In some respects, Uncle Sam and Brother Jonathan are 'familiar as
household words' on the lips of John Bull; but it may be safely
affirmed, notwithstanding, that the English know less of the Americans
than the Americans know of the English. We are in the way of meeting
with our transatlantic cousins very frequently, and never without
having our present affirmation abundantly confirmed. This mingled
ignorance and indifference on the part of Englishmen to what is going
on in Yankeedom, besides being discreditable, will soon be injurious,
as any one may satisfy himself by a perusal of a couple of pleasant
volumes from the pen of Captain Mackinnon,[2] who travelled through
the States lately, with his eyes open, not to their faults only, as
might have been expected in an officer of Her Majesty's navy, but to
their virtues, attainments, and enterprises. He has been out spying
the land, and brings back a report which, though not new to those in
the habit of reading American newspapers, and talking with American
visitors, will be both new and interesting--we should hope
stimulative--to the majority of our countrymen. We shall fulfil a
duty, and confer benefit as well as pleasure, by picking out of the
captain's log-book some of the choicest samples of Uncle Sam's
'cuteness, which will serve to shew, at the same time, the progress
and prospects of that great commonwealth.
Captain Mackinnon believes the mind of the Americans to be the keenest
and most adaptable in the world. They acquire information of any kind
so rapidly, and have such ready dexterity in mechanical employments,
that the very slightest efforts put them on a par with Europeans of
far greater experience. After describing New York--which we shall
return to, if we have space--the author gives the results of a visit
to the dockyards at Brooklyn, Boston, and other places. Brooklyn
'contains perhaps the finest dry-dock in the world.' Here he saw all
the latest English improvements improved! He was informed, on
unquestionable authority, that no new instrument of war is elaborated
in England, without being immediately known to the authorities in the
United States; and that the commission of naval officers, now sitting
at Washington to re-organise the navy ordnance and gunnery exercise,
are assisted materially by the experience of men educated in Her
Majesty's ship _Excellent_.
The first object of interest in approaching the Fulton Ferry was a
large ship, which was loading with wheat for Europe. To accelerate the
introduction of the cargo, a grain-elevator was employed. This novel
machine pumped the grain from barges or canal-boats, on one side, in a
continuous stream into the ship's hold, at the rate of 2000 bushels
per hour. It was not only passed into the vessel at this prodigious
rate, but likewise accurately measured in the operation. American
naval officers have taken a hint from this ingenious labour-saving
contrivance, and successfully adapted it to the purpose of supplying
powder with great speed and regularity to the batteries of large
ships.
What are those huge castles rushing madly across the East River? Let
us cross in the _Montauk_ from Fulton Ferry, and survey the freight.
There are fourteen carriages; and the passengers are countless--at
least 600. Onward she darts at headlong speed, until, apparently in
perilous proximity to her wharf, a frightful collision appears
inevitable. The impatient Yankees press--each to be the first to jump
ashore. The loud 'twang' of a bell is suddenly heard; the powerful
engine is quickly reversed, and the way of the vessel is so
instantaneously stopped, that the dense mass of passengers insensibly
leans forward from the sudden check. These boats cost about L.6000. In
economy, beauty, commodiousness, and speed, they form a striking
contrast to the steam-ferry from Portsmouth to Gosport, which cost, it
is said, L.20,000. The author strongly advises persons in Europe, who
have any intention of projecting steam-ferries, to take a leaf out of
the Yankee book. As an example: If the Portsmouth Ferry had been
conducted on the same principles as the Fulton Ferry, a very large
profit would have ensued, instead of the concern being overwhelmed in
debt.
Here is another sample of Yankee _go-aheadism_. A launch! We are in
Webb's shipbuilding-yard. Look around. Five huge vessels are on the
stocks: three are to be launched at highwater. The first is a liner of
1708 tons, built for running, and, with a fair wind, it will outsail
any man-of-war afloat. The second is a steamer of 2500 tons. The third
is a gigantic yacht of 1500 tons, nearly as sharp as any yacht in
England. Five thousand seven hundred and eight tons were launched from
one builder, and within thirty minutes!
