, 1859-03-09
Ht1ttn ent "f The rumher Of Beats pasL the Draw II
th% R4'tr I'd a. IT B ck lalaua. Il m June 30 b.
1851 II INC u [, 58


Thcs. statistics show that nearly ten load.
ed cars passed over the bridge 10 every boat
which went through the draw. And what we're
the damages which the whole number Of 1118
steamers suffered in passing the bridge from
the 1st OF July, 1857, to the 1st Of July
1881 One would suppose that about
every other boat had hit the piere,- that
about one in ten, OF twenty at most,
was seriously injured, and perhaps one in
d bundled entirely d ttroyed, in order to jus
tity grave CONNER cial body like that OF The
Chamber Of Commerce Of St. Louis, in appro.
priatipg large amounts Of money aud expcnd-
ing its energies to abatc so formidable nuT-
sancc. Surely hundreds Of thousands Of
properly and scores o! lives must be
lost At this fearful obstruction to The naviga-
ton Of the Mississippi. Alas What o CON-
mentafy upon commercial jealousy do tue
actual facts furnish We laEe before us The
record Of all tue accidents that occurred at
the bridge during the time included in the
above .ables. The Total Dnmber OF all the
steamers that in any wise touched the picrs
was TWENTY gorn. This is less than two and
u BALI per cent. or these twenty -four, only
two or thee were ut all injured, md it ie
believed 10 be susceptible Of abundant proof
that less than = thousand dollars would
repair all the damages that these boats SUI
tatned. Among The hundreds Of rpfts which
paced The bridge only seventeen touched The
piers, and less than Eve hundred dollars
damages were sustained during the entire
year. Nov re ask, in all candor, Il
theee facts do not place the St. Lonis Cham
ber OF Commerce in position sufficiently
ridiculous before the business public Of The
Weatf he submit whether they would not
consult !heir own digaiy by gracefully drop
ping this Quixotic warfare. With only Que
hundred and lre miles Of the Mississippi and
Missouri railroad completed, the value Of the
produce and merchandise passing over tue
Rock leland bridge b-glus to approximate 10
that which passes up and down the Miksissip-
pL What will it become when that road
reaches the Missouri! What, when it has
been extended to the now gola fields at The
head waters Of the Platte7 What, when il
has reached the shores Of the PacIti.7 IL
we'll may ST. Louis attempt to dam up the
Mississippi as to prevent the bridging Of that
river at half ecore Of points where The
necessities Of commerce will coon demand 1t.
Our sister city seems vaioly 10 suppose If she
can only compass The destruction Of the Rock
1slAnd bridge, sue will frighten capital, pro-
verbally cautious aud calculating. from
fnveeting In similar projects, But even nox
. bridge is in process Of construction at
Clinton, epd others at Burlington, at Quincy
and other cities are waiting but the return of
prosperity to ASSERT their claims upon the
enterprise Of the West. Te tell St. Louis
once for al1 that not Chicago bat the genius
Of the age demands the bridging Of the His
slss1ppl and the Missouri aud the rtmoval Of
every obstacle TO the great central railway
Of The continent. It must soon bind The
States Of the Atlantic and the Pacific In one
brotherhood forever. Instead therefore OF
opposing this decree Of "Aauifest destipy''
We again commend to tho serious attention Of
St. 1ouis the project Of building bridge at
her own doors, and NOW and hereafter Chi.
oago Offers her best wishes to her anxious
sdster, and asks only fair field and m hon
nable struggle for tho prize Of commercial
Eupremacy-the. position. OF the great central
city OF the continent.