Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-11-07
EVENING STAR.
FEca TIE FIR WEST TO G'asHIHGTOY

East ~. LOGis-i Br'dg- WautPd-vbat
- LouJ> Drrats-PhiIanl~ri rings of she
hiss.sSiPPi nj Ni~-0uyi-Esypt aud tar
- FtlaEs-t irrinrati and ~u.reHntfnss
= iacinn-U Nrwsgap~rs-s. Mack "a
ESm'uSIy Bad P"umln- Tsfn~rard
BOrHd-Jke Baliimo- e ard Oaio Rail-
read.
Editorial Correspondence of the Star.I
CINCISsATI, Sept 30. Is3s.-We left ~. I,,uis
Monday evening 2aO, crossing The M,ssissip-
pi by Terry boat, aud taxing toe cars Of the
Ohio X Mississippi R1;lroad. on the Illinois
sho-e- The land is lower on this side than on
the y. Louis shore. and Is liable TO overflow.
which probably accounts for the TACT that II has
nof been improved 10 crater extent. 1t Is
called .'East ~ Louis" OF sIlIinois Town,
and has n Mayor. a Board of Aldermen. q
Beard Of CCuDciluen. and Z Board Of Polic,
Commissioners. As there seems 10 be no thing
but lImber yards at East St. Louis il Is difH-
cult To guess whore ali these Boards sit Per-
haps they SIT on the boards. rhe ground not
occupied by board-pilss is mostly submerged.
and Is crossed by railroad ernbankments, 50
that there Is no drainsge. Consequently we
Were not surprised to see almost everybody we
net IN 'East 81. Louis" shaking with the chills.
The cotton wood fiourishes amazingly in this
wet soil. and the taIlszt and finest specimens of
this tree ever saw were growing in these Iun-
Der yards
81 Louis badly needs a bridge across the
mississippi. The transfer of goods here
by ferry costs from two to three million dollars
year, to say moth ing of the loss of time and
the inconvenience attending trans-s hipment.
But ST. Louis hesitstes about the cost, or the
span, or something else, and in the meantime
the little place Of Kansas City hanes big St
Lcuis by building of-hapd a fine bridge
destined TO play an inportar part in prorot-
ing its future prosperity. ST. Louis has a
standing snbiect of anxiety III the disposition
OF ne MISSISSIPPI, aided and abe tie d by The
'reacherous Missouri to leave that city high
and dry, ana 60 philanderIng through the al.
luvial bottom the Illinois side in guest of
some new love in the way of a chsnnel. 1t Is
1ound 10 be impracticabie 10 contr oil the mouth
OF the Missouri, il having many outlets cover.
ing a large area of country, and il is boring
away upon the Illinois shore At a gr eat rate at
these outlets, aud within a month OF two has
swallowed up couple OF farms OF an hundred
acres each in Mad ison county, Illinois, lust
above ST Louis. This Gun cksand Bottom al
forcs little more resistance 10 the action of
powerful river like ths III sso1ri than so much
s;.w-dGst, and at the rate the river l. now eat
Eg into u on the Illinois shore il Will soon
break through the thin partition between i
and the lakes OF tue American Bottom should
it reach these .'iood-0ye S. Louis Tosver-
such G Catas,rophe il is proposed % cut 4 uevy
Channel ana outlet for the Missouri thrcu-h
the bottom between TIE two rivers on III. MI
soG1i siCe, 20 pOlLt atcye Alton. where
II would BE- received sgainst the latiye : .,tie
bluffs ST thar point. dr~trCsIu- 20 power Tor
harm. The Mis- h0wev-r. Is 2 wii:uI
stream and the chances are HI. .E.s- tse ue.z
channel IS nicely msde tor neE use sbe ...u
utterly decline 10 aeepptH
We struck out from Eqs- =, I.cufs ..to
"Esyp;-" The beniehted portion 0. limos
where according to popular report they vose
Democrati> votes by the barrel Iuii a-d shoe
stray kepuOHcans aud schoolrl tste. :. The
look OF the eountry as we steamed II rough A.
1dIled however ro give aLy external Indication
Of Egyptian darkness. The cOpG rry sa@mad
Teil cultivated. AMI II Onr ewes Gid nOi much
T.sIs"d u there were churches aud sch Ooi
house az - y OIe of the village dotted along
st hati-dOzen mile inter vals on the rocd
The l9Gd after passing through the Grsa-
Amer can Bottom, dying on the Miss 1ssipp
between he mouths of the Missouri and kas-
kaSkIa rivers, and perhaps the ricbest pieIe OF
soil IL the cOUnuy,) did no. seem Uniform ~
fertility. More or less ot itappeIroi - Dr. wet
and az some points II was apparently tnsn
Passing through some thirty miles Of undulat-
ing ground we struck the le = el prairie; and a.
Oden where the Great Illinois Central crosses
the Ohio and Mississippi road at right angles.
the smoke of a train coming down the former
read was seen trailing Tor I long distance be-
hind over the fiat plain, reseIn bling the smoke
Of a steamer floating .ar behind IN a dead calm
The OHIO AID Mississippi railroad we Gpd TO
BE- good road, and exceedingly we'll managed.
II connects Cincinnati WITH - Louis by very
Learly az air line, ard connecting at 81. Loul-
with The Pacific and Missouri River railroad
To Kansas Ciiy, torms very important INK n
the great raIlroad line from the East 70 The
karsas Pacific Railway.
Cincinnati and Surroundings.
Cincinnati Is walled in by hills, after 8 sort
that makes n = perfect smoke-trap. PittsSurg
itself has not denser atmosphere OF b.ta-
mInocs eoal-smoke than Cincinnati presented
or our entrance. IL was nine O'Clock il the
morninc, but gas-liShts were burning every
where IL shops and koteis, as If gas was the
normal daytime Iiiurn oa-or of the city. Ii
was impCssicis to zee tie distance Of two
squares IN any direction But as the fog h::e0,
for the smoke banks down Its thickest in stall
foggy mornings, We were surprised 70 find
~ haI bright cheerful city was concealed
under the pail of smoke. The recess la which
the city II built. between the liver and the semi
circle of surrounding bills, is only about a mile
deep, arording scant room for a large city, but
Ihe compression has served TO make 1t a com
vacant lots and irrega aIar open spaces that ds-
figure 81. Louis md ct.sr Western cities ha ing
unlimited space TO sprawl in. As il 81. Louis.
the streets are named Philadelphia-wise, with
numbered streets parallel 10 the liver, and the
cross-streets bearing the names OF trees, Vine
xreet, Walnut street, Sycamore street. ana
80 on.
As in ST. Louis, TOO, the citv presents its most
uninv.tirg side from the river. Passing up
OF these cross streets through the tier
OF wholesale streets, with their rather un-
attractive buildings, the show streets are
found in Third, fourth, and Fifth streets,
lined with retail stores, as handsome as any in
our Atlantic cities. Beyond Fifth street the
canal rs reached, which, like cur Tiber, bears
a classic pame-the .Rhine''-Why the Rhine,
i know not except for the reason that the por-
usn OF The city beyond it is occupied largely
by Germans
The strong point of Cincinnati is ITS environs,