The New York Herald Newspaper, September 20, 1869, Page 5

NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1869—TRIPLE SHEET. cr een ANNE a THE OPEN HARBORS OF CHINA. Geographical and Commercial Summary of the Chinese Treaty Ports. Their Connection With the Trade and Produc- tions of the Interior. Historical Reminiscences of For- cign Settlements, The people of the United States have increasing tn- teresis in China, The establishment of direct steam- ship lines connecting our Western coasts with China and Jately the completion of the Pacific Railroad have contributed largely to extend all the ramifica- tuons of trade with Eastern Asia, to confirm which the provisions of the Burlingame treaty, if honestly ‘and scrupulously observed by ali parties, will greatly contribute, Under these circumstances everything which tends to increase our knowledge of China shoud be welcome, The political, social, geographt- cai, or rather topographical and ethnographical con- Gition of that vast empire are stili, and notwith- standing the many disquisitions, essays and reports publshed by political, commercial, scientific and even missionary travellers, s0 enshrouded in mys- tery, 80 hid from clear view by fable and tradition, twat It ig but seldom one meets with a person well imstructed in the affairs of China. Jn order to aid in the dissemination of true knowledge on this subject and to furnish, ag it were, @ guide and hel to American commercial and industrial enterprise in its relations with the Chinese, growing, as they do, daily more intimate and agsuming greater proportions almost hourly, the following geographical and statistical summary of the treaty ports of China open to foreign—that is to American and European—trade, wili be found bot only interesting but userul:— 1.—FO0-CHOW. Foo-Cuiow is the capltal of the province of Fo- Kien, and situated on the left bank of the river Min, quite a distance inland from its mouth, The popula- tion of the province of Fo-Kien is estimated at 20,000,000, It 48 one of the most important sections ‘of Ciuna, and fs politically united with tife province of Tae-Kiang under a governor whose official rest- dence is at Foo-Chow. Fo-Kten has an extent of Coast line of 180 geographical miles, and includes, besides the principal port named, the following other treaty ports:—Amoy, Ningpo, Tamsin and Tai-Wan-Too, The two last are on the island of Formosa, which forme a part of the pro- vince of Fo-Kien, and extends along the coast, from which it is separated by the Formosa Channe), ‘The inbabitants of Fo-Kien and Formosa are very industrious and much more energetic than those of avy other Chinese province, excepting, perhaps, Tartary. The country is mountainous, put fertile, and the chief products are sugar and tea. The river Mun, with ite many navigable tributaries, furnishes an easy and cheap means of transportation to and from the interior, Foreign vessels anchor in the river a distance of over ten miles below the city of Foo-Chow, opposite Pagoda Island, and goods are exchanged on lighters between the vessels and the city. Like all Chinese cities, tne principal part of the town ts surrounded by a wall, and, including the suburbs and the literally “foating population” liv- ing in boats on the river, it. numbers about 800, 000 inhabitants. Foreigners occupy the right bank of the Min, and nave extended over the adjoining nills nd into the principal suburb. A Jarge bridge, built of solid masonry, connects the two river banks and the foreign with the native population. This foreign colony, though spread over & proportionately vast area of ground, is but small, consisting of but about 200 persons, half of whom are English, the rest com posed of Americans, Germans, Portuguese and Par- eces. The climate is considered healthy, but all foreigners need careful protection from the intense heat of eummer, which ranges from 78 to 105 de- grees, Fabrenheit, and 1s never below ten degrees ebove zero in winter, The most antmated commer- cial intercourse anywhere in China is constantly kept up between this port, Foo-Chow, and Shanghae. Il. —HAN-KOW. * This city 1s in the centre of the province Hu-Peh, ‘on the Yang-Tre-Kiang, or Siue river, the most fm- portant river of the empire, originating far off to the west amid the mountain ranges of Thibet. Its course is first in a southeasterly direction to the province of Jun-Nan, and from the twenty-sixth de- gree northern latitude it changes to the northeast to the contre of Hu-Peh, where it divides Han-Kow from Won-Chang-Foo, aud passti again to the southeast it washes the cities King-Pan, NatgKing, ‘Tsan-Kiang and others, and finally reaches the Yei- jJow Sea between the thirty-first and thirty-second Gegree of north latitude, belug in length over 3,000 mies. ‘The city of Han-Kow fe situated about 600 miles from the mouth of the Yang-Tse-Kiang, and splendid steamers ply on tte waters from this city to the Coast, though it 18 said that the river is navigable Jor them as high up as the cy of Chan, further up. The distance from Shanghae to the Uiree open ports on the Yang-Tse-Kiang is as fol- ljows:—Tsin-Kiang, 160}, miles; Kin-Kiang, 446 miles, Inties, and Han-Kow, 682 miles. Steamboats of the frst class meke the trip from Saughae to Han-Kow generally in three days, and remain for about six ours at each of the ports between Tsin-Kiang and Kin-Kisng. Slower boats take five days for the trip. The downward trips are generally made in forty-eight hours. The fares for passage are as fol- jows: ‘Tsin-Kiang, twenty-five taéis; to Kin- Kiang, tifty taéis; to Han-Kow, 60 taéls; for the trip to Han-KoW ana return, 100 taéls—a tael being about equal to $1 48, gold, of American money. ‘These three cities, of which the two largest Lave each 600,000 Inhabitants—compose, 80 to Bay, one centre of population, A very large number of Chinese boats are always on the river Yang-Tse- Kiang and on the Han, and keep up con- stant communication with the various points, Once the citles of Woo-Chang and Han-Kow had, together, @ population of over three millions; but, in consequence of the Taeping war, 1t has been deci- Tnated since the Re te ad held the country watered by the Yang-Tse-Kiang. But both cities have quietly recovered and are in a flourishing condition. The very tavorable location of Han-Kow, almost in the centre of iba proper, its facilities uf communica- tion with the surrounding populous and very pro- ductive districts, by means of an extended net of lukes, rivers and canals, have given Ks commerce sreat activity and importance, 11L,—CANTON, ‘Thus port }ies on the left bank of Pearl river, about sixty mules from the coast, in the province of K wang- ‘Toug, of which it is the capita!. ‘The mouths of tue Fear! river, at the eastern end of which 1s situated Hong-Kong, and on the west Macao, are the grandest, on account of their exteut and of tie humerous islands, ‘The steamers from Hong- Kong and Macao pass here daily, and go also do donumerabie Chinese junks, By the Pearl river, its tributaries and over the many canals with which this portion of China is richly tutersected, Canton lias con- slant communication with the surrounding tea and 6K districts, and with other fertiie provinces near Kwang-Tong, such as K wang-S!, Hun-Nan aud Kiaug- Sh ton, including the people living on the boats, has ® population of about 1,000,000 souls, ‘The governor of the two provinces, hwang-Tong and AWang-Sl, hag his residence here. since Sut-Chow- Foo, once the great city of fashion and luxury in China, has been brought to the verge of ruin, Canton has been considered the handsomest city of the em- ire, and since Nanking has been destroyed by oe Taepings and Pekin has entered a downward course Canton is even assuming the proportions of the first city of the empire. Jt has fully recovered Jrom the devastations