The Portland daily press., 1883-11-22

III SUBURB in an unattractive street where
| there was no covering of the prairie soil,
which after every shower is black, soft, adj
hesive mud, through which, if they venture
into 1t, carriages must plunge and labor like
a small tug boat in chopping sea. Upon
| the sidewalks, people who do not like dirt,
must carefully pick their way. There had
been shower when / went to see the elm
coin House, so that I could judge easily
what must be the condition of the way, af-
ter protracted rain, or when in the spring
the frost is coming out of the ground.
think no one who has any just sense of
the tremendous importance of the events
which were crowded into the five years of
that great war, and of the part which Mr..
Lincoln had in them, and of his influence
over them, and upon the destinies of the
country, can look upon that humble dwell
ing without emotion. We know something
of the great change which came to him,
when from the peace and calm of his little
home he was suddenly and unexpectedly
called out to control whirlwind and direct
a storm, such as the world had rarely seen
before. How crushing his responsibilities
were, how deep his sense Of them was, how
many anxious days and sleepless nights he
had we know something of. We did not
understand it at the time, but now we see
that his prudence, his moderation, his self
control, his waiting on Providence were bet
ter and wiser than the Impotence and i'm
petuosity Of many of us, who wished events
TO move faster and to eliminate more quick
| ly. What a place in history is justly his /;
| how well he will fill it; how strong his claim
| is upon the love, gratitude and generation
| of the people, one of the wisest, truest best
of his time, raised up by Providence, as we
believe, to occupy place requiring wisdom,
courage, fortitude and ficmness such as few
men possess,
Springfield was planted in a small way in
the midst Of boundless prairie, level as the
sea, extending in every direction to the hor-
izou, covered with bountiful crops ia their
season, which The soil seems to have the
ability to produce continually without the
| help of fertilizers. There is 10 Hill any
| where, and few trees to relieve the monoto-
| ny of the landscape. The cornfields are SO
large that often one cannot see the end of
them; many hundreds of acres some of
them must contain The dull yellow of
these is occasionally interrupted by the
bright green of the great fields of winter
| wheat, which seems to be growing vigor-
ously, as if it were early spring instead Of an
advanced autumn.
Springfield is busy, prosperous, but not
pretty town. Il will require many years
and a larger growth before the appearance
| of newness, and newness will disappear
| from its streets and surroundings The
| houses are scattered about over large ter
ritory; they are mostly of wood, small and
cheaply built, indicating the beginning of
life in new territory. There is a good deal
of energy and enterprise among the people
There is here very large watch factory,
| producing the best work in large quantities.
| Fifteen hundred hands are employed, most
| ly girls, to whom the work is well suited
| Five hundred watches every day are pro-
| duced, in price from those suited to small
purses to those intended for people of ample
| fortune, made in the best manner and cased
in fine gold. The cheap watches as well as
the costly ones, are good time keepers, in
every respect we'll and honestly made This
factory is one of the largest of its kind in
the country; upon the extensive buildings a
good deal Of money was laid out for arehi
tectural effect, so that they are elegant as
well as great. Five hundred watches day,
10000 in three hundred working DAYS!
| The Elgin factory in this State produces
twice as manv, 100000 watches year. The
Waltham factory must produce one third as
many more: 600,0 900 watches yearl For
long time there has been wonder as to where
| all the pins go. l think the watches must
| go to the same place, wherever it may be-
Not far from the watch factory is great
rolling mill, one of the largest in the coun-
| try, employing one thousand hands. The
coal for it is taken from its own ground not
hundred yards from its furnaces, and in
this the establishment has great advantage
over those mills which obtain their coal by
costly transport alton. There are seven coal
mines within the territory of the town, pro-
ducing an excellent article, costing the PEG
| pie two dollars only ton, delivered
have been struck with the poor look of
the farm houses and farm buildings in this
| State. The houses are small and cheao.
seeming to have only two rooms, often in
bad condition; and the barns, if any, are
small and poor. could not understand
how it could be that upon the most fertile
land in any country the farmers could be SO
poor as their dwellings seemed to indicate
They reminded me of the farm houses and
farm buildings in Maine in the old rum
time, when our people used to spend in
strong drink, the entire value of all
our property in every period of less
than twenty years. l spoke of this to
a. gentleman who called upon me- and
suggested that it must come from whiskey.
beer and tobacco. NO." he said, the farm
ers, as a rule, are not drinking people
They were formerly drunken lot but
| within few years, they have become sober
and Industrious. They are 'trenters" and
not owners of their farms. The land is
owned in large blocks by rich proprietors
who will not sell; but rent it for payment
in kind, twelve TO fifteen bushels of corn
| for each acre. The farmers therefore have
no inducement to have good houses and
barns or to improve the land. Their inter
| est is to Skin" it, and to spend upon ii as
little money as possible. This is very bad
| system for the country, but not SO bad for us
| as it is in England, where it is perpetuated.
Here these great estates will be broken up
and divided upon the death of the present
| proprietors, but it prevents the improve
ment of the. country.
The drinking among our people is mostly
| confined to the towns which abound in sa-
looms, while they do not exist all, or hardly
at all in the country. Here,we have forty sa-
looms 'slicensed" besides those which have
no license. They are estimated to sell at
the least, forty dollars worth of liquors a
day, each making sixteen hundred dollars
in all day, and four hundred and eighty
thousand dollars in the year, dead loss Of
80 much money, SO far as any good coming
to the city is concerned. How different
would be the appearance and condition of
our city if this vast sum could be devoted
10 useful purposes; $4,s00,000 in ten years;
$9,600,0 900 in twenty years, to say nothing of
the interest and incidental gaiks, which
would more than double the amount.
Our people are now very much interested in
this question, and the system will be changed
in the near future Three hundred thousand
names of petitioners were sent to our legisla-
ture for the submission of the Question OF con-