Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1876 — Hannibal, Missouri. [ARTICLE]

Hannibal, Missouri.

Editors Union: Having seen much in the few days past that to me was new and interesting, I thought perhaps friends in Jasper county might enjoy reading asketch of it. I left Goodland on tha 19th of October and crossed Illinois after night, therefore can tell very little about the appearance of the country, except that portion which lies west of the Illinois river. The railroad passes through a very broken country most of the way from the Illinois river to Hannibal. But people who live along there seem prosperous and contented. They have raised a good crop this season. Before coming to the Mississippi river there is heavy timber. Most of it is oak, soft maple and pecan. The last named furnish an abundance of fine nuts, besides making fine lumber. lam told that the pecan tree i» of tolerably rapid growth, hardy, and bears transplanting easily. Almost any amount of young trees grow 'along the Illinois river, which might be taken up and made to the grace, as well as to the value, of our fine prairie farms. The crossing of the Mississippi river is made over a fine bridge which is just a little above the city of Hannibal. The Illinois bank is low and partially overflowed, but the Missouri bank is an almost solid line of high bluffs. The river here is only about half a mile wide, but very deep. A little way below the bridge is to be seen the wreck of a river steamer which was destroyed last June. She tore out one span of the railroad bridge, drifted against the bank and sunk. As the train leaves the bridge on the Missouri side it enters a tunnel going west, and emerges going south. There appears to be only a narrow gap in the bluff where the city comes down to the river bank. It is a gap about one and a half miles wide. From here the city extends westward and southward around and over the bluffs. It is quite a pretty place and claims to number about2o,OOOinbabitants. Judging by what I saw on the streets, there are many descendants of Ham among them; I counted only 70 while going from the cars to the hotel.

I joined a party which was ready to visit the Hannibal cave, two miles south of the city, down the river. It is said to extend under ground for a distance of seven miles, and some think it reaches dqwn under the river. Leaving the city the road to the cave passes by the engine house of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, where I counted nine engines. This company also have extensive machine shops here. We pass a large saw mill where they drag logs up out of the river and convert them into lumber, which are brought down from the northern pineries bolted together in immense rafts. A vast business is done by them. They run a gang saw which converts a log into lumber at one through. From here the road winds along the face of the bluff dowp the river. At one point tbe bluff towers 200 feet above and we have barely loom to drive past its base for 15 feet below passes a train of cars on tbe track of the Hannibal & St Louis railroad which is laid .only a few feet from the river’s edge. We look down upon the roofs of the ours as they speed below us. A mile and a halt along and we turn to tbe right and soon approach the mouth of the cave, about 20 feet up tbe steep side of an immense hill, which to me seems a mountain. Lighting our candles we march In single file. When we proceeded a quarter of a mile I felt fully paid for my trip down here had I seen nothing more than this cave. On either side the walks me, sometimes in solid masses, sometimes broken by seams, and projecting rocks, sometimes by

shelves of solid granite one above another, and disappear in the darkness above. This is called a pastge cave. Just narrow passages tend in various directions. One ay enter one, follow its windings, and come back to the place he started from. We went to the Parlor, as it is called, and sat down on the Sofa, which is a long stone pillar. There is a wide passage where saltpetre was once made. A rock which projects some 6 feet above our heads is called Hangman's Book. A man was once hung on if. We saw one spring of clear water running out of the eave. To the left of this spring, by scrambling up 15 feet over wet clay, one may reach a smooth stone floor which is the deposit of water that drops slowly down from above. I broke away pieces as souvenirs and also procured fine specimens of quartz crystals. Up on the high bluffs one obtains a magnificent view of the river and landscape in all directions. To me the scenery is very fine. The river rolls in silent majesty, a mighty volume of water, upon Whose bosom huge steamers play in and out among beautiful islands, like creatures of life and reason. Over on the Illinois side are three pretty villages nestling among groves of towering timber, while thrifty looking farm houses and green fields are dotted in every direction. At our feet rests the city whence comes a constant hum and clatter of life and business.

C. E. FARMER.