The Kalida venture. [volume], July 08, 1845, Image 2

About The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865

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On the 14th of Decembtr a largo British
force entered the lake Borgne and captured
the American flotilla there stationed. It
was now expected that they would make a
peedy attack on the city. On the S2d, the
British troops were accidentally discovered
making a landing about seven miles below
the city and through a kind of natural canal
which runs from the lakes into the swamp,
called Bayou Bienvenu. On the 23d, cer
tain information of this having reached
.Jackson, he determined to attack them that
night. About 3,000 of the enemy had land
ed, and they were constantly receiving rein
frrcementsj Jackson accordingly marched
.' oilt of the city and reached the enemy's I
bivouack at dusk. He immediately attacked
6 them, ann after several hours ef hard fight
ing, drove them from their position, and
' forced them down the river. It became im
possible however to act with advantage in
the darkness, and he was compelled to re
fire some distance and await the morning.
To this prompt night attack, however, may
be attributed the safety of New Orleans. ,
Had the enenrty not been awed by such a
spirited reception, which they least of all
expected, they would Upon the next day have
marched upon the city with an overwhelming
force; and without the advantage of the for
' tifications which its defenders how acquired
time to erect, New Orleans must have fallen.
, We cannot enter into a detail of the ope-
. rations at New Orleans between the 23d
December and the 8th of January; but we
will endeavour to present the reader with as
. clear a compend as is in our power. New
-. Orleans is situated on a narrow strip of land,
over one hundred miles in length, fronting
on the Mississippi river and backed, by an
interminable wooded swamp. Thisstrip at
: the point whero the British had landed, is
. not over four hundred yards in width. On
the morning of the 24th, Jackson, learning
that.the British force had increased so as far to
outnumber him, resolved to throw a breast
work across the narrowest part of the dry
ground, and thus act on the defensive. A
' canal which had been already cut from the
swamp to the river, favoured the idea and
he accordingly commenced the arduous un
r dertaking. The British remained quietly in
their encampment for several days, allowing
' him what he most desired, time to complete
'' this breastwork. On the 28th, they made
-' an unsuccessful attack upon the fortifica
. lions, and another upon the 1st of January,
in which they were also repulsed. The 8th
, of January, however, was fixed upon for the
decisive movement. " Accordingly on the
i; merning of the 8th, the signals, intendod
v For attack, were descried in the enemy's
-' lines, and shortly afterwards, the whole Bri
r: tish force were seen advancing toward the
V breastwork. They were received with a
thick volley of musketry and artillery.-
' Hundreds fell at each discharge from the
American lines. ' They wavered, retreated,
were rallied and advanced again and again
were they shot down in whole columns, by
the unerring bullets of the riflemen. Their
General, Sir Edward Packenham fell at the
'head of his troops, and several other officers
' of distinction were also killed while" attemp
-: ting to rally their men. It was in vain to
urge them on in the face of death nearly
three thousand ot their comrades had at
ready fallen, and at length, Gen. Keane
..- cave the order to retreat.
Had the troops under Jackson been armed
, and equipped for pursuit, the whole British
I army of 10,000 men might have been cap-
; lured on that day.. Jackson however, know
-ins the weakness of his soldiers in this res-
; pect, wisely forbade pursuit and the enemy
' were permitted to escape. They re-embarked
on the 18th of January.
1 . After the battle of the 8th, General Jack
son remained at New Orleans until the news
' arrived of peace with England, when he re
tired once more to his peaceful abode of the
t Hermitage."
' Here he remained for the space of two
"years indulging in rural pleasures and
amusements, at the end of which time he
was once more called out in the service of
" his country.
' Florida was still in the hands of the Span
" iards; and for some time after the battle of
New Orleans, hostile incursions were made
: upon the frontier settlements of the United
States, bv bands of Seminoles, Creeks and
runaway negroes, who found a fit asylum in
', this neutral territory. The government of
' the United States, therefore, in December,
1819 ordered Jackson to this- place, with a
sufficient force to suppress these incursions,
' giving him leave,if necessary, to cross the
Spanish line and punish the savages where-
ever he might nnd them, ue accordingly
repaired to the scene of action, and after
' having routed the Indians in several engage
" ments, and" executed two British subjects
whom he found acting as instigators to the
hostile savages, he put a speedy termination
': to the campaign, and was about to return to
." Nashville when he ascertained that Callava,
""' the Governor of Pensacola, had been afford
ing protection to the enemy; he, therefore,
at the head ot )Mv men marched against
this place and occupied if" with the United
States soldiers. For these acts he was at-
' tacked by some of the journals of the coun-
try, and for the purpose of fully explaining
his 'transactions tn person, he repaired to
Washington,- and thence to Philadelphia, Bal
timore, and New York, in all of which places
, he was received with marks of the highest
. distinction. .
