henry Clay


Kentucky.


1 1th Congress


December 4, 1813, to March 4, 1815.


.....


....


John W. Taylor


New York, 2d Session.


16th Congress


November 15, 1×20, to March 4, 1821


1784


1851


Philip P. Barbour.


Virginia


17th Congress


Henry Clay.


Kentucky


1sth Congress


December 5, 1825, 10 March 4, 1827 ..


December 3, 1827, to March 4, 1829.


1184


1857


Andrew Stevenson


.


11


2ªd Congress


December 2, 1833, to June 2, 1834


1:07


1819


James K. Polk


24th Congress


December 7, 1835, to Maich 4, 1837


1795


1819


Robert M. T. Hunter


Virginia


26th Congress


John White.


Kentucky


27th Congress


May 31, 1841, 10 March 4, 1843.


1805


1815


John W. Jones


Virginia


28th Congress


December 4, 1843, to March 4, 1845


1805


1848


John W. Davis


Indiana


wuth Congress


December 1, 1845, to March 4, 1×17


1599


1630


Robert C. Winthrop


Massachusetts


30th Congress


December 6, 1847, to March 4, 1849.


1809


Howell Cohb


Georgia


31st Congress


December 22, 1849, to March 4, 1831.


December 1, 1851, to March 4, 1853.


1800


1859


Linu Boyd


Kentucky


32d Congress


December 5, 1X33, In March 4, 1:55.


February 2 1xGG, to March 4, 1857


1822


18,3


James L. Orr


South Carolina.


35th Congress


Wmn. Pennington


New Jersey ..


36th Congress


February 1, Iso, to March 4, 1861


17:10;


1862


Galnoha A. Grow


Pennsylvania


37th Congress


December 7, 1863, to March 4, 186; 1×23


December 1, 1st, to March 4, 1867


14


=


=


40th Congress


March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1871


15.30


James G. Blaine.


Maine


4Ist Congress.


March 4, 1871, to March 4, 1873 ..


December 1, 1873, to March 4, 1875


Michael C Kerr


Indiana


HIth Congress.


December 6, 1875, to August 20, 1876


1>27


1876


Samuel J. Randall


Pennsylvania, 2d Session.


44th Congress


December 1, 1876, to March 4, 18,7.


1828


=


.4


45th Congress


October 15, 1877, to March 1, 1879.


March 18, 1879, to ....


POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AT EACH CENSUS, FROM 1790 TO 1880, FROM THE OFFICIAL CENSUS.


States and Territories.


1790.


1900.


1$10.


1-20.


1830.


1810.


1850.


1-60.


1-70.


1540.


Per cent. mores-e Tal to '80.


The United States .... The States.


3920214 3920214


530×483


7239881


9633822 9000783


12866020 12820868


17069453 17019641


23191876 23067262


31443321 31183744


38538371 38115641


40.00,0595


30.0G 99.52


A labaina


964201


996992


1262794


26.GG


Arkansas ..


435490


4×4471


802564


65 65


California


370994


560247


804686


54.31


Colorado ..


34277


39801


194640


365.28


Connecticut


237946


251: 02


21 1942


275148


207675


309078


370792


460147


537154


022683


15,85


Delaware


59096


64273


72674


72749


76748


78080


91332


112216


125013


146,664


17.30


Florida


140424


187548


267351


42.39


Illinois


1711951


2539801


3078769


21.22


Indiana


Db 1


24520


147178


343031


088416


1350428


1480637


1978362


17.70


Jowa


6740113 107200


1194020


1621620


173.14


Kentucky


73077


220055


4141511


564135


637917


הצ אוי77


982405


115568


155084


1648708


04.60


Louisiana


708002


726915


940103


20.32


Maine


DU: G


131719


228705


208269


399455


501793


628279


626-15


11)945


3.15


Maryland.


א': 3107


311544


380346


407350


447040


470019


383034


687049


180804


934632


19.68


Massachusetts.


1231056


14.731


17×3012


02.34


Michig .n.


