Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-06-23

ulars enquire at this Office.
PEORIA Insurance CoMPASY.-We
see by an advertisement, in our paper
that in consequence Of the resignation OF
Mr.. Mitchell, this Company have concluded
to withdraw their agency from this place,
for the present. We hope this withdrawal
may not be of long duration, as the uni
form promptness and liberality with which
they have adjusted their losses in this city,
for the past two years, has won for them
the confidence Of the people, and placed the
Com pany in such repute that, with ordina-
ry luck, they might, through an agency
here, be remunerated for their past losses.
rN- Rock Island is at present
blessed with the most extensive water priv
ileges of any city in the west -
The universality Of water in that city
is astonishing; in fact, full half the
families in the city have got little private
water ponds scattered about their man
sions OF their romance, we cannot say
much, because the owners don't seem to
take proper pride in making grsvelled walks
about the margin, or putting anything into
the water to settle it. 1t is so handy
TO have so much water about. If a little
breakfast, he don't have to step out Of the
yard; washerwomen can do their work
cheaper, from the fact that they can dip the
water out of their cellars anxious mothers
searching for their children, do not have to
carry them to the river to wash off the
dirt so they can recognize them-the water
is in their own yards. under their houses,
around their houses in little ponds, pools,
puddles, and mature lakes. A right pretty
town is Rock Island, and go beautifully and
extensively watered. 1t ehould no longer
be called Rock Island, but Water-town,
Puddle City or some such a name. OF the
aroma that arises from these waters, we
confess that we should not like to make any
statements. Some might like it. and they
don't care straw whether we do or not.
There are variety of smells, and if those
who are fond Of smells can't be suited in
our sister city, then all we have to say is,
they are extremely particular There are
in each of these pools some fifty or sixty
distinct smells, varying from the mild up to
the acute. These smells vary as the day
advances. In the morning their odor is of
the subdued order, ct noon it is like heated
blue river, and in the evening it is odorif
erous-a asiaticus.
The BRIDGE PIERs.-It would seem
that the article in our Tuesdays issue. rela-
tive to the accident to the Bridge and the
Bridge pier, does not suit the Gazette.-
Well, we don't care a straw whether it
doea or not We are not writing to please
them, neither do We ask any body else to
think as we do on the subject We only
state the facts what we know to be true
and what the Bridge Company know to
their sorrow, is indisputable, and that is
that the stone which was pui into the piers
Of the Railroad Bridge. is no more fit for
that place than soft brick If they are fit,
why does the Company go to the expense
of bringing stone from Joliet to repair the
bridge Why does the company talk of
casing the piers with Joliet Limestone? If
the stone which is now in the piers is good
enough, why not repair the bridge With
.<op, f.o,,, <bn 7 Cla;ra Will ba
Gazette answerl
We claim that the bridge is dangerous,
that every man who crosses it while it
rests upon such stone as it does. endangers
his life. Granting, for the sake of argu-
ment, that the bridge is of untold benefit to
our city, and indispensable to the prosperity
of the State at large, does it become us, as
public journalists, to withhold the truth in
regard to the true condition of that bridge
over which hundreds of fellow beings are
daily crossing and re-crossing? We think
not, and shall not do it. Those piers which
have stood in the water scarcely four years
are-several of them-already more dilapi-
dated than piers should be, after standing
fifty years This should not be the case,
nor would it have been so, if the material
used had been Of the proper quality. Nor
is the trouble without remedy; but the
remedy will be an expensive one. for in or
der to put the bridge in the condition it
should be, the larger portion Of the masonry
must be rebuilt with substantial stone. We
have been informed that the builders in
formed the company when the piers were
being built, that the stone used was unfit
for the place, and objected to using it. Be
that Is it may, it is now proven beyond
doubt, that such is the case. 1t is due to
the public that the bridge be put in such
repair, that there will not be a doubt Of
any kind IS to its safety.
If our neighbors of the Gazetts who assay
to ridicule our statement in relation to the
LIE Claire limestone, will read the following
extract from Halls Geology Of Iowa, vol l.,
part l, page 1858, they will perhaps under
stand Ito true nature, and how highly its
building qualities are to be estimated:
The LIE Claire limestone appears to resem-
BILE the Niagara pretty closely in chemical
composition. although differing from it
somewhat in its external characters. A
partial analysis of q specimen from near LIE
Claire were made, at our request, by DR..
c. F. CHANDLER, with the following results !:
Insoluble siliostes, or sand. 0As
nvSA 2nf iron md
Carbonate Of lime, 81 81
Careoaass Of msgnesia Cby loss). A.5i
10000
The specimen analysed was light grey
crystalline rock, filled with small cavitiee,
which were once occupied by . species Of
brachipod, the remsins Of whose spiral ap-
p>ratus may still be observed in numerous
instances. These cavities are seen, on ex-
animation &,.. With ,h. n.scifyins ei;.: to be be
dolomifn Tha vnrv ANAL amount of fnao.