The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-11-25

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~ EvANsvILLE, IND, Nov. q, 1875.
RDar0R ADVANCE: This city claims
to have forty thousand people, and per
l,aps i l,as, for it has water works On
tic Holly plan, some six OF eight miles
ct sewerage, foar different linesof rail-
way, and mills, foundries, machine
shops; and salooas, TO number which
ono must consult the Directory. @1
The Ohio River Is i grand highway
Of commerce, on which, steamers come
and 20 with less speed, but scarcely less
certainty and promptness than the rail-
way trains. Each one can carry %
oueh fright ~ halt q dozen loc0mo-
ttveo con draw, aud furnishes facilities
Tor handling and; stowago that are
vastly superior 20 anything TINT rail-
roads have yet supplied. Hence water
transportation 10 OF. such wonderful
importance IN commercial transactions
that no great mart of trade has ever
grown up away from Natures thor
ouHhfares.
In true southern style the streets are.
In many places, lined with forest trees,
which In the summer days greatly re-
dnce the oppressive effects Of the heat.
But you must not Imagine that eve
rything goes along smoothly and pros
perous)y, even: among these money
kinRs. A few months ago when the
great mercantile firm of London and
New York, Duac.n, Sherman & Co.,
collapsed, one of the merchant princes
OF this city went under, and now he
lives in his wife's fine house, but has
no property Of his own.
Three years ago an effort was made
to build = railroad hence to Lake Erie,
10 distance of nearly three hundred
miles, but only seventeen miles have
been completed, and there is one train
a day running on it, which hardly pays
expenses. .5 =,
As to taxes, they are higher in pro-
portion than in the Western States
generally. Farm lands at a taxable
value of thirty or. forty dollars per acre
do not yield as many dollars profit per
mum as western farms that are worth
only i've or six dollars. One, farmer
said to me, II have over one hundred
acres in cultivation and yet have not
made enough to pay expenses and taxes.
Why, l would sell out IL I could-tl,en
I might 60 west and buy q whole square
mile of land" And you ought t., have
seen how his eyes twinkled with delight
rs he thought Of getting a 600 acre
farm. But he opened his eyes right
wide with surprise when he learned of
locality that is not cursed with ague
and fever thirteen months in a year.
where, in fact, malarial disease is al
most unknown.
However. Mr.. Editor, I must beg
pardon for wandering 50 far from my
subject, for l began to tell you some
thing about this thriving city, and in
stead have written about almost
everything else. Well, the same is
rather too extensive fer the limits of
this letter at present, and so it must
have the ''go bye" for this time. "Un-
Gle Sam" is expanding 4 half million
Of dollars in building a Custom House
block, for the PcstOffice, u. S. Court,
etc., but it will not be ready for occu-
pancy for some time to come. Perma-
nent business improvements are not
very common, however, on account of
the ''hard times.'' The lawyers seem
to profit most by the misf0rtunes of
others, for if one gets into a tight place
somebody will sue him to collect debt,
and 50 the lawyers seem to get plenty
to do in spite of the financial depression.
But this sheet is full, and so this scrib-
ble is ended. Yours. XES.