In 1821, Jackson was again called upon
to serve his country in the capacity of Com
missioner and Governor of the Floridus ; which
provinces were at this period ceded to the
United States. In July he reached the
scene of his administration and after seve
ral vigorous measures by whiph he properly
organized the territory of Florida, he return
ed to Nashville in the month of October.
In 1824, General Jackson was nominated
for the Presidency, but in consequence of
the number of candidates four no elec
tion was effected by the people; and the
choice reverting to the House of Represen-
tatives, the selection fell'upon John Quincy
Adams. In 1828j General Jackson was
again placed in nomination, and was elected
ta the Chief Magistracy of the republic,
which ho held for the double term of eight
years, it was a stormy period ot our politi
cal history; but as the questions then agitat
ed are fresh in the minds of all, it is unne
cessary now to allude to them. .
At the inauguration of his successor, on
the 4th of March, 1837, General Jackson fi
nally retired from public life and returned to
the Hermitage. His physical constitution,
never perhaps such as would be termed ro
bust, though often manifesting singular pow
ers ofendurance, was now greatly broken
by the excitement and labours through which
he had passed, and, after protracted decline
and suffering, he expired on the 8th of June,
1845, at the age of seventy-eight years, and
in the full possession of his facilities, leav
ing his eventful lite and arduous services to
the judgmont of his country.
California. The revolution is progress
ing in-Upper California, and the Mexican
authorities have been driven from that por
tion of the Republic. The Revolutionists
were about organizing a republican govern
ment, with a President and a representative
legislature, modeled after the legislature of
the United Estates. I lie revolution in Up
per California, is said to have been com
menced without the loss of a single life.
The people informed the Governor that his
exactions were cruel, oppressive, and con
trary to those principles of enlightened go
vernment, which prevail among the most in
telligent and prosperous nations. They
asked a withdrawal of certain proclamations
and laws, issued by order of the Mexican
government. They had no part in the en
actment of those laws, and could not ac
knowledge the right of any body of men to
impose laws upon them without their knowl
edge or consent. The governor treated
the people with comternpt, and threatened
instant death if they persisted in their de
mand. Alarmed for their personal safety,
the settlers resolved to risk theirlives at once
in a struggle for independence. The go
vermcnt herds, cattle, horses, &.C., were
'driven from around the Governor's dwelling
or fort; scouting parties were stationed at a
distance of some miles to cut off supplies,
and after the lapse of a few weeks, messen
gers were dispatched to the fort, to ascertain
the disposition of Governor Micholterena
and his army. The armod settlers number
two to one of the army. Resistance was
useless and the Governor withdrew his forces,
leaving the country in possession of the set
tlers, who had proclaimed it independent, as
the "Republic of California." Philadelphia
Timet.
The Crow. The wheat crops in this
county will probably aflbrd an excellent har
vest. A few fields have been slightly injur
ed by drought. Wheat that was sown the last
of August or first of September does not
look quite as well as later sown wheat.
Jackson (Mich.) Gax.
Orln some sections of the country the
prospects for a good crop of wheat are ex
cellent, while in other portions less than
half a crop is expected. Farmers tell us
that in this county the wheat crop will be
three times as large as it was last year.
Uorn looks tine. Uem. Pharos, Logansport,
Tub Chops. What is the use of saying
anything about that which does not exist?
We contess there is but little use, yet to
keep pace with our cotemporaries we must
say that everything, almost, under the head
of vegetables is killed or badly injured. Be
tween this and Marion we saw a man, last
week, sitting on a stump with a gun ou his
shoulder.. We asked why he was setting
there armed when there was nothing in the
shape of corn above the ground? " Well,"
he replied, " the frost has cut off my corn
three times and yesterday I re-planted it
and to cap the climax the confounded black
birds are digging it up before it has time to
sprout. We tho't that was a " capital" idea
and we lett. People's torum.
KALIDA VENTURE.
