Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-09-01

9ailg Tir9iaiau.
Correspondence Of the virginianl !
The State Of Iowa. Descriptive Sketches
CONTINUED.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
OF course | shallsay nothing about the "Fa-
ther of Waters. Majestic Stream" anda that: /:
mine Is not poetical pen.
wide; the current, when the water is high, eight
or ten miles an hours when low about three Or four.
Tho rise in the river from extreme low to extreme
high water is sixteen feet lts waters said tn
be extremely treacherous account OF their roll
ing over and under instead of flowing smoothly
along. The water certainly looks rs II 1t was
entirely made up of round masses of water, rnta-
ting on their axes they progress, no that man
IN the water has II tendency to 90 under oil the
time. Certain it is that largo mujority Of those
who fall into the river, though good swimmers. arc
drowned
saw two men some timo ago upset from skiG.
They went straight under and never came mp
again As l was coming up in steamer last
year saw the dead body Of woman float by at n
short distance; and Mt night ono Of tho cooks tum-
blcd overheard. We did not stop for either.
nrowaing in the Mississippi is literally thing
Of daily occurrence.
shall say nothing of the rapids or current Of
the Mississippi
When the river freezes over in December tho
people convert it into public road. md it is no
uncommon thing to send loaded wagon 30or 10
miles tho ice, to see half n dozen carriages
or buggies going it Mt II "tpo:foTy' pace.
When the river rises tho nrcckers and others
reap rich harvest from tho floating logs, trees,
timber, &c knew man to make $50 in ono
day catching logs. Tho amount Of logs RATED
down every spring and summer from Minnesota il
enormous. Rats of logs un eighth ot u mile long
aud 200 feet wide are constantly passing. They
ileat with the current, and are managed by n
number of long wooden Sieecps or cars. 50 to GO
feet long, placed Mt thoir ends. and nicely bal
anccd thnt n single man can manage one sweeper.
Occasionally we sec n single man with his single
a,rna m rnIt nf anynl 1nnl,ar iust Lin pnuuu |,
to float him. taking it down tho river to some pur-
chnscr.
Just before winter sets in We see every day
Hroaa Horns" floating down th, river. A
broad horn" is large fiat boat, hult over with
house nearly its entire surface. 1t has n timHy
aboard, who nre afraid of the rgors Of II northern
winter, and 90 dorm south in one of these curious
machines. They do not pny much attention to
the rudder, but float crossways, diaSonally and
every way.
When tho south wind blows you will sec tho
sand and wood bcnts sailing mp the river. These
aro lnrge fat b9ats for bringing wood and sand
to the towns. When they come to n prairie Dor
dcrng the river they corleH that is, one ,nan
jumps cut and l'aus the boat by rope asa ca
nal boat is drawn.
The high water brings down immense trees all
the way from Minnesota, logs which were strand
cd at the last flood. saw logs which havo broken
away from the saw mills, and tmbers from the
collect in n few dnys with skif and u rope
enough rood to last them for burning the entire
year. good many woodyards are supplied en-
tirely by drilt.wood.
Occasionally we see II single advcnturer seeking
his fortune farther south by floating down tho riv-
! er in an Indian birch canoe. These canoes are
wonderful pieces of ingenuity. Their shape is
pcrfcct, their weight next tonothing, and strong
that they will carry all who eun get into them.
And yet they made with pocket knife alonc
and having nothing Of metallic nature about
them, Icing fastened together by wooden wedges
and bark strips.
Steamboats, are passin.. about every hour; but
the number hns fallen off within the last yenr in
consequence Of hard times.
THE DUTCH.
The German population is very numerous in
this State. In Davenport little more than
half of tho people are Germans, and. far
have seen, in the country, think they constitute
onehalf of the population. They begin to assert
their rights in holding Offices. The resent &" Re-
publican convention nominated n Dutchman for
Leutenant-G Governor, who will almost certain
ly he elected.
In some respects they make good citizens. but
they Eave SORT regard for the Sabbath
Those who are poor, work as hard ON Sunday
any other day, and those who are itch well off
indulge in Sunday riding, driving. sailing. dane
ing, drinking and hurrahing generally. Every
the upper part Of the city, and you may hear their
shouts and the big bass drum for miles. making
night hideous and decent citizens ashamed ,f
them. | have seen four or five Dutch women ait
ting front porch On Sunday afternoon knit
ting socks all the evening. ] do not think
class they have much religion or respect for reg
ion.
Antoine lie Claire. The richest man IN Iowa. is n
resident of this city and is n hait Indian. lie il
very respectable man and very good citizen
lie is very large weighing about 275 or 300
pounds.
then coming here to see MIR. lie Claire. They
come in bands Of ten or fifteen, and are always
well treated by him.
HABITS AND MANNERS.
The spirit of equality universally peryadcs the
peOple of this region. 1t is seen here in its per-
fecion. Every not only thinks himself ns
good as any other and little better but he thinks
that he is just as smart. just as big, and just
healthy and wealthy Us any other man. You can
not find a man in this whole country who does
not know more than you do about Astronomy
Natural Philosophy Theology, Law pbysic, Poll.
ties, Geography, Mathematics, Navigation, Geolo-
gy or the Trade winds.
When soy that they really do know something
about all OF the Sciences, you NAV Judge how
profound is their knowledge. believe tlat nine
hundred and ninety y-nine out Of every thousand
inhabitants can write their names but at least one
hdlf OF them do it with extreme difficulty.
Knowing that was Virginian. they have. on
several occasions, twitted with the extreme g-
nora..ce and universal lack Of education in Vir-
ginia referring. for proof Of their assertions to
the last Census Report and Horace Greelev.--'
When told them that although perhaps very
large percentage OF Virgioians could not read and
write, yet that Virgininns were perhaps the best
educated people in the Union, my assertion was
received with unanimous hoOt Of dsrision.
They think that because can read and write