New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-07-02

all above go miles constructed or reconstructed
n ,,yo wears. But the fact which speaks most
for the energetic management OF the Company, IL
we'll a. for the remarkable natural advantages Of
the line is that in the year ls5l lSS miles OF track
we're laid with heavy rail, and that on some Por-
t;ous of the line the track-layers were pushed
forward at the rate of mile a day, while the
severe weather Of last winter was not suffered to
interrupt their operations. The Company have
also taken a lease of the Erie and Kalamazoo
Road, 80 mites between Adrian and Toledo and
own the Tccumseh Branch 10 miles, both OF which
still have the fat rail, but the former i about to
be relaid with heavy iron procured on the bonds OF
it, own Company. The extent Of road and
branches belonging to and under the control OF
the Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana
Company is about 3S miles; of the main line
some l3 miles are in Illinois. This Company has
in use and soon TO be completed, 81 locomotives
90 first. class, and sufficient number OF other
cars of S-vheeled freight and cattle cars it has
about $50. The entire cost of the work and
equipment will he from five to five and quarter
millions. The highest grades do not r-ceed 81
fec. per mile going west, and going e'st the direc-
tom Of the heavy traffic, are not above - feet
the curves are remarkably easy. The country
tra,crsed by the route is one of unsurpassed
beauty and richness and must, ere long, be lnhab-
tied bv dense and industrious population ths
through business must be large AID always IN
creasing and thus, considering the cheapness with
which the road was built, and the cheapness Gifts
repairs and working, it cannot fail to be profit
able investment to its proprietors as well as highly
beneficial to the public.
This simple statement, of which have gwen
onlv the skeleton, was received with attention and
evident qualification by all present. for even those
Of MS who were not lucky enough to be stock
holders, had a. the guests of the Company, ac-
qnired more than friendly interest in its affairs,
After Col Bliss other speakers were looked for
but all OF sudden the gas went ost, and abandon
ing that sort of eoquence, we adjourned up stairs
to the ballroom, where the tuning of iddIes gave
note of what was about to follow.
Ifyou would see the West in its flower and cx-
uberance, see it dancing None Of your new-isnglcd
pokas and schottischcs, whereof the unsophist-
Gated gir said that the dancing was Mt much
but the hugging was heavenly :" bat honest quad
rifles of inextrcable Madness winding mp with the
rousng old Virginia reel long after midnight. And
it is done with a heart, too-not with languid, Ian
gushing Indifference, but a. if there were real
enjoyment, and gay, efleTe,cent, healthy spirits
About this great West there is a broad, vigorous
muscular, and manowy humanity, genial generous
radiant, warmly courteous, that somehow charms
and conquers more than all iron-bounn puritan
strictness or all the pretentions to superlncncss
of metropolitan Young America. 1t is NcwEng-
land expanded yivified under kndlier sun, aud
in wider and freer sphere of activity. And so
while the last strains Of the music die away, aud
the steps of the last retiring feet patter upon the
stairs, with the fresh lake-ar breathing at the
easement, We drop asleep more than ever bcliey-
ing in our country and its future. Its future
Happy the land that has one Happy the family
Of mankind that here and there nation still pre-
serves the hope and the power of the universal
destiny!
For to-day Saturday we had all received an
Invitation to an excursion to Cherry Valley. the
present terminus of the Chicago and Gaena Rail
road, 81 miles from this city. This was to take
Us through the great praires of Illinois, and only
those Of the purity who were detained BY ineyita-
bic business were absent. A delightful day it has
than continuous plain, whose green and even
surface is varied now and then BY gentle swell
an occasional clump Of trees, or a rare wafer.
course. Two streams of considerable beauty
break in upon the yerdant mOnotony in the entire
81 miles. the Fox River and the kishwalkie. both
flowing rapidly over beds of limestone and with
banks whose original, unabraded outline is car
peted with long, dropping grass down to the
water very edge. Along these rivers are forests
of Northern trees, including the sugar-mape
The soil Of these praires is exceedingly rich, the
railroad cuttings often showing a depth of two or
three feet Of light but unctuous loan. Some
towns we passed that seemed fall of thrift and
promise. At Cherry Valley, we spent an hour.
and after an excell,nt dinner, taken by frolcsome
relays in ths dning-room and kitchen of the hotel.
in which the good-nature of the hostess was as
eIhaustless as the abundance of her viands. the
train was turned homeward, and at evening We
were again in Chicago.
Though this road traverscs very tbinIv nonu.
lated country, with no considerable town upon its
line, and yet has no terminus ut all, so to saw.
am told by Mr.. Turner the President. that il d.
yidcs IL per cent. upon its capital. This is due in
great measure, no doubt, to cheapness of its con-
sttucton aud woIkine il is laid for most Of the
way. with fiat rail, though very substantially
and has no considerable embankmcnts, bridges or
cuttings. The worst grades are only some - feet
per mile, and the whole cost, with the equipment
cannot exceed s. 600 per mile. The western sec.
ton Of the roai through to Galrra viii involve
good deal of heavy work, and will accordingly be
mn II il laip n.
forward, however; as far Cs Rock River the track
is now ready for the RAIDS. When done, it will
BRING to Chicago md New-York great deal of
business that has hitherto gone down the Missis-
sPpi to New Orleans, besides creating consider
able new traffic. The present proitlbleness of
the enterprise is due not only to the large emigra