, 1862-05-02
OUR ARMY CORRESPONDENCE.
Our City Of tie Delta-1ts nast, Present, and
Fa:uro-Is&ereaiag as History and Prophecy.

lila at the Fort below, propose to briefly
discuss Cairo, Its past, present and future
The present military occupation Of the delta
lying between the Ohio and Mississippi, and
Its probable occupancy for years to come, by
the navy as well as the army, whichever way
the great rebellion terminates, its Importance
as commanding the navigation of those great
channels Of communication, the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi and their branches say nothing Of
the prospective overflow Of the 1eTees-render
this point towards which the eyes Of inteli-
gent men are turned with interest. lpropose
briefly, therefore, to sketch the salient points
Of its history.
CHAPTER FIRST.
Sometime In the year 1916, one William Bird
came from the East, and seeing the impor- |
lance Of Cairo, as relating to the TIVE rivers, |
entered the delta, or that portion Of 1t lying |
between the two rivers and an imaginary line |
extending from where the stone depot noT !
stands on the Ohio to the Mississippi Two |
years subsequently, seven eastern gentlemen, |
who had formed a company for the purpose,
entered eighteen hundred acres aboye that
entered by Bird, and obtained 4 charter from
the Legislature of the then Territory Of nli-
nois, incorporating them Us the "City and
Bank Of Cairo" In order to carry out the
plans Of the corporators, it was important
that money should be had, and one Of the
number WAS dispatched to England for that
purpose. On his journey thither he sickened
and died, and the other proprietors becoming
disheartened at the magnitude Of the under
taking allowed the enterprise to fall through.
The property having been bought Of the Gov
eruncnt On credit, and but small portion
of the purchase money paid, it rerested to the
Government who once again gained the title.
CHAPTER SECOND
The little to Cairo remained in the general
government for seventeen long years, during
which no man or body OF men could be found
able or willing to risk the trialng SUN neces-
sary to obtain tie fee, until Judge Brcese with
two associates, yentured upon the speculation,
and besides the property owned by the "Cairo
City and Bank'' Company, entered tract Of
land above and further up the river.
CHAPTER THIRD.
In year or two, Brecse and his partners
sold ont to the q Cairo City and Canal Com
pany'' Of which they constituted part, who
after extinguishing the title Of Bird to the
lower part Of the delta, by sundry other pur-
chascs increased their division to almost ten
thousand acres. About the same time char
ter was granted to the s'Ilinois Railroad Com
pauy," whose corporators we're essentially
the same as the " Cairo City Company"-for
a railroad to extend from LaSa11e, the south
ern extremity Of the Illinois and Michigan
+r nh erh-
quently surrendered, and the Railroad Com
pany prosecuted their enterprise under the
| general improvement law. II order to SUCCESS
| fully carry on the undertaking, the tsCaro City
! Company" Issued their bonds for &, 600 ,0o0,
secured by mortgage upon the property,
| which they negotiated with an English house
Of what was there considered considerable
| wealth. They received in cash two millions
| Of dollars, with the promise Of the balance
| less the discount, which Was fnconsiderable,
ininstalnents. In England, ut this time, Cairo
WAS considered as possessing all the elements
Of greatness, and her money ed men fonllg be-
| EtIed that city must be built on this delta
with English capital and Of which English
men would have the controlling influence,
which would become the great commercial
center Of the continent. In 1888, '39 and 40,
| the money was expended in accordance with
English plans. A leyee was built, dry dock,
houses, stores, 1oundrics and nlills-not foot
| 1lONGu III DE ED!u, III hEEQIA1lEE WILL Lut
| English notion, that the rental should pay the
interest and Improvements. It was o fact not
so patent then as now that Americans do moi
improve rtntal property, and SO tie enterprise
filled to meet the expectations Of the pro
jtctorf.
CHAPTER FOURTH.