The clipper-ships, although certainly the finest class of vessels
afloat, are very uneasy in a sea. Mr Steers, the builder of the
far-famed yacht _America_, is very sanguine that he will produce a
faster vessel than has yet ploughed the seas, and Captain Mackinnon is
inclined to believe that he will. His new clipper-vessels will be as
easy in motion as superior in sailing. The great merit of Mr Steers,
as the builder of the _America_, is in his having invented a perfectly
original model, as new in America as in Europe. He informed our author
that the idea, so successfully carried out in the _America's_ model,
struck him when a boy of eight years old. He was looking on at the
moulding of a vessel by his father (an Englishman), when suddenly it
occurred to him that a great improvement might be made in the
construction; and the _modus operandi_ speedily took possession of his
mind. Mr Steers thinks that a shallow vessel, with a sliding keel, can
be built to outsail any vessel even on his improved model. This is
likely to be tested next summer in England, as a sloop, the _Silvia_,
built by Steers on this construction, is preparing to try her speed at
Cowes next season. The author carefully noted this craft when on the
stocks alongside the _America_,[1] and he believes, 'that no vessel in
England has the ghost of a chance against her.'
The English ship-builders have a great deal to learn from Brother
Jonathan, not only in the fashion of build, but likewise in the
'fitting and rigging.' An American London liner is sailed with half
the number of men required by an English ship of the same size, and
yet the work is got through as well and as expeditiously. The various
mechanical contrivances to save labour might be beneficially copied by
English ships.
A merchant-vessel, on the clipper principle, can be turned out by a
Baltimore builder for from L.10 to L.12 a ton, complete in all her
fittings. This is much cheaper than in England, which appears
unaccountable, considering the rate of wages; but so much more work is
done by the workmen for their wages, that labour is as cheap, if not
cheaper, there than here. 'Cotton-duck' sails are almost exclusively
used by American vessels under 300 tons, which for such vessels, as
well as for yachts, is much better and cheaper than canvas. Another
circumstance which struck the author at Baltimore--and which is
equally striking to hear of to those who are accustomed to the sight
of the Thames barges ascending and descending the river, in all their
ugliness and filth, with the flow and ebb of each tide--was, that the
vessels intended for the lowest and most degrading offices, such as
carrying manure, oysters, and wood, were of 'elegant and symmetrical
proportions!'
The most potent proofs of Uncle Sam's 'cuteness are to be found in the
patent office at Washington. Inventions pour in in such abundance,
that already the space allotted to them is so completely crammed, as
to preclude the possibility of any close investigation. The dockyard
at Washington furnished matter for fresh reflection; the iron for
cables, furnished by contract, being so superior to the old, that the
testing-links were all broken on the first trial, the model-anchors
being 'an immense improvement,' &c.
'And to whom do you suppose we are indebted for all these
improvements, and many more too tedious to mention?' asked the
officer. 'Why, to an English dockyard-master from Devonport.'
So much for their progress on the eastern coast: now let us turn
westward, ascending the Hudson by one of the river--steamers. Without
doubt, these steam--vessels are the swiftest and best arranged known;
but the speed and size are improving so rapidly, that what is correct
now, may be far behind the mark a year hence. The _Isaac Newton_ is at
present the largest. The saloon, which is gorgeously decorated, is 100
yards long. In this vast, vaulted apartment, the huge mirrors, elegant
carving, and profuse gilding, absolutely dazzle the eye. On first
entering one of these magnificent floating saloons, it is difficult
for the imagination to realise its position. All comparison is at once
defied, as there is nothing like it afloat in the world.
The extent of the lake-trade is prodigious. Its aggregate value for
1850, imports and exports, amounts to 186,484,905 dollars, which is
more by 40,000,000 dollars than the whole foreign export-trade of the
country! The aggregate tonnage employed on the lakes is equal to
203,041 tons, of which 167,137 tons are American, and 35,904 British.
