The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-19 00:00:00

A DEVONIAN IN THE FAR WEST,
CINCINNATL
The following are extracts from a letter, dated Feb.
20th, 1847, recently received by a gentleman of Ash-
burton, from a friend of his residing in the United
Slates of America, who left the neighbourhood of Ash-
burton. ab, ut two years since. He resides at Cheviot,
near Cincinnati, Hernilton 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
newspap, rs 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 heel 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 we r!
sunserib, d on the spot, and committees were appointed
for the different wards to receive subscriptions, either in
money or provisions. One provision merchant of
tO
give 1,000 in provisions, provided that nine others would
do the same; which noble offer will, no doubt, meet nth
the required response, in order to lessen the liaise%
0'
attendant on famine in that unhappy country. The
adage It is an ill wind that blows nobody good,' is !hoof
rally true, as it regards Arnerica • as in consequence
the scarcity of grain, and the failure of the potato or.op
in Europe, millions of dollars will be added to the vain
of the crops and provisions of the United States, anal!
perhaps no portion of it will derive so great an adva
tage in proportion as this western part of the colt y.
it is the Western States that the bulk of the suppl.lei
must come from. Hence there is an advance vary_ing
from 15 to 30 per cent. on almost all kinds of agricultuWheat-
ral produce here, within the last few month& y
last fall, was lis!
sold for 45 to 58 cents per bushel, it now
fetches 80 cents (a cent is about the value of an Eng
halfpenny). Indian corn, at the same time, sold for 2o
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 ahehe
the same. Mutton is not much thought of here ;
quality in general is certainly very inferior to trive
English, consequently it is but little in demand; hut t
beef and pork are as good as can be desired;
poultry is exceedingly plentiful and cheap, and genera%
good. Cincinnati is a rapidly increasing place; the I
have been great improvements in the short time the
have have known it ; independently of the additions made
it, old buildings have been taken down, and otheel•
erected on the same sites more suitable for the „mats
the inhabitatt, and corresponding to its growlqg
portance. It is estimated that Cincinnati and its stibUr—
contain at least a population of 100,000; thirty yr.
ago, the population was only 9,000. It has been a3c
tented that there have been uwards of 1,200 houses
year on an average added to it for many years Past' s°,ewd
InOreovier,
years as many as 1,500 have been erected of all sorts
sizes, as the means or the taste of the owners iney.lll,,oe
dictated, consequently, as you may suppose, therets4en
that uniformity in the appearance of the buildings Vao •
very,
stranger witness in the towns and cities of England. __.'
stranger from the old country, Cincinnati presents r
where indications of i s mushroom growth. miles
" I have bought a small farm, 37i- acres, five ; me
from Cincinnati, close on a turnpike road ; it ectveres,
4,000 dollars. I let out all that is under tillsge in su'ibis
I receive one-half of the produce in lieu of rent e i;
is a very common practice here indeed almost gent"
what is in grass I keep mysela and feed cattle on. I
"I 2M happy to say that in my circumstances tcos
perfectly easy and independent ; the anxiety, I°o' eeto
I sometimes used to feel when in England in referenThr
providing for my numerous family, is now entirelyooa
moved. It is my intention to give my boys a„,„gogh
edueation, and then they must fight their way lurds;
the w .rld—this I have ever impressed oa their tuul_,r,
and as satisfied am I that every industrious'tres
active, anti steady perion, who is attentive to bLls"ife,
(ne it what it may), might secure the comforts 'two
faeces °f
and be comparatively independent, as that two co. nal
make four. The plain matter of fact is, in t
there is room, ample room for all ; here an aseren of
ie
population is an increase of wealth, by aug'",eeti°f,,ett-
eernuml for the necessaries, the comforts, and the, dere
ries of !Fe. But I must beg here not to- be.nitric&
stood—h•t no one suppose, that by coming tobig
he is to be wealthy without a corresponding effort 00 d
poet ; no, the idler, the drundard, the inattentive; got
iudolent will find that money is as difficult to be
without using the proper means as in the old coulyrwYlin
but to those who are industrious, persevering, an" veni.
in the outs( t are willing to forgo some of the con... in
ences, which au old country must necessarily possfd to
a far greater degree than a newly-settled district, an a
be content to practise self denial to some extent Sates
time at least—l say to such, that in the not
there are abundant opportunities to acquire, _
ce
wealth, at least a competency and perfect independen
to.
