The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-09-19

~ A Half Hour with Old Friends.
ssssa ToisDo. o.. Sept. 9Th, 1851.
The summer IS passed, but although gone,
itshas forgottento take with itthehOtand
most sultry hours Of the month Of August
and to-day folesbadows anything else but thu
Ehistling and chilly, winds Of a bleak No
vember. Perhaps feeleit more because
have Just returned from the country, where
all was cooling shades and running streams
but to-day is certainly the warmest | have
felt. The Lake breeze which we usual
ly have here so refreshing has taken itself OF
in some other direction, and we are left al
the mercy of Old Sol-without the power to
raise the wind, or cause an intervening cloud;
dust however, we can raise without an ef-
fort, and were it not for its grapitation there
would be no dificultyin causing perpetual
darkness or obsructing and obscuring both
the rays ofslight and heat. Itrequires man
Of no common nerve to attempt to write q
letter on,sucha day as this. If ] or my pen
and ink don't give out--all melt into one
conglomerated mass--the manuscript be SC
defaced that you will be unable to deciphel
the hieroglyphics, Ishall be perfectly content
and satisfied. At all events, the presen
seems to me like you might anticipate any
thing bu. a very long or interesting letter, t,
which think hear the compositor exclaim
ing-amen, good! But if on its reception
the day shouldbe as warm as this one, the
unhappy victim should be bored with one a:
long and miserably written as my last,
shall expect to hear, (if suitably impressed
Andrew Jackson Davis would say,) any
hing else than good or amen. r.
.sIhave just returned from trip up the val
yof the Maumee, one Of the most lovely
md beautiful in the State of Ohio. Why il
should have been neglected SO long and the
great tide ofemigratien be;permitted to SWEEP
by to the colder and more inhospitable shores
of Lake Superior and the States of Wiscon
sin, Illinois and Iowa and the Territory O
Minnesota never could tell--for in climate
it is softer, in fertility greater and in position
better 1t is washed on the east by Lake
Erie, has running through it the Maumee
Riyer,and stretching away into the most fer
tile regions Of Ohio and Indiana, are two
canals-upon which all the produce of the
country can be carried speedily to the markets
in the world. Then there are her plank roads,
(something we do not have in our country, J
upon which the heaviest loads can be drawn,
in all kinds of weather and in all seasons Of
the year. Indeed, there is everything here to
facilitate communication and enable man
to live independent, comfortable, easy and
happy. / crossed over the Maumee River on
fine bridge into Perrysburg-a handsome
little town situated upon its banks, the coun-
ty seat Of Wood. i drove through it in my
buggy, and took a hurried glance at every.
thing could see-called on our old fellow
townsman, Simon Clark, who is now pub
fishing and editing the Perrysburg Star.
found him at his post and all right, making
money as by his untiring industry he deserves
TO-. In the space of twenty minutes he asked
over hundred questions, about old friends,
whom tickle fortune, or fate, or the hope of
doing better has, perhaps, severed him from
forever, except, in heart and mind, where
they will all live, though sometimes appa-
rently forgotten, until some little incident
like my bursting in Unexpectedly upon him,
would cause memory to, awaken from her
slumbers and run back over the track of the
past and then all would be fresh in mind and
heart again, and he would ask as he did me-
how's the craft, how's Drake, how's Angs-
rona" (some Of the boys will know what
this means) how's Newson, hows George,
&C., &C., in such quick succession that you
could scarcely answer until something else
was asked. told him all could in an in
credibly short space Of time, babe him good
bye, but with the hope and expectation Of
seeing him oftener, as the probabilities are
Ishall one day come out here and settle down
in the city of Toledo, and make it my home.
AS | have mentioned Toledo, | must say
something of its position, prospects, advan-
tages, &c. Toledo is situated upon the
banks Of the Maumee River, short distance
from the Bay and Lake-contains popula-
tion OF near 5,000,-is the terminus of two
canals running through the rich valleys of the
Wabash in Indiana, and the Miami in the
State of Ohio-has one railroad finised near
one hundred miles, and will soon be connect
ed with Chicago. Here there is one of the
finest harbors in the Lake, in which the Ma
vies Of the world might ride in safety. AT
all times perfectly free from storms or winds.
owing to its position, the natulal head Of
navigation on the great central line running
west uia the Lakes, and tits destined to be
one of the largest cities on Lake Erie. She
will soon be connected with Cleveland, Dun
kirk and New York by railroad and P;tts