508 LIFE ON TJ3TJS MISSISSIPPI.
I must explain that the figures set down above, as the
of St. Paul and Minneapolis, are several months old. These to^ns
are far larger now. In fact, I have just seen a newspaper estimate
which gives the former seventy-one thousand, and the latter seventy,
eight thousand. This book will not reach the public for six or seve&
months yet; none of the figures will be worth much then.
We had a glimpse of Davenport, which is another beautiful city
crowning a hill—a phrase which applies to all these towns; for they
are all comely, all well built, clean, orderly, pleasant to the eye, and
cheering to the spirit; and they are all situated upon hills. There-
fore we will give that phrase a rest. The Indians have a tradition
that Marquette and Joliet camped where Davenport now stands, in
1673. The next white man who camped there, did it about a htm-
dred and seventy years later—in 1834. Davenport has gathered ita
thirty thousand people within the past thirty years. She sends more
children to her schools now, than her whole population numbered
twenty-three years ago. She has the usual Upper Hiver quota of
factories, newspapers, and institutions of learn ing; she has telephones,
local telegraphs, an electric alarm, and an admirable paid fire depart
ment, consisting of six hook and ladder companies, four steam fira
engines, and thirty churches. Davenport is the official residence of
two bishops—Episcopal and Catholic.
Opposite Davenport is the flourishing town of Hock Island, whicfc
lies at the foot of the Upper Kapids. A great railroad bridge connects
the two towns—one of the thirteen which fret the Mississippi and
the pilots, between St. Louis and St. Paul.
The charming island of Hock Island, three miles long and half a
mile wide, belongs to the United States, and the Government has
turned it into a wonderful park, enhancing its natural attractions hy
art, and threading its fine forests with many miles of drives. Hear
the centre of the island one catches glimpses, through the trees, of tea
vast stone four-story buildings, each of which covers an acre of ground.
These are the Government workshops; for the Bock Island establish-
ment is a national armoury and arsenal.
We move up the river—always through enchanting scenery, these
being no other kind on the Upper Mississippi—and pass Moliae, £
centre of vast manufacturing industries j and Clinton and Lyons,