749113


1184059


1036331


38.19


Minnesota


172023


4:1970G


1331592


36,67


Missouri


11x2012


1721293


2115504


25.99


Nebraska


122903


42433


267.83


Nevada


1857


42491


12265


46.53


New Hampshire.


141885


183838


211460


244022


269328


284354


31797G


32607.3


31×300


New Jersey


1$4139


211149


213562


277426


320823


373301


480555


672035


11308002


24>0


New York


311020


959049


1372111


1:18-09


2128521


3880,35


4782739


FUS3>10


15.99


North Carolina


393751


478103


555500


6388 9 581295


037903


1319467


19:0120 23:0511


21.6:26


3198230


19.99


Oregon


52465


90923


174767


92.21


Pennsylvania


134373


602365


$1001


1047507


1348233


1724033


200G215


352195]


Rhode Island


G8825


09122


76931


8:3015


07199


108830


147545


1,4620


217353


170328


27.22


South Carolina


249073


345501


415115


002741


581185


544394


668307


703708


70560G


095022


40 95


Tennessee


35691


105602


261727


422771


681904


820210


1002717


1109801


1258520


1542463


22.56


Texas


94.55


Vermont


81425


134465


217895


235966


280632


2019'8


314120


315008


33055]


332286


.52


Virginia


747610


880200


974000


1065116


1211405


1239797


1421661


1596318


1226163


1512806


23.42


West Virginia


39.91


Wisconsin


24.72


The States


3920214


5924 301


7215858


9000783


12820868


17019641


23007262


31183744


38115641


49369595


229.62


Arizona


Dakota


14093


24023


33039


39831


4.171 .


51687


73080


1317- 1


177638


31 88


Idaho.


14999


32611


117.42


Montana


20593


39137


90.12


New Mexico.


¥8.90


Utah


11:50


40273


$6786|


11390G


6. 81


Washington


115:1 |


23050


75120


213.58


Wyoming.


9118


20558


127.48


The Territories


24023


33034


39834


43712


121614


249577


442:30


TN1271


Total Population


3.9 11


5308493


7239841


06.34822


128: 6020


17069453


23191876


31413321


385583;1


501528GG


30.00


Increase


Increase


Increase Increase


Increase


Increase


Increase


Increase Increase


per cent


per rent. per cent.


per cent


per cent. per cont


per cent


per cent per cent.


1700-1800. 1801-1510 1810-1820. 1820-1830. 1830-1810. 1840-1x0, 1850-1860. 1860-1 70. 1870-1 8


35 10


17 20


:: .


4: 11.


29.65


...


John Bell


Tennessee, 2d Session.


11


2ith Congress


September 5, 1837, to March 4, 1$39


1800


1841


John W. Taylor


New York


19th Congress


20th Congress


21st Congress


December 7, 1829, to March 4, 1831.


December 5, 1831, to March 4, 1833.


23d Congress


23d Congress.


December 6, 1819, to May 15, 1820.


16th Congress


December 4, 1821, to March 4, 1823. 1783


December 1, 1823, to March 4, 1825


Virginia


13th Congress


Langdon Cheves


Anith Carolina, 2d Session ..


13th Congress


December 7, 1795, to March 4, 1797. 1760


1828


Jonathan Dayton ..


New Jersey


Theodore Sedgwick


Massachusetts


6th Congress


December 2, 1799, to Maich 4, 1801.


October 17, IND3, to March 4, 1805.


ath Congress


October 26, 1807, to March 4, 1800


11th Congress


15th Congress


Lecember 1, 1817, to March 4, 1819.


1>15


1868


Nathaniel P. Banks.


Massachusetts


34th Congress


December 7, 1837, to March 4, 1859


July 4, 1861, to March 4, 1863.


1823


Schuyler Colfax


Indiana ..


38th Congress


39th Congress


March 4, 1867, to March 4, 1869


14


43d Congres9


516823


691392


901185


1057286


1184109


1539048


29.97


Georgia ..


