St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-02-07
Letter from Ruth Hall,

Letter from Ruth Hall. -.
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i = CHICAGO, Van. 2sth, 1861 81 I
DsAR pssocR.r.-Yource lamns l:,eiy Eve
been 50 6lled with political matte r-whist, jy
MOTTO ibe;wqndered At when such, o,,Snt$xJ
qp,s.ions AZ pending 4ehet TIL. be hesk.ted
1t the sendsavor to occupyh portion, especlst:
~ as my last. from the frivolous nature of ila
contents, I suppose helped to fill Ba1sam's
box or 1igh. the fire; for it certainly did
not appear in print. Now, As l feel there
,ars plenty or cooks spelling the country broth;
! still mean TO ignore accession, depressionand
all the ille that governments are heir TO-, and
tell you how We Of the Garden City have
contrived to nearly worry through the winter.
In tho first place, the weather has been toll
erab'y mile, open and pleasant, with more
snow than usual. which has allowed our eoun-
try cousins to come into feown and bring their
commodi'ies-corn and wheat, pigs and .poul:
try--and obtain in exchange groeer;es; Of
which. judging by the. stone jug with the cob
stopper, which peers from between the bags
or stra e Of every wagon wafskey, must foru
the staple; while for thoye WHO were able TO
remain over night, there bus, beenzno lack Of
public andsentsnts::io sl'vishst.s Theatre, al
ways supplied With stars .aala novelties. This
seaseh brought oqt Joseph and his Brethren. p
Scripture dram:tized; while Ledger stories,
F-*ii1ddeh Hand; Rose Elmtopfns,' &c:,, follow
ed in quick saccession,: and ,to-ni ght Witkis q
novel OF the Woman in, " hi,e' is m" ounce4l.
Then: lnez Fabri has been delighiing tile white
kids with her warbling; Campbe1ls lhe, color
ed, do. OF lecturers we. have not had as many
OF as iilustrio,4s as usual, with the exception
OF Horace Greeley, whose subject Was ''Selt
ifelp'-zon which too much cnnnot be said "
Notorieties, such As Heenan, the Muscula,
Doctor aid the P'ince Of Wales have stopped
to exchange greetings with our stoical inhabi
tants; and the ''lleart Of the Andes is show
ing with great SUGGEST ~ Skating clubs arc or
gained, and young men and nlaidens frequent
them much, aud on moonlight nights bands OF
music enliven the scene. This is as it should
be. AL exercise or amusements in the open
air meet with my unqualified approval: and
am on good terms even with that capricious,
puerile, contemplate snob, dame Fashion. for
having brought this about But what: to me
seems the proudest achievement Of the whole,
is the establishment Il hope ii may be perma
nen') OF an Art Union. There are some yer,
tine pictures loaned BY citizens TO increase the
attractions of the Gallery. =. l, must indulge
myself ty mentioning few .Rocco do Ia
pa,P<a beautiful Italian landscape, vigorous i'll
h ndling, rich in foliage, dreamy in distance,
the property of Walter: S. Our, ee and u
Spanish scene, belonging to the same, with a
blue, 'cloud!ess sky, an Unreasonable distance
to the horizon, and q group Of :meiI and AMI
mails in the foreground standing out so clear
and distinctly that. it appears easy 10 walk
ar..und them. Then Of the prizes to be dis
tributed-every holder of q ticket has one
chance in eight-there is Volk's UNI wall: I'd
statue of Washington as a boy. an ideal con-
cep,ion Of him. represented when questioned
as to the culprit who destroyed the tree IT'S
a most graceful and telling figure; ana an
ticipate the time when We sh Ill be proud to
connect the names Of volk and Chicago. Sew
'eral Of Healy's portraits Of celebrated men:
cattle pieces by Tracy. the best animal painter
west Of New York; fine line engraving copies
of Raphaels Cartoons lin short, not only are
cur eyes fea> ted, but the most refined and in
tellectual people eongregate there; sure to NEE,
othets nt; iimildr tastes q while away an hour
in social intercourse; ands the gallery has
come to be the most charming resort Of many
others, rs we'll as: =. Il Yours tru,y: II z
~<s' -: -- RUTH HALL.