caused by the hostile incur- sions of “outwide barbarians.” Though the first port opened to foreign trade it bas preserved its ‘Cixinese character. The foreign merchants own nearly the entire river shore at Ho-Nam, but they also have acquired land Ou the right bawk, where they have erected Jarge ad splendid stoue quays, The permanent foreign ‘ony of Canton numbers about 100 persons, and smong the mercantile firma are five American, nine English and four German. Tne cit- mate is healthy, but the summer's beat very Tan, often the maximum 35% degrees ‘of Celsius’ centigrade thermometer, and ‘never fall- ing below five and a half degrees in winter, Steam- era only are permitved to laud opposite the city; Toreign ealling vessels must anchor at Whampoa, twelve miles below Canton. The Opening of otuer Kew, page nate a principally of that of Han- A o Canton, ince the p a+ A reduced the commerce of ¢ which formerly passed through the latter city, now find thelr way fa a | Han- roe Be! Pit A throug! (an ~LV.e- KIM KIANG, Next to Han-Kow, in point of im; {he ports opened to the foreign true on the’ Yang om Shenghae eud Tar feat : sted tae ire pea of province & continuous ex: of ob with the interior over, the 1i south and over the re, rivers and are such great aids the inter Ching sorovabont tbe empire. ‘Tne G Anots of this province are tea, tobacco, hemp. aper, Sorvelsin, grass cloth (made of cotton and Rags, paints, wax, 4c. Up to within @ short tine Kin-Kiang had 000 inhabitants, and was con- sidered very wealthy. But its occupation by the rebels and the war between them and the imperial- ists have almost ruined the city. Since its opening to foreign trade, tn 1861, numbers of the former tn- habitants have returned, and the part which extends from the foreign establishments on the western bank of the river to the old city has been rebuilt, ‘The present Chinese population is estimated at 50,000, and is rapidly on the increase, “There are not over fifty foreigners permanently located hers, including the customs officers and the British Con- gulute. The climate, notwithstanding the great heat in summer, 18 more healthy than any where on the Chinese coast from Shanghae to Hong Kong, the atunosphere bamg. dry. ‘The foreign wade of Kin- Kiang is etill carried on through Shanghae, but Indl: cations are muluplying that it will ere long have independent commercial relations with America aud Murope, v.—aMoy. This city {s located on the island of Hia-Mun, near the southeastern coast of the province Fo-Kien and opposite the mouth of the Lung-Klang, or Dragon river, The population of Amoy is estimated at 300,000 and that of the whole island Hia. Mun, with a circumference of thirty-six miles, ut 400,000 souls. It 18 separated from the main land by @ channel about two miles in width. The harbor of Amoy 18 one of eastest access in all China, and has been pre- ferred by foreigners for centuries, As early as the beginning of the sixteenth century the Portuguese had establishments here, and they, as well a8 tho English and Dutch, sent all their veasela hero a to 1730, Later the Chinese government contined all foreign trade to Canton and permitted only tne Spaniards to Jand at Amoy. By the treaty of Nan- kia in 1842 this city was reopened to foreign com- merce, The accurity of the harbor has contributed much to the development of ite trade, The en- virons of the city are thickly settled, and the people are inuustrions, active and enterprising. Population increases rapidly, and Chinese emigra- tion draws from here its heaviest eagrbene The cities of Amoy and. Chin-Chow—the latter the scat of the departmental government—are celebrated for centuries for sending out mercantile expeditions to the Indian Archipelago, to Hindostan and even to Persia, Teaand sugar are the staple products of these districts. The dressing of cotton goods has reached to a high perfection, and this branch of in- dustry has kept pace witn the imports from Man- chester, The foreign establishments are oP pay te the Chinese city, partly on the small islet of Kon- Lang-Foo, southeast of Aia-Mun, and separated from tne latter by a channel only 675 yards wide. VIL—NING-PO. This 1s one of the five ports opened to foreigners ‘by the treaty of Nankin m 1842. It lies in the pro- vince Cue-K: ‘at the confluence of two streams which form the river Jong. The northern branch of this river and the cansis in the {ntertor, bullt to Sonknay after pase many cities and towns, reach to Hang-Chow, the capital of the Province: The southern branch to the impor- ant city of Foung-Hoa. Ning-Po is about eleven iniies distant from the mouth of the Jong. Under the Ming dynasty this was the most important bar- por in the whole of China, north of Chin-Chow. Near Ning-Po the Portus with the atdof other Europeans, had established a colony, which had 8,000 inhabitants, among them 1,200 Port ene, OS early as the yeas 1542. The name of this colony was Liam-Poo. tin that year, aroused by the haugh- tiness of the foreigners, and especially in conse- fieae of the freepooting excurvions of a Portu- uese named Pereira, the Chinese sent a force of .000 Warriors and 300 junks against the colonists, kilied all of them aud burned their houses, Thus the destraction of the European colony of Liam-Poo tn 1542 ig narrated in the aunals of the period. Ning-Po bas now & popuiation of 600,000, and 1s rated aa one of the best built cities fu China, Ite tne laid cabinet work, wood sculptures, gold and silver articles and silk embroideries are celebrated over the world. The European establishment where all foreign vessels cast anchor is on the left bank oj the Jong, opposite Ning-Po, and connected with it by a@ wooden bridge. This forelgn settlement has greatly increased since 1861, when Taépings took possession of Ning-Po, and many Chinese moved among the foreigners for better security, and who have since remained there. in the year 1866 there were filty-one foreign mercantile firms at Ning-Po, of whom two were American, forty-three English, five German and one French. ‘The climate is con- sidered much more healthy than that of Shanghae. Vil.—SWATOW, This port is situated at the mouth of the river Han, in the northeastern part of the province of Kwang-Tong, and it is the harbor of two large inland citles—Cho-Chow-Foo, thirty-five miles up the river, and San-Ho-Pa, forty miies further. The district 0! country watered by the river Han is eeparated from the reat of the province by a range of mountains, and is, it might be said, an immense valley, dotted with numerous cities and villages. Tea, sugar, hemp, tobacco, paper, porcelain, fans, &c., are the principal ucts. The people of this region, as well ag their neighbors of South-Fo-Kien, with whom together they are known as the inhabitants of the Hak-kah, are very industrious, skilful and enter- pu Many emigrate annually to Siam, Borneo, ingapore, Malacca, Formosa, and latierly to San Francisco, Foreigners first formed a settlement near Swatow in 1861, and though tolerated by the mandarins were bot recognized. This setulement’ was on Double Island, four miles from Swatow. The port was for- maily opened in 1858 by the treaty of Tien-Tsin, but advantage was taken of this by the estabiishment of @ permanent colony only in 1832, The qflices and warehouses of the foreigners gre on the right bauk of the river Han, but their residences are mostly on the opposite side. Commerce is rapidly developing and bccry Unfortunately, however, this por- uon of China is possessed with @ thorough hatred of Europeans, which was stimulated by the trick and ractices of those é! d ip the coolie trace Lately # better disposition has been manifested by the natives, particularly towards Americans, aud the opening of a steamboat line from Swatow to ho-Chow-Foo and other interior cies along the Han, under the auspices of American enterprise and capital, will be of great beneft for the furthor de- velopment of this port and its commerce. ViIl.