East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1864-06-29

49,
river, is an extensive salt mandatory
with its acres of evaporating pans,
and wharf covered with brrrels Of the
manufactured article awaiting ship
ment. Then for sixteen miles up the
river, on both sides, these establish
ments occur at intervals, and some
idea may be formed Of tho vast saline
production when we state that few of
them turn out less than q 1000 bar
rels per week. The whole of this Oh
gantic trade has been built up within
two or three years. Should the brine
hold out, (the supply seems unlimited)
VIII. will the result be in ten years
hence?
PINE LUMBER.
Vast as the salt interest has grown
to be, it is completely overtoppod by
the lumber business. Let the reader
imagine thirty miles of river literally
lined on both sides with immense
steam saw mills, running at high rates
of speed day and night and using,
many of them, gang saws, which con-
vert the largest pine logs into excel
lent lumber with inconceivable rapid
ty, and then try to form an estimate
of the value of a years operations
The sums total are millions of dollars.
Every branch of the numbering bust
ness is carried on in the most system
attic manner. Amidst the Wilderness
of flying belts and whirling saws,
every man has his place, the division
Of labor being complete from the
hauling Of the log to the piling of the
newly made boards on the DOCKS
There is no waste. The edgings and
saw-dust go into the furnaces and in
many instances tho surplus steam is
used in the rapid evaportion of brine,
in the adjoining salt work. The
stranger who visits thiswonderful val
ley for the first time is filed with
amazement at the progress made with
in the last ten years. No facts or fig
ures stated on paper can give an ade-
quate idea of its extent--personal in
spection alone can fill the mind with
the reality. We question much,
whether, in the whole world, within
the same extent Of space, an equal
amount Of lumber is turned out annu-
ally. The logs for the supply of the
mills are cut in the winter, and being
Joined together by ropes are RATED
down the river some fifty or sixty
miles. 1t is asserted that the supply
is almost inexhaustible. 1t would GER
tainly require to be. Considering the
great number of manufactures and
the consequent employment of thou
sand of hands, it is not surprising to
see that
THE SAGINAW TOWNS
are rising into cities with almost un-
paralleled rapidity. The first town
reached from the Bay is called Bay
City, and is situated on the left bank
of the river. 1t has population of
about 1000 souls, and wears an air of
much briskness and prosperity. There
are very few public buildings, and no
market that we saw. Stopping few
minutes at the crowded dock we pro-
ceeded up the stream a distance of
some sixteen miles to East Saginaw,
the largest town in the valley and ev-
identity the chief centre Of business.
1t has about 5000 inhabitants, and is
improving very rapidly. The Ban
croft House is one Of the largest and
best hotels in the State, il not the best.
The gentlemanly proprietor, Mr.. An
drews, informed us that although the
building IA five story one) had been
recently nearly doubled in size, he
had not at the date of our visit sin
gle room to spare, and that his aver
age running expenses were at least
$4,000 month He complains that
owing to the want of a market, much
difficulty is experienced in keeping his
table supplied with fresh meats. 1t
is possible he will act upon the hint
that Goderich could be made an excel
lent base of supplies. With all the
life and energy of the city of East
Saginaw it struck us that the purely
superficial predominated. There are
not many churches, we saw no Court
House, no fine school honse, no public
reading room, and the stock in trade
of the best book store we could find,
might be carried on ones back Peo-
pie, we presume, go to Saginaw TO
''make their pile" before they have
shaken their flesh off with the dread
ed aguo. About mile further up the
river on the right bank, stands Sagi-
nav City, VIII CHI has a population of
three or four thousands, and which is
the misunderstanding place of the
whole lot, although it is said to be
less healthy than Bay City, owing to
the latter possessing a position visited
by the lake breezes.
DRAWBACKS.
The Saginaw Valley, notwithstand-
ing its almost unlimited resources, is
not paradise to live in. The slug
gish water of the river and the stag
nant marshes emit such an amount of
malarious exhalations thatabout every
second person is more or less afflicted
with fever and ague. Then, again,
there is no good water to be had by
digging, and hence the siclsly, sallow
appearance of the people among whom
Canadian can be picked out in a mo-
ment, and hence, too, perhaps, the
number of drinking saloons in the
towns. 1--WE are informed that East
Saginaw had ninety-nine of them. -
The soil in the valley may be rich, but
it does not appear to be well adapted
for farming purposes, so that nearly
all the produce for home consumption
has to be imported. If there was not
such depreciation in American cur
rency, the produce of this County
might find a capital market across the
lake, and we hope more attention will