Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-01-21
Rail Roads.

According to statistics, which we compile from
an advance sheet of the 8. American Railway
Guide" published by Messrs. Dinsmore & Co.,,
New York. there were, in the United States, on
the first of the present month January 1854,
sixteen thousand one hundred and twenty-five
miles Of railroad completed and in successful
and active operation. Who will dare say, with
this fact staring him in the face, that we are
not a fast people and going ahead with railroad
rapidity? .a* 15f@
With these iron arteries of commerce and our
railways Of thought (Telegraphs) the permanent
cy of the American Union, is SO solidly and
irreyocably bound together and fixed, that even
the eloquence Of a Clay, Webster, OF Calhoun
were they to arise from their graves and resume
their once proud position and influence in the
Senate Chamber, could not even bulge it. The
great geographical center of our wide and pros
porous country, extending from the Atlantic on
the East, to the auriferous shores of the Pacific
on the West; from the Great Lakes, on the
North, to the Mexican Gulf, on the South, is
now made more accessible than was that of the
Thirteen Colonies in the time of the Revolution.
Space or distance, now, to the American people,
is no obstacle, and is made as subservient to
their wishes as-were the titular dignitaries of o
chess-board to the great Napoleon.
Our politicians may oft and again cry disunion !
to advance sordid and ambitious designs but
their cries will be in vain. The products of the
iron mines Of Pennsylvania manufactured into
railroad bars, in conjunction with Heavens
Artillery, bridled by Franklin, tanned and made
subservient to the wishes Of man by Morse,
will forever perpetuate the American Republic,
and hand it down to the remotest age of posterity
by affording easy and rapid transit from its re-
hottest confines, both for the masses as well as
for the actions Of their representatives in Con-
gress assembled; and our common country will
be made to ride in safety over the vortex which
ehey, the politicians, had designed for its ruin.
Time and distance, by these wonderful and
marvellous improvements of the age, Railways
and Telegraphs) have been completely annihilat-
ed in fact distance might as. well be stricken
from our dictionaries, for the question, "What
is the distance to such place., is rarely if ever
asked. Time has completely usurped its stead.
With MS Americans, distance is regulated by
Time. New York, for instance, is four hours
from Philadelphia, instead Of ninety-six miles
as it "use to was" In few more years the
Commercial Capital Of our own proud Louisiana,
will be reckoned forty eight hours from the Great
Emporium Of the Western World, instead of two
thousand miles, as Is now the case. Already do
the merchants Of these great cities have daily
lightning chit-chats with one another after
business hours, with relation to their operations
Of tomorrow. and invariably receive answers in
less time than we have been employed in throw
ing together these few desultory remarks. It is.
indeed, glorious and blessed privilege to say:
81 am an American citizen-a countryman of the
immortal Washington p
Q. 8. Governors j. J. Crit
tenden Of Kentucky, and A. G. Brown Of Missis-
sippi, have been elected by the Legislatures Of
their respective States as Senators in Congress,
for the full term Of six years each, from and
after the 4th Of March next, 1854.
DRUGs.-Mr. J. s. Frizell, is now in receipt
Of fresh stock Of Drugs and Medicines just
received direct from Philadelphia. Planters
and others are requested to call and examine
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