- 1EN-TSIN. This city and harbor were opened to foreign com- mercial enterprise and jon by the Uctober treaties in 1960. Tien-Tain ti uated in the province of ¥e-Chi-Li, at the junction of the Grand Canai with the river Pei-ho, Liab ot a 1d miles, in a direct line from Ta-Ku, the mouth of the river, and sixty miles from Pekin. Tien-Tsin 18 the capital of the dis- trict of like name, and ts gad to have had once 400,000 inhabitants. Farther up the river Pel-lio, and only three miles from Pekin, is Tang-Chow, @ still more popalous city, This latter was méwly enge in ralsing fruits and vegetables and other products of the soll for consumption at the capital so near by; but since Pekin has so atly de, clined Tung-Chow has also lost moat of its former importance. Pekin, once @ city of 8,000,000, and 100 years ili one of the most wonderful cities in tae world, has now no more than 1,000,000 of in- habitants, about equaty divided between Chinese and Tartara. The juner canals and though mostly abandoned and in the Massive stone bridges, the numerous public buildings, like the Temples of Heaven, of Agricul- ture, of the Lamas; all these, and many other colossal Monuments, apeak of tle greatness of Pekin, ‘There are many magazines filied with valuable furs, silks, embroideries, antiquities, &c., and that city sustains @ large and lucrative trade, The harbor for Pekin, as well ag for Pe-chi-li and Chan-st, and the immense territory of Mandjuria and Mongolia, is Tien-tain; and it ts also the port for the tansshipment of all goods acnt from other Chinese Ports or cities to Siberia. ‘Ihese shipments gene- rally take two weeks from Tien-tain to Fite Ges the capital of the province of Chausi, and fifty days to Kiachta, on the southern bounddry orsHaria, The products of the provinces of Pe-chiMi and Chan-si, which pass through Tien-tsin for exdhange, are cotton, beans, dates, horns, dried lily leaves, hides, furs, soap, ginseng, Wax, Wool, cainel hair, &c. Mineral ore , is abundant, and coal beds of great richness and extent Since the open- ing of this port to foreign trade it nas rapidly developed and increased. ‘The forelgn esiablishments wre located mostly on the left bank of the Petio, ‘The settlement of foreigners or of foreign firms was not as extensive as might have been, since the major part of the trade of Tien-tsin is carried on througi the old-estabilshed houses at Shanghae. At the ciose of 1866 only sixteen foreign firms had es- tablisued themseives—one American, nine English, four Russian, one German and one Italian, 1X,—CH . This harbor is easily accessible and very safe. It Hes north of Serr Chan-tung, and in the entrance to tne Guif of Pe-chi-li, In the treaty of 1860 Fung-chow, the capital of tue department, was designated as an open port, but as it had no harbor and only an open road Che-foo, thirty miles to the east, was aubdstl- tuted, though the proper name of the place where the foreign establishinents have made their settie- ment ia Jep-hai, where there is a small town of about 10,000 inhabitants, The province of Cnan-tung is the most fertile of the northern provinces of China. From the south to the north {t is bisected by the great canal. Jts products are ce- reals, tobacco, beans, peas, oll, cotton, druga, raw silk, &c. Minerais of various kinds, and ead’ and coal in great quantities, the latter especially, near the city of Che-Foo, ‘This ts the only harbor on the gull of Pe-Chi-L) which remaing open throughout the winter, and there is a good road from here to Tien- ‘Tsin and Pekin, This road passes through many other ct the most noted of which are: Chan- Juen, thifty miles from Che-Foo, celebrated for ita sulphur springs and baths, Forty miles from Chan- Juen is Hiung-Chin, the centre of an extensive trade, Further on 14 situated Wel-Hien, @ great manufac- facturing piace, where many tron foundries dourish and almost exhausttess coal mines are worked. At Wel-Hien the roads divide, one branch leading to Tsl-Nan-Foo, the other to ‘fien-Tsin, . Hefore rech- ing Tsl-Nan-Foo it passes through Tsing-Chow, where there are @ greab number of very extensive silk factories, Aud also establishments Tor the manufac- ture of a sort of vermicelli, very popular through- out China, The chief means of transport on this road are mules and camels, but @ large part of the trade is also carried on by way of the river Ta-Tsing, which empties into the guif of Pe-Chi-Li at Qhe-Foo. Foreign trade is rapidly in- t here, More vhan in creasing, at it appears Many other pakces, empire, 8 neighborly tu- tercourse between the resident foreigners and the Chinese exists, ince the latter are butiding their houses and magasines without reserve among and ae the residences end Warerooms of Whe bu- ‘TMs ig the only “open port, included oj h_ imeluded in the j of Tten-Tein of 1800, which is situated teyond ane Mmits of China proper, It 1s located on the coast of Madjuria, in the province of Tung-Ties. The for: coloniate have led not at Nin-Chang, but at mouth of the river Lian, on the guif of Liat-Tung, wa connected by # channel! with the guilt of Pe- eld, The oity of Niu-Cbang i thisty mlies from thts foreign settlement. Furthor in the ini the capital of the province, the city Muk-Den, the chief centre of the trade of Mandjuria with China, ‘The colony of foreigners is yet but small, at the close of 1868, there were but one merican, two giish and one German firm established. The ciate 1s healthy, but the winters are very cold, the centigrade theriiometer showing sometimes seventeen degrees below zero, while if- teen degrees below zero is the geueral maximum of winter temperature and three degrees below zero the usual minimum, ‘The heat of summer, however, fg usually moderate. The country around Nin- Chang is low and open, but well tillea and dotted with Villages and dwellings, ‘The chief products are hemp, corn, cotton, beans, peas, ginseng, drugs, horns, camel hair. In the winter, When flela work is impossible, the people form into large caravans and transport the fruit of their summer’s toll on carts further south, generally to Yn; XL—TA-KOW AND 'TAI-WAN-FOO. ‘These piaces are situated on the island of For- mosa, nd though at a distance of twenty-five miles they are in fact but one port. Tal-Wan-Foo Is tho principat city of the department of Formosa, on the ‘western coaat of the island, andcontains 100,000 in- habitants, It maintains a very extensive trade in Junk, but as its open roads protect the shipping only from northern winds forelae vessels come to anchor at Ta-Kow, further south, which was opened in 1864, ‘The harbor 18.8 good one, but small, and at its en- trance is a bar with but seventeon feet of water at ebb tide. In the harbor itself the depth is from eight to nine fathoms. Ta-Kow is but an insignificant lace, and the foreign settlement is also very small, Sar the Roman Catholics have a mission there, con- sisting of monks of the Dominican order. Sugar, rice, oil, hemp, salt, &c., constitute the principal ducis of the island. The climate is very warm, but healthy, a, AND XITI.