New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-01-04
ILLINOIS,.
r.5.,,.o f The N. Trfbnpe.


the East 10 Quincy on tee West, aud from its
northern border u Springfield aud Jacksonville
toward the puth Tns letter viii be devoted TO
General conclusions frOm what baye teen a11
heard. with such facts a. illustrate those cpnclu-
sions.
The first imprf ssOn made on ths traveller over
the railroads Of illinois IA that CT vacancy and soil
tude. For miles Gu ulss yon are s"ep' along
oyer prsirle IA Ich aud beautiful as pow ever pea
etrssd, yet Of woich the primitive sod u stu un-
broken and VIII IA bas never yet yielded kernel OF
grain 10 the sol citation OF civilized min. Ihis
occurs not in Que place merely bu' IN hlndred-
not On single railroad Opls bit on dOz,n Of them.
Sometimes you are falrly "ou, Of sight of lan1''
NOT tree bcuse nor even ten -, ia slg1t-
potbirg but .ty aoi virgin prairie, with tbs iron
track slightly raised aoOS. tho hitter and fading
from sight &C it's junction with the former.
asked an intelligent oil settler, as We we're sweep
over ore Of these lODg reaches OF Uoorosen pralre
the other day " bat proportion Of tue sol jf Illinois
he supposed TO have been thns far brought under
cnl.ivst;on and uss rather s,artl-i by his answer
-"About one tbrtieth." Ny own estimite is
oDe-.iektb; for bear in mind thIt the Railroads
run mainly through The lowest and most level dis
triets. while the bebwsys and consequently the
early settlements, follow the RIGGS aud higher
Grounds SO far as possible. 1t is a pregnant fact
that Illinois, with over One Milton AM Hall OF
peoplp and with The largest expOct Of Breadstufls
ofspy State in the UDon, is but about One-teath
an pr,duc,ive as she must ultimately become.
The Circumstance most Likely neat to arrest the
Travellers attention IL the number, importance and
shll rapid growth Of the Cities aud Villages After
Chicago, which i, supposed to have from lOo,OOO
10 100 600 inhabitants, coGe Quincy, Springfield,
Peoria and Galens, with some 10, 900 each; then
Rockford, Alton, Galesbnrg, Bloomington,
jacksonville, DIXON, Aurors, with from 5000 TO
10 coo. Of the villages ranging from $500 to
2 600. ike Elgn, BelvideTe, Freeport, Walk ,gan,
K,1kakee. &c, there must bs thirty or
forty. and of tn0.e ranging from 1000 to25OO, at
least one hundred. estimate that half the present
population of Illinois lice In cities and vJliges;
Which, col siderDg that two thirds OF her inhabI-
tsbts have migrated hitber wltoin the last fifteen
.ear, or Are the children OF those who have done
90, strikes De as quite unusual Ii thus were
manufacturing State, there would be nothing 70
marvel at; but since probably three fourths even
Of the Hats, Boots and Shoes worn in Illinois are
made at the East, while not one yard IN hundred
Of the Fabrics worn out here are made here, the
fact seems quite anomalous. The current pre-
sumption IL, that almost evt-y family in 1linoisis
engaged in Agriculture. But not so the fact In
some places, the unbrOken prairie surrounds u
smart thriving village so closely that 1t Is doubtful
whether enough grain Is or Is not grown 10 t1e
vicinity 70 suppy its Inhabitants with bread. Aud
The villages are still growing faster, and teem de-
cidely more fOurishing than the rural districts
Quincy is thriving hhs no city 10 all the Eastern
States having now over IS 600 inhabitants, tn )ugh
fbe first white NAB who ever settled upon its site
<Johp Wood, nov Lieut. Governor of the State)
il stil hale and hearty bidding fair to live through
many future years. He settled there IS years ago.
converted to-day with gentleman who attended
Court at Peoria come thirty years ago, when Peoila
Counts incluced Chicago (l50 miles Distant and
il was difficult to collect jurors enough from
that oubty-consiieraby larger than Massachu-
setts- make two panels, 80 ns to keepthe wheels
Of Justice in motion; " and they couldn't do 1t"
said my informant, without takiog good many
who were utterly unfit 10 serve" We do not
have so GOOD excuses for impanneliDg incompetent
Jurors in our day.
Calesturg. think, il now about twenty five years
old; at all events. It's devi.er aui founder still lives
there in full bodily aud mental yig)r, and can hard
ly he more than sixty years of age. 1t is now the
seat of tuo colleges in full operation, with another
at Abingdon, only ten miles distant. THIS village
{Svcsmore) first visited in ISL, when il con-
s.t,d Of fiitet OF twenty dsrhngs mainly OF logs,
with one poor tavern aud no church; II has now
9 coo inhabitants, though it is four miles from the
ueare.t railroad. KanssSee 10 the north east quar-
ter Of the State, on the Illinois Central, Is less
than seven years DID, yet abod' the size OF Syca
more-aod So on | think the city ant village
population of Illinois has trebled within the last ten
years. Jacksonville the literary and pbilan.hro9ic
capital de Saiethat IL, the seat of It's Deaf aud
Dumb Ri nd AID sane 81 ums, as wellas o'is old
estcollrge is thirty m,es OF Springfield, It's
political capital. on a railroad which ruus through
the latter city to The eastern boundary OF the State,
and com e,ts there with the t ,ledo and Wabash,
while It extends west of the Illinois river at Ns
pies and is very soon TO be hnishei through VIA
Meredo.ia To Quincy. The grading Is nearly
complee. and the iran is being laid. Theo, twelve
miles more Of Rsilroad n Missouri, from opposite
Quincy TO the Hanihal AID st. Joseph Raltroad'
will give complete line Of Railroad, broken OILY
by river crossings from Bsgor in Maine to the
frontier Of Kansas, placing Decatur, Springfield,
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