162686


25/433


340985


55162


197445


476183


851470


43112


192214


Kansas,


37877


4228 15


472040


523159


61040% 31639


212267


397654


Mississippi


8850


#353


73448


136621 140135


375611 383702


682014


20847


66557


73787


753419


3097334 869039 992622


10,1301


1400017


30.67


Oho


45363


231760


30913


305391


7728-1


10646,0


1315480


40441


318.53


4:37


14'81


135180


853.24


76556


152023


21.739


352411


517762


683169


737699


094514


6077


791305


825922


601213


818579


1592574


442014


618443


=


5204.200


721.868


127901 14253


3095:27 30388


590746


97574


771623 209897 92597


64477


34730


87445


9950166


77 57


0.01


13244


2311786


21.60


212502


91571


11×430


76.91


4762


876.5


42d Congress


June 2, 1834, to March 4, 1833


December 16, 1838, to March 4, 1841.


33d Congress


40th Congress


......


December 2, 1793, to March 4, 1795.


965M


District of Columbia


12282


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


CHAPTER III.


GEOGRAPHY, AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES AND RAIL- ROAD FACILITIES OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES.


RANDOLPH COUNTY.


HIS county is situated on the southwest borders of the state, and bisected at right angles by the 38th degree of north latitude, and the 90th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. It is an irregular district of country, triangular in outline, and bounded on the north by Monroe, St. Clair and Washington coun- ties, on the east by Perry and Jackson counties, and on the south and west by the Mississippi river and Monroe county: It embraces an area of about sixteen congressional townships, or upwards of five hundred square miles. The Kaskaskia enters the county from the north in Baldwin precinct, flows in a southerly course. and discharges its waters into the Mississippi river about ten miles above the south line of the county. The cast is traversed in the same direction by Mary's river, which enters the Mississippi about four miles below the mouth of the Kaska-kia. In addition to these, Horse creek, and Nine Mile creek, tributaries of the Kas- kaskia, flow through the northern portion of the county ; and the Little Mary, a tributary of Mary's river. The-e, taken together, furnish an excellent waterway for all seetions of the county. Besides the above, there are streams of lesser note, which form auxiliaries to complete almost a perfect surface drainage.


Topography .- The features of the county topographically are somewhat varied. About one-third of its surface, com- prising the northeastern portion, is comparatively of a level or rolling surface, sufficient for good natural drainage. The prairie tracts are very small and limited, and possess a loamy soil of lightish color, with a yellow clay sub-soil. These prairie lands, although not possessing the deep black soil peculiar to the central and northern part of the state, are nevertheless, very productive yielding abundant crops of corn, wheat, oats, and grasses, and this without very much effort on the part of the husbandman. The prairie region is restricted, maiuly, to that portion of the county underlaid by the coal fields.


Soil and Agriculture .- Between this prairie region and the bottom lands on the Kaskaskia and Mississippi rivers, there is a belt of country underlaid by sandstone and lime- stone, which is quite broken and hilly, rising at some points to quite prominent bluffs. Originally this portion of the country was covered with heavy timber, and a considerable portion of its surface is still occupied by the natural forests.


The soil upon these broken lands is somewhat shallower than that of the prairies, yet its productive qualities seem to be about equal to the adjacent lands, and where the surface is sufficiently level for agricultural purposes, good crops are usually realized. The yellow elay sub-soil of this region appears to possess all the essential elements of a good soil, and when brought to the surface and subjected to atmos- pheric agencies, it becomes most productive. Hence, sub- soiling will be found largely advantageous to those soils that, from long and injudicious cultivation, have been par- tially exhausted. These broken lands are especially adapted to the growth of every kind of fruit peculiar to the temperate zones, and the smaller fruits may be successfully cultivated even where the lands are too undulating for the raising of cereals. Some of the enterprising German farmers have already commenced the culture of the grape, and the manu- facture of native wine by them has proven quite a success. It is a matter of experiment as yet, whether the Catawba will succeed as well here as in a more northern climate. Yet there are other varieties, if it should fail to be valuable, that can be successfully cultivated. The Delaware and Concord varieties have proven valuable and productive in all por- tions of the temperate zone, rather than in a comparatively mild one ; hence its cultivation in Southern Illinois has gen- erally proved a partial failure, while in localities further north it has been comparatively successful. The Catawba seems to be less liable to be affected by miklew or rot in a climate as cold as it ean stand without protection. It is no longer a doubtful problem that the broken and hilly lands along the principal streams, especially the bluffs of the Mis- si-sippi, where the marly deposit known as " loess " has been depo-ited, and is more or less intermingled with the soil, are admirably adapted to the growth of the vine. The labors of the intelligent agric ilturist have already demonstrated the fact that Ilinois is capable of producing, not only all the native wines required for home consumption, but a surplus for the supply ot less favored regions.