—NANKIN AND RIUNG-CHOW. rding to the treaties the cities of Nankin, on the river Yang-Tse-Ktang, and of Kiung-Chow, on ihe tsiand of Hai-Nan, were also to be opened to for- eign commerce, but the very limited commercial tin- tance of these places has decided differently. Nan- Ein, the former capital of China, was for over ten yeare in the poasession of the Taepings. On the 19th of March, 1863, 1t was stormed and taken by the revels, and in gpite of all the efforts of the imperialists to retake the city they did not succeed until July 19, 1804, when the imperial Viceroy, Tseng-Keu-Fang, drove the rebels out. Since then the imperial gov- erument made Nankin the capital of the province of Kiang-Nin and the residence of the Viceroy of both the Kiangs, Every effort was made to induce the former inhabitants to return, but the peperens, ia | go slow tliat many years will pass before this city, once the chief of all the cittes of Lie en can in be said to be on the road to future prosperity and greatness. The rebels have not only destroyed all the suburbs and the city proper, but they also tore down the famed porcelain vower which stood out side of the city walls, and two miles further they destroyed another famed monument of ancient Chinese history—the mausoleam of tie Emperor Hung- Won, the founder of the Ming dynasty. XIV—HONG KONG. ‘The taland which bears this name has a circuit of from twenty-six to twenty-seven iniies, 18 very mountainoua, and contained in 1842, when it was ceded to England, only a few villages of Chinese fishermen. ‘To-day the beautiful city of Victoria, on the northern shore, opposite the Bay of/ Hong Kong, rises amphitheatrically along the mountains, into the rocks of which the streets have been hewn, Indeed, the building of this city is in itself oue of the wonders of the age, and proves what the enter- prising spirit and indomitable perseverance of the Anglo-Saxon race may accomp!! ‘The climate in summer is very unhealthy, During the months of July and August the centrigrade thermometer often Tises to 3434 degrees and falls again to 2634. The mean temperature of winter 1s 18% degrees Celsius. In the harbor the signs of busy life are always seo! Steamers from Asis, Europe and America are con- unually arnving or d roe There are steam lines connecting with New York way gt San Francisco, and by Panama; with Europe, by Way of the Red sea and the Isthmus of an ar Aus- tralia, Japan; with Canton, Macao, Swatow, Amoy, Foochow, Shanghae, Manila, and with Singapore, Calcutta and Bombay, ‘The population 12a very mixed one. By the last census of December 81, 1860, the following was as- certained to be the composition of the inhabitants of the island of Hong Kong:— 2,118 Europeans and Americana (white). .... Tmamgrante from Gos, Manila, Indit others of mixed blood,........+. 1,231 Chinese in the employ of Europeans 8,658 Chinese tu the city of Victoria..... 008 Chinese in villages and of Ken-Lun; Floating population..... Total population of island......... XV.—SHANGHAB, Of this port nothing more need be said than that what San Francisco 18 on the east coast of the Paci- fic Shanghae has grown to be on the west. Indeed, with tue proper development of the several places named above as being located on great rivers and bays mland and through open ports, yet commer- cially tributary to the port of Shanghae, that city may yet become the Chinese New York on the Pacific. AUSTRALASIA, Immigration and the New Settlers~rhe New Land Bill—Mining Reporte=The Duke of -Edinburg’s Departure—The Maori War— ite of Trade. epee Metrourne, Jaly 17, 1869. The great want of all new countries is undoubtedly @ healthy continuous immigration, not only of the laborer, but ratuer of that class of persons who, ‘while having a general knowledge of farm work, can also turn ther hands to other pursuits, and possess ‘To obtain such a class the Canadas and other colonies offer different inducements. In the one inatance it may be @ free grant of land on arrival, in another a free passage, while a third small capital. Tequires to offer both a passage and s grant of land, and go on. in whic! No can passing away. longer made miners, in which the latter are but wages men. Digging at the best isa bard life, and naturally Many men turn to more congenial employments when opportunity offers, The last protective tariff has worked wonders in providing this, and anew land bill introduced dung the month will also help, and, from its liberal nature, turn the tide of immi- grants this way again. The bill provides for in creased facilities for settling deferred payments and & free selection over the major portion of the colony. As uaual, the squatting interest is sufficiently power- ful to prevent the immediate passing of the measure, but ite eventually passing, with put immaterial al- teration, is certain, Mining matters have been exceedingly priek during the month, the late winter rains repienisuing the dried up dams and water holes and allowing the mulners to wash their long heaped up washdirt. It was mentioned previously that diamonds and other precious stones were known jto exist here, but no systematic search had been made until lately, when the numerous finds in a particular district, that of Mudgee, in New South Wales, sag- gested the idea of a thorough search being made, and company, with @ capital of £59,000 was suc: cessfully launched in the Meibourne market in a few days. Upwards of 130 diamonds were found by tie company in two weeks, and while it wonld be hazardous to give an opinion of their value, an offer has been made of £4 108. per carat for the amallost stones, while the largest are vaiued at £100 to £400, Pearis are aso got on the West Australian coast, and as high a value as £200 is placed upon some from there at present exhibited in Melbourne, The reefs being worked for gold in Auckland, N. are most astonishing!y rich, aa much as sixty-six por cent of gold a obtained from some of the leaders, 80 the country escribed by Sinbad is quite put in the shade, ‘The Duke of Edinburg has at Jength Jeft us for the South Sea Isies, en route for China and the East. His visit bas ieft anything but @ pleasant reminis- cence of royalty on our minds, more especiaily when the last wail brought ug idings that @ gum of £3,000 had deen placed upon the estimates of the British Mouse of Commons for presents made by him on his former visit, The disgust of the colonists at such meanness is open, and were it not out of respect for the humiliating figure John Bult would cut, we would return tien th As it is, we fail to find out to whom the prea were made; perhaps his Royal Highness never let wis left hand know what his right hand did, When it 18 considered that he Was apsolutely loaded with presents—the gold speci- m lone from our metropolitan gold fleld hee valu it £5,000, @ carriage costt 300 and gol aad silver trowels enough to load his ship—the pal- triness of asking for £3,000 to defray for presents Which, if made, were snpposed to come from him- self, 1@ apparent. Loyal we are to an extreme, but our loy: has had @ heavy blow, which will ngt easily pe otten. The New Zealand war still wages, and now thé coloniste are left to thelr own resources; its early termination seemna as indednite asever. ‘The with- drawal of imperial troops has caused some atten- tlop to be taken hore of how we should fare in case ora Berppean ia in which England might be en- ed. Hitherto Me small number of troops in tctoria has cost the colony mir and when we are toid they are fiable to be called away, should a War break out, the advantage of having thera here im time of peace fatis to be appreciated, and conse- quentiy the Victoria government purpose stopping supplies, and refusing to contribute a penny in snp- Port of a iment who are likely to be withdrawn ‘when alone their services might be useful, aud who at presemt, from their disputes with the civil powers, are anything bat an acquisition. The Mania has reached here, but coto- pial roads are hardly suitable for the machine, and e is likely to be short lived. Shipments are be on the way from America, which are ely to 8€ On an improved style compared with the Jambering nsachines we pave at present, jusiness, “erally speak: is dull, M1; for Trneat ge cla oHte: bat the near ap Rien ot isa for the better Spring will alter the Save OF pita Hitherto Victoria has been able to rely solely upon her natural advantages for settlement, if course, the gold flelds are paramount; but the day for sucn