The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-01-23
Belle P1aine, Minnesota-Promis
7bsrn - Sptendsd. Weather BsautJfd Phenome
on TIE RICHMOND DAILY prspArcH ]
BELLE PLANE, NJ. T., Jan. II, 1858.

BELLE PLANE, NJ. T., Jan. IL, 1858.
am not dead, but have been aleeping. And feel
as though had been dreaming, too, for the winter
here, far az IL has gone leaves that impression
upon my mind. Though some eight or nine de-
grees of latitude above you, have, far, enjoy
ed splendid winter-unusuaIly mild and beauti.
ful. oftentimes beguiling us into the thoughts and
epjoyments Of spring-aud our rapidly thriving
town has not ceased to advance for q single day
While almost every other town and city in the en-.
tire country have yielded to the severe pressure Of
the times, we have gene on with all of our i'm
provements, and our cry TO mechanics and labor
ers is.stiil, "come out aud help u.s.. This winter,
yes, during the memorable close of 185T-which
psper, (Which send yon,) q pulpit, school, q
Touring mill, saw mill, and foundry and ma
chine shop-all on large scaie-except perhaps,
as modesty suggests, the pulpit. Aud every where
by magic; but they cannot be supplied fast enough
for the demand. Let it be remembered, that this
town was laid out last Jtly; it has now . popuia-
tion OF over 3r;e hundred soails. ''Nuf sed."
The weather this year Is veFy unssEsi fer this
country, and has been remarkably beautiful and
pleasant. The night of the 9th instant, was the
coldest we have had this winter. On the follow
ing morning, the thermometer Indicated lSo below
zero. Fahrenheit, after sunrise But 30 beautiful
and pleasant was the day, that by noon the ground
was much softened by thaw. The days have been
growing HideF SINCE mp to this time, until this af
ternoon, we had sight tdlI or EAIs--s eirc4m-
stance unprecedented in the annals OF Minnesota
at this season Of the year. Since night, it has
changed into mixed hail and snow, and contin-
ues to fall with some earnestness.
We togS sor q deep (l2 or Is inch) snow, and
then weather below "reezing" for TIE bsI3aee O!
the winter. Snow, constant snow, Is essential to
the prosperous conduct of business in this coun-
try In winter, and weather from 15o to 1So or 20o
is far more pleasant than when mider The same
degrees Of cold affects very differently In your
State aud osrs. We can reieics in 800 lower than
-
mate-the absence of all dampness. We are very
comfortable Should the mercury fall to 400, as it
did last winter and before, we should still be
Yes, it is even so, that several days nights,
last winter, mercury froze on this town site
But the weather was bea,aitiR-far beyond des-
cription, as it has been this winter, and now as
then, we have all those beautiful. phenomena of
light which are common to such variied atmos-
piers, such Gs Agyafa RGrealis, vary frequent and
very beautiful, differing in appeasance each sue
cessive time; and what is called SIN Dog or Dtsos
which consists of black spots tastefully and beauti-
fully arranged around the splendid mid day and
evening sun. This latter, the sun, is, with us,
phenomenon. |. e. a remarkable and unusual appear
ance; differing vastly from the every day con-
Germ OF that nature you have in Virginia. II
is granduer and inhuteiy i,OTe beautiful than in
the s'Sunny South, and for the few hours during
which it daily passes, not far above our Southern
horizon, it wraps everything in perfectly golden
and glorious msgnihcence. The same is true of
the moon and stare, and never in my life have
seen anything to eqaal the beauty of the light of
these reflected from frozen snew-fakes. To walk
in snow then, Is like walking amongst millions of
dianlO1ids-each fake sparkles as beautifully, and
often with q variety of hue 20, to have been with
DR.. Kane y The reason Of this is found iu tue ex-
treme purity of our atmosphere, which, of course,
has everything to do with the effect of light
Our Plain, always beautiful, is more 50 when
bathed in the silyery light of winters moon and
stars. But forkear. My ppn ID impotent. Let
everybody come ont here to live.
Yours, ToDD.
P. s. Indians (Sioux) are now encamped all
around US, hunting, and are very successful.