1 he Monhoe Affair. The last Monroe
Gazette contains a minute and unbiassed
statement of this horrible attempt upon the
life of Mr. Hall. Wells is yet in jail, where
he will probably remain until his trial, in No
vember next. That naoer savs that " Mr. Hall
is yet living, and!es are entertained of his
recovery. His sufferings, however, are in
tense; and it he survives, it will be through
a luuiuiiKiLHu micijmaiifuii ui xsivine rrovi-
dence." . He is out of danger.
The Richmond (Va.) Times savs the
wheat crop will be fully an average one.
xne irost oas not injured the wheat.
Late . Fhoji Mexico and Havana. We
are indebted to Capt. Parkinson, of the Mex
ican steamer Neptune, arrived at this port
yesterday, for a file of Havana papers to the
8th inst. inclusive.
The Br. Mail steamer Medwav arrived at
Havana on the 7th inst. from Vera Cruz.
which port she left 1st instant, having on
board Gen. Santa Ana, Lady and family,
who were banished from Mexico; they were
going to Venezuela, The Br. Mail steamer
Dee also arrived at Havana 7th inst. with
Gen. Bcstambnte on board, on his way to
Mexico.
The Havana papers say. that in their. Mex
ican files they find nothing touching the dif
ficulties about Texas-ywhich certainly in
dicates a great moderating of the current of
Mexican wrath.
A difficulty had occurred with the French
Secretary of Legation and some Mexican
soldiers, in which the former considered
himself and his nation grossly insulted. The
Secretary had required of the Government of
Mexico prompt redress for the insult, in the
punishment of the soldiers, or he would im
mediately demand his passports. Charles
ton Mercury.
JAMES MACKENZIE, EDITOR.
TUESDAY, Itll 8, 184S,
DEMOCRATS ! KEEP IT IN MIND,
That "An Act creating tbe State
Bank, nnd other unnKing lompji
nicsl so complex In its provisions, so
contradictory in Its different parts,
so destructive of our republican in
stitutions, so ruinous to liberty, nnd
so void of justice & equity SHOULD
BE REPEALED."
Charles Rermelin,
Samuel S. Caldwell,
Edward Archbold,
Gut M. Kingsbury,
War. RouDEBusn,
"Israel Brown,
George Miller,
IIeslip Williams,
James H. Ewino,
John C. Myers,
Jesse Meredith,
JonN Bell,
E. S. Dodd,
Isaac Hostktter,
E. R. Gciberson,
Gboroe Ankent,
Henry Chonise,
P. N. O'Bannan,
Isaac Spear,
James Brown,
Fergus Anderson,
Isaac Hetrick,
Robert Filson,.
Jacob Flinn,
J. M. Britton,
Jambs McFarland. -
Protest oDem. Representative!, Journal p. 920.
ft-r- As will be seen, to accommodate our
southern subscribers, we have altere d our publi
cation day from Friday to Tuesday; on which day
the Ventcr. will hereafter be published. This
will account to subscribers for ths delay in recei
ving; their papers this'woek.
Democratic Senatorial and Representative
Contentions. The Central Committees of the
different counties composing this Senatorial Dis
trict should be making some movement towards
calling a Convention, to be held not later than the
middle of next month. As regards the place of
meeting, Kalida is the most central and will doubt
less be selec ted.
. The Central Committee of this Representative
District, Messrs. Leland, Knapp, and Jackson, we
believe, would do well to call the Representative
convention also about the middle of August next
What sav you, gentlemen 1 Shall it be held at
Charloe?
ft-The testimonials of respect for the memory
ofGen.Jackson throughout thoUnion have been all
that the warmest friends of the departed hero and
statesman could desire. Among the names an
nounced ashaving been selected to deliver funeral
orations, we notice those of Ellmore, of South
Carolina, Bancroft, of Massachusetts, at present
Secretary of the Navy, and B. F. Butler, of New
York.
m
Fourth or Jult. We give the following par.
ticulars in relation to the observance of the anni
versary of our independence in this county:
At Glandorff, there was an assemblage of sev
eral hundred to celebrate the day. The proces
sion marched from Ottawa, accompanied by the
German Rifle Volunteers, under the command
of Capt. Clemens, the "Putnam Volunteers,"
under the command of Lt. F. S. Godfrey, with
a band of excellent music; Mnj. S. Parker, Mar.
shall. The Declaration of Independence was
read by H. S. Knaff, Esq., after which an eloquent
oration was delivered by Benjamin Met
calf. Esq. to a large and attentive auditory. Af
terwards upwards of two hundred ladies and gen
tleman sat down to a plentiful dinner, prepared
by Mr. Buckhold; and at the conclusion of the
festivities, the company separated, delighted with
the exercises of the day, none having exceeded
that order and moderation which should charac
terise every celebration.
