Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-03-28
FROM IOWA.
McGREGoR Iowa March 10 1874


| TO the Eds. independent
While in Chicago we examined
with some care the statistics of
the city, and were surprised that
| the past year had been one of I'M
surpassed prosperity, and this too
Notwithstanding the great damage
to the business IL terests by the de-
structive fire of 1871. The eleva-
tors of Chicago before the fire had
a capacity ofover eleven million
bushels, and now their storage
| capacity is much greater. There
is in the city over two thousand
manufacturing e $ TIA bl h IN n IS
employing over thirty thousanG
operatives and representing cap
| ital of over thirty millions Of dol
lars. The lumber trade of Chica-
go is larger than that of any other
place in the world; during the past
year there was received at Chica-
go over one billion four
hundred million feet of lum-
Der and millions of shingles and
lath; the greater part of which
was shipped from the lumber
regions Of Wisconsin, Iowa Mich
igan and Minnesota.
We left Chicago fully convinced
that her prosperity was due in a
great part to her favorable loca-
ton, but we remembered that the
city was built on what was few
years ago Il " lid swamp, Il marsh,
and that the site of the place had
to be raised a dozen feet or more.
When we 81" the stirring and un-
firing industry of the people we
concluded that its prosperity re-
suited more from the latter than
tie former influence In our
j arney to this place we stopped
at Milwaukee, Wisconsin,; the
ipost important city in the State.
d d has the finest harbor on the
ain of lakes. There is more
" ieat handled there than in any
q aer place H. the world. 1t being
the point where most of the wheat
from the Northwest is transferred
from the cars to vessels.
The city is beautifully located
and is noted for its healthy eli
mate There is on every hand
evidence of industry and wealth.
We passed from there over the
Milwaukee and st. Paul Rail
road through highly improved
country, just before sunset we
passed through Madison city the
capital of the State. We stopped
and found an excellent supper
awaiting us. The city proper is
situated on an isthmus between
two beautiful lakes, The greater
part of the ground upon which the
city is built, is sixty or seventy
feet above the level of the lakes,
and on this elevated isthmus the
fine State house and the United
States Court House and Post of
flee are bnilt. They are both new
and costly editices aud may be
seen for many miles.
The land in the vicinity of
Madison, and indeed of all the
central part of the State, is we'll
adapted to grazing, and from the
amount of cheese which is manu-
featured there, it might well be
called "Cheesedom." We left
this Permanent seat" just as the
shades of night closed the beau
tiful view of the inland city lakes.
And in the morning we found
ourselves on the east bank of the
Mississippi river at Prairie du
CHEN. The river here is very
wide and is crossed by temper
airy bridge on piles driven into
the ground, on which a frail look
ing structure is placed, but are
crossed over with safety. and find
ourselves in a strange little town,
built in a narrow ravine or "cool-
ie," with the Mississippi river in
front and high rocky cliffs on
each side.
On the Wisconsin side of the
river is situated one of those i'm
mense saw and lumber mills for
which the upper Mississippi and
its larger tributaries are famous.
This mill we found was managed
by Lieutenant Scott S. Ellis, from
the State of Maine. Some of your
readers may remember him, for he
informed US that he was stationed
at Martinsburg some weeks in the
spring of 1862, and he inquired
about many of the citizens of the
place. The amount of lumber
manufactured by one of these inn
mense mills is astonishing; you
can form some idea of it when we
inform you that it requires near
one hundred men to handle the
lumber sawed in this mill alone.
A along the Mississippi river
the lumbermen have anchored