Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-08-29
IcoxMUN1cArED.l
ST. PAUL, MINI, August 10, 1857.
Editors Memphis Appeai:

/
: the richest loan, and the surface is al
most perfectly level This peculiarly
/ served to make the drive especially en-
joyabie. A very fast team also assisted
TO this end very materially. Along TIN
3 route, immense fields Of wheat EXTENDED
as far as we could see, and we were in
, formed that they continued thus over {
, surface of a hundred miles or more, il
, every direction. The farmers raise sprinl
wheat almost exclusively here, anC
! secure yield OF thirty or more bushels
; to tbs acre. large quantities Of sorghum
are also being cultivated this year, the
yield from which will be enormous
} There is an extraordinary crop 20
potatoes growing throughout al
this portion of the northwest
They are very large and fine
and viii find good market far south, ]
hope, at low prices.
Minneapolis is comparatively a new
town, of ten thousand inhabitants, and
/ though its residences and other buildings
outside Of the business center, are Of q
very inferior character and do not evi-
denee any fastidiousness of taste or ar
chitectural beauty, yet their numbers
exhibit the fact, that the city is a thriv-
ing, improving and important place. A
large grain trade is evidently done there
as is explained by the presence Of q
number of well built elevators. An i'm
mense lumber trade is apparent in the
large number of yards, factories OF wooden
works, planning mills and saw mills that
appear in various quarters of the city.
The center OF Minneapolis is well built
the houses being good, substantial, stone
structures, handsomely designed and ele-
gantiy furnished. A large and beautiful
opera h0sse ornaments the business por-
ton of the city. A large and roOmy hotel
stands conveniently to the railway aud
4 other special points, making access easy
TO and from any quarter to the traveller.
A large number Of invalids are spending
the summer in Minneapolis and St An
thoDy. From the city a splendid toll
suspension bridge spans the Mississippi,
Immediately above the falls From it a
fine view is had of the boiling torrent,
that is lashed into miles of foam as il
breaks over the falls. Above this point
there is railway bridge built On the
Howe truss plan, and extends from the
| western shore to NicOlet island. During
| the late terrible floods that were vastly
destructive TO this section of country,
immense piles of logs were driven
against the bridge and finally the island
end gave way, tearing out the abutment
and letting the span down some six feet.
A large force OF workmen is engaged re-
pairing it, and will soon have it in posi-
tion, and ready for use again. The
breaking Of the boOms caused an i'm
mense loss of timber. 1t is estimated
that not less than fifty millions
Of feet of lumber went down the river.
On our up trip we passed an inealculable
number of logs, floating, two or three
hundred miles below st. Paul. Every
Golfer dam in the river was started from
| its anchorage, and numbers of them were
torn out and moved away. In the
slough east of the island toward St.
Anthony, the logs are locked and piled
up in every imaginable shape and man
ner. Their great weight threatened, for
a while, to carry away the road bridge !;
but only a portion Of it was disturbed,
not sufficient to impede or endanger
travel over it. At the lower end Of the
| island q Golfer dam furnishes an immense
| head ofwater, and touse its motive power
! advantageOusly, a Gordon of lumber
mills and manufactures of various kinds
are constantly in operation. These are
worked by iron turben water wheels.
! The immense quantities OF material these
mills furnish cannot be estimated by the
casual visitor. Along the st. Anthony
side, nearly all the available space for
! building and occupation for factory
purposes, is in use. The ruthless
hand of utilitarianism, the spirit
of invincible industry is at work on the
west side Of the island, forcing into a
productive channel the waters that are
so grand. The busy hum and hustle Of
manufacturing establishment, aGd all
the animal activity incident thereto, are
| peculiarly and almost painfully apparent
| in this free land, where capital make white
men more laborious and less free vasssls
/ to their rich taskmasters than the poor,
ebony African csrricature of humanity
ever was in his bondage in any land.
| Muscle and mind are taxed to the
utmost here to make the greatest posi-
! BILE returns to the employers, who coin
gold and non-taXable bonds out of mems
| blood. Leaving the utilized portion of
| the falls, and the evidences of poor
white mems slavery in the water, where
We beheld them, and forgetting their
masters, who We saw standing on the
shores with their hands in their pockets,
or figuring on their notebooks, on
| their knitted broWs and corrugated
! faces, traces Of the figures their
/ brains were calculating, we will
pass to the free and glorious falls of
| st. Anthony. The spirit Of improvement
and utilizing Of This immense amOtive
power has tanned the destruction Of sew
eral Of the most important points Of in
] terest and beauty of the fails. Daily there
are noticeable changes in the contour
of different rocks and lodges, and the
/ outlines of falls and rapids. From any
| point below the island the scene that
| bursts on the view, the ponderOus gran
| L l,a Of
picture, OverWhelms the behOlder with
! the wonder they inspire and the surprise
\ they produce. Over a width of three
/ hundred yards, the immense world of
waters 90 lesping, crushing, fOaming
and roaring over the rocks that only form
mOmentary barriers to their headlOng
| fall. Cataracts and cascades mingle
and meet in clouds of mist, and beneath
| the white spray they roar, and grOan,
and surge along like loosed fendsin battle.
| The surface Of the seething, boiling river
| is the most irregular of any waterconrse
| on earth. The most beautiful effects are
afforded by this feature. In the glow
| ing, golden sunsets, peculiar to this cOun-
| try, the crests and broken waves of the
| falls present the most gorgeous appear
Rnce Imaginable. The waters gleam and
! glow in 81 the thousand tints and colors
Of the rainbow. Flashing here like
steel, and glitteTing there like diamonds,
| they roar along in their beauty, singing
grand and incompatible anthem to the
music of the rocky cathedTals below
them. Gradually the waters become
less rough and do not boil as if they
were ih 3 cauldrOB, down into the ruffied
surface that looks like waves in the wind,
and at last into a current that flows
/, d lE1Tiff ha
falls are about TWO miles long from the
first leap over the rocks to the warehouse
on the Minneapolis side, where steamers
land, and where the current be-
comes smooth. Ths heights Of
the falls is not more than thirty
or thirty.fi feet, but as we stood
below them and viewed the huge world
of waters as they came TOarning down
over their rocky bed, the scene filled us
with an indescribable feeling Of wonder
aud admiration. A friend, who visited
the place fifteen years ago, informs me
thst then the water fell over a ledge of
rocks that extended from the main shore
to the lower end Of the island, and that
the sheet of water vas very regular and
wonderfully beautiful. Tine heavy fresh
cts of 1856, tore out the entire chain,
leaving only cap rock, which is an isO-
lated stone near Jne center OF jnS river
and hundred yards below where the
fall now occurs. think, however, the
present rough rapids must be more at
tractive and grand, than the regular
cateraet was then. The rocks over
which the waters flow, are COM
posed Of soft, easily worn
substance. it has little tenuity of
composition, and by the wearing, dis
solving element ami attritiOn, will con-
tinue TO be worn away, until it recedes
to the head of the island or perhaps
farther. "-
We left the falls of st. Anthony regret
fully. AS a pleasant resort, filled with
scenic beauties to the traveller, and es-
pecially sn invalid seeking health in the
invigorating and health-giying air Of the
region, there is enough variety in the
surroundings TO delight q person for
months. I think, taking all the resorts
in the neighborhOOd into consideration,
that this section is the most attractive 1
know Of on this continent. The artist
can find in its constantly changing
features, the graDdest, most gorgeous
and magnificent views imaginable.
! The most picturesque, gem like
spots will greet his eye in every
syenue where the waters run sparkling
southward. Little views burst on the
vision from various points, that startle
9TH their eXoDisiGR brightness and often