The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-02-05
LOCAL MATTERS.

TIE NEXT LKcTuRE--The Rev. JoHs
prspoYT. who delivers the lecture befor,
tho Association on next Friday is one o
the Oldest poets in the country, and IS yer,
oopular with large class Of readers, though
la does not rank so high as Bryant, Long
fellow and few others who have seats
higher up on the American Parnassus.-
Many wears since he wrote poem called
the "Airs of Palestine" for musical festi.
val in Boston, which we do not thnk is al
pouular as its many beauties entitle it to be
We remember some lines which We always
thought extremely melodious. After ask.
ina himself what theme he should choose
and rejecting the paths to which he was in
yited BY the classic and perennial associa-
lions OF Greek literature ard history, the
poet eXcaims,--
NO no. a loneleI, oveier path be mine,
Greece and her charms leave ior Palestine
There. purer streams thfo' happier valley. how
And ,weeter flowers hollef mountain, sfo~.
Ilov. to bre sbe where Glead sheds lis balm,
! love 10 walk Jordan. banks OF palm,
!, lave 10 wet my foot in Hemons dew.,
/ love the prompiings of haph's musei
III In Camers holy rrots I'll court repose,
nd
We little thought when we first read the
"Airs of Palestine" that we should one day
hear the writer lecture in the place which
was then considered the "ultima Thule of
western civilization. But the progress of
events has SO worked out the problem, and
we will enjoy with many others the pleas
ure Of listening to this accomplished author.
POWDER AND SToEE.--It might not seem
at the first blush tina. European pacifca-
ton would have direct influence the
price OF building stone in Davenport, but
such is the fact. The war operations have
advanced the price OF powder some two or
three hundred per cent, and as large guam
titles of powder are used In getting out
stone it follows that the more the powder
costs the higher will be the price of the
stone. We know not that we should have
thought of the fact, had we not heard it
mentioned by one of our stone mnsons,-but
30 is, and though it is highly probable thai
neither Alexander nor Louis Napoleon have
ever heard Of our thriving city, yet the num-
Der of houses which we erect next season
may depend somewhat on the fact, whether
they will establish peace or continue the
war. So intimate are the relations which
especially since the navigation of the ocean
by steam, subsist between all parts Of the
civilized world. The same fact which pro-
duces sensation in the Liverpool market,
g felt within the ten or twelve days at New
III
greater or less consumption OF powder in
the Crimea and on the Baltic, directly in
fuences the price of building-s,one on the
Upper Mississippi.
Z The MIssissIPPr BRIDGE. Bitter cold as
twas yesterday, labor did not cease on the
Bridge, but all day long with the mercury
below zero, the mechanics were at work.
Even the day before, severe as was the cold
and although it was Sunday, men wee
work on the central pier The contractors
find it necessary to make all the progress
possible with the work during the continue
& ton of the ice, as it affords them solid ba-
sis upon which to erect the scaffoldng and
thus facilitate operatongl The timber is all
framed and can now be put up very rapidly,
and as the contra tors have more than one
hundred men at work, we can calculate,
Il without contingency, upon the cars Cross
ing during the following month. Stone g.
Boomer, the builders, say that during the
| last three years they have built nearly ten
miles Of Bridges on our different railroads.
hi ----->S-s-s~--------
A correspondent of the Keokuk Wing, |
writes from Muscatne, with the following
~ just appreciation of the effects of the NJ g.
Isl NJ Railroad on the trade Of that city
From the junction at Wilton TO Musca-
81 tine, distance of twelve miles, the country
81 is more rough and broken, and the cuts deep
81 er The travel is mostly confined to the
main trunk, and Muscatine trade will much
oft be turned to Iowa City and Davenport
~ DISTRICT CoURr.--The Court for this
Judicial District, Hon. VIM. Fl. TuTHILL
presiding, commenced its session in this
city yesterday morning.
"a FAsT.--The introduction OF steam INTO
our Office has given such an impetus to mat
ters that yesterday cur boy distanced time
itself and came out twenty-tour hours
ahead! To-day, however, by re-dating the
9th, we fall back regularly into the calendar