Litchfield enquirer., 1874-11-26
ALTON.

4uIIS III uOW-d-udSS. 4O hOCp the points of compass firmly, to use the eyes and ears understandingly, to "see where others only look," and hear instead of merely listening, by doing this one may gain a pleasantly practical insight into persons and places, that much reading of books, or study of guide books would fail to afford. Taking this for a motto we cross from Missouri over into Illinois.
 Coming from St. Louis to Alton by rail, you pass through the Great American Bottom lands, a flat country, four hun dred and fifty miles in extent. below the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The soil IS so enriched by the riv- CT deposits, that for one hundred and fifty years it has produced abundant crops. without requiring any other fertilizer. soil, the ears being of proportionate size. On account of the richness and dampness of the land, the air is so malaria-lad as to render this country almost uninhabit- able. A man can live here but few years before he is obliged to retire from the contest, with chills and prospect of shaking" during all the rest of his life. This fact and the further fact that the whole two hundred and twenty-eight thou sand acres are mostly owned by three men, (Mitchell Bros.) accounts for the small numbers of dwellings seen The tall rank growth of weeds, bordering the railroad track along here, would quite ter rify the heart of a New England farmer, were they to appear upon his grass plot of farm. but, out here, where every thing is on such grand Scale they have room and license to rear their impudent heads eight and ten feet high.
 The city of Alton, whose former preten- sions to rivalry with St. Louis have long been thing of the past, is located upon numerous mounds of yellow color, upon which no venture will grow Ponds oc- cupy the hollows between, whose waters rise and fall with those of the river 'Down East the slopes reaching down to these miniature lakes would be converted into grassy terraces, fower-bedecked, and upon the water picturesque bouts would be seen. But Illinois is not New Jersey, (which, even with it's clayey soil is grass grown and blooming and, therefore, AL ton looms up from the river side, bare, brown, and dusty The houses, old fash toned and smoke-begrimed, are built in l all sorts of hooks and crannies around on the hills, the door steps of one en- croaching upon the garret windows of its next door neighbor, which mansion is, perhaps, attained unto by flight of lad der like steps One house was pointed out as having been built, originally, in a cavity hewn out of mound, and had been gradually excavated, somewhat after the style of the Pompeian excavations, the roof appearing first. then the second and first stories, respectively, until now exists quite respectfully sized dooryard, with prospect of enlargement to a lawn. in the future.
 The State Penitentiary, now removed to Joliet, was formerly located at Alton. The old prison still remains, an unsightly pile of stones, occupying large square, near the river. Opposite this is an old warehouse, celebrated in history as the scene of the death of Rev. El.iah Lovejoy who was Presbyterian minister and edi- tor of a paper in St. Louis. His paper being suppressed in that city, on account of too free an expression of abolitionism, he was allowed to establish 1t in Alton, upon promising perfect neutreality upon the slavery question. He kept his word for a time, but shortly after changed his pa per from a religious to one of rabid abo- litionism. This euraged the Alton peo- pie and they threw his press into the river. Loreioy ordered another, and was shot while attempting to defend it, upon its ar. rival. The leaders of the mob were ar rested, but never convicted. The above had from an eye witness. It occurred ir 1887. ..t
 Alton is divided into three district places
 Upper, Lower and Middle Town. The three are connected by street railroad
 Middletown contains the finest residences Shurtleff College, Baptist Institution fo, both sexes. is located at Upper Alton
 The view, looking across the river, at thi: point. is considerated quite fine and migh' be admitted so, ever to eastern eyes, only for the inevitable drawback of Illinoi! scenery-the sky forms too much of tho landscape. One sighs for grand bacl ground of mountains. J.N.