Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-09-05
MINNESOTA WEEKLY TIMES.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER l, 1854.
A TRIP To PICS EYE BAR.

St. Paul dwindles into insignifcance along side
of Pigs Eye Bar. Pigs Eye Bar is in the mouth
of everybody-evcrybod is cursng Pigs Eye
Bar, and as for the steamboat men, they add
double curses refined, AZ that veXatious point
Pigs Eve Bar. Well, what's to he done? Let's
see. To remove or not 10 remove, that's the
question, and for the purpose of asccrtalnng
what could be done, Ex- Governor Ramsey, Capt.
Brookes of the Admiral, DR.. Potts, Geo. W. Far
rington, ESQ.,. and several other of our citizens,
took passage board of the fast sailing and
commodious steamer Humboldt on Wednesday
morning last, for the long talked Of and notorious
Pigs Eve Bar. The weather not very propi-
tious but the fine accommodations of the steamer,
with her well ventilated cabin, made up for the
drilling rain which battered on the roof and gave
additional charm to the voyage. The shrill whls-
tie of the steamer having been blown. she rounded
out beautifully from her landing, and was soon
stcamiug it down the Mississippi; overhauling
and passing on her route Fuler's mill, bark
canoe. and Caryer's Cave, the latter of which ad-
mitted the superiority of our craft, by giving up
the race and casting anchor just below Dayton's
Bluff. The bark canoe soon had to cdce IN and
very unexpectedly found it attached to our
steamcrs Stern, rejoicing in the hope of reaching
its destination lectie behind its rival. The scene
TX. as a matter of course, was the theme Of much
speculation, particularly the numerous sand bars
that lifted their bald heads to bow as we passed
A lecture from one of the company on natural
philosophy very forcibly pointed out the cause of
the lowness of the water in the Mississippi He
said-'s You are aware, gentlemen, that IN China,
war has been wag;ng for some time past. Ills
Imperial IIighncss, Hong Pong Du-Dong, called
together his great men, and asked them to devise
a way 10 put a stop TO the warfare. After de-
liberation of two months, during which time they
EFT nothin-, they conceived the idea of boring
holes in the bottom Of the Mississippi, and letting
the cold water down on the belligerents' heads
The grand scheme carried into execution IN
the month of July, and was entirely successful
Geutlemen,'' said the speaker, 8 the war ha-
ceased, and consequently there is but little was
ter in the Mississippi" His reasoning was so
overwhelming, that nobody dared to answer him,
and the matter was dropped for some future occa-
SION
Our boat was under terrible head of steam,
when loud crash arrested our attention, and on
rushing to the deck were at a loss to know
whether we were on a sand bar or on our road to
China. We were relieved from our fears, howev
or. when the Captain jumped overheard and very
deliberately pushed the craft out into the stream.
But an hour more suficed to bring us in sight OF
the noble steamer Galena lying high and dry on
that contemplate old Pigs Eye Bar; and here let
us pause to rcconnoitcr the premises, and to see
if any thing can be done to remove the obstruc-
tons which are of so much annoyance to the boats
and the source of much vexatiOn to the citizens
of st. Paul. Laying aside levity, we will
seriously consider the subject and lay the result
of our investigation before the readers of the
Times.
After Il careful survey, company did not
consider it advisable TO attempt to remove the OBJ
structions, for the following reasons:
|. The bed of the river is Of such a nature
(,oaile sand, to speak, that the least obstruc-
ton in one place is apt to throw the sand in
another.
>. BY throwing up dam at the Bar it would
undoubtedly be the means of creating more water
at that point but at the same time Of filling up
the channel below.
,. BY clearing out the channel below, would
throw the sand up into bar still further below,
so that the difficulty would not be obviatcd.
I. The expense would be great, and it would
be necessary to clear out some portions of the
RIVER every year.
). 1t is the opinion of steamboat captains that
the river cannot be bettcred-that by attempting
TO remove the distractions in one place, it will
only be the means of washing the sand down into
another, and on for miles. Under the circum-
stances they consider it best to let nature take its
This is the opinion CT Capt. Brookes,
Capt. Blakelcy and others.
1t is all useless, therefore, to talk any more
about Pigs Eye Bar 1t is there, and other bars
are there, and they will continue there, and all
our curses therefore wont ''amount to row of
,ins.'' When the Chinese draw off the water
from the Mississippi, the only way to do, is to
wait until they replace it, unless some one more
sagacious than company point out plan
TO retain it.
Our trip home. matter of course, was
delightful one, the rain washing the starch out of
our clothes, and making feel sleek as
4" drowndcd ratr' However. we reached the land
ing in safety, thankful to Capt. Ruby and WATSON
for their efforts to make trip pleasant one.
We are of the opinion, that the Humboldt, in cases
of emergency, is 81 not to be sneezed at and we
therefore recommend h"r to 60 where other crafts
can't follow. and do what other crafts can't do.
FROM EURorE.-Our exchanges bring us nothing
OF Importance from Europe. The cotton market
remains frm--auycrs possessing the advantage,
however. The market in brcadstuffs has been ac-
tive.
The news from the Danube is Of favorable
nature to the allies. The Russians have attacked
the Turkish and French camps. but were defeated.
with loss Of 1000 killed and many wounded-
The Russians were advancing in forced marches
Wallachia has been evacuated, and all who re-
manned there would after the day Of evacuation,
be considered deserters, and treated accordingly.
The Russian army had been ordered to remove to
Galatca. The most significant fact is, that Rus
sia makes no war like demonstration on the Prus-
sian frontiers. 1t is asserted by Berlin CORES
pondcut that the Western powers have formally
rejected the Russian proposal and made their own.
He remarks that Prussia, in order to meet the wish
es Of the Austrian Government will mobileize her
army, and the Vienna Cabinet in exchange have
declared themselves ready to consent to new at
tempt of the mediation. The propositions, how
ever, are not to be addressed to Russia by the
two Governments, but By a relative Of the two