The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1904-06-02

9 81 "
sand people. Her river front is over
twenty miles in length. Her longest
street broadway is fifteen and one
half miles long. The longest street run
ming east and west (Olive) is six and
one-half niles long from the river to the
Void Grounds. In all st. Louis
has nine Mildred and eighty streets ag-
EgregatinG eight hundred and eighty
Emiies, with four hundred and seventy
FIVE miles OF street railway. These fg-
ures give'one some idea Of the extent
ofSf. Louis and prove her right to the
claim OF being more than little country
town. The business section is we'll
built up with modern flre-proof sky
scraping Office buildings, the tallest of
which, if we are correctly informed, be-
ing seventeen stories. (Not having a
telescope we didn't count 'em) AAl
A goodly number may be seen rang
ing from twelve to fifteen stories.
However, the one building most talked
Of in st. Louis, and more often pointed
to with pride by the st. Louisians is the
Union Station, costing in the neighbor-
hsod # four million dollars. 1t is in
deed a magnificent and commodious
structure fitted up with every conven-
fence for the travelling public. Besides
the Union Station may be mentioned
the United States Custom House which
fills one entire square and accommo-
dates all the various departments Of the
postal service as we'll as the U. 8.
Courts, the U. S. recruiting Offices,
both army and navy, the Internal Rev.
enue, Sub-Treasury, ect. Other public
buildings such as the historic -Four
Courts. the old Court House on Broad
way, Museum of Fine Arts, ETC., are
pointed out to the strangers. This part
of our story would not be complete
without some mention of the large num-
Der Of fine church buildings which adorn
the residence portions of the city.
Many of these represent the perfection
! Of architectural skill and beauty. In this
connection might also be mentioned the
great Eads Bridge which connects st.
Louis with East st. Louis, erected at
a cost of ten millions of dollars. This
magnificent structure is sixteen hun
dfed and twenty-eight feet, or nearly a
third Of a mile in length. Street cars,
wagons, and pedestrians cross on the
top floor while below this are the tracks
over which trains pass. With all this
; it is still high enough above the water
/ that steamboats, may pass under when
the river is at it's height. A toll Of five
! cents is collected for every person that
crosses, and certain rates are fixed for
eveny street car, every wagon, car,
locomotive, freight car, in fact nothing
passes over without paying toll. This
must amount to an enormous sum annu-
ally as there is only one other bridge
!! (The Merehants) at this point and it is
located farther up the river and more
out of the main line Of travel.
! AS manufacturing city as in popula-
tion st. Louis ranks fourth in the United
States. She has the largest shoe
/ manufactures, the largest lead works,
the largest brewery, the largest cracker
factory, the largest iron rail factory,
and largest street car factory in
America. In all there are seven thous-
and factories large and small. Zone
authority gives eight thousand.) This
number Of factories means smoke, and
only a few weeks ago traveller was
heard to remark that the smoke could
be seen as dense cloud hanging over
the city at distance of twenty miles.
AS the writer arrived here in the early
morning he cannot vouch for the truth
of the above statement, but it is not
doubted. We have seen the smoke so
thick here as to make it so dark even in
the middle of the forenoon that all the
Office buildings were lighted up as at
night, and outside in the street every
thing had the appearance Of twilight.
However, it is not SO bad as this only
at times when the wind is in the right
| direction, but the smoke is great
nuisance at all times. New buildings
soon become blackened and soiled by
been painted for years. This gives the
city a very dirty, ugly appearance. 1t
is next to impossible to be out on the
street any length oftime and keep ones
hands, face, OF cbllars clean on account
of the SCOT and smoke which fill the air.
In our five months residence here we,
have seen two ladies' SO foolish as to
wear white hats down town. We can
| scarcely believe that they were from
st. Louis or they certainly would have
known better. This is one feature that
even st. Louisians will admit is bad
one. 80
The climate is not such as would at
tract one in search of health. The
winters are cratic, very; changing
| from hot to cold and cold to hot as
easily and quickly as woman changes
| her mind. (Confdentially the writer
don't know any thing about women but
has read somewhere that they are very
changeable.) The air is almost at all
times damp, which adds to the discom-
fort. The average annual rainfall is
thirty-seven and one-half inches.
Another bad feature is the poor water.
1T would seem that it should be good as
| it is taken from the river above the
city and pumped into great settling
basins where it is supposed to be fl
tered before being piped over the city.
With all this it comes from the hydrant
muddy and full ofmfcrobes large enough
to be seen without magnifying glass.
But ST. Louisians are loyal, and stoutly
maintain that dirt is healthy and tell
you that St. Louis is the most healthful
of all the large cities in the United
States. Perhaps it is, but we prefer our
drinking water without visible microbes
anyway. q. II
The people Of St.-Louis are no less
| interesting than any other feature.
4 Here one may go down certain streets