Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1842-11-03
THE NORTH WESTERN LAKES.

The following letter respecting the
Lake, country and IFS immense agrlcuftar-
al resources will be read with interest.
Surprising as the developments-in that
region have been in the last twenty years,
thev bnlsfai to be com plete Y outstrip-
ned by those which will be witnessed in
the course of the succeeding correspond
ing PERIOD:
Correspondence cfhe JoarnaIe f Commerce.
LAKE ERIE, off Huron, Sept. Is, 1912.
lis difficult to conceive what 4 revo
luton is going on before our eyes, in the
growth of the treat West, and equally
SO to estimate its results Ell the political
condition and the industrial pursuits Of
the East. But very few years ago, a
friend in New York startled me with say
ing that he intended to visi: Chicago, a
place then unknown, on board of a steam
= boat about to engage in the adventurous
passage. Now the Lakes are constant
ly enlivened with the music Of many
steamboats,, and gladdened with the sight
Of numerous white sails, and a world
seems to be passing over the bosom Of It's
waters, destined to carry with 1t that
sceptre which in early times began its
departure from the East to the West.
Whether this revolution be near It hand
or remote from US, there is one, about
which prophecy may speak more conf
IDENTIFY, and that is connected with the
great concern Of agriculture. Ohio but
lately disputed the palm with the Gen
nesee Valley in the quantity and quality
Of her wheat, until at last it came to be
esteemed the best that came TO your mar
ket. Then Michigan started up with her
virgin soil to dispute the prize, and now
Illinois is a dangerous competitor with
them all In 1888, Chicago received
her flour and provisions from the East +;
in all of l542 she will have sent one mil
lion bushels Of wheat to Buffalo, 0swego
and k!ngston,-wheat bearing a higher
price than any grown ,sewhere. The
export Of this article last year was 400.
600 bushels, Of the harvest of 1871. So
astonishing has been the increase this
wear, on that amount, that its prices have
fallen to 65 cents at Bafalo being a d.
ininution Of 10 cents per buzhrl, within
about week and as the wheat pours
in from that fruitful region, it will un-
doubtedly fall much lOwer--The increase
in the export ofpork and beef has gone on
in corresponding ratio-and but for the
benevolent feeling Of the prairie boys,
Who think II cruel TO xiii a hog when the
price is a cent and half pound, the
pokers would have emigrated to the East,
10 much larger quantities. This pro
dace. be it known, is from the region
round about Chicaso-of that part Of il
which may be reached conveniently in
wagons. and ii bears but small proper
ton to the immense growth along tie II.
linois river, which the canal will present.
ly bring market. Let the East look
out for her wheat land Last year the
freight was % cents per bushel 20 Buffalo:
ibis year 10 cents, the bnats ON Lake
Erie having hauled off, and gone into
this trade. The increase in navigation
upon The Lakes is not less remarkable.
In 1919 steamboat called the Walk in
the Water. felt her way up into Lake
Huron in The face Of as many fears and
prophecies about her safety as Fulton en-,
couhtered when he first departed from
our city to so "the voyage of the Hud-
son."~ No one recovered sufficiently
from the surprise of the expedition of the
Walk in the Water, to repeat it until the
following year.
This year one line of steamboats, has been
arranged for departure every other cay
from Buffalo and Chicago other boats
start with less regularity, and numerous