The passenger-trade is not included in the preceding sum; it is valued
at 1,000,000 dollars. 'The mind is lost in astonishment at so
prodigious a commerce. It is not ten years since the first steamer ran
round the chain of lakes. Population, and its commercial concomitants,
are increasing so rapidly, that before twenty years, the lake-trade
alone will be of greater extent and importance than the whole trade of
any other nation on the globe!' The number of emigrants from Europe
and the eastern states annually passing through Buffalo for the Far
West is now one million, and likely, by and by, to increase to two
millions! Cities are consequently rising up with extraordinary
rapidity. The population of Detroit, for example, has increased,
during the last ten years, from 11,000 to 26,000--an advance which is
mainly owing to the facilities afforded by the Michigan Central
Railway, for concentrating on their passage the westward-bound
emigrants. An absurd spirit of speculation has likewise contributed to
the increase. A building and farming mania, similar to the railway
mania in England six years ago, has seized the people. The only
salvation for the speculators is the continued increase of vast swarms
of emigrants from Europe. Chicago is another example of rapid
increase--namely, from 3000 in 1840, to above 20,000 in 1850; a growth
which it mainly owes to its advantageous site at the head of the
navigation of the chain of lakes. Milwaukie is also a wonderful
instance of progress. In 1838, there was not a single house on the
spot: in 1840, there was a village with 1700 inhabitants; in 1850,
there was a city of 20,000! Twenty years ago, the land on which it
stands was not worth more than the government price, which is about
5s. 5d. per acre: at present, the lots are valued, in good locations,
at L.40 a foot frontage. The result is speculation; with sudden
fortunes on the one hand, and sudden ruin on the other. Emigrants, as
well as citizens themselves, have to 'move on' further west; and hence
they are covering Wisconsin, Minesota, and other territories. Nothing
can now arrest the flowing tide till it dash against the Rocky
Mountains, and meet the counter-tide setting in from the coast of the
Pacific.
The district around Lake Winnebago seems, according to our author's
account, to be a tempting spot for emigrants; and as there cannot be
the least suspicion of his having an interest in trumpeting it up, it
may be as well that the reader should know where 'Paradise Restored'
is to be found. Lake Winnebago is not one of those huge inland oceans,
with winds and waves, storms and shipwrecks upon it, but a quiet, snug
sheet of water like Loch Lomond, which it resembles in size, and, if
we may judge from a paper-description, in appearance. 'It is about
thirty miles long, and ten to twelve broad. A high ridge of limestone
bounds it on the east, sloping gradually down to the edge of the
water. Numerous natural clearings or prairies relieve the sameness of
the luxuriant forests. On the western side, the land invades the lake
in long, low capes and peninsulas. The fragrance of the air, the
exquisite verdure of the trees, the gorgeous colours of the prairie
flowers, and the artist-like arrangements of the "oak openings," and
wild meadows, are delights never to be forgotten. The most elaborate
and cultivated scenery in Europe falls into insignificance in
comparison. I was struck with astonishment that such "a garden of
Eden" should be so little known, even in the eastern states--that such
extraordinary advantages should be neglected. After a careful
examination of many places in the western portion of the United
States, I advisedly assert, that Lake Winnebago District is the most
desirable and the finest in the world for emigrants.'
His reasons for this opinion are briefly, that it has communication
with the Atlantic on each border of the state--by the Mississippi on
the west, and Lake Michigan on the east; that the soil is very
fertile, and the climate remarkably healthy, being more equable than
the same latitude on sea-board, and quite free from fever or ague.
With great glee, the captain details a sporting excursion in this
romantic district, in the course of which he fell in with an old
acquaintance in the shape of an under-keeper from one of the Scottish
moors. He had emigrated two years, and become a 'laird.' His remarks
displayed great 'cuteness, and as it was on Uncle Sam's soil, it must
be placed to Uncle Sam's credit. Their conversation was so amusing as
well as instructive, that we quote it.
'"Ah, sir," said the Scotchman, "if the quality in England only knew
there was a place like this, do you think they would go and pay such
extravagant rents for the mere shooting in Scotland? No, sir, not
they. My old master paid five hundred pounds a year for his moor
adjacent to Loch Ness."
"And pray what did he get for it?"
"Why, not half such sport as he can get here," replied he.
"Truly," I rejoined; "but remember the distance, and expense of coming
here."
"As for the distance, you can, at present, be here from London in
fourteen days. In two years, the rail will be finished to Fond-du-Lac,
and you will be enabled to get here in eleven days. The expense, as I
will prove, will not only be far less, but it may be turned into a
positive gain."
