Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-06-20
THE GREAT ExCUsION-Iv.
The following we clip from the Chicago Jou

THE GREAT EACOSAON-1Vs
The following we clip from the Chicago Jour-
nall
You may call this letter an epistle from st.
Paul. for we arrived at this beautiful city yester
day morning at Q O'Clock. As we rounded the
bend and the city appeared in sight, every one
was astOnished at the rise, soidity, and beauty of
the four-year old. Whether it be owing to the
big price of lumber, or the enterprise and fore
sight of the people, it is quite certain that no
town in the country of the same age, has more
large stone and brick buildings, than St. Paul
On our arrival we found all the people Of the
place lining the landing to receive US, and every
horse and wheel vehicle in readiness to convey
the guests to the Falls of st. Anthony. So some
eleven of us mounted stifnecked lumber wag-
on, and went bowling along over the beautiful
rolling prairie land of Minnesota, in search of the
Falls, distant nine miles. The fertility and beau
ty of land about st. Paul is surprising. One
would hardly suppose that the Indians had just
been removed, or that Minnesota is nothing but a
territory, situated, in the Imagination of some,
near the North Pole, and blessed with not half q
dozen years Of civilized culture. The farms look
as though they had been cultivated two score
years. The prairies are smooth and green as a
new mown meadow, and scattered here and there
are groves and clumps Of trees, more picturesque
than if planted by the hand of art and little blue
lakes, fixed purposely for the fish ponds Of the
brooks gureling along with merriest of music,
and great fields of wheat, green and thrifty, and
corn fields, just planted, it is true, but ready to
grow with St. Paul speed when the short summer
begins, and every thing in short to make a rich
landscape. To be sure, it is very cold here in
winter, yet the climate is so regular, the atmos-
phere SO still, and the people so busting, that
there seems to be no suffering on this account
indeed, they think that if there were no thermom-
eter they would not know there was any cold
weather in the winter! We soon reached the
town and falls of St. Anthony. The falls are a
curiosity for many reasons-they are in the great
est and most beautiful of rivers-they lie at the
end Of most pleasant excursion-they possess
odd features, which no other cataracts, that ever
1 saw, have. The falls themselves are only about
twenty-five feet in height, but the rapids above
feet, and back Of these is so cut up by huge bro
ken rocks and great logs that the descending wa
ter lashes itself into fine frenzy of fantastic
breakers andsilver sunrays, real est. AnthOny's
dance'' of waters. To the eve Of the utlitarian,
these falls seem destined to afford good deal of
valuable water power for manufacturing purposes,
SIS that it is not unlikely that st. Anthony may
leap down on the heels Of st. Paul.
After describing the ride to the falls, glance
at Minnc-ha-ha, the Fort, the return to st. Paul,
&C., the writer closes in the following strain:
We are now not far from Rock Island and there
this wonderful excursion will be in fact broken
up. A part 90 to st. Louis, and part to their
eastern homes, but ALL wherever they go, will have
a stranger expedition than that of the Argonauts.
1t may be considered a salient event in our ma
tional history. 1t has celebrated in great we'd
ding tour '' the marriage of old Atlantic to Mrs.
Sippi,' as MIR. Hudson says. It has given Eastern
men and Eastern capitalists an opportunity Of
seeing the goodly heritage, the great West, and
we may hope that its ultimate effect will be to
bind all the States in happy and indissoluble
union.
OPINION v.
We condense the following from an excellent
article in the Chicago Tribune:
Our feet came in sight Of the city of st. Paul
about eight o'clock in the morning. The view
of the city,. approaching from the river, is Ger
tainly very imposing, and could be made, no
donbt it will be, very beautiful. The city stands
on two Lodges or bluffs, the lowest of which is six
ty-fve feet above high water mark. There is
ample space between the bases Of the cliffs and
the water for an admirable levee for the recep-
ton and discharge Of river freight. There are
several warehouses for storage and commission
upon the lcvee, although the principal business
of the place appears to be done up in the centre
of the city. IL we are to believe the representa-
tions Of the business men of the place, the bust
ness done here is very extensive. We were inn
pressed with the fact which speaks we'll for the
amount of trade done here, that the business is
well systematized, and that each merchant con-
fines himself to one particular branch Of trade
All OF the merchants with whom we conversed OK
pressed themselves in manner which convinced
us that they were doing well. They said that
there was large business doing. but more could
be done, and that, many as were the establish
ments of every kind here, there was still room for
more.
Property in this city is held at pretty high
figure, and farming land the city is valued at
prices which would alarm even Chicago real cs-
tate dealer. We did not think that the rents in
the city were at all exhorbitant, although our
views upon this bject are no doubt cOnsidera-
bly, enlarged by our own experience in Chicago.
st. Paul covers an immense space of ground
and may, i'll its present condition, be termed
ond city of magnificent distances. The upper
and lower towns together must extend some three
miles from the steamboat landing up the river,
and some half mile back. The principal street
of the city is the first one upon the top OF the
bluff, and is tolerably well built up.
The private residences of the citizens are, in
the great majority of instances, very neat and
tasteful cdifces, surrounded by beautiful and
highly cultivated grounds, and EMPOWERED in
lovely groves Of native forest trees. The resi-
dences of Elk Governor Ramsey, and of His pres
cnt Excellency, Willis A. German, are both very
handsome places.
This city is in latitude A deg. SO min. 46 sec.,
longitude 90 deg. min. 81 Sec, is a port of en-
try, the county seat Of Ramsey county, and also,
the seat of government of the Territory. 1t is
2070 miles above the mouth of the Mississippi, and
is elevated nearly 800 feet above the gulf Of Next
co. Its site is magnificent, and we have never
seen spot better adapted by Nature for snowy
and delightful display of architecture and garden
ing than the natural terrace of hills upon which it
stands. 1t is, commercially speaking, the key to
all the vast regions north Of it, and, by the Min
nesota River, to the immense vally drained by
that important tributary to tho Mississippi. The
country is spotted all over, at distances Of one to
three miles, with brigth and cool little ittelakes,
that abound in excellent fish. The scene over the
bluff towards st. Anthony, is over prairie extern
ding in length some six miles, and breadth a
distance of we know not how much.
LIFE INSURANCE.
Aatv