Total in 10 years.... $137,362,950 Thus, from an imperfect view of a period of ten years, hurriedly collected, and taken only from important points, regardless of thousands of minor losses, we have one hundred and thirty millions of dollars in property and effects, committed to the devouring element. But this cannot be supposed more than half the truth, considering Europe, Asia, and America, throughout all this period, and taking into account the smaller losses, and that immense class of losses not noticed at all in our calculations, viz. those which grow out of the interruption of trade, etc., etc. We have, then, in a fair estimate, $275,000,000. Two hundred and seventyfive millions of dollars lost to the world from 1836 to 1846, by the ravages of fire alonean average of $27,000,000 a year! sufficient to pay all the expenses of the American government in the same time; equal to the whole foreign commerce of the United States for one year; one fifth of the whole annual product of the United States in agriculture, manufactures and commerce; more than our whole banking capital from Maine to Louisiana; sufficient to purchase the absolute necessaries of life one year for all the inhabitants of the Union; double the cost of all the railroads in our country; more than the total of all state indebtedness! Who shall limit the ravages of this amazing influ ence. It will be observed of the catalogue of fires before given, that $37,000,000 of loss occurred in our country, being an average of $3,700,000 a year, which might be considered a fair average calculation annually for every period of ten years. Now, when it is considered, as before remarked, what numerous losses, direct and indirect, have not been chronicled by us; to which, were the whole expense of the fire department added, and all expenses of engines and machinery, and police, the average loss by fire during the last ten years will not be rated lower than $8,000,000 or $9,000,000 annually, and the average losses for years to come not less than $5,000,000 or $6,000,000, an amount sufficient to carry on the railroad proposed from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean, as fast as labor could urge it! In the tables we have given it must be regarded extraordinary that fires have, as it were, a contagious character, and occur at times almost simultaneously in different parts of the country, and often in the same place. Thus, we have two vast confiagrations in 1832 in Constantinople; two great fires in 1839 in Mobile, within a few days of each other; $9,000,000 of loss in the single month of October, 1839, in different parts of the Union; two enormous fires in Quebec, 1845, almost the same month, and in three months, in the United States, in 1845, upward of 13 or 14 millions of dollars destroyed! In cities, too, certain districts appear to be fated. We have known a square burnt three times to the ground in four or five years. Doubtless these are not all remarkable coincidences and inscrutable providences The hand of man is not always idle! The great fire of London is said to have been predicted long before by zealous soothsaying enthusiasts, and occurred almost in the terms of the prediction. But this interesting subject we must leave to the reader. It is capable of great exten sion, and we should be pleased if some one would resume it in our pages. For example. could we have the statistics of losses by fire since the Revolution, or in the history of our great cities, the loss of life, etc., how interesting and valuable this may be, and then the results of insurance companies, the losses and profits, the fire department, the fires at sea and by lightning—what a wide subject is there here. BOUNDARIES, GEORGIA*. - SITUATION, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, MINERALS, RESOURCES, &c., &c.-Georgia extends from the Blue Ridge Mountains, on the north, to the Okeefeenokee Swamp on the south, and from the Chattahoochee River on the west, to the Savannah on the east. From South Carolina. on the east, it is separated by a line running from the mouth of the Savannah River up that stream to the confluence of Tugalos and Keowee, and thence along the most northern branch of the Tugaloo until it intersects the northern boundaries of South Carolina. From North Carolina and Tennessee on the north, it is separated by a line commencing on a summit of the Blue Ridge, where the same is crossed by the 35th degree of north latitude, and terminating at Nickajack. From Alabama, on the west, it is separated by the Chattahoochee, running from its southern boundary up to a position near West Point, and then by a line running thence directly to Nickajack. Several attempts have been made by commissioners to settle the line between Georgia and Florida on the south. All attempts at a definite settlement have, as yet, failed. This * "Statistics of the State of Georgia," by George white line, however, is somewhere near a direct course from the mouth of the Flint River to the source of the St. Mary's, thence along that stream to the point where it empties into the ocean. Georgia is situated between 30° 21′ 39, and 350 north latitude, and 81° and 840 53 38" west longitude from Greenwich, and 3o 46' and 7° 39 26" west longitude from Washington City. Its length from north to south is. 272 miles. Its breadth from east to west is. ...256 ..63,397 " ..40,574,400 "No state in the Union presents a richer field for the geologist than Georgia. With a territory