GLOOMY TIMES. Sti^ 



ful, or possibly fraudulent attempts, had been made previous, 

 fo these times, to raise a revenue by incorporating no small 

 number of banks. These had failed, as every man of sense 

 knew they must fail — and as they always will fail to produce 

 much revenue to the state treasury, under any circumstances. 



And at the period of our lowest depression, as to credit, no 

 money scarcely of any sort, had a circulation among us. 



Pork sold for one dollar p€r hundred pounds, Indian corn for 

 twelve and a half cents a bushel, wheat for twenty-five cents, 

 and every other article of produce was equally cheap where 

 they were produced. And there was not a demand even at 

 these prices, for all the farmer could easily spare. 



These times, we can all remember, and, as matters of mere 

 historical fact, we can now look back upon them, with pride 

 and exultation, while we look around us, on the contrast, 

 every where seen, felt and fully realized. Amidst all these 

 gloomy circumstances, there were a few men, in the state, who 

 looked through them, towards better days. The first impulse, 

 which roused into activity, the sleeping energies of the Wes- 

 tern people, was Fulton's steam boat. The first one, built on 

 the western waters, was constructed by Robert Fulton, at Pitts- 

 burgh, and departed from that place, in December 1812, and 

 arrived at New Orleans, on the 24th of the same month. It 

 was called the Orleans. The second was called the Comet, 

 built bv Samuel Smith, and went to Louisville, in the summer 

 of 1813. Third, The Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and de- 

 scended to New Orleans, in the spring of 1814. Fourth, The 

 Enterprise, built at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, was owned and 

 constructed by Daniel French, on his patent. This boat made 

 two voyages to Louisville, in the summer of 1814, under the 

 command of captain Israel Gregg. Fifth, The Aetna was 

 built at Pittsburgh, 1815, by Fulton and company. This busi- 

 ness of building steam boats, increased annually, until in 1819, 

 forty one steamers, had been constructed on the western waters. 

 The improvements in every part of the machinery, by this time, 

 had so far succeeded, and those who managed them, had, by 

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