At Clawson's Cross Roads, in Jennings Town
ship, a large and respectable assemblage met to
celebrate the nation's birthday. William Scott
Esq., President, and James Cochran, Esq., Vice
President. Reading of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, by Mr. Amos Etans. Able orations
were delivered by John J. Ackerman, Esq., and
Dr. McFarland. The Jennings Volunteers under
the command of Capt. John M. Cochran, Marshall
of the day, graced the occasion. After the con
elusion of the exercises, about one hundred ladies
and gentlemen partook of an excellent dinner Jin
vided by Mr Smith Harret. On the removal of
the cloth regular and' volunteer toasts enlivened
the occasion. The whole affair was conducted
on the cold water plan, and in the evening the
company dispersed with clear heads and pleasant
feelings.
QT We learn that offence was taken at a sclec
tion made by us in reference to a certain class of
disturbing religious controversialists. It was sup
posed to have a personal and sectiarian reference,
which was not the fact ; and we know not how an
article selected from the N. Y. Knickeroocker
could be so mistaken. The class described unfor
tunately for the interests of religion are members
of most sects, and the article only admitted of a
general application. We have never considered
it the province of a political newspaper to meddle
with sectarian disputes openly or covertly; we
have matter enough of our own without borrowing
the bitterness of polemics. It is true, however
that wherever a moral nuisance exists it is the
duty of the press if possible to abate it: and it was
with this view the selection was made to which
we allude.
The Crops. The fears that wore entertained
a few weeks ago in relation to the crops have
greatly subsided. In some places in our county
the Wheat has been severely injured, but on the
whole we are informed it will prove an average
crop. The corn in most places will exceed the
product of last year. A gentleman from Paul
ding county informs us that the crops there are in
a flourishing condition, and a letter from Henry
county states that the crops are improving, but
need rain. .
Texas. President Jones has issued his procla
mation to the people of Texas, informing them that
Mexico offers to acknowledge their independence,
provided they will not become annexed to the
United States. We should think that this was
about equivalent to acknowledging that Texas
was now independent of Mexico, do jure ns well as
de facto. -'
' Now is the winter of our discontent,"
us the old maid said when, turned forty, she
was without a suitor.
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND.
The Hon. Louis McLane, of Maryland, has
been offered and has accepted ihe mission to Eng
land. The appointment is not well received by
the Democracy, but is highly gratifying to the edit
or of the N. Y. tribune, the strongest advocate, na
tive or foreigner, of English Interests in the Union,
to the whigs, and to some loose Democrats in the
South. One whig journal which asserts that " our
claim (to Oregon) is no clear -and indisputa
ble," as it " is not all ours," very confidently
anticipates that if Mr. McLane " is appointed
with a liberal discretion, an early settlement of
the Oregon controversy" will be the result. Not
a doubt of It; such a settlement as would increase
and render indelible the disgrace of the surrender
of the territory of Maine? No appointment which
could have been made, would prove more ob
jectionable, excepting indeed that of Daniel
Webster. In the language of the . Y. Siewi
" we cannot but regret that it was deemed neces
sary to seek out for such a post a man known to
have been adverse to the strongest feelings of the
Democratic party at two such momentous crises
as Gen. Jackson's contest with the Bank of the
United States, and the bard cider compaign of
1840." We may have some doubts as to the pro
priety of proscribing men in office wholly for opi
nion's sake, but the appointment to tho first dip
lomatic station in the gift of the government, of
one of whom the best that can be said is, that he
has long been vibrating between Democracy and
Federalism, without definite tendency to either,
was not an act expected from the administration
by the majority of those who bestowed their suf
frages for Mr. Polk. To take a man who deserted
the Democracy during the miserable fanaticism
of the campaign of 1840 is worse than to select
a known and consistent whig. It is an act of
most corrupting tendency ; calculated to impress
upon the public mind that the basest political
treachery will be no barrier to future honor and
station; that they who desert our principles in
the hour of difficulty can mako a merit of returning
honesty preferable to those who support democracy
in shade as well as sunshine. It is stated that
Mr. McLane was in favor of the annexation of
Texas and the election of Mr. Polk something
more than this we think was needed to have proved
any claim to Democracy. In the excited period
of 1840honest young men might have been led a-
stray,but old men never. The present position of
our Minister to England in regard to the great
questions at issue between the Democracy and
the Whigs is that meretricious conservatism in
which Rives and Tallmadge remained as long as
they could deceive. The only redeeming circum
stance which v-e have learned in connection with
this most unexpected appointment is, that the
negotiations in respect to Oregon are not to be
transferred to England, and that it is probable Mr.