The most important and productive part of the county is probably found in the American Bottom, It forms a belt of rich alluvial soil about twenty miles in length, and an average width of four miles. It is exceedingly productive, and were it not for the periodical overflows to which it is subjected from the high waters of the Mississippi, it would be esteemed as the most valuable land in the county. The soil is quite sandy, but is intermingled with vegetable mould and clay from the sediment of the river, forming a rich, warm soil, which is unsurpassed by any in the state for the production of maize and the cereals generally. The uplands comprise a series of brown and yellow clays, intermingled locally with gravel and small pebbles, and specially adapted to the culture of wheat. There have really been three eras in the county of what might be considered the staple pro- ducts that have engaged the attention of the agriculturist. In an early day, Indian corn was the principal product. Later, the castor bean was largely cultivated, and was con- sidered a most profitable crop. About twenty-five or thirty years ago, wheat became largely planted, and to this time is the grand staple of the county.


47


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


The general elevation of the uplands above the Mississippi is from three to four hundred feet. The principal varieties of timber upon the land are blaek oak, white oak, shell-bark and pig-nut hickory, sugar maple, linden, blaek gum, per- simmon, red, slippery and white elm. blaek ash, red-bud, dogwood and sassafras. On the bottom lands are found the cottonwood, syeamore, honey-loeust, hackberry, box-elder, sweet gum, white ash, swamp oak, burr oak, white and black walnut, pecan and white maple. Plenty of good timber is yet left for all the wants of the people for fuel and building purposes.


('hester .- The capital of the county is situated in the southwestern part, located on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi, about seventy-five miles below St. Louis, and contains a population of nearly three thousand inhabitants. The southern penitentiary is located here, and there are many fine business houses in the city, and it is at this writ- ing in a prosperous and growing condition.


Population .- The population is composed mainly of Eng- lish, German, French and Irish nationalities, and, according to the census of 1880, was as follows :


PRE INCTS (including the towns).


Red Bud


2,1.4


Central and Blair 2,068


Ruma


090


Bremen 703


Brewerville


640


Rockwood


Prairie du Rocher


1,107


Steels Mills and Wine Hill . 2, 582


Kaskaskın


1,187


Sparta


Baldwin


1,557


Tilden and Coulterville


Chester


4,460


Evansville


Florence


75₺


25,001


Tuwas.


Chester


2,527


Baldwin


Sparta


1,754


Prairie du Rocher


213


Red Bud


Rockwood


231


Coulterville


Tilden


82


Steelville


140


MONROE COUNTY.


This county comprises an irregular-shaped triangular area on the southwestern borders of the state, embracing about three hundred and eighty square miles, and is bounded on the north and cast by St. Clair and Randolph counties and the Kaskaskia river, and on the south and west by Ran- dolph county and the Mississippi river.


Waterloo, the capital of the county, is situated on the St. Louis and Cairo railway, in the northeastern part of the county, and is one of the substantial inland towns of the state, and contains a population of about two thousand in- habitants. It is located on a high, rolling site of ground that overlooks a large scope of beautifully cultivated farming lands.


