as well as wood must be supplanted, within the elegant and substantial limits of cities, by varied stone, polished marble and indestructible granite. The Pacific Railroad is now ready to bring the sand stone and marble from the Meramec, and soon the Iron Mountain Railroad will be ready to bring the sand stone and marble from along its route, and also granite and porphyry from the St. Francis to the doors of St. Louis, where marble buildings are already erected by private enterprise, which are ornaments of the city, and objects of admiration to both citizens and strangers. Soon public buildings, a custom house, a city hall, additional churches, colleges, hotels, &c., will be in process of construction. These buildings will of course be made of the most elegant and substantial material, and they will be new incentives to the erection of private residences of a kindred order. While thus the good sense and the fine taste of the people is turning to the importance of grand and beautiful buildings, while great varieties of excellent material abound around St. Louis, while the railroads will soon be bringing it to hand in profusion with reasonable prices, it is a source of gratification to learn that the difficulty of the preparation of the raw material for the finest use has been overcome, and the desideratum realized. The Empire Stone Co. of St. Louis, lately organized, expect soon to furnish stone planed and prepared for use, by aid of machinery recently invented, at a price which will accommodate both the purse and the taste of the people, and which, while promoting the fortune and the refinement of the community, must return an extraordinary amount of profit to the company. The people of St. Louis, and indeed the whole Mississippi valley, feel an interest in this enterprise. Its commencement gives encouragement to the spirit of manufacturing, the importance of which needs no discussion. Its operations necessarily result in adding those substantial and desirable improvements already established in most of the Atlantic cities where great private and public profit and reputation have been gained by architectural improvements furnished by this means. The minds of those who live at a distance will receive an impulse from this movement; they will be impressed with the character of this people for enterprise, taste and refinement, and will feel confidence in the promised greatness of this inland city of the West-the destiny of which may be seen in her rapid growth and prosperity within the last fourteen years, and in her present disposition to encourage those improvements that contribute to its ultimate realization. 690 3,045,924 3,045,924 15,694 41,936 60,267 200 808,200 Pork in hog, lbs. Potatoes, bu. 2,637 Powder, lbs. 808,000 Posts, No. 402,471 402,471 Pickets 84,755 84,755 Provisions, lbs. 35,190 3,468,528 3,503,718 Piles, No. 2,696 2,696 Rags, lbs. 3,900 39,350 43,250 R. R. Iron, bar 174,142 174,142 lbs. 34,204,000 82,792 34,286,792 Furnishing " 1,835,736 1,835,736 |