Iowa news. [volume] (Dubuque, Upper Mississippi Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory) 1837-1841, 1837-08-05

SCENES ON THE OHIO
FROM SOCIETY IN Amen,c,

SEE N Els ON THEOHIO.
!. FROM SOCIETY IN AMERICA
g Te arrived at Cincinnati at noon on the 25t]
! =. sune' as sultry summers day as ever oc
. S uas On the Ohio. The glare was reflecte,
ha o.' We water with binding and scorchin.
, ~ az ana ieatnef fans were whisking all daSS
. :. ,rs . ''uy caoin In our steamboat. Hot a:
: lT. "as' could not remain in the shady cabin
could not bear to lose single cl;n, nsa va 10
tween the hills 1t is holiday travel1;no W :,
nave such succession of pictures as I sa~
mere made to pass noiselessly before ona,.
eyes. There were the children RUNNING amono
me gigantic trees on the bank, to see the hoa
pass, the girl with her milk-pail half wav mr.
q the mil; the horseman on the ridge, or the wa.
goner with his ox-team pausing on the slone
lhen there was fitting blue Jaw under tbe
cooi shadow OF the bank; the butterflies cross,
ing me river in zig-zag flight, the terrapins
small turties) foundering in the water. with
their pert little heads above the surface. and
the glancing fire-fies every night
w the afternoon of this day, we were me.
oy the storm which sweptover the whole conn.
try, and which will be remembered as having
caused the death of the son of ChiefJus,;cee
Nlarshali, at Baltimore, on his way to his DIV.
ing father. / watched, from the deck the an.
pfoach OF the storm. First, the sky, above
the while clouds, was of a dark gray, which
might have been mistaken for the deep blue
q twilight. Then mass of black clouds came
Aurrying up below the white. Then fash
escaped from out the upper gray, darling per-
pendlcularly into the forest; and then another.
exploding like the four rays of a star. / saw
the squall coming in dark line, straight A.
Cross the river. Our boat was hurried under
the bank to await it. The burst was furious.
aroaring gust. and a food of rain, which pour
ed IN under our cabin door, close shut as it
was. All was nearly as dark as night for a
while, and all silent but the elements.---Then
the day seemed to dawn again; but loud peals
OF thunder lasted long, and the lightning was
an abroad in the air. Faint flashes wandered
by; and now brilliant zig-zag quivered across
the sky. One splendid violet-colored shaft
shot straight down into the forest, and I saw
tall tree first blaze and then smoulderinp at
the touch. A noble horse foated by, dead and
swollen. When we drew out into the middle
OF the river, 1t was as ifspring had come in at
the heels ofthe dog-days; all was so cool and
calm.
The company on board were of the lowest
class we ever happened to meet with in our
travels. They were obliging enough; as eve
~ body Is throughout the country, as far az
my experience goes; but otherwise they were
no TAR specimens Of American manners. One
woman excited my curiosited from the Begin
ming; but entertained much more apreea-
Bile feeling towards her when we parted. after
several days. travel in company. Her first
deed was to ask where we were going: and
her next, to take my book out Of nv lap, and
examine it. Much of the rest of her time was
occupied in dressing her hair, which was, not
wlthstandng, almost as rough as negroes.
She wore in her head silver comb, another
set with brilliants, and third, an enormous
tortoise-shell. SO stuck in, on one side, as to
remind the observer irresistibly of unicorn.
She pulled down her hair in company, and put
1t up again, many times in day, whenever,
as 1t seemed to me, shecould not think Of any
thing else to be doing. Her young compan.
ION, meantime, ao<Tnbbing her teeth with dra-
gon-root. The cabin company seemed
much of the claSl II was dressing in my state
room between four and FIVE the next morning.
when an old lady, who was presently going
ashore, burst in, and snatched the one tumbler
glass from my hand. She was probably as
much amazed at my having carried il out of
sight as was at her mode of recovering it.
loved the early morning on the great riv-
eTs, and therefore rose at dawn. loved the
first grey CLEANS that came from between the
hills, and the bright figures of people in white,
the men all in linen jackets in hot weatherl
on the banks. loved to watch the river craft:
the fnssy steamer making rapid way; the fairy
canoe shooting silently across, the fatboat,
with its wreath Of blue smoke, stealing down
IN the shadow Of the banks, her navigators
helping her along in the current by catching at
the branches as they passed; and the perilous
looking raft, with half a-dozen people on it,
under their canopy of green boughs, their
shspeless aoor bending and walloping in the
middle Of the stream. loved the trees, look.
ing as if they stood selfpoised, their roots
were washed so bare. loved the dwellings,
that stood behind their screen, those on the
eastern bank seeming fast asleep; those on the
western shore gay with the Pickering shadows
cast on them by tho breezy sunrise through
the trees.
On passing Catletsburgh, we babe adieu
TO glorious Kentucky. At that point our eyes
rested on three sovereign States at one glance
-.Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia. We land
ed al Guyandot, and proceeded by stage the
next morning r Charleston, on the Kanawha
river.
+
Social CoURrEsIEs.--.We noticed this sub.
Ject IN one Of our recent numbers, and now re-
vert to It for the purpose Of abiding to the
contrast presented by the past and present
modes Of addressing ladies', and Of giving
sample Of politeness Of the present day.
An old Virginia slave, who had grown gray
in his duties as house servant, recently. n
our hearing, characterized his former mistress
as 'an old-time lady, and spoke ofhis pres