to prove attractive is fortunes be im a day with @ pick and shovel; large mining compantes are replacing the thdividual THE GREAT WEST. The Queen City of the Weat—Wonderful Growth of Chicago—Important Statistica Trade and Manufactares=Her Extragrdi- nary Dovelopment Withia the Last Ten Veare~ifow and in What She Beats the World. CAICAGO, Sept, 12, 1869, It has been written that Chicago ig the wonder of the nineteenth century—that her fame has reached the ends of the earth and the people of distant conti- nents regard her influence as unbounded, her wealth a Pactolean, Such isin substance the language of @ ‘Chicago man’? wherever you meet him. He be- Neves himscif to be a dweller in the Eternal City, but if you go to St, Louts you will be there told that a Chicago man is a dweller in the Infernal City. This, however, has more pleagantry than malice in it, be- cauge really at heart these great cities are not 80 much enemies as rivals in the noble work of pro- gress. It would be contrary to natural laws that any deep-seated feeling of prejudice should exist be- tween Chicago and St. Louis, for after all they are but two queen citiea adorning the heart of the great West, mutually dependent upon each other, and the prosperity of the one adding to the prosperity of the other. A brief giance at the history of Chicago tell of the wonderful energy of its people. When many who read this article were boys, yea, and even well advanced into manhood, this city was without a name, @ mere isolated goy- ernment post, visited occasionally by somé bold trader whose love of gold and an exciting life im- peiled tuto the deserta of the far Weat. It is true that the present site of Chicago was visited by Mar quette in 1662, but until 1804 no white man thought of locating here. In 1829 the first census was taken, the result of which was that John Kinzie, Dr. Wol- cott, John Miller and John J, Beaubien were the only white inhabitants found outside the email garrison. In 1833 Chicago was incorporated as a town, and on the 10th of August the same year the first election was held. There were twenty-eight voters, so that to elect a full Town Council and other officers nearly every voter kad to run for office. ‘Ihose were glorious days for poll- ticians, when the love of doing right was stronger in the politician than the love of plunder. Since the primitive days of olden times the city has increased in an extraordinary degree, In 1820 the population was thirty, 1m 1839, 4,200; 1n 1849, 28,047; 101859, 90,000; 1m 1869, 260,000, Thus it will be seen that in the last ten years Chicago has nearly trebled its population, something never before recorded in history, that is 1m a natural increase of population. And here fol- lows a suggestive idea, Not only has this city ao rapidly incréased, but in proportion so has the vast country between the Eastern States and the far West into the heart of the Rocky Mountains, and away over the Sierra Novadas in the golden valleys of seine Weatare fast becoming the powers of the nd, One of the New Chicngos ef the Far West Something About Past History—Conceraing Indians and Missionaries=Railroad Enter- PrisceDeicstable Staging—Facts for Farme ers. Councit Buurrs, lowa, Sept, 15, 1860, This 13 one of the historic towns of the Far West. Not over half a century ago the red man of the prat- rie held high carnival here, and, like Robinson Cru- Ko, Was master of ali he surveyed. The Pottawatto- mics and the Jowas held council here and discussed the affairs of State with more gravity and wisdom than do the white sages of to-day who congregate in the halls made sacred by the giants of olden tumes—the Jacksons and the Bentons and that class of sterling men. Council Bluffs nas recelved ita name in memory of the Indian councils held here, and it 1s strange that while the white man delights in blotting his red brethren out of existence he does what he can to perpetuate and give to immortality the names of places once dear and sacred to the heart of the Indian warrior. As early ‘as 1827 the zea! of the French Catholic misstonaries brought them as far as this point, where they locat- ed and established a little chapel, the site of which modern civilization nas not yet buried in oblivion. In 1846 and 1847 another sect, not leas zealous in the Propagation of their faith, arrived here, namely, the Mormons, who fleeing from péraécution in the States of New York, Missouri and Illinois, wended their way westward to these then wild solitudes. Here they established @ little village, which they named Kanesville, in honor, it is sald, of the great arctic explorer, Why they should have so honored the distingutsned explorer we know not, unless because, like themselves ne was seeking a new world. In 1848 a weekly paper, called the Frontier Guardian, ‘was published here by Orson Hyde, one of the Twelve Aposties in the Mormon Church. Yet the real growth of Council Bluils dates no farther back than fifteen years ago, and for several years afterwards It had a struggling existence. As soon as it was dis- covered that it must eventually become a railroad centre local capitalists began to take more interest in the development of the city and its immediate vicinity. a At the present time of writing no less than nine railroads have their initial or terminating points at Conncil Bluffs—the Union Pacific, the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific; the Council Bluffs and St. Joseph, the Council Biults and Sioux City, the Bur- lington and Missourl River, the St. Louis, Chilt- cothe and Council Bluffs; the American Central, and the Muscatine, Oskaloosa and Council Blutts Rail- roads. The Chicago and Northwestern and the Chi- cago, Rock Island and Pacific Raliroads run special through trains daily, and have a lively competition. Tue American Central will connect with Fort Wayne, Ind., there to form a link eastward with the Pitts. burg, Fort Wayne and Pennsyivanta Central. The managers of these lines are making every effort to have the route the cheapest and shortest of ali others California. And all this maryel has been accom. plished not by government or the aid of monstrous corporations, but by the free and spontaneous im- alses of the individual man and woman seeking and Fongin; for the spots that are to be the Paradises of thé future, 0, beautiful America, where else upon tbe broad earth can man find @ home as he can find it with theey Where else can poor and oppreased hamauity find comtort and consolation, Bhd an asylumn, except in thee? But we mast di- ‘ag Chicago 1s jealous, and demands ail the attention we can give her, And now we will look at her commercial progre28. In 1629 her commerce was 0. In 1869 her commerce for the month of August was something marvellous, as follows:— ‘Total number of arrivals 2,12! Crew 1,919 ‘Tonos, + 486,192 ‘otal nu 2,061 ‘ew. 1,844 Ton page. 461,290 ‘Boese 5 and yi cago men tell you the city is only in its commercial insbney. If we look at Chicago as a depot for the substantial producta of the earth, we find her with- out @ rival. In 1869 the receipta of wheat were 8,060,766 bushels; the shipments, 7,166,698; in 1868, receipts, 13,488,261; shipments, 10,060,451. For the present year it is estimated that the recelpts will ‘amount to 15,000,000 bushels. The receipts of corn for 1859 were 5,401,870 bushels; shipments, 4,340,860; for 1868, receipts, 25,228,463; shipments, 21,886,632. It is curious to note that as population has multiplied itself double, 60 also have the crops of wheat and corn, The Oat crop for 1859 was, in re- celpts, 1,767,696 nipments, 1,519,000; for 1868, re- celpta, 12,059,645; shipments, 10,309,063, Rye, re- 1869 Were 231,614 bushels; shipments, receipts, 1,276,614; siupmente, receipta for 1850 were 652,690 8; Shipments, 446,216; for 1868, receipts, 2,80 } Shipments, 1,755,633. The tnorease