Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1849-10-29
Great Salt Lake Valley Wonders and
Productions.

One of the leading Mormons ut the
Great Salt Lake city, writes as follows to
a friend in St. Louis. The "gull" portion
is certainly tough gull story. Miracles
it would seem did moi die with the prophe,
Joe Smith:
"Ihere has been very little sickness in
the Valley, ana very few deaths. 1t is
beyond doubt that this is very healthy
country, there has been vast amount of !
labor performed here-extensive farms
made, hundreds Of houses built, roads made, /
IN addition to blowing and planting this
spring; and 1t is very encouraging 10 say
that crops look we'll, and there Is no doub! |
that there will be considerable surplus |
raised this year; yet have no doubt bread
stufts will be high, on account of many of
the California emgrants designing 10 winter
here. Wheat Will not be less than S. per
bushel, and corn $3.50 or $2 Many
have already commenced harvesting wheat,
and il yields we'll. Five bushels OF wheat
will make barrel of rs handsome super
fine flour as was ever made into bread.
Yet the wheat, in many places, will not do
SO we'll as was expected, owing to its being
sown too late. All the crops look exceed
ingly we'll SO far; and if we had plenty of
rain here, it would be one Of the greatest
grain countries in the world. Irrigation
makes considerable labor, but when we
have all things prepared for il, it will be
much less trouble. tfhe crickets have po,
troubled US any this year. Hundreds and
thousands of gulls made their appearance
in the spring, and as soon as the crickets
appeared, the gulls made war on them, and
they have swept them clean, so there is
scarce cricket to be found in the Valley.
We look upon this as one Of the mani
testations of the favor Of the Almighty, for
the Mountaineers say that they never found
guliS here Till the Mormons came. 1t was
truly cheering to see the flocks of these
savlors, extending several miles in length,
come from the Lake early in the morning,
and eating crlckels all day, then at SUM-
down form in mass and wing their way
to the Lake, for nights resi-.
One curiosity about them is that they
don't eat the crickets merely to live, but
alter feeding themselves they would volnil
them up, and 60 to eating again, and thus
continue eating and vomiting throughout
nent to see how fast they will pick them
up, and 4 person could form but poor
estimate of the amount destroyed by these
winged sayiors Suffice it TO say, that
aboutlhree weeks after the gulls made their
appearance, scarce a cricket could be seen.
This is plainly miracle in behalf of this
people, MS the sending Of the quails in the
camp Of the Israelites; and what makes it
more manifest is the fact. that, although
there were plenty Of crickels in the SUI
rounding valles, where there are no crops,
the gulls came by them to the farms, and
staid there till they had cleared them Oft,
although men were at work around them
at The time. There has been no damage
done by the crickeis this season.
A great many California emigrants have
passed through this place during the past
three weeks, and many ore here now.
They have brought vast quantities of cloth
ing and other useful articles, which they
are selling at prices in the States, and
trading them oil very che,p for horses and
mules They say there are vast quaint ties
Of property left along the road which they
could not carry, such as bacon, flour, hard
This will be great help 10 the people here,
and affords q good market for such things
as we have to spare, but it will make
bread stuffs high during the coming winter
for those who do not raise enough"
RAILROADS In Massachusetts there are
80 finished railroads of an aggregate
length Of lO47 miles, Of which 2l7 miles
are provided with q double track. The
average of their dividends last year was
7s per cent. The average speed of the
passengers trains in Massachusetts has been
%: l3 miles, and of the freight trains II ,25
miles per hour. In New York the average
speed of the passenger trains has not ex.
ceeded ID miles per hour, but is last in
creasing.
In New York there are 952 miles of
railroad, average dividends 81 per cent. in
l545, showing these works in New York
to be vastly less profitable than in Massa-
chusetts. But the roads, many Of them,
are being relaid with good rail, and their
profits will vastly increase.
In Vermont and New Hampshire there
are about 500 miles of railroad finished and
in progress.
In Connecticut there are 4l0 miles of
railroad. The average dividend last year
was only about 2 per cent.
The number OF miles of finished railroad
throughout the Union is $500, and about
as much more in progress, at an average
cost of $50 900 per mile.
In England there are 4,500 mi lies of
railroad, completed at an average cost of
$3.50, 900 per mile, all Of it with double
track. The gross receipts of the English
railroads in 1648 were $52,o0o,000; tho
net income of dividend Al per cent.
In England the average speed of The
express trains is 45 miles per hour; this
speed is the rule, not the exception; some
trains have been run at the rate Of 65, and
some more. The older our roads become,
we will increase in speed, ior we only want
good tracks to equal England Scientific
Anae7ican
The CAUSE OF THE CHoLERA.-A DR..
Britain Of England, lecturer on anatomy,
processes to have discovered the cause of
cholera. He attributes it to species of
microscopal bodies which the London
ChronicaI call fungoid plants, the sporules
of which, floating in the atmosphere or
water of cholera districts, are taken into