The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1853-07-02
Correspondence of the Minnesotian.

Correspondence of the Minnesolian.
Railroad Age and Railroad People-The
Duty of ST. Paul in regard to the Fon du Lac
| and other Railroad neutrality-suspicious. in
| New YOrk-Industrial Exhibition Charter
Election.
NEW YORK, June 15 1853.
MEssRs. EDITORS In compliance with your
| request to send you an occasional item of news,
sit down to make the attempt. Let me first
premise that ne,cs is a very rare thing for a
correspondent to furnish an editor with for
often long before an eyewitness of a transac-
ton may have time to sit down and record it,
the minute history of the matter is flying away
hundreds of miles in the omnscicnt daily, or
outstripping the western flight of time upon the
telegraph therefore of absolute netcs, expect
nothing some reflections, however, upon things
passing under my observation or some items of
information you may not have gathered from
your exchanges may not be unacceptable.
The most noticeable thing, go where you
will in the States, is the impctuosity of the
times. Men act in no matter, think of nothing.
and scarcely hope for anything, as they used to
do; the pulses of moral social, and domestic
| life are quickened. and that with fevercd impa-
thence. Railroads have changed not only the
face of nature, but the faces and forms of action
and thought, SO that the country has become
citylied and the city somewhat countryied. The
hurry and hustle of prompt punctual business
men, is not confined to Broadways and Wall
Streets, or else BrOadways and Wall Streets
have extended themselves all over the country
| like SPIDERS webs, and every one of them is
thronged by quick-sighted, sharp-minded cner
gctic men, who have viviied the sleepy hollow
through which they pass daily, by imparting
somewhat of their own impatient energy. In
New York or the New England States, or Ohio,
it is already becoming difficult to find rural
village with its one portly landlord, its one
dngy smithy, where iron was wont to he man.
ufactured in all its varied forms, from a bull
plOw-sharc to a horseshoe nail. and its own
tailor, cabinct-maker and carpenter, who were
sufficient for the slow farmers who logged into
town and bartercd their produce for the various
and simple neccssarics they required. These
slow farmers have suddenly become fast men ::
this slow village has been suddenly walked up
some fine morning by the shril shrek of the
iron horse, and from that moment to the end of
time (Or to the end of railroads, which is pretty
much the samc) the quictude of life, and the
| slow drOwsy prosperity of mechanics in that vii
lagc shall cease. The farmer no longer barriers
his produce for goods or implements, he takes
it to the city and obtains cash with which he
purchases better goods, at cheaper rates, be-
cause manufactured i'm large quantities. by as
suciatcd capital labor and machinery, and Sc
lccts from larger variety. because the city
vendor has larger market, and can afford to
keep larger supplies: meantime the producer
finds the city market limitlcss, whereas the pro-
duce of an extra acre would have surfcitcd the
market of the village. SO he hurries home to
drive the team a-field and increase his crops.
And he goes home richer. not only by the mo-
ney in his purse, but by the IDEAS in his head
he has behold many articles Of grace and beau
ty and convenience, and seen much of the re-
lincmcnts and clcgancics, as well as comfort,
with which wealth, genius and cupidity have
embelished the city, and be he never so much
boor. contact will bcget imitation. This me-
tamorphOsis of society is accompanied, like all
other changes, with somewhat of present evil.
y very intelligent, Gcntlcmanly person whom
| met on an Ohio river boat, said to me. "Sir
what kind of place is Minnesota for q poor
man to emf CRATE to- | have lived until lately
in the village of s., in Ohio, carniug COM
Portable livelihood, as a tailor, until some six
F months since the cars commenced running
through our place, and from that time my bust
ness declined until | was forced to become a
deck hand on 4 steamboat. to support my fami-
ly, and am not alone, for all my ncighbors
mechanics, and also merchants, or nearly all.
have been forced to go to the city, or resort to
some other business Thus it is throughout
Ohio and New York. and indeed wherever there
are railroads; yet even the injured villagers
admit their great utility, and beyond all, that
they have become necessary. The country
through which they pass, and the tcrmni of the
roads are UNNECESSARILY benefited. Let st.
Paul pledge her credit or mortgage the whole
corporation, rather than not advance the rail
road schemes which are practical and which
look toward her as the centre. Let nothing de-
feat or delay beyond reasonable time the rail
road from st. Paul to FOn du Lac There is
scarcely a doubt that we can have that road
completed within five years from to-day, if we
are determined that it shall be done, aud show
that determination in action as well as words.
The stock of the n. Y. Central Road is now
worth more than double the amount actually
paid in by the subscribers the Erie road, i'm
mense as has been the outlay. is esteemed an
excellent investment; the Cleveland. Column
bus and Cincinnati road is even better than the
Central New York 4; the Sandusky, Mansfield
and Newark road, running from some little
county towns in Ohio to the in many respects.
out-ot-the-way lake port of Sandusky cannot
he bought for near par value !; and would not
short link OF road, of 80 miles, connecting such
extended lines of communication as it would,
be paying road? There can be no doubt of it
whatever, any more than there is that it will
and must be built 1t is only to be regretted
that the Saul canal is not open. and the rail-
road built ready for our next year S emigration
In this city, railroads are superscding the
clumsy, noisy omnbuscs in all of the principal
thorOugh-fares. and however much it NAV be
opposed by those who wish to have g Broadway
reserved for the use of carriages" there is no
doubt that it will soon have it's railroad
throughout the entire length. The middle clas-
ses and poor people cannot afford the entire use
OF this fine street for the pOmpous display of Ii
veried coachmen and fine horses, or for mere
display of any kind they want it for use, and
as they can out-vote the few who want it for or
nament there is no doubt on the subject
"A Mr. Wickersham proposes in the Tribune
that Broadway be furnished with two RAILWAYS
set upon iron posts, ten or more feet high, with
sidewalks of wood or iron, extending the whole
length of Broadway. This is scheme, plus the
railway, which suggested itself to me some year
or more ago, upon reading Genin's application
to bridge Broadway, and which, on being men
toned to some friends, produced gOod-na-
tured smile at my expense l believe it to be
the best and least costly plan for the improve
ment Of Broadway, and it is possible it may be
adopted.
The Crystal Palace will, without doubt, be
| on thn &c Ill.