Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1870-08-18
TO ST. I.ONi> and Return
Concluded from last week. J

Concluded from last week
The Fair Grounds are situated in
the western part of the city, and are
ample for the industrial and agricult-
ural exhibitions of st. Louis County.
The buildings arc large and su5stan
tia:- The amphithcatrc,-a misno-
rncr, because it cNtcndsi in complete
circle, not yet completed, will seat
sixty thousand people. In one por-
ton of its grounds is an artificial
lake. moderate in size. and several
fountains in full play. The writer Of
this was soldier and quartercd in
Benton Barracks, in those grounds,
in the Spring Of 1862. But they
have changed some since then, many
improvements have been made, yet
The old landmarks remain and he
recognized in those grounds a fam
iliar face. 1t was good thing 70.
St. Louis.-that war it stimulated
her industry, broke up her castles.
and brought in men Of advanced,
progressive ideas, energy and enter
prise in commercial and industrial
pursuits. The cAtc.ton and I'm
provcmcnt observable in this Fair
Ground are due to the new order Of
things. The manufacturing interests
Of st. Louis arc various and import
ant. Netthc least othcsc is the iron
interests. The excursionists visited
the large Lewis Furnace in South ST.
Louis and witnessed run of iron,
anew thing to most, if not all, of the
party. Tn Furnace. where the ore
is melted. is situated upon a slight
emincncc, and, leading from the fur
mace down the slope, was the gut
ter out in the sand, for conducting
the molten iron into the pig cav
tiles also.cut in sand. These cavities
are oblong. about three inches deep,
four inches wide and 4 couple Of feet
long. Soon after the party arrived,
the furnace was opened and the mol
ten iron commenced to run down the
gutter. The party crowded up as
near the gutter and cavities rs posi-
bile, in order to get 4 full view Of the
operation. The iron came slowly
down the gutter, seething, and
reddish white with heat, the nearer
il came the warmer became the at
mosphcrc. The crowd became unru-
N and refused to stand fire, and tried
to back out as eXpedtiously and UNI
tremendously as though baitcd
bull had broken loose. It is certain it
did no: take that crowd long TO see
all they wanted to see of molten iron.
That the room was warm none can
doubt who was there. The proprie
tor kindly showed all around to see
the various operations Of preparing
the ore for smelling.
One of the most refreshing institu-
tions ofthe city is the Turkish Bath,
under the supervision Of Prof. Will
liam Robertson whose rooms and ap-
a:atus are admirably fitted for the
purpose Of bathing. The Professor
generously offered free bath to any
Of the cxcursionists who might wish
to "scrub". \ large number, we un
.lcrstand, presented themselves for
the free wash, and were admirably
served. The Turkish Bath has been
extensively advertised and is favor
ably known. The-parposc Of this pa.
per does not permit us to enter into a
detailed statement Of its modus oper-
and. We are confident, from the
small amount that we took Of it that
il is all that is claimed for it.
\ trip 10 Pilot Knob and Iron
Mountain was in contemplation at the
Inauguration Of the excursion, but
as it was not officially decided upon
by the Excursion Committee from
the first, the party could not agree
upon that part Of the trip with an,
degree Of unaniminity, and 1t was
abandoned. The Iron Mountainleai
road Company was extremely anx-
ious that that portion ct the contcm-
plated trip should not be omitted.
\ special train was in waiting sever
al days before the party was done
with st. Louis. Then. when the
Company found that the party, as a
whole, did not desire to go to Ircn
Mountain, FREQ ride there and re-
turn was freely offered 10 such indi-
,idual members Of tho party rs did
desire to go. Tho necessity Of OH
tainisg rest on Friday, the dry allot-
ted tor the ride to Iron Mountain
prevented nearly all from accepting
the liberal offer. \ very few, we un.
d"rstand, did accept and go.
On Friday afternoon good hye
was said to st. Louis, and special
train took the party on their way t.
Kansas. We were still within the jur
isliction Of the North Missouri Rail
road Company, as VIC learned, to oul
pleasure. when we reached Mont