'I pricked up my ears at this assertion, and requested my old
acquaintance, the ex-keeper, to proceed.
"Well, sir, look 'ee here: suppose a party of five gentlemen subscribe
five hundred pounds apiece, that will be two thousand five hundred
pounds. With one thousand five hundred pounds, they can purchase a
quantity of land, and build an excellent house, stable, and offices on
Doty Island, in a position which, in ten years' time, will increase
greatly in value as an eligible site for building allotments. The very
fact of such an establishment by wealthy English gentlemen will cause
the land to rise in value enormously; and I will warrant that in five
years it will be worth ten times the present cost. From their location
on Doty Island, they would have the finest fresh-water fishing in the
world. They would have thirty miles lake-shore for deer-shooting; and
dense woods, forty miles back to Lake Michigan, where bears, and
catamounts, and other wild animals are plentiful. Abundance of wild
fowl, quail, and wood-cocks would be found everywhere."
"Stop," exclaimed I, interrupting him; "what are we to do about the
main point--the grouse-shooting? Besides, remember there is another
thousand pounds to account for."
"Don't interrupt, please sir; I am coming to that. I know several
districts of country in this neighbourhood with natural boundaries,
such as creeks, rivers, thick belts of trees, &c. These districts vary
from five thousand to twenty thousand acres, and are so fertile that
Europeans cannot even imagine such richness. Five hundred pounds you
could lend to the farmers at twelve per cent. per annum. Many of them
pay from two to eight per cent. _per month_. You would thus, by
accommodating the farmers, have the best-stocked preserves, and the
most friendly occupiers of the soil that can be found. The remaining
five hundred pounds you might keep to improve your lands, or invest at
twelve per cent. as the other half. If thus invested, you would get
twelve per cent. on one thousand pounds, nearly equal to five per
cent. upon the whole sum laid out, and the land increasing in value in
a prodigious ratio."
"Wonderful!" thought I, with enthusiasm. "I will pop you in print, my
lad."'
We 'pop him in print' with similar good-will. His scheme would be an
admirable one, save and except that there is an ocean to cross before
reaching Doty Island. We commend it to the New Yorkers and gentlemen
of the eastern states, who wish to have a hunting-field such as the
old monarchs of Europe would have envied. The scheme, notwithstanding,
does credit to the ingenuity of its propounder, who thereby proves
himself the right sort of man for the country he has chosen to call
his own.
Another conversation which our author relates, affords an unequivocal
sample of real aboriginal 'cuteness. Captain Mackinnon impresses us,
as he did the Americans, as a frank, hearty fellow, who can make
himself at home at once, anywhere, and with any one. During his short
sporting excursion, he seems to have picked acquaintance with nearly
all the happy inhabitants of that western Eden with which he had
become so enraptured. Strolling along one day, he met with a tall,
gaunt Yankee, who knew him, and invited him into his log-cabin for a
social glass and a 'crack' after it. This semi-savage-looking fellow
had been a soldier, and delighted, like his guest, in the title of
captain. He had been fighting in Mexico and California with the
'Injuns.' As he of Doty Island had a proposal to make to British
sportsmen, so Captain Ezekiah Conclin Brum had 'a proposal to make to
the British government.' He had heard of our Cape and Caffre war, and
wondering how and why we did not make a shorter work of that awkward
business, he sent to England for a British infantry musket, which he
produced. 'Well, captin, did ever you see such a clumsy varment in all
your born days? Now, captin, look out of the doorway: do you see that
_blazed_ stump? It is seven feet high, and broader than any man. It's
exactly one hundred and fifty yards from my door. I have fired that
clumsy varment at the stump till my head ached and my shoulder was
quite sore, and have hardly hit it once. Now, then, captin, look 'ee
here (taking up his seven-barrelled revolving rifle, and letting fly
one barrel after the other): I guess you will find seven bullets in
the _blazed_ stump. I will, however, stick seven playing cards on the
stump, in different places, and, if you choose, hit them all.' After
sundry but unaccepted offers to his English brother-militant for a
trial of mutual destructiveness, he made his offer to the British
government through its representative, but which that loyal subject,
in a fit of mortification, declined to convey, on the ground that if
he 'made the finest offer in the world to the British government, they
would only sneer' at him. However (to give, as before, the substance