in ve receipts and shipments of wheat, corn, rye and barley for the last ten years, as wiil be seen by the above figures, is somett wonderful. Chicago is tne greatest pork market wm the world, Cincinnati and Other cities navi! jong Sao. siaided, the palm. The total number of hogs recei Jast year was 1,883,878; shipped, 1,083,118; packed, 796,225. Num- ber of catule received, 313,797; 6! upped 203,680; packed, 86,346, Sheep, receipts, 202, head; ship- ments, 66,224. The receipis of wool, last year were ' 11,218,009 pounda; shipments, ° 11,293,717, For 1868 the Chicago lumber market received nearly 600,000,000 feet, 600,000,000 feet of shingies and over 70,000,000 feet of lath. Other departments in trade would show what a varied and immense depot this is for all the commodities of life. ‘The city is now beginning to turn its attention to manutlactures, especially in the prodace of iron and Wool and cotton. The inexhaustible supply of tron in the Lake Superior region and the easy access by waterand cheap freights give this city strong Neveland or Pittabuyg. Hereto- fore iron has been spipped from Marquette all the way to Pittsburg, and after being wrought there ship) back to Onic: and other points in the West. This condition of traMc will scon be changed, for te business men are ever active and alive to any feature of trade or commerce that will bud her up and make her Queen of the West. In this letter we have not more than glanced at the material Wealth of Chicago. In enterprises she has no rival, 4s her lake tunnel, her Washington street tannel, her artesian well, and the lifting up of the entire city (blocks at a time) amply demonstrate, In Iiterature and art she is not even behind; for she has authors, editors and artists Whose names are known in the streets of every Eurupean capital and in the wigwam ofthe wild Indian of the Kocky Mountains. In a word, Chicago beats the world in everything, includ- ing divines and divorces, $aeuo4s tor 1868, 3; for 2. Barle! Reporte of the Crops from Various Sections of the Northwest—Wheat Excellont—Corn Crop Medium—Barley, Rye and Oats Good— Hay AbundantA Princely Farmer. CHICAGO, Sept. 13, 1369, The reports being received daily from different sections of the West and Northwest speak much more favorably of the prospects of a good corn crop than those received during the summer. The weather is splendid for ripening, and, unlesss cariy frosts come, corn will yield an average supply. From Kansas and Nebraska we have the intelligence that the crop in those States will be fully up to the hervesta of otuer years. lowa reports a falling off of twenty per cent from the crop of last year, but it is believed that this is an over-estimate, Statistics of 1868 showed that Illinois and Indiana produced fully one-fourth of the corn crop of the country, but this year there will be a de- crease of twenty to thirty per cent below last. Min- nesota and Wisconsin report a like decrease. Taking the corn crop throughout the West there will be a considerable falling of from that of 1368, but as a Whole the yleld wil be much better than was pre- dicted two months an The statements with regard to the wheat crop are of the most cheering character. In almost every State of the great West reports reach us that tuey never had better crops of wheat, It 18 thought that the market will be so overstocked the farmers will not sow ag much wheat this fall as usual; but the news- fd devoted to Lee are urging every farmer to put in all they can, as the demand from Europe will pe large, It 1s noticeable that there 13 a strong tendency not to sow so many acres just for the mere sake of saying so, but rather to plough the land well, put in the best quality of seed and work on the principle of being abie to raise as much wheat from thirty acres in this way as from fifty in the ordinary mode. That this can be done, and thereby save an immense amount of labor, there cau be no doubt, It is a good sign to see this spirit of revoln- tion in the system of farming. The result must net only be gratifying to the farmer, but of great benetit to the world. The Coy of oats, ry¢ and barley will be aplendid, the yield being estimated at twenty p nt above the crops of year. Hay 1s excellent ip this belt of country, Where the winters are four to six months duration aud stock has to be housed all the time, the question of a full supply of fodder 1s second to none other. Making these goneral remarks of the crops throughout the West we cannot but contemplate With satisfaction the improved condition of the farmers of this vast region. Mauy of them live in fine style and few are poor; those that are must blame themselves, for there 18 no necessity of being | 80. Among the Yaa prince of this State is J. I. Alexénder, who has homes! ba of %,500 acres near Homer, On this farm ido haada are being constantly employed. Thero are under cultivation 6,400 act 000 1M corn and the re- mainder in other grains, Mr. Alexander has 4,000 head of Texas caitie, twenty teams of oxen, with five yoke to the team, and 100 horses and mules—the directly connected with New York, They will have, however, as energetic competitors the Chicago an Northwestern and the Lake Shore route to New York; aigo the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacificroad, Railroad men West are keenly alive to the fact that New York city is to be the hive whence must come the bulk of American and emigrant travel to the far West. This glance at the railroads will show at once the rapid strides the great West is making in progress bnd power. Only five years ago there were nO signa of railroads to Councli Bluffs, and to get here the traveller hed to endure nearly 300 mules of staging, lens he came by the Missouri river, when he have four tiles of staging, and that the worst staging in the worid. Strange to say, the staging between Omana and Council Biutls, or vice versa, 18 Worse than it was twenty years ago. While both ‘of these towns have improved and built up rapidly in other reapects, the stage route between them is such as you might expect between two bar- barian villages é1tua! on either side of an almost bottomless eg The distance from tie Court House at Council Bluffs to the Court House at Omaha said to be five miles, yet it takes omnibuses of the Transfer Com, trom one and a half hours to three nours to make the trip, If the weather ig bad—that is, if there have been heavy rains—Heaven only knows when one can get through; for the stages are peng dragged along half the time in decidedly muddy sloughs, where the water sometimes pours into tne stage. If the enthusiastic denizens of the two young Cul- Ci adorning the unromantic borders of the “ie Muddy” in this immediate vicinity would have strangers think well of tuem they had better go to work and make the road connecting thelr cities something else {ban ashame. A littie more shovel- lung and a litte less advertising—or, as your genuine Western man calls it, “a littie less blowmg”—would be more in place wit! to this . some old and close stadent of men and thinga says that you Can tell the greatness and glory of a people by their roi but evidently the of Council Blutfs and Omaha do not look at it in that light. We hope, however, that when they read the New YorK HERALD they will mend both their ways and their roads. While here we called at the Land OMice to get some facts and oot ie epee to taking up and setiic- ment of homesteada and farms, and learned that every acre of land belonging to the government had been taken up in Western jowa witn the exooption of 2,000 acres in @ distant county. ‘he different railroads, however, hold grants of between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 acres, none of which has yet come into market, The Buriungton and Missouri River Raul- Toad is just commencing to open up its lapds for