The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-12-26

SURPASSED, which thirty years ago, wquId
have been considered the widest dreams 0f
a visionary, and therefore It exhibits liffis,
foresight to say that should the people Of
your Territory be but true to their own in-s
terests and urge constantly and unweariel'
" upon Congress, their wants and their
rights. the new State Of Minnesota will IN
in twenty years compare favorahly IN,
wealth and population with the most pros
porous Of our Western States aas
Those who may be induced 10y the sfate-,
ments contained in my official reporfs sos
emigra.e to Minnesota, will ! ann satisfied
he disposed to censure me for having said
too little rather than too much.
With sincere wishes fer your prosperity
as that Of your Territory. 80,
am your friend and obedient servant,
JOHN POPE. 81
III. NJ. RICE, ESQ. s34 esdg
McDonough, the New Orleans Miser.s
John McDOnough, the richest man in the
United States, died at New Orleans on fhs
25th Of Oct. His property, Sc, amounts to
at least SIS 600 900. e1t
Rev. Wm. Mclean, Secretary Of the A
merican Colonization, Society has received
inteliigence that Mr.. McDonopgh in his
will, bequeathed one-eighth part ofthe netr
revenue Of his estate during the term Of 40
years, to the American Colonization Sccie-,
~, but not to exceed sac, 900 dollars snnu-
ally. The will is said to be complicated
aud its validity doubtful. "'st tf}
The newspapers are ievoting more or
less epace to the character of this extrGordi-
nary man, and eccentric miser, who, from
his wealth was considered the "Astor" of
the south. Though a very rich man he
seems net to have been very good citi-
IL. -,
10 community.
"Of enterprise, the spirit of public im-
provement and progress, he was as desti-
tute rs the OLD planks of his house were of
sap. Owning immense property in the city,
he left the greater part Of il entirely unm-
proved, until his possessions became great
nuisance TO the corporation. When iu-
duced to build, he would only erect the
roughest and most unsigh,ly buildings, usu-
ally put up. by his slaves, who brought the
bricks with which they were made across
the river. Many of these buildings are now
eye-sores in our city, teDantless and danger
ous from their dilapIdated condition. So,
too, of his immense property in the country.
But small portion Of il was in cultivation.
He usually bought tracts of land by leagues
and miles instead Of acres. u.
ssHe was said TO own fifty miles, fronting
on the Mississippi, in Louisiana. Four
fitihs Of the swamp land in The state be-
louged to him. He had, too, immense pos
sessions in Florida, Mississippi and Texas.
The area of his property would equal that
Of one Of the small states Of the Union, and
exceed that of several of the Kingdoms and
IpriDcipalites Of Europe The preservation
and administration of this immense proper
ty must have required a vast deal of labor,
and great administrative talents. These
Mr.. McDOnough possessed. He was well
educated, wrote very well, understood the
law and was quite familiar with the histo-
ry Of the country. He never left the vicin-s
ity Of the state, never went north, but re-
manned one of the stand -bys and originals
of our city, ill few hours before his death.
The singularity OF his appearance--in his
old fashioned blue coat, strapless pants,r
large white neckerchief, with green umhrel-
la under his arin---inade him one Of the Pc
cuiar features of our city.-New Orleans
paper. ~
1t is beautiful to observe the bounda-
rics which nature has affixed to the ri
dlculous, and to notice how soon it is
swallowed up by the more ilustrious
feelings of our minds Where is the
heart so hard, that it could bear to see
the awkward resources and contrivances
Of the poor turned into ridicule, Who
is so wicked as to amuse himself with
the infirmities Of extreme old age? or to
find subject for humor IN the weakness
of a perishing, dissolving bodyi Who
is there that does not feel himself dis
posed to overlook the little peculiarities
ofthe truly great and wise, and to throw
veil over that ridicule which they have
redeemed by the magnitude of their tai
ents, and the splendor Of their virtues:
Who ever thinks Of turning into ridicule
our great and ardent hope Of world to
come? Whenever the man of humor
NEEDLES with these things, he is astonish-
ed to find that, in all the great feelings
of their nature, the mass Of mankind al
ways think and act right; that they arc
ready enough to laugh. but they are
quite as ready to drive away, with indig-
nation and contempt, the light fool who
comes with the feather of wit to crumble
! the bulwarks Of truth, and to break
down the Temples of God.--[Sid. Smith.
BARNUM's FIRST OpERATIoN--HE is
GEN,Us--A few years ago, small!
drove Of Buffaloes were driven cast for
exbibition--but the speculation proving
a failure, they were sold to pay expenses.
The Cleveland Plaindealer says:
Barnum hearing Of this, lost no time
in buying said Buffaloes, getting them
cheap. He took them to Hoboken,
where he hired them to keep saying
nothing to anybody. He next went to
all the ferrymen on the river, and asked
about what their daily receipts 'were.--
Ascertaining that, he proposed to char
ter their services for single day, pay
ing them slight increase above ordi-
nary receipts. To this they assented,
and he bound the bargains by advancing
a portion Of the pay. Next appeared
barn-door bills in flaming capitals post
ted ali over New York, that on such
day there would be Grand Buffalo
Chase at Hohoken, Eighteen i've Buff
faloes, fresh from the prairics. and wild
Indians mounted on native chargers To
chase them, s., s., all 20 be seen free