McLane's residence abroad will be short, as the
Baltimore Ohio Railroad Company, of which he
wos Presidcnt,have only elected an officer pro tern.
in his place. On this latter circumstance the JV.
T. Evening Post queries as follows:
" And in the selection of a minister abroad,
must we borrow one from a joint stock com
pany for the occasion? Is America so poor
in purse, so poor in public men, as to be ob
liged to ask the loan of a railroad company's
president for the most important mission in
her gift, and at perhaps the most important
crisis in her atiairs which has happened since
the establishment of her independence?"
The Bank of Dubuque, Iowa, continues its
banking operations notwithstanding the re
peal law of the Legislature, which is said to
have been unconstitutional. Wins paper.
In other words, the will of the people, solemnly
expressed by their Representatives, is held to be
powerless against a system which has grown, by a
fiction of law, beyond the power of law. This is
an evil of magnitude to which the people are not
yet awakened a form our system is taking of
placing the Judicial jurisdiction and the popular
'sovereignty in collision, which must be speedily
cured or it will be productive of consequences
which every lover of good order must deprecate.
The stronger power will not ever willingly suc
cumb to the weaker, and impaired confidence and
lessened respect for the administrators of law
must be the consequence of this usurpation on
their part of the power of the people.
Rev. Sydney Smith, notwithstanding his
losses by Pennsylvania stock, died worth a
very large sum of money. In his will his
wife was appointed Executrix, and he left
30,000 to his son, 10,000 to his wife,
and distributed the rest of his property, which
amounts to some 80,000, among his former
servants and others.
This reverend humbug had after all only a few
hundred pounds in state stocks, and the blight
of avarice, the besetting sin of an othorwese va
luable character, no doubt was the cause of his
bestowing hir witty abuse upon our country, for
what has been quite common in his own. Till
his death it was supposed he was poor.
How Bank failure profits the Banker
the subjoined extract the Ohio Statesman shows
how powerful the temptation of the Banker, and
how strongly the present law makes it his inter
est, to swindle; and the people of the slate have
abundant reason to recollect how temptations
of inferos' have swayed that class hitherto:
A banker owns stock in a bank to the
amount of $5,000, and he a made a director.
He is engaged in business, and needs a
larger amotlnt of money. He borrows, for
three or six months, $50,000. Before the
debt becomes due, the bank breaks. He
buys up its notes at forty or fifty cents on
the dollar and pays his bank debt, He loses,
it is true, his stock, amounting to $5,000,
which, added to the $25,000 which he ex
pends in buying up the notes of the insol
vent bank, makes $30,000, being a cool
twenty thousand dollars which the bank fi
nancier makes by bursting his bank.
United States Circuit Court. In the case of
the United States vs. Caleb J. M'Nulty, indicted
for embezzling the public money, the Counsel for
the defendent applied for a demurrer, on the
ground that the description in the indictment of
the money embezzled, was insufficient The De
murrer has been overruled and the case eomes on
for trial at the present term.
WHIG MALIGNITY. PROSCRIPTION, Ste.
