Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-06-29

rrssr NATIONAL Horst,


We mentioned the fact before that We
we're somswha. disappointed with the psr>
sonal appearance Of st. Poul. IL may Be
prospcrous place, and sventually grsas ones
but We are dealing with the present, and
tho pinched up condition Of her streets AMI
sidewalks naturally drives one out to seek
more elbow room, broader views and bright
er prospects. So We packed our baggaseI
yesterday after dinner and took the cars for
Minneapolis, and registered at the First Na.
tional.
10 city OF about ten thousand people. II
10 thriving place The streets are broad
and the sidewalks spacious; the busy hum
Of improvement is heard ON every hand, and
the sound of the grinding and the saving
blended with the ceascless roar of the Falls
Of 81. Anthony, strikes the ear most pleas>
ingly. Minneapolis 10 probably the most
promising city in sll the Northwest ~
manufacturing point. II has sprung up
like mushroom, but unlike the mushroom
its growth is permanent. Our senior part
ner, Smith. says that he and his wife sist>
ed this point fourteen years ego and found
but one house standing solitary and alone
upon the western bank, containing 4 single
family nov there. 10 . thriving city Of ten
,housand souls, and numbers many msg>
nifcent manufactures, public end private
buildings. St. Anthony on the east bank,
connected By fine suspension bridge num-
bers some three or four thousand, and is .
very pretty place.
THE ORIGIN
Of Minneapolis dates back some seventeen
years, whom in 1850 the first house was
built by Hon. Robert Smith, member Of
Congress from Illinois. who, in connection
with Co. J. II. tevsns, obtained during
the previous year. permit from the gener-
al government to occspy 100 acres Of She
Fort Smelling Military Reservation. 10
1864 Col. Stevens laid out his property into
city lots, and in 1855 Congress granted the
pre- emptlon rights then claimed by the va
rious squstters. Progress wss still slow,
until 1867, when the immense water power
was taken in hand BY men Of capital
The financial crash that immediately fol
lowed, checked the spirit Of enterprise for
several years, but il has got fresh start
again and is rushing forward 1t IN amazing
rate. There are now eight saw mills, eight
four mills. six planning mills, the product
of which for the past year was fifty>six
million feet Of lumber, seventeen million Of
shingles. eleven million Of lath and two
hundred thous and pickets, and one hundred
and twenty thousand barrels Of flour. The
value OF the lumber was one and quarter
millions Of dollars. On the other side Of
| the falls there are some four or five mills,
cutting about half million dollars worth
last year. To 60 among these mills and
watch their operations will pay for the trip
here. They cut about 800, 900 feet Of lum>
ber per day-or over two million feet per
week. There ere no logs RATED above here,
and none ever pass the falls except by acci-
dent, IS was the case few days ago, when
some thirty million feet Of logs came down
through the boom and went pell neil over
tho falls, scattering themselves down the
river for hundred miles. The lumber as
fast Is sawn is dropped into "shutes" that
run under the mills and extend for nearly Z
mile down to still water, where they are
RATED and then started to market. 1t may
be supposed that the loss Of thirty million
feet of logs would interfere with these mills
this year. Bot it is not SO for they have q
hundred million feet still left for the seasons
business, which is more than they can saw
up. =
Besides these mills there are wooden mills
that manufactured 1GO, Geo yards of cloth
last year; bucket factories, and factories o
other kinds, and more new ones are in pros'
pect.
TIE WATER POWER
at this point is beyond computation. II j:
thoroughly improved. and such are the nat
ural conditions that every pounu Of its pow.
er can be used. 1t commands power enough
to drive every spindle, loom and hammer ir
all the New England States and have
enough left to match every ounce ol
water power in Englaud, Scotland and
France combined. The fall 10 one mile is
about IS feet and the volume Of water i'm
mense. The mills are all built on solid rock
foun iation, and the number that can find
room is limited only by the means t.
buili.
This consideration alone makes Minncap
oils great city. 1t is just a. sure as tlit
edicts Of fate. Companion Mcneil wa,
struck with the spirit of prophecy last eve
ming, and he declared that in Eve years
Minneapolis would ousstrip st. Paul, and
Eventually leave it SO far in the shade u
to be unworthy Of comparison. Mac is un>
doubtedly right. The tracks Ill run that
way. There were $50 houses built there
laSt summsr and as many more will 60 W
this season. Of course every branch o.
trade Is over done except in the manufas-
turing line, but the basis 10 here, and hs
Who takes Minneapolis for his text emo
sticks to it cannot fell TO succeed.
BUILDINGS, STREETS, ETC.
Minneapolis is laid out on broad and
comprehensive scale The streets are a5ou
100 feet wide, and the soil beng candy
gravel, mud 10 not at oil troublesome ever
in the most rainy seasons. As yet there
is no gas but company has been formed
to supply that necessary article There be.
ing no ecal in this State, it hes to b. brough
from abroad for gas making. st. Paul g.
is made from coal brought an the way fro.
Pi.tsburg and 10 sErded to consumers d
$6 per 1000 feet. In Davenport whore Coz
is 80 plenty We have to pay nearly IS much
This may seem sather queer.
The style ofths permanent buildings her
is mu,h different from that in our town
Stone 10 the rule and brick the exception
The wood bulldogs. Of course, form III,
great majority. The material for ston.
buildings is generally . sort Of buff lime