Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-04-16
WESTERN CORRESPONDENTS.


EprOR LEapaR Thinking IA my psram-
buttons, that 1 random, o. IN the psrlanee OF
the Presidential canvass in 1856 'hasty" let.
ter respecting men and things in the West,
might not be unacceptable to you as such
send the following: ,
The fret and most interesting fact connec-
ted with the prairios is the vast stretch Of Wis.
ion they afford. You look over them without
limit 10 the distance. The overhead and the
earth seem to stretch away in paraleled lines,
and you look until the visual angle fails 70 scan
the entire distance spreading out all around
you. To enc fresh from ghe timber country Of
Ohio, where the horizon shuts down around
you, as if to constitute for you and few
noighbOrs little world by yourselves, this view
on the prairiea insplrts the grandest emotions.
What has made these extensive meada has
been mstter Of much and various specula-
ton. L is argued by many philosophical
minds, with much force, that dry climate will
render timber a scarcity, and It Is truth that
the chief climatal peculiarly Of this epantry
is a dominance of dry seasons. But 9th all
the philosophy Of investigating MIDI, these
vast timberiesss stretches Of country Ne atnE'ss
terry. There Is fact connected with them
whatever my be the cause that produced theinj
however, that shows that at sJme day they
have had a surface many feet below the pres
ent one, and that that surface produced timber.
In digging wells, Oitentimes trees, or limbs
Of trees, four or five inches in di' meter, are
found from twenty to thirty feet below the top
Of the ground, and usually the bark Is SO well
preserved that it retains its form, AID large
pieces may be taken up, whilst the woody ints-
ripF has returned to dust.
But dry as ever the seasons have been on
the prairies, the soil is so well made TO with
stand drougths, that they never have failed to
produce a crop from that cause. Whilst there
is no soil that is equal in fertility scarcely 10
tha; of the Prairies, so there is none that will
endure long continued dry weather with so
slightly injurious effects to the growing crops
The summer upon the prairies is surpass-
ingly delightful. They constitute the high
ground of the country, and always there is q
cool, refreshing breeze sporting over the wide
spreading expanse. But, as everywhere else
advantages and Disadvantage, pleasures and
pains, balance each other, so here these de-
lightful summers are Offset by terrible winters
These winds then blow too, continually, and
with increased force, and usually they are so
sharp and piercing as to be almost iDsupporta-
bic.
It is no matter of news TO state that the
West, and especially this State, is ramifed 10
every direction with Railroads. These roads
have been built whilst the country was but
sparsely settled, and as a consequence, they are
eheaply built, and but meagerlY equipped, are
in bad repair, badly managed, make poor time,
,k,nd IN afrflrinr ro1,Araof vrifh fha q 4 II
the c. & T., and the NJ Sd N. l. Railroads east
of the city. But when better state Of things
can be supported, without doubt it will be done.
Corn down into the interior, and through
70 Burlington, in which direction have been
travelling, is the great article Of grain just now.
Greet quantities have been sent out of the
country already, and still the quantity to be
sent out is immense. How a higher price can
be realized, as many expect, than is now paid,
passes my comprehension.
OF the people of the West let me have a
word, and here let me be just. speak not of
exceptions, but Of the common run" They
are peculiar. They know nothing of Princi-
pie, and are as sadly wanting in integrity as
the CaTthsgenians were in their day, in "good
faith" They lett the East, it is true, most of
them, but when they did so, society was pu
Iifed and improved, whilst that singular con-
glomeration, so called, in the West, was aug
meuted in Viciousness and intensified. Moral
restraint hers, there is nons, and only what
little there is of definite law, exerts restrain
ing influences on the people.
The intelligent men of the party through
the country, talk Republicanism strong. They
are for Lincoln first, as they should be, but will
support cordially Seward or Chase, and some
of them coincide that Chase will make the best
President Of any man in the nation. have
heard some say that they would throw up their
hats with Joy at the nomination of Ben Wade
From all Of these indications, conclude that
whoever the nominee may be, if a sound Re-
publican. he will be supported with purpose
10 win.
A Hall is now being built in this city for the
accommodation of the National Republican
Convention, there being no one large enough
to hold the people. 1t is to be temporary
structure Of course.
The city is more lively now than have
seen it for the last two years, and it seems now
to promise very wellin business way for the
ensuing year. 1t retains, however, still its
primal characteristic, that of an odoriferous
city. Every other one that know of in the
country as compared with this, is nosegay in
sweetness. 1 wonder how that half of the
people ever live through the sickly season.
Iti a noticeable fact that the number of
acres Of wheat in Illinois will be so very ma
terially diminished as to effect the price OF wheat
here, at least another season The crop for the
last two years has not been a good one and the
Suckers have concluded that hay and what makes
hOminy will do better. VIAToR.