Horace Greely, of the N. Y. Tribune, has th
following language in noticing thedeath of An
drew Jackson. The feelings of our better nature
would cause most to hesitate from indulging in
terms of bitterness at such a time; but tho cold
malignity which frees Itself by envenomed libels
on the unburied dead, is in character from him
who was the first to seize the casual remark of an
obscure paragraph-writer, as a pretext to fill the
land with the maniac madness of the hard eider
orgies; and who, with a high capacity, has stoop
ed to profess every novel opinion, and willingly
pander to the lowest ignorance and projudice of
party to gratify his ambition for ascendancy. Ha
reiterates the charge against Jackson of proscrip
tion in tho style and spirit which disappointed fed
eralism delighted to use against Jefferson. But
Greely was one of Harrison's most enthusiastic
admirers. Jackson made no pledges on this sub
ject; Harrison promised to proscribe proscription'
Yet of officers of so high a grade as to require
confirmation by the Senate, forty-nine removals
took place fiom the 12th to the 27th of March by
Gen. Harrison himsolf. In fact, the number of
dismissals of this class of officers during the first
five months of Harrison and Tyler's Administra
tion were one hundred and fifty -Jive, for OPINION
only; while during twelve years of Jackson and
Van Buren's administrations only onehundred and
twenty-eight were dismissed for all causes. In the
Post office Department, Mr. Granger, Harrison's
Postmaster General, himself stated that during the
few weeks he held his situation, he dismissed
" SEVENTEEN HUNDRED" Postmasters, for
the offence of Democracy, and " had he remained
too weeks longer in office, THREE THOUSAND
would have been added to the list." The ne
cessity for every administration to have men in
office' to carry out its views, friendly to its prin
ciples, is well understood by all parties; but the
wolf-howl of "proscription" has been used by
Federalism ever since Jefferson's inauguration, as
if their "vested rights" woro wrested in giving
Democrats office. Yet whig practice has so
grossly opposed Whig profession that Greely
might afford to take off the hypocriticaljmask
already worn till it is useless; at least he might
eschew attacks on the doad to serve the meanest
party uses. We rejoice that Andrew Jackson
awoke the overflowing gall of the creatures of the
money power, which as a National Bunk was mak.
ing " wreck of the strongost bulwarks of civil
liberty and national faith," ana which was by
bribery prostrating "judicial and legislative au
thority" at its" footstool," and which lsftthe only
legacies of "crime, disorder and calamity" which
have cursed and will continue to curse the country
till it is rooted out from among us, or liberty has
ceased to exist among a profligate and dishonored
people. We rejoice that Andrew Jackson was
sufficiently reckless of bankers' hatred to oppose
this corrupt tendency of Alexander Hamilton's
scheme to bring the blessings of England's go
vernment amongst us. We pass by the other
statements they are but the frothing scum of the
federal cauldron. Greely says of Gen. Jackson :
From the day when we first became ac
quainted with the fids respecting his memora
ble irruption into Florida, his capture of the
Spanish posts, imprisoment of the authorities,
and hanging of tradors with the Indians, wo
have not doubted how could wt ? that he
was a mau too rash, too reckless, loo violent
to ready to stretch authority and arrogato
power to be safely entrusted with the res
ponsibilities of exalted station. The experi
ence of our manhood has confirmed the im
pressions of early youth; and now, when
we contemplate the wreck of the strongest
bulwarks of Civil Liberty and National Faith
which was caused by his refusal to sustain
the Supreme Court's most righteouB affir
mance of the inviolability of tho Cherokee
territory in Georgia and by his many kindred
prostrations of Judicial and Legislative au
thority at the footstool of Executive power
when we shudder at the depravation of
public morals and corruption of Populnr
Suffrage which has been created by his most
wanton and unprovoked Proscription of poli
tical opponents throughout his Presidential
career when we reflect on the long array
of usurpations and acts 'of violenco which
marked his rule, and the terrible legacies of
disorder, crime and calamity they have left
to the present and future generations, we
rejoice and are thankful that we never, never
for one moment aided or 'consented to his
most unfortunate elevation that we never
ceased to exert in opposition to his policy all
the litjle power we possessed, and that wa
wcrjr'enabled to cast a ballot not vainly for
usthough, alas! ineffectually for the country
against his reflection.
Roads. We copy tho following remarks trom
tho correspondence of the JUaumee River Timet,
and commend it to our readers. Most true is it that
bad roads are an insurmountable barrier to the
prosperity of any section of country :
From Defiance, I passed up the valley of
the Big Auglaize through the counties of
Paulding, Putnam and Allen to Waupaukon
netta, leaving the Auglaize at the latter
place, and passing over to Fort St. Mary's,
in Mercer county, situated upon the head
waters of the river bearing the same name.
Throughout this wholo extent, the , face of
the country is very level, the soil rich but ra
ther wet, and ninety-eight hundredths of the
distance in the same state' in which nature
fashioned it. In many places the forests are
so dense, that passing through them. at mid
day, appears likt travelling in the dusky twi
light of night. I pity the poor sinner who
is obliged to travel through that region in
wet seasons of the year, and would advise
him before he commences his journey, to
get the lives insured both of himself and ani
mal. I was glad to learn however, that the
subject of road-making was commanding
some attention, and that a determination was
slowly forming to open the means of cum
municntion between the valley of the Au
glaize and the surrounding country. To
make good roads in such a soil as that, is an
herculean task under any circumstances, and
while so sparsely settled as that region now
is, probably impossible; but energy and per
severance would necessarily improve them