Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-06-14
NO. l4O.
MISCELLANEOUS READING.
CINCINNATI.

Cincinnati. the capital Of the State Of Ohio.
and metropolis of the Ohio Valley. although h
settled by white men as lare ~ lISS. /. n.w Il .
fifth city in SIZE III the Cn;ed Sta">.
growth in population has probably ne.elA.,en
surpassed by any city IN the same length OF
time. AT the commencement Of the present
century the town of Cincinnati contained
but four hundred inhabitants; in 1920 The
number had increased to nearly ten thousaud
in 1910 10 upwards of fortysix thousand;
and ut present it is more than two hundred
thousand.
The position of Cincinnati is remarkably
fine one So far as health is concerned moth
ing could be more advantageous. 1t stands
on a vast plateau. some twelve miles in cir
cumference, which is 80 we'll watered as 10
secure perfect facilities for drainage. The
Ohio river is the great medium Of communi-
cation with the West and South, and is con-
stantly filled with steamers and barges con-
veying merchandise to and from the city
The natural beauty of the site is such as a
painter would delight in. The great plain
is surrounded by high hills, which form
natural amphitheatre, in the arena ofwhich
the city stands. The panorama from these
hill-tops is hardly to be surpassed on this
continent for beauty and variety.
Cincinnati is laid out with rectangular
streets after the style of Philadelphia, and
is generally well-built city. The building
material now most popular is a gray sand
stone, which is easily wrought, and presents
a very pleasant appearance. 1t is rapidly
replacing the bricks, of which the city was
originally built, and is giving the city look
of uncommon solidity and elegance.
1t must not be supposed that the river is
the only channel through which wealth flows
into Cincinnati. Nine lines Of railway CEN
tire there, comprising three thousand miles
of roads, and including all their connexions,
communicating with upwards of ten thou
sand miles of railway. Two days suffice to
transport the traveller from Cincinnati to the
shores of the New England States, and one
will carry him beyond the Mississippi. This
makes the city a great centre OF travel as
well as the seat of prosperous and growing
commerce.
In 1915 the first steamboat was built at
Cincinnati. Since that time about one thou
sand have been built there. In the year
1856 thirty-three were built; and there were
three thousand and six hundred arrivals,
and three thousand FIVE hundred departures
from the piers of the city. The river exports
and imports of the city during the same year
are estimated at about one hundred millions
of dollars. The exports and imports by rail-
way would augment this sum by about htty
millions of dollars.
On the upper branches Of the Ohio are i'm
mense mines of coal, iron, and salt: and the
facilities of transportation render those arti-
cles cheaper in Cincinnati than any other
city of the Union. This has tended to build
UP an immense manufacturing interest in
that city. The principal manufactures OF
Cincinnati are iron goods, clothing, furniture
and cured meats In 1857 there were up
wards of five thousand manufacturing estab-
lishments in Cincinnati, employing fifty
thousand hands, and, and producing mer-
chandise to the value Of eighty millions OF
dollars.
Cincinnati has long been celebrated for its
pork trade. A way once called it on this ac-
count the "meatropolis Of the West" Dur.
ing the past ten years about four hundred
thousand hogs have been slaughtered annu-
ally. These hogs are exported in the form
of bacon and pork, lard, lard oil, soap and
candles. The clothing business amounts to
about ten millions of dollars annually, and
the iron trade to about six millions. Enor-
nous quantities of whiskey are manufactur-
ed and sold in Cincinnati, aud the native
wine trade is rapidly growing in import
ance. Upwards Of half million barrels
Of whiskey were sold in Cincinnati in one
wear,