The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-20 00:00:00

MAY 20, 1847.

A DEVONIAN IN THE FAR WEST

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CINCINNATI.
The following are extracts from a letter, dated Feb.
from a friend of his residing in the United
tates of America, who left the neighbourhood of Ash-
burton,f Cheviot,A sh
near Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio:—
"I am sorry
to hear of the distress at present existing
in Ireland, and some parts of Scotland. I would fain
hope that the accounts I have read in the Cincinnati
newspapers are exaggerated, although they are said to
be extracts from the English and Irish papers; however,
if only one half is true, the suffering and misery must
be inter.se. Meetings have been held at many places
(already) in this country, and no doubt will soon become
general, to devise the best means of relieving the distress
of the poor Irish. A meeting was held a few days since
in Cincinnati, convened by the Mayor; 4,000 dollars were
subscribed on the spot, and committee. were appointed
for the different wards to receive subscriptions, either in
money or provisions. One provision merchant offered to
give 1,000 in provisions, provided that nine others would
do the same; which noble offer will, no doubt, meet with
the required response, in order to lessen the misery
attendant on famine in that unhappy country. The old
adage ' It is an ill wind that blows nobody good,' is lite-
rally true, as it regards America; as in consequence of
the scarcity of grain, and the failure of the potato crop
in Europe, millions of dollars will be added to the value
of the crops and provisions of the United States, and
perhaps no portion of it will derive so great an advan-
tage in proportion as this western part of the country—
it is the Western States that the bulk of the supplies
must come from. Hence there is an advance varying
from 15 to 30 per cent. on almost all kinds of agricultu-
ral produce here, within the last few months. Wheat,
last fall, was sold for 45 to 58' cents per bushel, it now
fetches 80 cents (a cent is about the value of an English
halfpenny). Indian corn, at the same time, sold for 2b
cents; it now fetches 35 per bushel (that is, in the ear).
Potatoes are also advanced from 37 to 50 cents per
bushel. Beef from 4 to 6 cents per lb. Pork about
the same. Mutton is not much thought of here ; the
quality in general is certainly very inferior to the
English, consequently it is but little in demand; but the
beet and pork are as good as can be desired; moreover,
poultry is exceedingly plentiful and cheap, and generally
good. Cincinnati is a rapidly increasing place; there
have been great improvements in the short time that I
have known it ; independently of the additions made to
it, old buildings have been taken down, and others
erected on the same sites more suitable for the wants of
the inhabitant, and corresponding to its growing im-
portance. It is estimated that Cincinnati and its suburbs
contain at least a population of 100,000; thirty years
ago, the population was only 9,000. It has been ascer-
tained that there have been upwards of 1,200 houses a
year on an average added to it for many years past, some
years as many as 1,500 have been erected of all sorts and
sizes, as the means or the taste of the owners may have
dictated, consequently, as you may suppose, there is not
that uniformity in the appearance of the buildings which
you witness in the towns and cities of England. To a
stranger from the old country, Cincinnati presents every-
where indications of its mushroom growth.
" I have bought a small farm, 374 acres, five miles
from Cincinnati, close on a turnpike road ; it cost me
4,000 dollars. I let out all that is under tillage in shares,
I receive one-half of the produce in lieu of rent ; this
is a very common practice here indeed almost general ;
what is in grass I keep myself, and feed cattle on.
" I sin happy to say that in my circumstances I am
perfectly easy and independent ; the anxiety, too, that
I sometimes used to feel when in England in reference to
providing for my numerous family, is now entirely re-
moved. It is my intention to give my boys a good
education, and then they must fight their way through
the world—this I have ever impressed on their minds ;
and as satisfied am I that every industrious, sober,
active, and steady person, who is attentive to business
(be it what it may), might secure the comforts of life,
and be comparatively independent, as that two and two
make four. The plain matter of fact is, in this country
there is room, ample room for all ; here an increase of
population is an increase of wealth, by augmenting the
demand for the necessaries, the comforts, and the luxu-
ries of life. But I must beg here not to be misunder-
stood—let no one suppose, that by coming to America
he is to be wealthy without a corresponding effort on his
part ; no, the idler, the drundard, the inattentive, and
indolent will find that money is as difficult to be got
without using the proper means as in the old country—
but to those who are industrious, persevering, and who
in the outset are willing to forgo some of the conveni-
ences, which an old country must necessarily possess in
a far greater degree than a newly-settled district, and to
be content to practise self-denial to some extent for a
tune at least—l say to such, that in the Western States
there are abundant opportunities to acquire, if not
wealth, at least a competency and perfect independence.
How many small farmers are there that are known to
you, and to me also, bordering on Dartmoor, that have
large families, who are careful, steady, hardworking
men, who are spending their best energies and the prime
of their life without bettering in the least their condition
or circumstances in life, unable to do anything tor their
children in reference to putting them into business, but
who, as soon as they get married, sink to a level with
the common day-labourer I How different would be
their prospects if they could only summon fortitude
enough to undergo a few hardships and privations for a
short time. to secure a future and permanent good ;
those privations would refer to social matters almost
exelw ively, they have no reference whatever to food or
the necessaries of life—there is, humanly speaking, no
fear of starvinc, here—but they would consist of the
absence of suitable society principally, and this would
improve every year from the great influx of emigration,
and consequently the increase of population. I fancy
there are not many persons in England who possess
feelings similar to those of one of the first settlers in the
western country, on the vale of the Mississippi. It is
said of him that he retired scores of miles further back
in the woods than any other person, built his hut, and
resided there for some time ; at last, being out on a
shooting excursion, he discovered that some other person
had settled about fifteen miles from his own hut, at
which he was exceedingly annoyed, and observed it was
high time for him to start further,—it would not do, he
said,—he wanted elbow-room. Of course, I cannot
vouch for the truth of this story; but after all I do assure
you that the extent of country here exceeds the compre-
hension of persons living in such a small spot as England.
I perceive from the Commissioners' report for the sale of
public or Congress lands, there was remaining in the
market, and unsold, up to June 30, 1845, the enormous
quantity of 133,307,457 acres in twelve of the western
and southern states. This report does not include
Texas, which is as large as the kingdom of France, and
which is now incorporated, and part and parcel of the
United States; so that I say, the extent of this country
almost exceeds comprehension. The length of the rivers,
too, corresponds in a measure with the extent of country;
thus, for instance, you can step into a steam-boat at
Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, and take a trip to the Gulf
of Mexico, 2,161 miles direct. From Pittsburgh to
New Orleans is 104 miles less, New Orleans being that
distance from the gulf. The Ohio river is 998 miles
long, the Mississippi is navigable for large boats more
than 2,000 miles, besides there are the Missouri, the
Illinois, and a host of others, navigable for a greater or
lesser distance. Perhaps you will think I am describing all
the advantages and none of the disadvantages. There are
two drawbacks which detract from the enjoyments we
otherwise should possess; first, the climate; second,
the difficulty of procuring good domestic servants. With
respect to the first, I must say the very changeable na-
ture of the climate renders it trying at times, especially
to those who are exposed to the open air, the changes
from heat to cold, and vice versa, are at times very
sudden and exceedingly severe; it is no unusual thing
for the thermometer to vary from 30 to 40 degrees in
thirty hours; we have bad a mild winter taken as a
whole, although we, on one occasion, have had the ther-
mometer at 5 degrees below zero, but wet mild weather
has predominated. The fall of the year is the pleasantest
pert of it in this country, it is then very pleasant. With
regard to the difficulty of getting servant girls, you may
be sometimes two or three weeks without one—you
cannot get anything of a girl under a dollar and a half
(6s. 3d.) per week, and some first-rate servants get is. 2d.
or Bs. 4d. per week, and these are mostly Germans or
Dutch; consequently some of them do not speak English
or understand it very imperfectly indeed. Was it not
for these two drawbacks, we should not have a single
thing to detract from our enjoyments.
" As to feeling myself a stranger, I must candidly say
that I felt myself equally as much among strangers in
Liverpool as in any city or town in America."
[The writer need be under no apprehensions as to his
old friends, the Dartmoor farmers, feeling the want of
society to be a bar in the way of emigration. So, also,
with respect to domestic servants—they would be equally
independent of conventionality.]-- Western Times.

