The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1857-06-27

M ~ 0Asscity.
.srAs rsvss s.saA = Usas.''
Nsssss. EpIroas You nslies n ~ 0sts
CIV this nornins, Of H. - losl of soal
having arrived, via ~ Kseksk, Port D.
Moines and MinnSssla 1Ailsoad, hsiAea 70
the recollection q The writer several iDsi-
dents connected with coal interests In diAsf.
sns parts Of he country, . bsisf rsfsrssss y
which nay ssfvs to point ont he probable
future inportanee Of this branch Of tfsds .
our city.
He recollscts we'll when the arst wagon
load Of sto~s-cosi, - Il WAS called, vas
brought from Schuylkill county 70 the city
Of Philadelphia, whom his father, then .
merchant with his counting house on The Del
aware river wharf, had his grats, before ussd
for burning Liverpool coal, (which often
sans y ballast,) taken IRON the counting
rson and lest up in tho parlor Of his residence;
and that il was regarded - one Of the won
dsrs--shs actual burning Of The hasd, black
stone (snthrasite coal from Sehsylkill ocan-
". This was only sbout thirty-ssvsn years
ago, when there was no such thing . IN In.
terror coal tyads known In the United States.
About that period, there wsrs certain "a
gaoioas, snterpfising gentlenss Of Philadsl.
phis, who, looking 70 the future, senmsnosd
operations, though at Arst on very linitsd
scale, in the now mining districts Of Schayl-
kill and Northampton counties, Pennsylva-
mia, sending snail loss Of aathraeitsto Phil
ads:phia BY wagons 1t crest cost, end grad
ually soaxing psopls into IL ase. 10 The
nsanwhils, the Schuylkill canal, and the Ls-
high navigation, which have since become
such splendid works Of inssrnalinprovsment,
were struggling into existence, supported By
On energetic few, and ridioolsd BY The many.
Even 20 late y but thirty-two OF thirsy.three
years ago, whom the coal trade from the ro-
gion named, Arst commenced, there we're but
three hundred and sixty i've tons sent through
the canal during the 6rst year. This wss the
beginning Of business which, IN eastern
Pennsylvania alone, has grown 70 BE- more
than sir millions Of foms pr amman.
In the year 1926, q : meeting Of the d.
rectors Of the Onion Canal Company, Of
Samuel Mi1lin, the energetic
President, made the statement, alphabetically,
hat "wishin their tims they would 80 nil-
lion Of tons Of coal per annun received 10
Philadelphia. II could scarcely b hoped
FOR mot another member Of that intelligent
board was sanguins enough to support him,
" to give credit in their calculations, TO an
Of such an enormous quantity.
Mr. Millin lived but = few years, but hs
lived 70 go his prediction ful6lied.
A late - 1897, The Lshieh Ooal and Nav
CATION Company, andsr the jadieieas nas-
'gsasns Of that rsnarkabls and iagsnioas
aas, Isaiah White, commessed thsir ascend
e canal navigation improvement which
low carries more than millioa Of tons Of
'oal per ysAr. UadR 4Ais akilRal manage
sent, also, rs plAnned aad completed the
|rst Railroad IL ths Usissd States, the track
i which Vas laid down 10 The spfing Of that
ear (lS27). II wss nine miles lsns. and sx-
ended from the Conpany's nagaiAesat coal
,sds on top Of the mountains, 70 Aauch
,hunk, then village, built BY the Company,
~ the Lehigh river. The writer saw the
rst and last bar Laid on thst tsask, and the
ret car put upon it. On this pises Of rail-
Dad the first passenger ears in ~ Uaion
IN, and thousands Of persons visited that
rid region during thas and the sasessdiag
ummsr, from al quarters Of the Union, 70
~ thoss mines, and to ride upon the Arss
abroad. Bat thirty years hsvs elapsed,
nd nov there are twenty-six thousand niles
I railroad in operation 10 the Unitsd Stasss,
be original construction and equipment Of
'hich has cost over eight hw~dssd rsiiIions
( dollars; sum which seems almost In
redible.
Nothing, scarcely, can exhibit the growth
I'd vast Aggregate strength Of our country
. moro forcibls light than this simple fast,
hat 10 single branch Of our industrial
movements, 10 the erection Of the mere ma
hinery for the economical and rapid trans
ortation Of our internal trade and tssvsl,
10 have been able to expend sum 20 vast
hat had il bssa even limited It, il The SOM
~ within the compass Of ! hum
red instead Of thirty Year,, the most sassr-
rising and comprehensive mind in the Union
rould have rscoiled.
Since that day, tho coal trade Of what
ras then small village, Or western work
hop Of ten or twelve thousand Inhabitants,
Pittsburgh, has grown TO b sboat two
Millions Of tons per annum; and the village,
hen much smaller than Ksokuk now u, has
'ecome city Of 5000 people, rich in al
be elements Of wealth, and 10 the comforts,
Injuries and elegsneiss Of life. Philadelphia
- grown from modsst, quiet CITY Of . han
rcd thousand, to be great commercial and
aanufaeturing metropolis Of over half
million people.
But ths growth Of Philadelphia and Pitts.
'urgh, great - il has been, il TO bs out
tripped BY the growth Of certain localities
. the wsstsrn world; and the railrssA u
he grand mover which viii elect il, which
) sascting il. That the city u s.. Louis
) TO be the Geld Of ons Of these graad sxhi-
'isions, there can bs no. doubt; aad the
vritcr 10 almost ~ firmly persuaded, that
he city Of Keokak, from IL peculiar
position on the father Of
waters, and in connection With The glorious