of what is here detailed with amusing effect), the offer of Captain
Brum was to enlist 5000 Yankee marksmen, each armed with a
seven-barrelled revolving rifle, and kill 'all the Injuns' at the Cape
in six months for the sum of 5,000,000 dollars! 'We should be ekal,'
quoth he, 'to thirty thousand troops with such tarnal, stiff, clumsy
consarns as them reg'lation muskets is. We should do it slick, right
away.' This may seem only a piece of fun, but such it does not appear
to the author, who turns from fun to facts and figures, and calculates
what would be the result of an encounter between English and American
men-of-war, if the latter had ten men in each top handling Captain
Brum's weapon with Captain Brum's skill; and the result he comes to
is, that they could, in one minute and a half, dispose of 210 men on
the opposite deck. _This would amount to the destruction of the whole
crew stationed on the upper deck!_ The undoubted _possibility_ of such
a summary mode of annihilating an enemy, must soon change the system
of warfare, and at least demands grave consideration. We make no
comment upon this, as we should be inclined to do were we not
announcing the forebodings of a naval officer, who must be supposed to
see cause of apprehension before he would venture to express it.
Turning now to a more civil aspect of affairs than the picture of
thirty death-dealing demons in the tops of a Yankee frigate, let us
see how they manage their aggressions upon the untamed field and
forest. During his various ramblings, our traveller's free-and-easy
manner gained him the confidence of several able and energetic men--an
advantage which enabled him to peep behind the scenes in many of the
western movements. The following incident, which came under his own
knowledge, comes within the design of this article, which is to
illustrate the go-aheadism of our transatlantic cousins, and how they
find the ways and means where other men fail.
Near Green Bay (in the aforesaid Garden of Eden), a small village
suddenly peers out from the woods. The site was chosen by one of those
extraordinary men (educated pioneers), who had silently selected a
position, and established himself as proprietor before any one was
acquainted with his object. Once fixed, the working pioneers, well
aware of the sagacity and ability of their forerunner, begin to drop
in likewise. In a few months, a town is laid out, and a population
makes its appearance. A plank-road is necessary, a charter is
obtained, and a meeting summoned of all interested in the said road.
About a hundred persons attend; the charter is read; and before it can
become a valid instrument, 500 shares must be subscribed for, and one
dollar each paid up. The whole capital required is L.10,000--a sum
which, probably, could not be mustered in cash within a hundred miles.
One citizen believes he can get the 500 dollars from a relative in the
Gennessee Valley. Who, then, is to take stock, and supply the sinews
of war? There is not ten dollars (cash) in the township. Up starts
another, who has credit with a provision-merchant down east, and
offers to supply the workmen with pork, molasses, tea, and sugar, out
of his friend's store; making a speech at the same time. Others
similarly pledged their credit for shoes, soap, clothing, &c. The bulk
of the meeting, consisting of hard-working 'bonnet-lairds,' undertake
to go to work immediately; taking for part-payment the necessaries of
life, and receiving road-stock for the balance. Without a cent of
capital, they began a work which would eventually cost 50,000 dollars,
in full confidence that something would turn up to procure the
wherewithal. The beauty of the matter is, that the project succeeded.
The road has not only quadrupled the value of property all around, but
it bids fair to pay a dividend in five years of 50 per cent. If a
steam-boat is wanted, it is acquired in the same way. Large vessels
have been completely built and equipped, without the owners possessing
one farthing, and they have not only paid for themselves, but have
made handsome fortunes for the lucky and enterprising projectors.
Speculation of this kind, which would be justly deemed dishonourable
in a settled country, is apt to be less rigidly considered in the
pioneers of a new world. What country can attempt to cope with such
energy and enterprise as this? It is frequently a subject of remark,
that men born in England, and educated in the States, are among the
foremost in these enterprising projects.
There are many other facts in these interesting volumes which we
should like to call attention to; but the reader who has accompanied
us through this sketch cannot do better than read the volumes
themselves--only remembering, that the enthusiasm of his guide might
have been considerably moderated had he been an emigrant instead of a
gentleman traveller.