Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1844-08-30
r. Tho sketches of Travellers, in every

~ The sketches Of Travellers, in every
ace and nation, have ever been eagerly sdught,
and read with deep interest by the lileiati OF
every civilized nation in the world, and so
universal has the taste for such writings be.
come that learned men, gifted with nit more
than ordinary powers Of perception and aelin-
cation, have, for fame and gain, qui:tedItheir
own pleasant shades and peaceful hreaides.
and travelled over land and water, regardless
alike Of the perils of the sea, the wild beasts
Of the southern hemisphere, its sands and
poisonous breezes, the savages of the north,
and the cold wintry blasts on the barren, snow
covered peaks Of the Rocky Mountains, thus
enduring hardships and privations. indescriba-
Bile, for glory and renown among their fellow
men, Were it our present intention TO chron-
ic|e the achievements of travellers and histo.
rans, we might commence with the writings
of distinguished men who passed off the stage
of action some centuries ago, and continue
the catalogue down to Stevens and Norman
but such is not our purpose. We have allu.
ded TO the matter. at this time, because the
bright intellects. &c. Of every nation are treas.
ured up as its jewels. their pride and boast,
for the purpose Of directing attention to RI
sing genius in our own Territory. who bids
fair to rival, if not excel, the greatest Writers.
both literary and descriptive, of the present
or any future age or generation. We ,llude
a. "a; IF fho LToxyEovo and that
such Of our readers as are familiar with the
parts may see that we have not overrated his
literary talents and descriptive powers, we
copy his notice Of men and things, drawn at
ter visit 10 this place short time sinte.-
Ii, after our readers have perused his effuslon,
they differ with US in the favorable opiolons
we have expressed Of his talents, he cannot
lay the blame at our door, for, in pronouncing
him one of the foremost writers Of the day,
we are governed about as much by truth as
was the writer in penning his notice of this
place. But we are OBTAINING the reader from
the rich gem promised. Here it IS:
Trip to Bloomington.
"By way of change as well as of recrea-
ton, we took an excursion to Bloomington
last week. Three causes induced US to do so;
friend invited us, "phunz" were at hand,
and we wished TO see the place. So off we
started on board the WaverIy, then command
ed by Mr.. John Bowen clever, jovlal, fine
looking lad. The day was hot as Vu'can's
forge shop, the wind being aft and scarce able
TO keep up with US. The scenery is like most
Of Mississippi scenery-waer, islands. trees
and few log cabins. Countless islands d.
versify the scene, frequently forming, with the
water and shore, beautiful panorama, and Of
ten appearing to stop our progress, but they
gently receded as we approached apss glsded
between.
At u. we had our head quarters at the IS To-
wa House," now kept by Mr.. Borland, to
whom Capt. Frye sold out some weeks since.
Among other distinguished persons. we were
introduced to John B. Russell, Editor of the
Bloomington Herald. l. was our first meet.
ing with Johnny-propria persona-we have
met several times before.-on paper-and
fought with gray goose quills-no blood shed.
Johnny is pretty good fellow after all. les
pity he drinks He is one Of the richest
and rarest specimens Of village Editor we
ever saw, reminding US strongly of certain
Mr.. Potts Of whom Boz speaks.
The day after oar arrival, We viewed the
advantages, beauties and lions of the town.
The location is picturesque. The bluffs, are
not so high as those of Bnrling ton-but pre-
sent the usual blnfy ppearance-the landing
is pretty good-some very neat cottages deck
the hlsl-sides-there are quite number Of
handsome brick dwellings and mercantile es.
lablishmen,s-a large two-story Court House
Of BRICK situated in the Northern part Of the
1ob, ~ Il
&c. On the whole, Bloomington is quite
smart little village Of about one third the size
Of Burlington, and its citizens are very fine,
should be, so they say. Considerable bust.
INCONSISTENCIES and doctors. also.
The second evening of our visit, We heard
Mr.. Fairchild lecture on Temperance at the
The fair were quite numerous and looked
charming. Mr.. F's happy remarks were
greeted with cheers, bursts of laughter, hur-
rahs, yells and all other kinds of strange
sounds. Judge Williams seemed delighted at
the performance of Mr.. F. and, after F. closed,
was "jumping up every few minutes to say
something about his lecture. They are par
mobile frat!um in The cause of Temperance.
We returned TO Burlington on the Waverly.
On board Of this boat, we met one of the mos,
gentlemanly persons we have seen for some
time. We refer to Captain Parker. late of
the " Osprey" and Hibernian.'' He is de-
cidedly "a gentleman and scholar" which
character is very scarce in these times. We
were pleased with him much."
AS our greatest literary writer's were great
ly assisted in reaching their highes. emnence
by the criticisms of their friends upon their
writings, this young Dickens, or disciple of