Population .- The population of the county is mainly com- posed of a thrifty German nationality, which constitutes about three-fourths of the inhabitants of the county. The other fourth is a mixture of various nationalities, principally of English, Irish and French deseent. The Irish settle- ments are in the center and south. According to the census of 1880 the population by precinets was as follows :


Waterloo Precinct including city


3,103


Columbia und New Hanover . 2.810


Moredock


Mitchie. Bluff, and Harrisonville 2.177


Renault


New Design 1,470


Prairie dn Long


1.450


1.3,50 $


The census of 1860 was 12 832; of 1870, 12,982. The population of the town of Waterloo in 1870 was 1,537; in .880, 1,822.


Topography .- The surface is considerably diversified, the region adjacent to the river bluff's being quite hilly and broken, while the eastern portion of the county is compara- tively level, and affords an arca of excellent farming lands. In that portion of the county underlaid by the St. Louis limestone, in the central aud southwestern uplands, there are numerous " sink-holes," which render the land nearly valueless for agricultural purposes. These depressions are funnel-shaped, and lead down to crevices or caverns below, through which the water that falls upon the surface finds an outlet into the adjacent streams. Occasionally the crevice at the bottom becomes filled up with the sediment that washes into it, and small ponds of water are found, some of which, in the vicinity of Waterloo, cover an area of several aeres, and are bountifully supplied with fish.


Hydrography .- The natural drainage of the county is almost complete, the Mississippi extending along the entire western boundary, and the Kaskaskia partially on the east. The principal interior streams are Fountain creek, Horse creek, and Prairie du Long creek. The former rises in the highlands south of Waterloo, and extends in a north- westerly course until it enters the American Bottom, and from thence southwesterly, emptying into the Mississippi near Harrisonville. Horse creek, which intersects the southern portion of the county, and Prairie du Long creek, which waters the eastern portion, both discharge their waters into the Kaskaskia. In the western part of the county there are several fine lakes, among which are Moredock, Kidd, and the Grand Coule lakes, with some others of lesser note. Some of these are fed mainly by subterranean streams, which find their way through the fissures and caverns of the line- stones underlying the adjacent highlands. These lakes arc well supplied with fish, and are favorite resorts for the sportsman, both for hunting and fishing.


Resources, Soil and Agriculture .- As a body, Monroe county was originally heavily timbered, there being but three or four small prairies in the eastern portion, the larger of which are New Design prairie, Prairie du Long, and Prairie du Rond, none of which exceed an area of more than three or four square miles in extent. The timber of the uplands consists mainly of the usual varieties of oak and hickory on the broken lands, while on the more level traets in the east, elm, black walnut, hackberry, wild cherry, linden and honey-locust are found in abundance. The bottom lands are for the most part heavily timbered with cottonwood, sycamore, black and white walnut, ash, clm, pecan, soft maple, persimmon, and several other varieties. The surface of the highlands is composed of a buff-colored sandy loam, often filled with bleached fresh-water and land


48


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


shells, and is underlaid with a variable thickness of drift clays and " loess," usually ranging from ten to sixty feet, and at a few points near the river bluffs it attains a maxi- mum thickness of seventy-five to one hundred feet. The western portion of the county, embracing nearly one-fourth of its entire area, is included in the American Bottom. The average width of this alluvial belt is about four miles, and its extent north and south is over thirty milcs. These bottom lands are exceedingly fertile, and really possess three classes of soil. Probably the richest and most inexhaustible is that portion known as the blue-black deposit, and can be cultivated only when it is of a proper consistency between wet and dry. The other soils are composed of either black or light sandy Joams. This land is peculiarly adapted to the growing of corn, but wheat, grasses and oats are culti- vated with success. On the uplands, wheat has been the grand staple for twenty-five or thirty years, and the yield and quality is unsurpassed by any lands in the state.


Perennial Springs abound in various parts of the county after rising the bluff. They are of pure cold water, and are auxiliary to the comfort of both man and beast. Many of these gush forth in sufficient quantities to form brooks of ever-running water.


