34

us. As an instance of this fact, we may notice the granite
brought to our city on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road. It is
not only an article very useful for home consumption, but much
of it is exported, and found to be of a belter quality than the ma-
jority of that which has heretofore been in use.

Another benefit to our commerce is the employment of a steam
boat, fitted up as an ice-breaker, which keeps our harbor open
during the winter. The advantage of this is easily to he con-
ceived. Measures have been taken to prepare another ice-breaker
brobably against the ensuing winter.

The establishment of a great number of brick-kilns near the
cily, affords us another article of trade which yields an abundant
profit. See article brick making in the preceding chapter.

The recent mineral discoveries in many parts of the State offer
a fair expectation of future emolument. Nor must we forget to
mention the epicurean production of Chesapeake bay, those deli-
cious shell fish which are not less palatable to the gourmond than
they are profitable to the speculator. The transportation of
oysters westward by means of the turnpikes has lately become a
considerable business, and several individuals have turned this
ingenious device to a very good account.

In short, there seems to be a determination on the part of our
fellow-citizens to employ every honest means which God has
placed in their power to extend our commercial advantages, until
Baltimore shall be second in this respect to no other city in the
Union. This idea may not be quite so Utopian as some persons
might be led to suspect it.

As for the trade, of the vest which the cily of New Orleans
seems now inclined to dispute with us, and which the steam na-
navigation on the western waters has a tendency to carry to that
port, there is little doubt that the completion of the Baltimore and
Ohio Rail Road will restore it to its original channel. The supe-
riority of rail-road conveyance over all river navigation is not to
be disputed; for (not to speak of its greater safely,) its freedom
from the uncertainty and delays of winds and tides, and from the
suspension cruised by the ice in the winter season, will always
gain it the preference. These circumstances, and the advantages
we possess with respect to distance will certainly obtain for Bal-
timore the trade of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana; for this will be
the shortest and most expeditious route from those States to the
tide waters of the Atlantic.

Chapter X.—Literature. Benevolent Societies, Mis-
cellaneous.

But while such strenuous efforts are made by our citizens in
those laudable pursuits which have just passed under considera-
tion, is the cultivation of the mind neglected; or is there no pro-