embracing the southern extremity of the great Atlantic chain of mountains, extending across them to the N. W. into the valley of the Mississippi, running to the S. W. into the cretaceous slope of the Gulf of Mexico, and occupying along its eastern boundary a wide belt of territory, it contains most of the important geological formations. "Commencing at the Atlantic Ocean, and spreading out from 100 to 150 miles to the west, an extensive plain of a tertiary formation rises from the level of the sea, and gradually swells up to a height of about 500 feet, at a line passing near the head of navigation of the rivers Savannah, Ogeechee, Oconee, and Ocmulgee, where it meets a primary formation. Between the Oemulgee and Flint rivers it leaves the primary formation to the right, and rests on the cretaceous from a point nearly midway between Macon and Knoxville, by a line running in a S. W. direction to another point between Petanla Creek and Fort Gaines on the Chattahoochee river. "Bounded by the last mentioned line to the S. E., and by the southern edge of the primary, as indicated by the heads of navigation in the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers, the cretaceous formation extends from Alabama into Georgia, forming an acute triangle. The primary, or non-fossiliferous, bounded 66 said by those who know, that a more lovely heaven does not smile upon the classic land of Italia than upon the highly favored inhabitants of Georgia. The light sandy soil of the cordon of islets which border the seacoast of this state produces the fine and valuable description of cotton known as the 'Sea Island." In the south are the tide swamp lands producing immense quantities of rice. The soil of these lands vary as they are situated upon the sea-shore, or upon larger or smaller rivers. On the Savannah they are very extensive, and are cultivated more than twenty miles from the brackish marsh up the river, and are considered the most valuable lands in the state. Next to these lands are those on the Altamaha River, which, in width, are equal to those of the Savannah. They do not extend from the marshes, up more than sixteen miles. Beyond this, the freshets render them valueless, except for timber. Their soil has more of vegetable mould than the lands on the Savannah, and they are more easily cultivated. Their products are rice, black-seed cotton, Indian corn, and sugar-cane. Next come the tide lands of the Ogeechee, extending ten miles up from the marshes, which produce rice, but are not very well adapted to cotton. The tide lands of the great St. Illa are not as broad as the others, but are productive and fertile twenty miles up from the marshes, yielding good crops of rice and cotton. They are not so much liable to freshets as some others. The inland swamp lands produce abun on the east by the tertiary and cretaceous forma-dantly, but unless there be contiguous a resertions, as described above, crosses the state from N. voir of water, the produce is uncertain. E. to S. W., with a width of 160 miles at the north- Black-seed cotton is produced on the oak ern limit, and 100 at the southern. The Blue Ridge lands adjoining the inland swamps, though range of mountains passes near its western edge, these lands are said to be of inferior quality. and forms the most elevated land of the state, varying in height from 1,200 to 4,000 feet. From this About sixty or seventy miles from the coast crest there is a gradual descent to the east, by a begin the pine lands, or, as they are some series of parallel and undulating ridges, until the times called, "the pine barrens," which have tertiary plain is reached. On the west the descent is much more precipitous. The western boundary heretofore been chiefly valuable for the imof the primary is not very accurately established, mense quantity of timber which has been but is believed to be not far from a line running nearly annually prepared for market. north and south through the centre of Gilmer county, Within a and continued in the same direction to near Canton, short time past the attention of people has in Cass county; thence to the western base of the Al- been turned to the manufacture of tar, pitch latoona Mountain on the Etowah River, where it and turpentine, from the pines growing on turns to the S. W., and, passing near Van Wert, in Paulding county, and along the northern base of the these lands, and the time is at hand when Dugdown Mountain to the Alabama line. these pine barrens will not afford the least source of wealth and prosperity to the citizens of Georgia. The middle region of the state contains land of a red, loamy soil, producing tobacco, cotton, and all the grains. It was once very productive, but owing to the system of cultivation adopted by our planters who have raised upon it year after year, with scarce any intermission, large crops of cotton, it has become, in many counties, much impoverished. Large gullies, and red barren hill-sides, often greet the eye in places which were once as fertile as any under the sun. Our planters are becoming awake to the folly of their past course, and hill-side ditch "The north-west part of the state, bounded to the east and south by the western limit of the primary, consists of a transition, or older fossiliferous formation, except the extreme N. W. corner, where the carboniferous occurs."