Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1859-07-19
NO. XXI.
From Our Oaon Correspondent.
An Illinois SpringfeId-The Mis-.
sissippi-St. Louis,


Louis by stopping for the night at Springfield,
eminent among its multitudinous namesakes as
the political capital or centre of the great and
thriving Slate of Illinois. The route between
these cities took us diagonally through large
part of the State, from northeast to south. west
and across a vast expanse OF prairie. This, of
course, was new to me and Unexpectedly agrees.
ble, not only from its straDgeDess and celebrity,
but also on account of its intrinsic beauty, and
the teeming promise of unbounded wealth, when
cultivation, now but limited and partial, sball
become universal. My eye seldom rested on
prospect with more pleasure or less weariness
than on these seas of vegetation, often shOreless
| TO the eye and very similar ir their effect to the
| unruf1ed ocean viewed from shipbosrd. In sev.
eral instances ssw clear and smooth horizon
without anything to break it, and in many 9th.
ers nothing more than single house or tree, or
at most what Mr. Card calls "grove of tim
ber."
AS his book is just in vogue now, shall GER
ainly not bore you by repeating or forestailing
It's contents, but simply add, as having struck
my own eye very lorcby, the exquisite beauty
OF the landscape when relieved by herds of cattle
grazing here and there 10 distant aud distinct
groups on the surface Of the grassy lake and al.
% the extraordinary blackness Of the soil when-
ever it is laid bare, either by the plough or the
highway, irresistibly recalling to the traveller
| from the north east, the Incompatible hue OF
New York mud 1t struck me also, though
may have been mistaken, that this color of the
soil, aud also the unbrokeD level, disappeared on
crossing the Sangamon, few miles beyond
which we arrived at Springfield.
This metropolis belongs to a class of villages
inflated into cities by the presence of q govern
ment with its indispensable appendages. The
village still predomDates though robbed OF its
original ruraty, except in few Streets partic-
ularly those which form the public square about
the Capitol or State-house. This, which is the
Centre of the whole place, is handsome and
convenient edifce,. of stone, surrounded by a
green lawn, now in all its freshness. On enter
ing the house, l found its passages and stairways
filed with leaves and branches, which number
of Young ladies, with the aid OF few gentlemen
and lads were wreathing and festooning, with
view to q floral exhibition on the morrow.
had thus an unexpected opportunity of seeing q
considerable representation, and no doubt q ia.
yourabe sample of the fernale'. population; and
perhaps the highest praise can bestow upon
them is to say that neither from their looks, their
:alk, nor their behaviour, could possibly have
guessed in what part of the Union | was stand
ing. They might have appeared otherwise If
they had been as much excited by the prospect
of the feast as certain rustic ladies, (who bad
Joined the train at BooIDiDgton,) on purpose to
attend it. have seen rompiDg in my day but
must canddly confess that all my previous OBJ
seryations were immeasursbly distanced by the
hoyden play of these enthusiastic florists, none OF
whom were very young or beautiful, but whose
riotous and roickiDg exhilsration, as displayed
in shouts of laughter, hiding the tickets throw
ing peanuts pulling one another's bonnets and
the hat Of an unhappy youtb who tried to make
the best of his distressing situation, was study
in psychology as we'll as manners, and extOrted
from an honest farmer.like passenger behind me
the remark that he had seen rude ladies, but be
never saw the like of that. l need scarcely add
that it would be gross injustice to regard as
characteristic of the country what might take
place anywhere among certain class OF people
crazed by the excitement OF holiday.
The hotel accommodations of this Capital city
are by no means attractive. The house to
which had been recommended from Chicago,
as decidedly the best, was hardly on par with
many ordinary country taverrs, and the others
which passed 10 my exploring walk were cer-
rainly inferior Among the trihing incidents
| which observed that evening was the coolness
of stranger in offering a Perth Amboy bank
note in payment for glass of soda water or q
saucer of ice cream.
My views of Springfield may have been lit
tie BIASED by very poor breakfast on the day
of nv departure, rendered poorer by the nom
arrival OF the mkmsn, and closely followed up
oy the announcement that the train in which
vas to 20 would be just two hours behind time
| hat morning. This interval l spent in prone.
asdng under hot sun conversing with some
children at the station, and perusing four local
papers, two of them in German, which By ardu-
GUS exertion succeeded 10 procuring
When the train arrived, the passengers exhib-
| tied the usual appearance of party who lave
been upon the road all night, and many OF whom
went straight on, without stop of more than
i've or ten minutes. / am everywhere struck
with the strong temptation now presented BY
The railroads to excessively long journeys with
out interruption, even in the case of delicate wo-
men and young children with saving no doubt
of time and money, but woeful loss of comfort,
and too frequently of health. A few days later
on the road from Steubenvile to Pittsburgh, l
witnessed an encounter Of two parties, each
consisting of man and woman, one with two
children under twelve, the other with an infant
in arms, the former going through to Philadel-
phia and the latter to New York without even
resting on the Sabbath. Such practice, If con-
tinued long, must be Injurious, even with all the
new and boosted appliances of sleeping chairs
and sleeping cars, with which the western trains
! are now abundantly supplied.
NV second days ride through Illinois was not
so striking as the first, the country being more
like what am accustomed to, the ground less
even, and as we approached the Mississippi II
sing gradually to considerable height above
the river, upon which stands the celebrated town
| of Alton, long known as the stronghold Of the
Abolitonists, quietly facing the slave State OF
Missouri.
Here l obtained my first glimpse Of the Mis-
sissipp, tor which had been watching with
sort of awe, as | did when drawing near
the Rhine, the Danube, and the Tiber. was
not disappointed in the Father of Waters. The
only point in which my preconceptions were at
fault was the colour OF the water, which ap-
| peared less troubled than had expected, not
withstanding the late foods But the lake.
like vastness and the sullen flow. and the low
melancholy banks with their fringe of trees
were all as they had been described to me
| thousand times. .-,
| Another new and striking sight was Mssis.
sippi steamer, with the singular arrangement of
its remarkable freedom both from noise and jar
ring motion, its saloon with one end almost out
of sight. it's card table set in the most public
place before the company was all on board; its
ba. not slowed away below and out of sight,
but cheek. .byjowel with the Captains Office, as
an equally legitimate institution like the pulpit
and the reading desk in many churches; and f.
nally, its strangely mingled strip" or crew of
passengers largely composed of rough wild look
ing men, often with speech and manners far a.
bove their dress, and some Of them evidently
homeward bound from distant expeditions.
We descended the great river twenty-four
miles, from Alton on the left bank to ST. Louis
N the right. As we approached the latter,