Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-02-07
DULUTH.

Cr0lX river 10 JHe w eSt emu OF Lake Ou-
perior, or Duluth. The object of the
road is to help build up the financial in
terests ofthe spectators who have taken
Duluth in charge, and expect to reap
golden harvests by manipulating its fu-
ture in legislative halls. The subject
was so ably treated that we cannot for
bear extracting portion Of it from the
Washington Globe of January 29th, for
the benefit Of our readers. He said:
was utterly at loss to determine
where the terminus of this great and
indispensable road should be, until ac-
cidentally overheard some gentleman
the other day mention the name Of Du-
luth." Great laughter Duluth The
word fell upon my ear with peculiar
and indescribable charm, like the gentle
murmur of low fountain stealing forth
in the midst of roses, or the soft, sweet
accents of an angels whisper IN the
bright joyous dream Of sleeping inno-
cence. Duluth Twas the name for
which my soul had painted for years, as
the hart panteth for the water brooks,
[Renewed laughter, But where was
Duluth? Never, in all my limited read
ing, had my vision been gladdened by
seeing the celestial word in print.
Laughter. And l felt profound hu-
initiation in my ignorance thatits dulcet
syllables had never before ravished my
delighted ear Roars Of laughter. i
was certain the draughtsman of this
bill had never heard of it, or it would
have been designated as one termini of
this road, / asked my friends about it,
bat they knew nothing Of it'll rushed
to the library and examined all the
maps could find. Laughter / dis
covered in one of them delicate, hair
like line, diverging from the Mississippi
near a place marked Prescott, which i
supposed was intended to represent the
river st. Croix, but could nowhere find
Duluth.
Nevertheless, Twas confident it existed
somewhere, and that its discovery would
constitute the browning glory Of the pre-
sent century, if not of all modern times.
Laughter | knew it was bound to ex-
ist in the very nature Of things; that the
symmetry and perfection of our plane
tary system would be incomplete without
it renewed laughter that the elements
of material nature would long since have
resolved themselves back into original
chaos if there had been such hiatus in
creation as would have resulted from
leaving out Duluth. Roars of laughter ]
In fact, sir, was overwhelmed with the
conviction that Duluth not only existed
somewhere, but that wherever it was, it
was a great and glorious place.
was convinced that the greatest ca
lamity that ever befell the benighted
nations of the ancient world was in their
having passed away without acknowledge
of the actual existence of Duluth that
their tabled Atlantis, never seen save by
the hallowed vision of inspired poesy,
was, in fact, but another name for Du-
luth; that the golden orchard of the
Heperides was but poetical synonym
for the beer gardens in the vicinity of
Duluth. Great laughter. was GER
tain that Herodotus had died a mis-
cradle death because, in all of his
travels and with all of his geograph-
ical research, he had never heard of
Duluth. Laughter l know that if
the immortal spirit of Homer could look
down from another heaven than that
created by his own celestial genius upon
the long line Of pilgrims from every ma
ton of the earth to the gushing foun-
tain of poesy opened by the touch of his
magic wand, if he could be permitted to
behold the vast assemblage of grand and
glorious productions of the lyric art
called into being by his own inspired
strains, he would weep tears Of bitter
anguish that instead of lavishing all the
stores of his mighty genius upon the
fall of Ilion it had not been his more
blessed lot to crystalize in deathless
song the rising glories of Duluth.
GGreat and continued laughter Yet,
sir, had it not been for this map, kindly
furnished me by the Legislature of Min
nesota, | might have gone down to my
obscure and humble grave in an agony
of despair, because could nowhere find
Duluth. [Renewed laughter Had such
been my melancholy fate, l have no
doubt that with the last feeble pulsation
of my breaking heart, with the last faint
exhalation of my aeeting breath, |
should have whispered, where is Du-
luth2 [Roars of laughter. ~
But, thanks to the bene6eence of that
band of ministering angels who have
their bright ahodes in the far-of capital
of Minnesota, just as the agony Of my
anxiety was about to eliminate in the
frenzy of despair this blessed map was
placed in my hands; and as ] unfolded
Il a resplendent scene of ineffnble glory
opened before me, such as | imagine
burst upon the enraptured vision of the
wandering peri through the opening
gates of paradise. Renewed laughter
There, there, for the first time, my en-
chanted eye rested upon the ravishing
word, Duluth"
This map, sir, is intended, as It appears
from its title, to illustrate the position of
Duluth in the United States; but if gen
tlemen will examine it, | think they will
concur with me in the opinion that it is
far too modest in its pretensions. II not
only illustrates the position of Duluth In
the United States, but exhibits its rela-
tions with all created things. II even
goes further than this. 1t lifts the shad-
owy veil of futurity, and affords us a
view Of the golden prospects Of Duluth
far alcng the dim vista Of ages yet to
come. L
If gentlemen will examine it they will
find Duluth not only in the center Of the
map, but represented in the center of a
series Of concentric circles one hundred
miles apart, and some of them as much
as four thousand miles in diameter, en-
bracing alike in their Tremendous sweep
the fragrant savannas Of the sunlit South
and the eternal solitudes Of snow that
mantle the ice-bound North Laughter. ]
How those circles were produced is per
haps one Of those priinordial mysteries
that the most skillful paleOlogist will
never be able 10 explain Renewed
laughter. Butthe fact is, sir, Duluth is
pre-eminently a central place, for am
told BY gentlemen who have been so
reckless of their own personal safety as