-White's Statistics, pp. 14 and 15. Georgia embraces every variety of soil, climate and productions. While the inhabitants of Southern and Middle Georgia are being parched with heat, frequently so intense as to prevent comfortable rest, even at night, the more northern climate, among the mountains, is such as to render necessary a blanket in order to comfortable repose by sleep. The sky is of a deep blue, and it is ing, manuring, and a judicious rotation in crops, together with occasional rest to the land, is doing much to restore the soil to its virgin fertility. Much still remains to be accomplished, and he who will do most towards setting the example of improving our land, will be our greatest benefactor. We now have our yearly agricultural State Fair, which is doing a great deal to stimulate our planters to an honorable emulation in producing upon Georgia soil, in the largest quantities, every thing needful to our peace, prosperity and happiness. We cannot agree with our author in the assertion that the lands in the south-western part of the state, between the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers," are of inexhaustible fertility." Our observation, which is confirmed by the assurance of many intelligent and respectable planters, teaches us, that although these lands when first cleared are very productive, they are not very durable. Being of a light, sandy soil, they produce fine crops of cotton, and sometimes sugarcane, for a few years, and then become exhausted, when resort must be had to improvements to render them fertile again. These lands are cheaper in proportion to their fertility than any others in Georgia. Let us turn now to the most interesting part of the state, known as Cherokee Georgia. This is in the north. The valleys here are exceedingly rich, producing wheat, corn, Irish potatoes, beans, peas, onions, &c. In some places cotton is extensively raised, but the crop is not so certain as in other parts of the state. This part of the territory of Georgia is peculiarly a grain country, so far as the valleys are concerned, while the mountains yield the more valuable minerals, gold, iron, marble, granite, lime-stone, &c. The land here is more costly than in any other part of the state, ranging from ten to thirty dollars per acre, while in south-western Georgia lands of equal fertility range from three to ten dollars per acre. The difference in the price is traceable to the fact that the lands of Cherokee Georgia are much more durable than those in the south-western part of the state-it being the fact, that in the former portion there is land which was cultivated by the Indian before the white man's axe ever echoed back from the hills the sound of the march of civilization, which now produces from fifty to seventy-five bushels per acre. Cherokee Georgia is not the place to raise cotton, but it is to be the granary and the work-shop of the balance of the Its fields will produce corn to feed the operatives who are to direct its waterpower in manufacturing the cotton which is raised in the more southern parts of the state, and in digging out from the bowels of the earth the minerals which are to regulate the inland commerce, and form the imple state. ments of husbandry, life and peace, and, in case of necessity, of war, death and destruction. Mr. White says, "In the country bordering on the Savannah River, as far up as Elbert, and extending across to Broad River, the land, though long cultivated, is still productive; and we know of bodies of land in this section of the state, particularly in Oglethorpe county, which have been cultivated for more than half a century, and which still produce 700 and 800 pounds of cotton to the acre." P. 38. Our author enumerates upwards of fifty streams in the state of Georgia which deserve and wear the name of rivers. A very cursory glance at the map of the state will show that her water resources are immense. The streams of this state alone, which pour the volume of their waters from the mountain springs into the bosom of the Atlantic and the Gulf, would supply sufficient power in the eligible sites, to manufacture all the cotton grown in the world, or to grind all the grain produced in Uncle Sam's wide deminions. In addition to this, the Savannah, the Altamaha, the Oconee, the Ocmulgee, the St. Mary's, the Ogeechee, the Flint, the Chattahooche, the Coosa, and various others, bear upon their bosoms steamboats, sloops, cotton, and flat-boats, laden with the produetions of Georgia soil, and going to swell the tide of commerce upon which depend the wealth, power and prosperity of our nation. Mr. White has in his book some interesting extracts from the MSS. of the late Col. Benjamin Hawkins, many years agent of the United States Government in its transac tions with the Creek Indians, formerly residing in this state. We give the following in reference to the origin of this tribe, as being most interesting: "The origin of the name Creek is uncertain. The tradition is, that it was given by white people, from the number of creeks and water-courses in the country. The Indian name is Muscogee. The Creeks came from the West. They have a tradition among them that there is, in the Fork of the Red River, west of the Mississippi, two mounds of earth; that at this place the Cussetnhs, Conetuhs and Chickasaws found themselves; that being distressed sippi, and directing their course eastwardly, they by wars with red people, they crossed the Missiscrossed the falls of Tallapoosa above Tookaubatche, settled below the falls of Chattahoochee, and spread out from thence to Ocmulgee, Oconee, Savannah, and down on the sea-coast towards Charleston. Here they first saw white people, and from thence they have been compelled to retire back again to their present settlements."