, 1859-03-10

A4 now 1nQhpit 'kue H8ltlo q tAe aaAes auu Wiz
shore line stretching North and South, distinctly
marked BY water action are proofs Of this fnst.
The road crosses the valleys Of the Fog and
DuPags Rivers, both within forty miles Of the
lake, and running North and South. Allowing
that the country Possesses an excellent drain;
age, having five slopes within fifty miles. Thess
rivers aud valleys have already celebrity Tor
wheat-a reputation quite ~ worthy IS Val
d'Aroo, or Cashmsre could ever boast.
To one who comes from New England aud
crosses for the frat time these wonderful gar
dens--the prsirfes-tha question naturally arls'
e. what WAS their ofiginf
We presume that every iuquislt1Ve traveller
{and there are few who 0re not, coming from
ihe country above naued) has attempted to
settle the question, not only from bis own powers
of reasoning, but By ssking his fellow passenger.
We can only observe in passing, that Il the
prairies are Gods ready made tnrms. The
stones, sticks and stumpo have been carefully
and purposeiY- picked up, iu order that the
world might zee what the earth eau do, in yield
ing food for man. Bat the question cao be solV-
ed satisfactorily By any one who understands
the nsture Of our soil. prairie grasses, and the
timber Of onr groves, also the topography OF
tbs country, its geological character. ana the e.
cent customs of the Indians, who, if they did
notinTent the prairie system, at least Kept 1t up,
after ii Was established
Aurora ID the first place In importance after
leaving Chicago, on this route. 1t contains 6. 600
inhahltants, whose enterprise needs no COM
ment. The river falling rapidly over the ledge
Of lime. stone, affords great water power. This
section is underlaid with pavement OF marble,
building material. 1t is qnsrried easily at all
points along the river, and especially at Batavia
and Aurora, from which places it is shipped to
Chicsgo and various points along the ROME.
The new stone blocks recently erected in Au.
rora, ase index Of the future uses Ct this vast
deposit Of limestone.
it can be said of most Of the villages on this
road, without describing auy of them, that they
are rot Jet finished, like Thousand towns We
might name, but are in growing gsate, and that
the Traveller who expects to see the degree of
finish and neRtnees, which pertains to cotius,
and also to the place he LETT msy be at irst
somewhat disappointed. II SO. be will write Of
isous. But if he has hope and faith, eveu a. a
grain of mustard seed, be will see sha. these
villages Of four Yeara growth, are the sureties
Of q progress, such as the world never knew
before.
Wheaton. Batavia, Aurora, Sandwich, Men-
dota, Princeton, Kewanee, Galsa, Wstsgs,
Gaiesturg, Monmouth, Abingdon, Macomb, etc :,
acd contain from 1000 to 5000 inhabitants.
They are settled mainly from the Eastern States,
and contain the same kind of churches, the ssme
order OF schools, and their iuhsbtants consider
that they are just u nenr Hehveu aB when
dwelling on the sumulits or slopes Of the Green
or White Mountains.
ii Mendota, the G. B. i O. R. R crosses the
Illinois Central an important psrt of the crest
railway now almost completed between the Gulf
of Mexfco aud the Upper Mississippi.
Mendots il in the center of q rich growing
district, every acre Of which is being devoted
to successful culture. 4 new road from the Lis
sissippi River is now being constructed. con-
necting this important crossing with the Aichi-
gan Southern Railroad at Joliet.
district, smother of the great wheatdelds Of Hi
nois. Bureau County contains nearly 80, 900
inhRbltRnts, noatly farmers, whore i1depend-
ence, patriotism aud devotion to Agriculture,
make them worthy to be called the eouutrymen
Of our Farmer. Patriot, Washington Here also
begin the coal zelda Of Northern and Western
Illlnois
From Princeton to Quincy, distaucs Of ore.