settlers; but farmers will find that farma porchased on time from railroad companies are generally T speculations. They ave to give mortgages {if not paying money down), and a heavy interest keeps Tunning on, 80 that they may say tiey are never out of dept. The experience of farmers who have had anything to do with railroads throaghout the West has been a bitter and losing experience. If men at the East and emigrants seck cheap farms in the Weat they had better go to gome section gud settie on @ homestead, or cise Guy directly from the government at government prices. The writer as had =6& «great deal of experience in such matters, and knows whereof he writes. There are millions of acres in the West and far West yet owned by the government, and with Sey} of en- ergy and a very littie money no man mised be with- outa farm. We would rather see and shake bands witu @ good bonest farmer than any merchaht prince or railroad king that waiks tne earth. Indeed, the More we see of life the more we are convinced that unless the farmers af the republic retain their physical, moral and primitive features we shall goon become @ nation of and wretched money chai with blood as cold as vipers and hearts hike Shakspeare’s Jew. Now our rt 18 — a age 80 we will come down to facts ani e- Tage ali the way fr ty dollars per acre. By improvements the Eastern reader will not understand that we mean a beautiful orchard, a Mower garden, splendid barns, beehives, &o, Rather this, a house built close enough to kovp out the sun in summer and the snow im winter, a barn partly sheltered, with a pig pen underneath, a hen rest above tne hay loft, aud @ sort of sued worked in at one end under the hay mow. ‘The Western ler will recoguize this style of barn when he the brief, unsavory description. Yet there are several weil-to-do farmera who live it good style and are getting rich in the world, as the owe goes. Wild farms are worth from ten to wenty dollars, Real estate in this city is high, Business lots cost from $2,500 to $3,600. Residence lote from $100 to $2,600. Mechanics can purchase lots at from $150 to $300, on time, by commencing to build on them and make A residence. Sucii lots would not be very avaiiabie at prevent, as in wet Weather the owner would have to go on attits, aud in dry he would have to be veiled as close as the Cir- eassian beauty of some Turaiah nabob, not because his beauty might smite some fair Paige, but be- eause his eyes might be clogged With dust. But wien Council Blatt’ has twenty or thirty or one hundred miles of street railroad then tiungs will pe changed, and such lots, like certain politicians, migat be made available. Let us now glance at the social and religious fea- tures of this metropolis. here are eight cuurohes, sone of which are elegant and Otners iaeiegant, cording to the dollars and ceuts the respective con- regations can bring into the field. Men are becom- iy 80 Civilized and Christivuized that they do pot Wworenip in the groves, like the “holy men of ancieut times;” neither do they congregate as figheraica, but rather as millionnatres, wealthy shoddyttea aud owners of valuable corner lets and fast horses, Byen in this the tar West Mammon bas a good deai to say with the hig our Heavenly: Patier has ten- ples builded unto him. You know that in Vorin- thians King David telis his people that be cannot build @ house unto the Lord because of his being & man of the world; but bere your man of tne world will invest largely in building a ‘‘noly house,” be- cause it pays—that 1s, 1¢ is popular to do go and pone him business. Besides the churches there are three theat. es, which remind me of some tueatres 1 have secon in South America, in which your servant was present with an umbrella and the “aupes” were én; 1o stopping up rat holes, lest the rata should take too active a part in the piece delighting the audience. On the otver hand, Council Blut has eight fine brick schoolhou: ® large high acnool in course of erection, a Catholic coliege, & ladies’ seauipaty, adeat and dumb asylum, an: other features of laterest. There are two very good daily newspapers pudiished here, and when we con- sider that the population is only about tweive thou- sand, and that something like one-third is man, and probably half of the entire community are foreigners, it must be allowed that some few people Tread and @ great many advertise, In our travels wo are every day being convincod that this is an age why tee gat ail Dave more advertisers than fe Council Bloffs is now a toriving town, and must become a city Of great importance ina commercial point of view, for it will not only have great raliroad facilities, butriver communication with ali the (the Missonri river) there is a wide, sweeping bot- tom, which, some or or another, wi as the foundation of ag Mad ~"s site of Ce ee tral Pai Finh avenues, It is some miles from the city to the river, ina straight line. The principal atreet is called Broadway, this made out of two atreeta running something like the two sides of a right led triangle. U; Broad ne z are principally on the streets gunn! up imto the Sgaighes that ig what men weet ‘ot ti Missouri iver them; men eaat are a@ little more Poetical, and call them ‘“giens.’? quiches: or giens are huge excavations dug out of ihe mountain sides by heavy rains and wind storms. From the bluffs over the city the traveler may atair view of Councli Blu, and an excellent full face view of Omaha on thc opposite side of the river, In conclusion, this metropolis 1s republican in politics, but the democrats are making strenuous efforts to get the handling of the good things of Political life—the far offices. The republicans, to get into office, passed stringent bey d laws, and thus they got the vote of what is called the and law-abiding citizens. But political warriors are Masterly tacticians, and, while they have closed the front doors of saloons and like places, they (4 juietly to the proprietors, “You can keep the bac! oor open, and we'll not enforce the law.” The democrats say this is sham legislation, and endeavor to prove the bypocrisy of the republicans. We mention this to show the reader that metropolitan olitics are about the same in Council Bluns as you nd them in New York city. It’s all for self and Offices, and nothing for God and humanity. TERRIBLE THUNDER STORM. Six Henacs im Cleveland, Ohlo, Struck by Lightning—Burning of the Cleveland and Piusburg Railroad Freight Depot. {From the Cleveland Leader, Sept. 18.) Thursday pight at about half-past ten a few streaks of lightning were seen from time to time in the north. They gradually increased, and at eleven @ very slight shower began to fall end the lightning changed from the north to the east and soon again tothe south. At twelve o'clock the lightning glared terribly in that quarter of the firmament and the thunder roared as if all ite force was being spent. No citizen of Cleveland ever saw auch a terrible storm, The wind was almost still and the rain fell straight down in torrents. The sky was biack with marky clouds, but the livid lightning leaped forth at every instant, throwing @ frightful light for mules sround. ‘The storm had raged but a short time when the lUghtning came down the telegraph wires at aS oiice station, stove @ hole in the solid wall, en rushed out under the floor along the gasptpe. The watchman saw the fiash, heard the piaster fall, but had not want ben rw from lus fear when the winged fire suot of, Several flashes of ligasning stzack, the Toledo Rail- road bridge and ran acress the iron top and down on to the raliroad track. Gaeckiey & Krieger's machine ahop, on Canal street, was also struck, the chimney knocked to pieces and the bricks sent ratting down into the building. At the game time ire was seen on he ’ WEST SIDE. It roge rapidly, and illuminated the darkness for niles