, 1874-09-26
PRAIRIE Dtj CHEN.
Old Fort Crawford-..Zach Taylor and
JciF Davis.
John LawIer's Floating Railroad
Bridge.
How It Il Duilt---The Advantages
Clainod for It.

Clai1nod for It.
Correspondence Of The Chicado Tribune.
1HAtn1n LII CuIMt, Ws., 3cpt 49, 1871.
Tho fortunes Of cities. lika thoao Of in
are subject to nil ma1lnor Of vciss-
tutica Young towns, lil:o young poop'o, not
ontstrip tho old mid nEa md pron-
porisy In tho case OF tho ono no Of tho othor, nro
worry often strangers. rrairio tlu Chion Ia m In
atanco Of a town old in years, but great ncither
In magnt0ccnca nor III wealth. Whom
Prairie du Chien waa founded, Phil
ade1phin waa not, eud Chicago was mol |
droamt OF. Indood, rrairie du Cllton |
might be tho grandmother OF yonr Metropolis. |
Tho ,,amo Is ITO ,nisnonor. II iB pratria; ni'1,
as ono moota with n dog horo ana thoro, tho pro-
prioty Of tho arpendage "tla Chon" is OF
courBo quito nppnront. Still, tho pralrio horo III
no s,ol praIrio M tint on which Chcago III built.
It In only miles in lougtls by in width. It is
entirely surrounded by high bluffs, savo on ono
portion, aul tloro It III bo,lnlodby tho Father OF
Waters. lilo mnplo.trcc nbounds in thla yicin-
lty.
Among the associations OF Tho place ia
OLD roET CRAWFORD.
Of which nov scarcely vcBtigo 1olnainB. A
convent marks tho sito Of tho fort, and Nuns sro
telling tAoir bands wl1ore Zach Taylor md
Jefferson Davis began t,eir military career. The
rcorlo OF rrairio du Chion take parlorablc
pride In Tue fact that enc WHO afterwards bo-
camo Chcf-AiagiBtrato OF his country rms y rosi-
don't OF their town. They, Ia Soma way inez-
rlicabo to ordinary mfndu connect his great
meas with his rcohlonco 1loro. Int, nlaB for tho
consistency Of ! rnaa wAon you begiN to talk Of
JEFF DnyiB, tho caBo IS qnto altered. 11e, thoy
would t,rofor ua to beliovo, would Enyo boon
much vorso thnn m nrch-ltobel had to mover
lived on tho rruirie
An obiert of moro modern interest than Fort
Crawford IL tho
NEW na11.noAn-nn1DnE,
IL rnIca Ii, length, that eronsea tho MissiasippI
q this point: and Witch connects Prairie tta
ing "a great doal OF interest at tho presont Time.
from tho faut that 1t promises to nlalo 9100,o
DO tho work Of 81 100000 OF 81. 0oo.
stationary brllge of tho same length as TINT
nj prairie du Chion would cont oyer 81 ,ooo, 900.
SI0o.000. It is us safo. Mt least as r stationary
bridge anlpots on tho diasiss'ppi say that they
do not haYo onc-twentieth the apprehension in
approaching It that thoy do In noaring tue enor~
aiata Of two narts. II is partly tlxod anil partly
movable. Tho stntionnrY l,n1t docs not differ
from tho contriVancca unetl to carry railway
trains over hwampy. grounds or email streams,
HnN WHICH kIo !iAAlIAh1 w Ht4 AAftAotHs
It is nothing moro than pio-bridgc But,
where the river is doopest,
r1oA1lSa DnAwnn1noE,
constructed on MI original principle and plan.
nnd specially aiaptcd to rniiuay- notion is called
Zero with tho navigation Of tho riTer, Hnco it
eau DO awung open by Btpn1n-power in 4 minute
or loss. oyor tho floating portion track il
laid, just aB on solid Ground only tho ronti-bed
il itself movable vertically, being adjuatabio by
menus OF enormous sc1oWs and 0thor machinery,
to my Htage OF watcr. Tho stationary and mpv
ablo portions are connectaa by msana Of iron
aprons. Your correspondent saw two tsnls pass
over this hsidge.-ono OF them train Of twen-
ty-1yo cara. They rolled ovor as eaaily
mid Hafeiy ma ii on solid ground. Tho
experiment lap proved TINT 1t il possible to span
q lnrso river with floating railroatl-bri1go. At
Prairie d1 clsio1,. part Of Tho htstionary portion
Of tho bridge rana over n small iAlaMl ~ tho
middle OF Tic river. which IL th1is divided into
two channels. DslonEiog to oach claans.ol il n
separate drawhridGo 400 rcot in lengttt: Tho
pontoona, or floating portions ago fashioned
length strength, and buoyRncy. Tho bridge
md aprons aro suitably braeed to boar heasy
Weights.
II is claimod that, beaidcs i!s much ereator
yautagcB oyor any heretofore, in nso over navi-
gablo streams. It docs not Interfere With sho
courso Of TIM river. 1t permits deposits to he
mado naturally, y,--tlslis preventing q chango OF
EHnNEb!s " IL G0S0lutS!J bAl1s hA3 uaAl Htttt4t
upon It would continue on it, although it should
broa1 away from its fastening1;; 1t rornnts 4
w.s,er cl,aune to boats taau would ha practicable
| in tho caso Of a STATIONARY bridge. Captains
navigating tho Mississippi oil testify to ta raa-
tiysly very great safes5 ylcwed from ttleir suad-
! point.
1rs M,aToNY
is not oatira!y devoid of iieoreBt. Yeara nso, ita
originator CONSTRUCTOR rule rropristnr, n'i! pat
| on{ee--srr. Joln Lawlor, Of this placo,- ,-enterol
| frto ,tifh h1i1rnbtnn x Ht IH1tl
hallway Company to trankfer the!r freight across
| tho Misaisaippi to tho Iowa sido. Th,a llo ac-
conplshed by means Of boats. When thc 1t.
| Paul t. Nebraska limo WAS completed oil tue way
to at. Paul, it bcrarne necessary To trni1bfcr tho
cnrs Of tho roat. Ms vol tho freight, from ons
| sit!o to tho othor OF Tho river. This also VAS
dono by means Of steamboats, or tlatboats: Wien
| Tho winter came Mr. l.au!er constructed oyory.
tic cars, With Their freight, wore passed ovor it.
In spring tho pi!os ~ere torn down. ena tho
| freight again carried oyor in boats, Il,ih wont
| Oh for q serlea of years. At list tho hanpy
Thought eno TO MI. LAWYER tnat s!,ea s.t 10 nsd
sib1y construct floating hyttge anil r.n n trail.
Of ears over 1t. Ilo triod tho experiment, aud
cyon those who for long titno insisted it was
chimelicN., now acknowledge
| IT'S Co11rLETE SUCCESS,
md Bny that it is destineA to work q htt.e reyo"
| l,3tion in tho construction OF rNilWay-hrilEeA
oyer streams, wherever clrcntnatanceH will pnr-
! nit tho eona!tueton OF ono lss that at Prairie
| tlu Cstou.
Among, tho rlaccH Of interest hero are tho fine
1nausion, OF I1,uln DoHHr'a.,, tbs yomng ms!lion-
aire, md Of hr. John Lnwlcr; st. Johns Col-
! IoSe, anu 1T. Msry'n Institute both lourlsltug
Catholic educational institutions j.
:n,hc 1sfaccryiiae Sra1Ke.
Fran tho l,rasnia city {Nep.> EHt'sp-it.
II appears thnt tho biz snake tas asaan broaos1
out up noar riaccrrillo. From time TO tlnso VIC