PERRY COUNTY


lies immediately north of Jackson county, which forms its southern boundary, and is bounded on the north by Wash- ington, on the west by Randolph, and on the east by Frank- lin and Jefferson counties. It embraces a superficial area of twelve congressional townships, or about 276,480 acres of land, three-fourths of which was originally covered with timber. It is divided into eight political divisions or pre- cinets as follows : Grand Cote, Beaucoup, Tamaroa, Cutler, Pinckneyville, South Western, Du Quoin and Paradise.


Pinckneyrille, the seat of justice, is situated on the west side of Big Beaucoup creek, and near the geographical center of the county in section twenty-four, five south, three west, at the head of Four-Mile prairie. At this writing it contains a population of about 1500 inhabitants. In 1837, according to Peck, it contained four stores, one tavern, one grocery, and fifteen or twenty families, and was sur- rounded with a settlement of industrious farmers.


Population .- The first settlers were principally American born, and emigrants from the south. The present popula. tion is composed of various nationalities, English, German, Irish, Negroes and Poles ; the former probably being in the ascendancy. According to the official census of 1880, the county contained 16,008 inhabitants.


Hydrography .- The county is well supplied with water- courses suitable for natural drainage. The principal streams within its limits are Little Muddy, Beaucoup, and Colombo creeks, all of them being northwestern affluents of the Big Muddy river. The former constitutes the principal portion of the eastern boundary of the county, and, with its tribu- taries, furnishes excellent drainage for that part of the county. Beaucoup creek flows through the entire county from north to south, and nearly equally divides the territory


in acreage on the east and west, while the Colombo practi- cally drains the west and southwest.


Topography and Soil .- The surface of the country is gene- rally rolling, and on some of the streams becomes consider- ably broken by low ridges, but not sufficiently abrupt to reuder the land unfit for cultivation ; while some portions are quite level, including a few flat prairies and a portion of the timbered land kuown as " Post-Oak Flats." As stated above, Beaucoup creek trends through the center of the county, and the prairies occupy mainly the highlands be- tween this stream and the Little Muddy on the east, and the Colombo on the west, except the Grand Cote prairie, which occupies an elevated ridge in the northwest. The prairies here, as is usually the case in other parts of the state, form the highest part of the ground, yet their relative elevation is quite variable, even in a single county. In Perry, they are mostly surrounded by timbered flats, which gradually pass into more broken timbered lands as you approach the streams. Their surface is usually flat, or gently undulating, passing in places into the broken grassy upland known as " barrens." This land consists of low hills and ridges, covered with a dense growth of tall grasses, and quite desti- tute of timber. The sub-soil of the " barrens " consists of a white sandy loam, but the surface configuration affords a complete drainage, and therefore sustains a good growth of vegetation, which in time has formed a rich soil, highly charged with humus. These lands become dry early in the spring, and from their excellent surface drainage, resist the drouth better than the "flats" on account of the soil being more porous, and readily absorb the atmospheric moisture. The absence of timber is undoubtedly due to the annual fires that sweep over them, fed by the tall grasses that cover the surface. These " barrens" merge into the oak hills, which are similar ridges covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of post-oak, black oak, hickory, black- jack, etc.


The creek bottoms within the barren region have a soil similar to that of the flats, but a little coarser, and contain- ing a greater per cent. of vegetable mould, rendering them as dark in color as the prairie soils. The timber is tall and heavy, and consists principally of the varieties of oak, ash, shell-bark hickory, walnut, hazcl, aud some other classes of timber.


The " Post-Oak Flats" are comparatively level stretches of theupland, sparsely timbered with patches of post-oak, and interspersed with black-jack and a young growth of post- oak. They thus form an open forest, and the light, bleached appearing soil is but scantily covered with vegetation. The sub-soil comprises a white sandy loam, and reaches to the depth of several feet. The surface soil is quite shallow, and seems to differ from the sub-soil only by a slight mixture of vegetable mould. This soil, like that of the prairies, is so finely comminuted as to render it almost impenetrable to water, which remains in depression upon the surface until it slowly disappears by evaporation. A potent remedy for this would be by clovering frequently, or top dressing with a copious supply of well-rotted compost. These flats extend around the prairies, forming a narrow belt between them




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