The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1873-05-09
Correspondence.
The Great Bridge at st. Louis, Mo.
EAST ST. LOUIS, April 2Gth. 1873

Mr.. EDITOR: Last October received n COPY
of the 1Egis and Lttelligcacer, and in it l saw a
short article stating that the great bridge across
the Mississippi river at st. Louis, would be fin
ished this month October, 1921 | thought
would write you letter then about the bridge,
but neglected to do so but now as / am about
to leave East st. Louis, where have lived for
the last year, thought would write you some
thing about the great bridge and East st. Louis
The great bridge, which has been building for
the last three years, will not be finished before
the Spring of 1874. 1t will rest upon four piers,
one on each side of the river, and two in the riv.
er. The two piers in the river are each 1874 feet
deep, ~ feet below water and 80 feet above The
length of the bridge, from the abutment in East
st. Louis to where the bridge comes to a level
with the street in St. Louis is $3.50 feet Then
from the abutment back to level with the
streets in East st. Louis is about 200 feet, max
ing the bridge 3, 43O feet in length 1t will have
two floors, the upper one for vehicles and foot
travel, the lower one for cars. 1t is estimated
that the bridge when finished will cost about four
and a-half million of dollars.
The three spans of the bridge are made of
steel tubes, Is inches in diameter and b inches
thick. Each span will have eight rows of these
tubes; two of these spans will be each 400 feet
long; the longest span will be SIG feet long.
The spans are to be high enough above the wa
ter for the largest steamboats, to 90 under, and
we have some very large steamboats,. with tall
smokestacks, on the Mississippi river.
The contract for building the East St. Louis
approach to the bridge has been given to the
Baltimore Bridge Company. Mr.. p. Scully, an
old resident of Hartford county, has the contract
for building the stone foundation. Mr. Scully
tells me he was raised in Havrc de Grace, but
has been away from there eighteen years. His
father, MIR. james Scully, is now living at Edge
wood. His elder brother has rancho out in
the Indian Territory, and follows that wild, row.
ing life of herding cattle. His younger brother
Is cattle raising down in the western part of
Texas. have met Mr.. Edwin Silver, son of
III. A. Silver; also q SON in law of CAPTAIN John
Moore, from Havre dc Grace l have also met
quite number of other Hartford county gentle
men.
East St Louis is in Illinois, just across the
Mississippi river from st. Louis. 1t is a small
place, OF only ten thousand inhabitants, but is a
place OF Importance, because of the many rail
roads running into it. We have eleven railroads
and two or three more building All passengers
and freight for st. Louis by these railroads, arc
landed III East st. Louis and transferred over in
buses and wagons on the ferry boats. We have
ten ferry boats running from East st. Louis to
St. Louis. The land on which East St. Louis is
built is low During the high water of 1874,
the WATERWAYS ten feet deep over the city.
we have two grain elevators, one large saw
mill and shipyard; two large rolling mills, two
flour mills, and several large railroad shops.
The largest pork. packing firm in Chicago has pur.
chased five acres of ground near the National
Stock Yards, on which they intend to erect large
buildings for the purpose of packing pork and
beef East st. Louis will become great place
for iron foundries and machine shops, because
coal is so near; 1--WE can now buy coal for s.. s.!
per ton 1t is also near the great iron noun
tans of Missouri
The great National Stock Yards adjoining East
st. Louis will soon be finished so as to receive
and ship cattle. The yards cover between five
and 600 acres; about two miles of sheds and
houses are now built for cattle, sheep and hogs;
a large hotel and bank on the grounds are now
about finished. These yards will be the largest
in the United States
Wishing much prosperity to the 14Syis and H.
telligencer and Hartford county,
l am, yours, II. YRY.