-P. 28. "According to the census of 1840, the population of Georgia amounted to 210,634 white persons, males. 141,609 slaves, females. Total...691,492 7,984 in manufactures and trades, 262 in navigation rivers, 1,250 in the liberal professions." COMPARATIVE VIEW OF THE POPULATION FOR 1790. 82,548.. 1830. 1800. 1810. 1820. ..162,686........ 252,433........344,773 1840. ..691,392. 1845. 1850. "Of this number 574 are computed to be engaged | tend the road in a westerly direction, to some in mining, 209,383 in agriculture, 2,428 in commerce, point on the Chattahoochee River, between of the seas, 352 in navigation of canals, lakes and Alabama and Georgia. The company went forward with the work and with banking, too fast for their means, so that by the time the road reached Griffin, in Pike county, there was a grand blow up, and the road was finally sold, in 1845, under a decree of court, for $155,000. At the session of the legislature for this year, the purchase was confirmed, and a change to its present name granted to the road. The work was pressed forward with vigor and energy, and the total cost of the road to its present owners has been about $628,091. Daniel Tyler, Esq., is the President. In 1847 the legislature conferred of the old one, except banking privileges. upon the present company all the privileges The right to construct a road from Griffin to West Point, a village built on both sides of the Chattahoochee River, was also given. 516,823.. .774,325.. .920,000 The Central Rail-road is the longest in Georgia. It connects Savannah with Macon, being 190 miles and 3,900 feet in length. The experimental survey of this route was first made in 1834, under the direction of Col. Cruger, at the cost of the city of Savannah. In 1836, the company was formed, and preparations made for commencing the work without delay. The road was completed to Macon on the 15th of October, 1843. The work on this road is done in a supe-road have been run with a regularity unsurThe public are aware that the trains of this rior manner. The arrangements for the comfort of passengers are surpassed by few roads in the United States. The conductors, some of whom have been in the service of the company since its commencement, have acquired an enviable reputation for their courtesy and attention to the passengers. R. R. Cuyler is President of the road, and L. O. Reynolds, Chief Engineer. The Milledgeville and Gordon Rail-road was chartered in 1847, and organized the same year. It is now in progress of comple tion, and will probably be finished during the present year. The work has not progressed with that rapidity which has characterized similar works in other parts of the state. The road is only 174 miles long, and should have been finished long ago. To the discredit, however, of some of the wealthy capitalists of Baldwin county, who could have sped the work on with the assistance of a little finger only, it has been suffered to labor on under great disadvantages and many doubts as to its final completion. No doubt now remains that it will be finished this year, however. The Georgia Rail-road is 171 miles long, connecting Augusta with Atlanta. The charter was granted in 1833, and amended in 1835. A portion of the road was put in operation on the 1st of November, 1837, and was finished to Atlanta on the 15th of September, 1845. The whole cost of the road, and its equipments up to April 1st, 1849, has been $3,551,975. John P. King, Esq., is the President. passed by any rail-road in the United States; and the President of the Company, in his credit of which is due to the superior skill report for the last year, says: "The entire and management of Mr. Emerson Foote, the general superintendent." The South-Western Rail-road is to connect the city of Macon with some point on the Chattahoochee, to the south-west. It is also from Pensacola,-meeting the South-Western to connect with a contemplated rail-road at its terminus on the above river The char ter was granted in 1845, and the company organized in 1847. The road has been nearly completed to Oglethorpe, a new town which has sprung up at the present terminus of the road, so far as constructed, be hoped that the work will be speedily distant fifty-one miles from Macon. It is to prosecuted to its termination on the banks of the Chattahoochee. wise called the State Road, from its belongThe Western and Atlantic Rail-road, othering to the state, commences in Atlanta, at the terminus of the Georgia Rail-road, before in Tennessee. The most remarkable feature mentioned, and terminates in Chattanooga, of this road is its tunnel through an arm of the Blue Ridge Mountains, running through the upper part of Georgia. This tunnel is 1,177 feet long, 18 feet in height, and 12 feet in width. It is one of the grandest achievements that grace the annals of the human solid rock. The lateral walls are of rock, six family. It is cut in a great measure through The approaches to the tunnel are protected feet thick at the base, and five feet at the top.. The Macon and Western Rail-road was chartered in 1833, under the name of the Monroe Rail-road and Banking Company. In on both sides by massive masonry. This road 1835 the company was organized, and the passes through a portion of the most interestwork commenced. The road was first char-ng country in the world. The chief engitered from Macon to Forsyth, in Monroe neer, in his report of 1848, says: county. In 1836, by an amendment of the charter, the company was authorized to ex convenient to the same, are becoming very popular, and they may be expected to attract large crowds "The watering-places along our line of road, and every summer, and thus contribute to swell the inRevenues.