How many small farmers are there that are known
you, and to me a/so, bordering on Dartmoor, that have
large families; who are careful, steady, hardworking
men, who are spending their best energies and the prime
Westernir
of their life without bettering in the least their condition
or circumstances in life, unable to do anything for pelf
children in reference to putting them into businesi, bat
who, as soon as they get married, sink to a level with
the common day-laimurer I How different would be
their prospects if they could only summon fortitude
enough to undergo's, few hardships and privations-for *
short time, to secure a future and permameut good
ethxociut
those privations
atiotnhse3 w,
haveould nroeferrefetroebscoecial matters
od or
the necessaries of life—there is, humanly eaking, 11"
fear of starving here—but they would consist of, the
senco of suitable society principally, and this would
b
improve every year from the great influx of emigratiet
whatever to ;lino
sP
and consequently the increase of population. 1 fe'°°'
there are not many persons in England who poisess
feelings similar to those of one of the first settlers
in ig
western courtry, on the vale of the Mississippi. 0
ig
said of him that he retired scores of miles further baC
in the woods than any other person, built his hut, stlt'
resided there for some time ; at last, being out on a
shooting excursion, he discovered that some other pars°
had settled about fifteen miles from his own hute
which he was exceedingly annoyed, and observed it Wes
high time for him to start further,—it would not do, het
said,—he wanted elbow-room. Of course, I eitOn°
vouch for the truth of this story; but after all I do lureyou that the extent of country here exceeds the cooped
pension of persons living in such a small spot as Buglan
I perceive from the Commissioners' report for the side')
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 inclut
Texas, which is as large as the kingdom of France, eau
which is now incorporated, and part and parcel of,tbe
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 imto a steam-boat It,
Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, and take a trip to the Gist
of Mexico, 2,161 miles direct. From Pittsburgh t°
New ()cleans is 104 miles less, New Orleans being the;
distance from the gulf. The Ohio river is 998 Mile*
long, the Mississippi is navigable for large boats more
th.4.n 2,000 mites, besides there - are the 'Missouri, the
Illinois, and a host or others, navigable for a greateta,
le,ser distance. Perhaps you will think lam deseribinkell
the advantages and none of the disaevanta es There are
two drawbacks which detrattiqrsftr
respect to the first, I must say
otherwise should possess;
the difficulty of procuring good e climate; 5ec.9.r1.1.
thedomestic servants.
heatth e trom call,ome
Lure of the climate renders
it trying at times, espeeialif
to those who'es
are exposed to
have the open air, the chang
from vice versa, are at times very
sudden and exceeding!}
o
Whole, although we, ontbi'
fur the severe; it is no unusual
mild
butw et et r
mild takenasweas:t
r:
has
smeter
predominated. at 5i l der eTe sb
e belowfal
lozfeatrboe,
thirty hours; we
year is the p e
e
y
v
m
part of it in this country, it is then very pleasant. %%tip
t lead
dry
occasionfro:mthl, '3tehh: vtoecg hn4h4adeet ghaerbeneltts;:
regard to the difficulty of gettingyou r""'
servant girls,
yent
be sometimes two or three weeks without one—a,
cannot get anything of a girl under a dollar and a ha?.
(6s. 3d.) per week, and some first rate servants get se. 2°
or Bs. 4d. per week, and these are mostly Germans4ht
Dutch; consequently some of them do not speak Eng" t
or understand it very imperfectly indeed. Was it le
for these two drawbacks, we should not have a sin;
thing to detract from our enjoyments.
" As to feeling myself a stranger, I must candidly sit!
that I felt myself equally as much among strangers lu
Liverpool as in any city or town in America." is
[The writer need be under no appiehensions as to b
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.