Tn 1sAt, the English bankers who had fur
nished the money failed, and the " Cairo City
bonds passed into the hands Of their credit
! ii fhn whole rntprnrSa hnr1nn 4 st II
pendous failure. The Great Western Rail
wayn was subsequently chartered, aud allow
Cd 10 lapse hy the failure Of its corporators t.
comply with the conditions Of the charte
! lands donated BY the General Government t.
aid in the construction Of q rlilroad from
Cairo to LaSallc as indicated by the charter t
: the old Illinois Central Railroad" 1t thl
j., time the morey obtained from the Englis
) capitalist being all absorbed, the creditors b,
C came clamorous for the payment Of the
: bonds, and an attempt was made to dispose
: the lots. People viewed this with suspicion
:, y aud heavily cncumbered Us they were BY tt
G foreign mortgage, purchasers could not t
Il iound Nothing now remained but for IL
9 company to 60 into liquidation Finally, d
: ernumerous compromises with the creditors
) plan was devised whereby purchasers could s.
u cure a suitable title All the parties intereste
u u assigned to two trustees, men Of wealth an
y intelligence, giving them full and absolu
,e lit, with the stipulation that after all ncce
q sary improyem were made, the incon
should be distributed among the creditors p
- rata. III 1858 the first lots were sold. II
title is said to be unqneslonable-
~ THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAIL ROAD.
;, The General Government donated lar
ID amount Of land to the State Of Illinois in 165j
e to assist in the construction Of railro
VI tll ough the State. It was made q conditis
IN Of tho donation that the " Cairo Ci!y' col
p pany ehould relinqnish its right to build !
= They did SO, and III 1851, after anuul1ing
4 former charters, the present i Illinois Cent?
,r Railroad Company" WAS chartered and I
- ceived the lands.
In 1851 the trustees Of the stCairo Cit,
a. Co., and the 's Illinois Central Railroad Coz
kc pany," entered into an agreement where
mt tho latter agreed to enclose the site OF the ci
y with an embankment of adequate height
IT exclude the waters Of the rivers at any sta
=, or rise Of the same then known, and constr,
e9 ted Of any uniform width Of eighty feet, d
s. until it was uniformity SO enclosed tem(
od ra'y e1nbankmeut sufficient to shut out
waters should be maintained. It Was a
bio granted to the railroad company the right
'th lay down track upon tho leyee, and operate t
od same under suitable rules and regulations.
~ dance with this agreemcnta levce was c.
structed and deeds Of cession of the fee-sim
he to strip Of land five hundred feet in wild
to extvntllDg entirely across the delta in t
several places, with strip Of land one hi
d1ed feet in width extending along the line
the railroad, and the necessary ground for
pots, urn-tables, engine houses, etc. Tt
.xt wtre also allowed the privilege Of runni
;tb the II trains upon the leyee entirely around
~ city, with n frontage in fec simple Of c
s'' Thousand feet upon the Mississippi for
dc" fre'ght warehouse. This leyee, in accorda1
to. with the terms above enumerated, is still
m. complete, although the protective embal
w. meat ia still maintained
wv SALE OF LOTS.
'"- In 1858, FIVE hundred acrcs of land WIS s
asc divided into about five thousand lots,
r q | which ur to the present time about two til
49,. sand have been sold, realizing nearly $7eo, {
'ac II the war epds, and tue *'times'' beco
no. favorable, it is expected that there will
ltic large public sale next summer
lille THE HEALTH OF CAIRO.
on. Ii is generally believed that Cairo is si1ua
-;n- | 80 unfayorably that it cannot prove heal
., locality. In the summer season there
'lth wild luxufiancc Of vegetation, which. coy
lis- the greater portion Of the city, aud Bwat
the | and pools OF standing water, malaria inyit
se. circumstances, which cannot fail to con
JILL the impression upon the mind Of the cas-
'us- visitor that Cairo must be unhealthy. I b
'ote not the statistics at hand to form an ints
oe gent opinion. have seen many soldier
~ the hospitals, whose wan and plllid cou
1sss nancts speak eloquentl5 upon the subj
lne, The town at this moment Is more than hal
and undated. and when the water passes off and
,,.o damp earth and dccaying vegetation is expe
to the glare Of this tropical sun, tn
lost suit cannot fail TO be prruicious- Previou