The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1866-05-26

of Baltimore city. Tried before the Court Al
Judged guilty. Edward w. Blair, Esq, for de-
fence. State vs. William E. Niblo, indicted for
larceny Removed from the Criminal Court of
Baltimore city. Tried before the Court. Ad-
iudred guilty. Not sentenced. Messrs. Blair
and H. Richardson for defence.
~ WEDNESDAY, May 49,.
Nothing was done in court to day, no eases
being ready, and the court adjourned.
~b----------
Communicated.
Up the Missouri.
II was near six by the clock in the Court House
steeple on Saturday evening" May 9Th, when the
fine steamer g War Eagle " cut loose from her
mornings at st. Louis and bravely headed up
the Mississippi The Father of Waters F" was
greatly swollen by the Spring rains, and bore
on his dark and muddy bosom, huge floats Of
drift-wood and trees torn bodily from their UNI
certain footing on the banks of the Missouri.
It had rained heavily during the day, and the
city being somewhat gloomy in consequence, we
had gone down to the steamer about noon, Sc
lected our State Room and BY this time felt
quite at home in our new quarters. All day the
deck hands were heaying on board huge boxes,
bales and bundles, marked for various points in
Kansas, Nebraska and the far distant Colorado,
with large lot of iron for the Pacific Rail Road,
shipped to Omaha. The deck hands were about
equally divided between American citizens OF
Irish, German and African descent ntermlngled
in perfect state offraternal harmony. 1t seems to
be wel-established principleamong deck hands,
in no case to lift much and never to lift any with
out giving a simultaneous groan, something like
q yo-heave-o' " vi hove-e,' " ho-hoi-hup."-
1t reminded us of the old Greek galeys where
the rowers kept time to music with the stroke OF
their oars.
Amid the innumerable craft that throng the
! long wharf at ST. Louis the traveller has his
! oLo 0f ctaa
navigable reach Of the city. We selected the
g War Eagle " on account of her gentlemanly
and obligng officers her good size, her clean
| and comfortable arrangements for passengers,
and for appearing, in all respects as the inspec-
tors certificate described her; :" staunch and
sea-worthy, with proper means of escape from
the main to the upper deck, in case ofaccident."
To pure landsman like ourself, there was
something intensely exciting in the idea OF of be-
ing aoat on the great Mississippi, especially al
ter having had peace and patience well-nigh
shaken out of us by more than thousand miles
Rail Road travel 1t was feeling not unmixed
| with dread, as we looked into the brownsh-black
| fluid boiling around us and dashing itself into
foam against the Prov of the boat, and the har-
rowing thought thu. we were no swimmer nltted
across the mind
The ponderous engines had begun to stretch
their lazy arms and set the huge wheels in mo-
ton, giving the boat q decided tremor, while
the timbers creaked and cracked under the
strain To have a full view of the city and the
adjoining scenery, as well as, perhaps, from an
instructive notion that it might be safer to be as
far from the water as possible, we went on the
upper deck There is a fine promenade here,
some 200 feet in length and so in breadth The
view was grand. On the eastern shore lay e.
ST. Lewis, with the three great Eastern and
Northern R. R. lines penetrating it and coming
to an abrupt termination on the river bank, as
though the waters had declared" Thus far
shalt thou come but no farther" Long lines Of
dark-brown and green cars were being loaded
with freights for the Eastern cities, and dozen
busy engines were putting about, collecting the
cars into trains and shifting them from track TO
track. There is no bridge at this point. Pas
sengers arriving by rail are transferred to five
large, four-horse omnibuses, driven on board
the ferry boat conveyed over the river, and taken
to any part of the city without additional charge
Drays and wagons laden with freight cross over
in the same way, thus avoiding reloading at the
ferry boat. Freights are loaded here for Balti-
more, Philadelphia and New York, and taken
through without change of cars.
On the Western shore, or, in nautical language,
on the larboard side, lay st. Louis proper. The
great city sits in bend of the river, like in
FAINT in its mothers arm. 1t has river front Of
six miles, and rising from the waters edge by q
gradual elevation, recedes a distance of three
miles, where the woody highlands are crowned
with magnificent suburban residences. As far
as the eye could reach, dense line OF water
craft, from the huge New Orleans steamer to the
frailest shallop, lay at their moorings, like vas
sails crept 10 the foot of their queen to do her
erence. Down the long line, steamers were
breaking out of the rank and heading away for
the upper and lower Mississippi, the Missouri
Ohio, Wabash and Illinois, while tow and ferry
boats were briskly steaming hther and thithel
over the bosom ofthe river. The air was filled
with the harmony of the steam whistle, from the
shrill tenor of the tug, down to the deep bass o.
the more majestic steamer, as they gaily chal
lenged each other in passing.
Throughout the day. The heavy atmosphere
had pressed the thick smoke of the numberles;
factories, close upon the house-tops of the city,
where it hung in huge black masses. But now
the sky cleared away, the sun broke through the
clouds and tinged the church spires with q flood
of golden light. 1t was beautiful PICTURE
There was that happy combination of nature and
art of divine and human mechanism, that al
,, ways charms the sensitive beholder. Admira-
ton for the wonderful achievement of man min
gled with reverence and gratitude to the Great
Being who had so bountifully provided the
means for mans enjoyment and gave him power
and skill to use and develop them for his adj
AVantage.
r One hundred and years ago French voyageu'
selected the present site of st. Louis as base OF
operations for trapping purposes. The favorable
position, good soil, healthy climate, with other
natural advantages, in after years attracted set
tiers to the spot, until to-day the little trapper
village has become magnificent city OF over
200, 900 inhabitants. The waters originally died.
icated to the Indians canoe and the hunter S
barge are now thronged with swift and mighty
steamers. The hardy trapper used to consume
from one to three years in making trip up the
turbd Missouri or the placid Illinois in his keel
boat to gather furs and peltries now, the busy
merchant makes the same trip in as many days.
The streets of ST. Louis are remarkably mar
row, especially those near the wharf. They are
paved with stone, plates OF cast iron or blocks OF
wood, cut the proper length, set on edge anu
closely cemented together. This makes firm
and durable pavement. The Court House cost a
million and quarter dollars, and for size, beau
ty and durability probably has not its equal in
the United States as common court building:
The city is well supplied with line churches and
Institutions of Learning, with thorough sys-
tenn of Free Schools, holding grounds and build
ings valued at $275, 900. Six daily newspapers
are published here and are wel-sustained. st.
Louis was the second city in the Union to adotp
the fire-alarm telegraph, and soon after organized
Ian efficient steam fre-engine department Tor the
suppression of conhagrations.
An idea may be formed of her immense inland
trade from the Harbor-Masters Report, for the
six months ending September 3Oth 1865. Du-
ring that time, 2, 2l3 steamboats, arrived at her
wharf or more than twelve per day, with tom
mage of 694, 6Ol tons. This was in addition to
the business done by the various R. X. lines
Lying in the heart ofthe great Mississippi Valley,
with unparalleled advantages for land and water
transportation, with boundess resources OF min
eral and agricultural wealth around her, with
the immense and growing trade OF the lar west
and North w est flowing naturally TO her arms,
the time may come when ST. Louis will be the
second city of the Union in trade and population.
/ L.. -, 4ha