The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1855-01-03


progress of the West-Tcrritoria cxtent
-Rcmarks about Uncle Sam-Elcction in
Ilinois-A good joke-IIow they live, &c.
WooDsrocK, Ill, Dec, 1854.
a traveller once passing through a
sterile region Of country, observed an
Irishman fencing in field, on which a
chckadee would starye uulcss it import
cd its food Ga iuquirng of the paddy
what could be his object in fencing in so
barren field. he received this reply
And faith, I'm doing it, lest mc cows
might como horc to grazc, and die
Of starvation before getting them of
again" That region could not have
bcon in tho Valley Of tho Mississippi
Our impression, after { three months
tour over some parts Of it, are, that no
rcr,ion OF country of equal extent,
OH tho face Of the globe, can equal it in
fertility of soil. There is evidently one
feature that is ohjcctionable-viz u
scarcity Of timber. In Northern Hi
nois aud Southern Wisconsin, thp timber
is mostly scrub oak. 1t takes about two
trees to get one rail cut We have seen
but ono farm that was fenced with stone
wall. This is here a curiosity. The
osage'orango is being extensively cult
waited for fencing purposes. In or 6
YER if kept roperly shorp, it makes
an invulnorablc hedge.
For fire wood. the people mus, a, no
remote period, resort to the use Of coal.
or this there isa plenty. Prof. Viii
son estimates tho entire area Of coal
fields, in the United States, to bo from
10000 to 100000 square miles, which
comprise the three great fields known os
the Great Western or Allcghany-thc
Great Western of Indiana and Illinois.
and the Michigan. Prof Hitchcock
says, that in Nova Scotia aud New
Brunswick there is a coal field covering
nearly 10000 square miles. In the
Southeast part Of Massachusetts, and in
Rhode Island is deposit covering about
500 square miles. The Great Aralach.
ian coal field, extending from New York
to Alabama, 720 miles in length, covers
nearly 100000 square miles. The In.
diana coal fields, $50 miles long, embrace
about 5000 square miles. Another oc.
,urs in Michigan $50 miles long, cover.
us about 10000 square miles. The
and Iowa coal fields may be set
lown at so 900 square miles. The grand
otal, to say nothing of fields yet further
vest, amounts 10 Eore than 225, 900
quarN miles, equal to about 2s such
States as Massachusetts. five suppose
he veragc thickness to be 80 feet, the
Whole amount in solid measure of the
oal IN the United States would he equal
q a stratum 100 feet in thickness and as
arge as eleven States OF Vermont, ill2.
10 square miles)-a quantity absolute
J inconceiveablo, yet tho calculation is
ertainly a moderate one. Whatever
lso fails in the United States, her coal
an never bo exhausted, and when We
hink of the Immense extent to which
he use Of seam will hereafter he in.
reased, II this country, and that within
so years tho American Continent will ,
sem with moro millions of people than
ow inhabit the cu,irc globe, we arc led
, admire and adore the wisdom and be.
c6ocnce Of HIM who has thus so liber.
lly provided for the comfort and per.
stuity Of tho raco !
The increasing spread Of ou, territor, il
! extent and the rapid population Of the h
est, is indicative Of the greatness ofour C
Ituro Our territorial extent is nearly
n times as large as that Of Great Brit.
n aud France combined three times |!
largo as the whole of France, Britain, r
ustria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Bel o
um, Holland and Denmark together '
lie and halftimes as large as the Rus . .
an Empire in Europe; one-sisth less "
'ly than tho area covered by hfty-niuc v
sixty empires states and republics III tc
urope ofequal extent with the Roman
mpiro or that Of Alexaa lcr, neither Of =,
Aioli' exceeded 100000 square miller. \
nclc Sam was born as nation seven Ii
.cicht years acn. Since then be has u