$50 mies. coal can b. obtained to supply the
wants Of the country for million OF years, be-
Yond which We hare no particular concern. Il
occurs in baBius, whose outer edges are not far
apart 30 that the whole country along the route
nsy be oonsldered as one great coal heldl 1t
is found near tbs surfsce, md in no place more
tnan SO feet to the nrst stratum, below which
other strata Of coal are }ound of great Talus va.
rying from to Z feet thick By the common
data for estimating the extent Of co8l In p1ece.
ne aelected eight statioos on the road, and sup
posed 1000 acrts, at each station, to contain
after making due allowances, we found the
amount accessible ut those pouta to be 500, ,00o :
900 tons! Aud this is hut fraction al the
quantity stored ia the earth, and ready on de-
maud. 1ba coal is for the most part Of good
qaalltr. Recent discoveries have brought to
light severa! coal fields Of great yalue, near the
Mississippi nivar, from which coal gas is made
good quality Of Kerosene oil.
The farmers along this Railway may consider
tbemselEes especially fortunate il possessipg-
first, soil Of unsurpassed fertility, and second.
an lnexbaus,ible supply Of good coAl nnderly ing
their fsrmA We eau only add, TINT if THAR
title to the space shove {and Blackstone says it
il theirs) will s,atrant 10 them riches o. cores.
pouding value, then they a-e rich ADORE meas
pre.
Said fellow traveller to me, q This Just suita
me. shall not 20 apY farther weat These
rolling prairies, etI,rdin8 en=h perfect drainage
70 this rich, spongy soil, arc quite ~ much the
Garden Of Eden - oau find anywhere" The
train stopped at Galesoargh, where 70 were
cared for BY hr. Patrick, Of Depot Hotel, whose
attention 70 travellers has a!ready won for him
the sitle. '*st. Patrick Of the Inn Tho laat
1ords Of orr friend ln love With the country,
s..s Ss,s IL shsil .top hs3s, and send back inms-
At Gatesbnrgh the road forts-one branch
going to Durlin. ton, leading thereo through Nj.
Miksonri Tue other branch takes the direction
Of Qaircy, which il said to be the finest city in
lsliuola. But We may discuss its claims in some
future paper. It WAS night, and very dark when
We got there. ard like the fox who hsd bad
oo}d and couldn't judge If odors. 80 ~ will be
excused on account Of She darkness, from any
remarks Oh tho beauty Of the city.
II was great pleasure to see the Father Of
Waters, even in The dim light Of midn,ght 1t was
suggestive Of many though SCI the far north,
and the frozen springs and suntS covered lands
ot tue busy towns, growing along It's shora, antt
at tue n,ou'hs Of Tributaries, like flowers Ia the
axtIs Of garden plant-for tie Great River seems
Existence. There wete p.rhaps 50 gold hunters
Gu Cur train, baind for Pixies Peak. They had
come from every Quarter, ami were, Of course,
Trends, fos they vt re- On tie SINE Grand. E1ch
had gun, and a luapsack, besides large SUP
ply o5 bope and good humot-- oil Of which will be
needed on tue marrh acrpss The pletps.
1t eeeths that the Pixies Peak aayentnrcrs pre-
fer this route, viz: from Chicago 70 Quincy, and
thence 10 St. Joseph, because Ii is tue quickeet,
nearly 500 niles being passed oyer In IS huu1s.
Inc rush will be iumense during the 1Hree epstpe
1u0ntt., III th1ir IL o great desire to get to Ei
Do1ado-the land Of Gold-in advance ct The
crowd.
We thought o. it as prpYileutial, that Just at
tils junctuEe the Iairtzld to the Missouri RIVER il
Enshed, 10 accommodate the thousands IRON all
paris of the cast, north, md west, who are going
TO seek their fortunes in washing guldeu sands
IRON lie R,cky Mountain slopes. And il may be, !,
We dare suggest it, that Pixies Peak is the nucleos
Of Il new state, beyond the desert-sha half aay
empire between us and the Plcidc, aud that the
gold auntens are On their way TO occupy and
establish it.
We began our paper, calling it "The Great
Railway 10 the Vest It ha> carried us-1ith
tae scores who arc dally pressing thther--eycn to
r.ke's Peak, and the anri e4ons waters Of the
P!atte. The result Is natural. The Irun Hnxpe