THE iiBOSIESMANS,"_OR BUSH PEOPLE.—A group
of five of these " interesting" people was exhibited on Monday
evening, at Exeter-hall, Strand, to a large assembly of the
curious, and a lecture delivered on their nature, properties
propensities, and habits, by Dr. Knox. It is said that they
were landed in Liverpool by the brig Fanny, Captain
Wheeler, and that this is their first appearance in Europe.
Without saving that Europe will be, or not be, profited by
their arrival, it may be affirmed that nothing, even in this
age of "strange and unnatural" importations is more
curious that this stunted family of African dwarfs. In ap-
pearance they are little above the monkey tribe, and scarcely
better than the mere brutes of the field. They are conti-
nually crouching, warming themselves by the tire, chatter-
ing or growling, smoking, &c. They are sullen, silent, and
savage—mere animals in propensity, and worse than animals
in appearance. The exhibition is, however, one that will
and ought to attract. The admirers of "pure nature" can
confirm their speculations on unsophisticated man, and
woman alsa, or repudiate them, by a visit to these speci-
mens. They are well calculated to remove prejudices, and
make people think aright of the times when " wild in his
re ran." In short, a more miserable
woods the noble sava
set of human beings—for human they are, nevertheless—
was never seen. They are about to perform, at the future
exhibitions of them, some curious feats of activity, and of
their modes of attack and defence, which will be worth at-
tention.
THE NEW MANCHESTER RACECOIIRSE.—The for-
mation of the new Manchester racecourse, Broughton
Meadows, is rapidly approaching completion. When finished
it will rank as the very first racecourse in Great Britain. The
ground is perfectly flat, and on the east and northern sides of
it nature has wide a rising ground, forming a most splendid
amphitheatre, capable of containing half the population of
Dianchoter.