-General tax, viz., capitation-tax come of the road. Indeed not only these mineral on free white males, (from 21 to 60)-slaves and medicinal waters, but also the Saltpetre Cave near Kingston, the Tunnel beyond Dalton, the rich-free persons of color-lawyers-physi and varied scenery along our whole line, the moun- cians-factors and brokers-tax on land, per tainous ridges, the long fertile valleys and beautiful acre, according to its classification as to streams, together with the bold features around quality-on town lots, merchandise, ferries, Chattanooga, are all objects to interest and attract summer visitants."-P. 93. toll-bridges and turnpikes, the returned value -on money at interest-capital of manufacturing companies-capital of banks of other states employed in this, and sales of merchandise by factors, amount returned-and on pleasure carriages and billiard tables, the number returned. Since the above was written, we find in the Macon Journal and Messenger, a table of the rail-roads in the state. 1. Central Road, from Savannah to Macon, completed. MILES. 191 2. Georgia Road, from Augusta to Atlanta, completed. 171 3. Macon and Western Road, from Macon to Atlanta. 101 4. Western and Atlantic Road, from Atlanta to Chattanooga.. Miscellaneous sources (say). 10,000 140 5. South-western Road, from Macon to Oglethorpe, nearly completed $313,550 6. Muscogee Road, from Columbus to Fort Valley, on South-western, in progress.. 7. Atlanta and West Point Road, from Atlanta to West Point, in progress. 8. Milledgeville Road, from Gordon to Milledgeville, in progress. 9. Eatonton Road, from Milledgeville to Eatonton, in progress. 10. Wilkes Road, from Double Wells to Washington, in progress. 11. Athens Branch, from Union Point to Athens, 12. Burke Road, from 80-mile Station on Central Total completed and in progress.. 51 The Journal has not taken into considera GEORGIA AND HER RESOURCES. 71-HER POPULATION; INTERNAL IMPROVE 85 MENTS; PRODUCTIONS; ENTERPRISE; MINERALS; MANUFACTORIES; MINERAL SPRINGS. 18-It is an undeniable fact, that no state in the Union possesses, in so great a degree, the elements of national and individual wealth as Georgia. All that we need, is legislation 39 looking to their development and the enterprise of a few public-spirited individuals to 56 give direction to our energies. Our citizens want to feel secure from innovations in our 980 institutions-they want no legislation which is designed as experiments to catch popular favor. Hence relief laws, the election of judges by the people, and all that class of demagogue-like measures, are only clogs which fetter public enterprise and deter the prudent, thoughtful, energetic man from embarking his capital and his labor in pursuits which add to the permanent prosperity, se curity and advancement of our state. think there has been enough of the demagogue in Georgia already, working only mischief and ruin; and it is to be hoped that the intelligence and patriotism of older heads of all parties will unite to check innovation, and give security and permanency to our institutions and consequent fame and wealth to our people. tion the road in progress leading from Dalton to the Huvassee River, in East Tennessee, sometimes called the Hiwassee Branch Road, and sometimes the East Tennessee and Georgia Road. We do not know the exact length of this road, but believe it is over twenty miles within the limits of this state. So that in Georgia there are now completed, and in progress together, one thousand miles of railroad! an amount of internal improvement of this kind unsurpassed, if we are correctly informed, by that of any other state in the Union, save New-York. An article devoted exclusive ly to internal improvements in Georgia, would be as interesting a chapter of exploits for the public good as could be anywhere found. Our citizens are making some experiments in plank roads; and others are only waiting the result of these experiments, if favorable, to go ahead in this department of internal improvements. Mr. White says, speaking of canals: "The only works of this description in Georgia, are the Savannah, Ogeechee and Altamaha Canals, and the Augusta Canal, an account of which is given in this work. Turning to pp. 503-5, an interesting description is found of this canal, whose object is commerce, the affording of water to turn factories, mills, &c., &c. We would like to give a farther account of this canal, but our limits forbid us. We Georgia has always been a mighty workshop, in which her citizens have been operatives, whose labor has gone to build up and add to the wealth of other states. We have always needed capital to sustain the enter prise and to furnish the exchanges in the sale of our products. Hence other states have furnished us the money, and our people have sent their labor, in the shape of money, to pay to strangers dividends on their bank stock and interest on their advancements. This has been so much yearly taken from our pockets, we have been made so much the poorer, and strangers have been made so much the richer. A wise economy, there |