around, abd soon Was over. It was a barn on Detroit street, a mile from the city limits, Lt con- tained @ large quantity of hay, one horse, two wagons, which were entirely destroyed. The bay caused the flames to spread rapidiy, and mado tho fire appear greater than it really was, HOUSE OF MR. GEORGE P. SMITH. While the fre was raging on the west side, the house of Mr. George P. Smith, 884 Prospect street, was struck by lightning, The top of the chimney, near the front on the east side, was complete broken to pieces. A grate in one of the irons Wi whioh the chiamey ,communicated was throwp out of place and sent rapidiy ackoss the floor. A hole about an iuch in diameter was made in rein conductor, and the hook which attached the con- ductor to tne building was torn out and the bricks around it were thrown some distance from the house. AD arm of one of the inmates of the house was fend ee eae and every one of the house felt the shock. Simultuneously with this the lightning entered a house AT NEWBURG. Jt was the telegraph oMice of the Cleveland Roll- ing Mil Company, The hghtoing here just left a trace of lis passage. It came down the wire, burned streak from the celling to the cat off and injured the telegraph apparatus very maverimily. The watchman was dazzled ao a soon sprang to his work and extinguished what fire there was. Several other buildings injured by CLEVELAND AND PISTS8URG FREIGHT DEPOT, The exact time when the fire broke out, the way it caught and the logs incurred are not exactly Kuown yet, At balf past three one of the watchmea he went through the depot and found every- thing all right. At @ quarter to four a Watchman at Une round house, named Pat McDonald, says he saw tne dre and gave the alarm at the nearest box. didn’t Work und the alarm was not heard. few Water street, where ve tne alarm, and that He states that he then ran up wi jepot the flames were bursting forth in ungovernable fury from the Peli east corner of the buliding. at the scene of the confiagration. They, descended Front strees bill very rapidly, but on arriving near of locomouves ing the k for fifteen or twenty inutes. By thia ime the whole buiding Large fi off in every di- rection aud coals were seen this morning on the aide- rior and on @li the strects about the river. The depot was the railroads the coulng sbd gol prevented them from was ina walks in Water street as far up as Suj enveloped in one vast sheet of fame, whicit spread out nearly to the neighboring depots and made the night as light as day. Pigeons that uad been aroused from their nests in the buliding flew about, went over, the flame and in a moment dropped down into e fire. Ag soon as possible the steamers were put to work, ‘The hose was stretched giong near the river, but in tho course of iiteen minutes were so burnt that it would not carry water. Several streams were im- mediately thrown upon the buildmg but could not suppress the fauies. Mr. William Steward, tne,freight agent, was ab- sent, and telegraphic des; hes were immediately sent to him at New ¥ Philadeiphia and Platta- burg. His brother, Mr. Guy Steward, was on the ground at a very early flour, and exerted bmpeif very actively in endeav: to save the books and papers of the company. i the books and ali the papers, however, were ‘ost, except a few that were coatained in the safe. Mr. Steward bad a atream of Water thrown against the sale all the time the fire was raging, and succeeded in saving the pay and money it convained. By six o'clock the building was nearly everywhere burned down to a level withthe ground, and everything contained 1n it, except the contents of the safe, Was destroyed. All is nowa mass of charred rums, smoking rattera, and goods haif burned and completely soaked through with faba Neither the building nor its contents were ‘There ia no time in the year, perhaps, when there was so iittie freight in the depot, Neariy ail the upper lake freigut was sent off last night to Mil- waukee aud Chicago. There were 760 kegs of ten- penny nails belonging to Cleveland, Browne & Co., tat Were, perhaps, two-liftas lost, some of the kegs beiug burned and nails almost meited. They are now lying among the rutus in two heaps, and at the bottom of each there are a number of kegs that are not burned. Seveuty-four boxes of fruit jars be- longing to Comptoa & Batchelor were completely destroyed, ana filteen barrels of oil pace ta to the same firm were endangered and greatiy injured. Some of the barrels were burned a little and otners completely destroyed, 30 that the oil dowed about and formed in puddies in the mud. Three freight cars were partlaily destroyed and two completely burned up. Heaps of half-burned merchandise are now ly! around and among the ruins of the ene Fe Unware, boots and shoes, books, butter and eggs, sweet potatoes, carpenters’ toola, wheels, padlocks, caus of white lead, carpets, bed quilts, natis, iron pipes, drugs, are seea every where awonug the wrecks Of the building. ; it ig supposed that the fire was caused by the lightning entering on the wire at the eastern ex- tremity of the building. If this 18 the case it must have hnppened between twelve and one, while the storm Was at its heigut. There were tive hundred feet of hose and a hydrant near the depot, belonging to the company. ‘The men present tried to work them, but haa not force enoug! The depot buidiug was originally constructed for grain Waredouse and was buult of pine plank. As soon as the fre began tt Hed all over the depot, The origipal cost of the building Was $25,000, BASE BALL NOTES, The Telegram says:—"1t is queer how the Athletic »Base Bail Club manages to pluck so wiany high laurels, since ite Reach 1s 30 short,’ How tue linie fellows love one another, On Friday the “Giants” (Orion) will go to © ng Sing, not to work, but to . They will mes: the Ivanhoe Club there, aod have a friendly gaine. The Eurekas of lirooklyn went to Newark on \\od- nesday to play with the Amateurs, The Brookiya boys found the Amateurs too “Thorney” aud were defeated. Score, 57 to 7, Ww do not the Warren Juniors do what ts right? The Montauks say they defeated the War- Tens on Thusday, ina game of ten int ) With the score J to 21; that the ampire signed the score book with the result so stated, and that tire captain of the Warren nue peremptorily aud posiuveiy refused to tender the Monta the trophy. This wul not do, boys When you aro beaten, acknowl. edge ene corn’ maniully and determine to do better next time, On Friday the Patnamse, of Troy, will play the Mone Dauntioss, of Brovktyn, deteated th . “4 ‘he Dauntiess, of Brooklyn, de! ¢ Union, at N iy k, on Thursday last, with the score 10 oe ny ata fame. On Friday next the veteran Knickerboo! this city, and the Excelstora, of lyn, will on the grounds of the National Club at Washi The ‘1 " intend to have a genuine biowout on rincipal cities in the Mississippi valley aud Upper Missouri country. Then mats as @ backer AE a ricl cultural as & Minnesota achoolmibtrows or & 80 from oxen, hoi and mules constantly employed 10 een eo ee farm ioe M4 present year ‘There is only one W: on the farm, ‘ul the cooking ior Rounchold labors being di aiprace cost for board is thirty- jay. are hun- dreds of of ut this State who carry on jarming on the game Magnificent goalie. The fariners an 1 ti bere in the world, ‘Tho ten iuelt. looks rather romaii' at ae oat is, it might 20 to ry ae Yale, Ithew ap about tue foot of the biut t which towers from 10 160 feat above the lovel Of the malu thoroug! Between we city alld tue age the oct . Mr. Grant, Président of the United States, has been invited r be pre fea” Ma pie have been asked to pl ere oud ve Cred cette Cong eee Re were the eccentric freaks of the light- ning, The grédcest disaster was the burning of the Chief Eagineer Hit, nis assisiants and the steam fire engines soon arrived