The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1867-05-23
Correspondence Of the Telegraph.
From Kenosha to Minnesota,
EDITORS TELEGRAPH -

EDITORS TELEGRAPH -
A journey by rail just at the opening of
spring has but few attractions to call ones
attention away from the ever-varying scene
of faces with their life lessons, which sur
rounds a person on a crowded thoroughfare,
and especially on a night train one does not
meet with incidents enough to relieve the ted
ium of travelling.
In going north and west, more than in 60
ing east, one is led to wonder where and on
what mission so many passengers are going.
But if watchful eye is kept at initial points
of thoroughfares leading out towards the from
tiers, the bulk of the question is answered as
we witness the crowd at the ticket offices,
and the rush to get baggage checked for
points far in the interior of the younger states,
and we begin to realize the Importance of the
great "out west" as we see families who have
left kind friends more than a thousand miles
away, go to make their homes on the beauti-
full prairies of new country.
Taking sleeping car we consign ourselves
to rest. As the sunlight awakens Us in the
morning we rouse from our berth and on look
ing out seem to have been almost unconscious
ly transferred from a country of blank fields
and leafess trees to a scene Of romantic
beauty. We are passing a beautiful river
which has cut it's way through perpendicular
walls of solid rock, many feet high on either
side, which are surmounted by forests of pine
that stretch back into the country beyond, the
freshness and exhilarating beauty of whose
mass of green foliage inspires one unaccus
toned to such scenes with feeling of min
gled delight and gladness which must be re-
allied to be appreciated After passing
through tunnel black as night, the journey
is enlivened with views of high bluffs, some
I times of bare and jagged rock, and sometimes
covered with pine verdure to their very peaks.
| Arriving at LaCross, we find boat waiting
to take US to Winona, where we are obliged to
spend the night. Next morning, leaving this
| flourishing town for railroad ride to Saint
Paul, we pass through small villages of a few
houses and notice huge grain warehouses near
the track, almost as large as all the houses in
the village put together. We soon begin to
realize that we are getting into grain coun-
try, and on noting the color and texture of
the soil we observe just the soil for wheat and
do not wonder that when our flour merchant
wished to convince us as to the quality of his
| flour, he told us it was made from selected
| Minnesota wheat"
At length we arrive at St. Paul, and find
goOdly city of many imposing stone structures,
and doing a business commensurate with a
/ capital city and metropolis of this upper sec
ton of the northwest. The Minnesota river
had risen higher than was ever known before,
overlooking levees and bottomlands, sweep
ing away lumber, large quantities of cord and
drift wood, and even huge masses of turf land
with tall, thickly matted grass upon Them
appearing like floating islands; and inundating
portions of the small towns along the banks,
causing considerable cOmmotion among such
of the inhabitants as lived within reach of the
flood. Indeed, the rise was so great that
boats landed without difficulty up in the mid
die of the street above the levee at this place.
H. Getting on board a pretty little boat we
steamed up to Fort Smelling, which occupies a
commanding position on bluff at the coriflu-
ence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.
Pursuing our course up the latter river, we
find it so crooked and the current so strong
that we make but slow progress. The dis
lance to any point is considered to be copsid-
erably more than twice as much as by land
Turning from sights ashore to scenes in the
cabin, we meet sight at which the eye of an
important young bachelor would gaze with
amazement, and hands lift up with dismay,
for fate has seemed to have thrown together
more babies than he considers there is any &C
tual demand for. Here are big babies and lit
tie babies; pretty babies and homely babies
, laughing babies and crying babies clean ba-
J bes and dirty babies; rich babies and poor ba-
bies; sweet babies and sour babies; in short,
f babies Of every desirable style and quality"
and your ''nice young man" turns away with
, holy horror from the scene, while some young
, mother, though ehildless now, pets the
, laughing baby, soothes the crying one, and re-
lieves trayel-worn mother by her kind at
tentions.
At length, after a ride of an afternoon, a
night and another day, we arrive Just before
, night at our destination, which we could have
reached by railroad, If there had been one, in
four or five hours. Knowing your dislike for
long, tedious letters, | will leave the general
appearance and natural advantages of this
country, the capabilities Of the soil and other
items of interest, as the subject of my next.
Yours,
MINION,