Niles' Weekly Register. (Baltimore, Md.), Vol. 14, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 6, 1836 Page: 16 of 16
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REGISTER_ATIG 6 1836 NORTH CAROLINA GOLD MINES.
392 NILES' REGII LIV—AUU. 09 4000_ _________
ply between St. Johns and Whitehall, he cannot fail to have
been delighted with the extraordinary beauty of each shores
but may very possibly have failed to learn that he should quit
the steamboat at Port Kent, a small village in Essex county,
New York, opposite Burlington, for a view which would pay
one fora voyage across the Atlantic. . .
Four miles north westwardly from Port Kent is the village of
Birmingham, through which flows the Au Sable river, forming
here a most beautiful cascade of 70 feet fall. About half a mile
from Birmingham, in the bosom of a deep forest, is the won-
der of which I have been speaking. It consists in the perpen-
dicular banks of the river which rise like walls on each side ot
the stream to the height of two hundred feet. The river, which
at Birmingham may be thirty yards across, is here narrowed to
the breadth of twenty feet, and rushes furiously along at the
bottom of this enormous chasm. To stand on the bank and
listen to the torrent dashing and foaming along its narrow way
is terrific. There are several lateral fissures branching from
the channel, as deep as the chasm itself, and so narrow that
you may step across. One of these affords the only access to
the bottom of this magnificent passage. You enter at the ex-
tremity and pass down a narrow way which admits but one
person at a time, until descending partly by a rude ladder, you
reach a sort of “table rock,” nearly on a level with the water.
Here you first become sensible of the great depth of the chasm.
You look up with astonishment at the almost endless height ot
the walls which enclose you; and you are filled with admira-
tion at seeing the regularity and symmetry which art can never
surpass, combined with vastness which it may not dream of
emulating. The walls of this specimen of nature’s masonry,
are as accurately perpendicular as the chisel and plumb could
have made them, and the numerous strata are laid with fault-
less regularity and exactness. Adjacent to the table rock ot
which I have spoken, is an angle of wall remarkable for being
protected by a round column of mountainous size and two hun-
dred feet high. , . -
The whole length of this extraordinary rock passage is nearly
a mile. The walls are highest at the place of descent, but in
no place is their height less than one hundred feet, except per-
haps at the extremities. My reader is assured that should he
ever visit the wall banks of the Au Sable, he will view a scene
of rare and wonderful interest, scarcely inferior, in the opinion
of many, to Niagara itself. VIATOR:
w6@6te
IMPORTANT LAW CASES.
Transportation of the U. S. mail on a turnpike road.
A case was recently decided in the Fayette circuit court of
Kentucky, which, as it involved points of general interest, lie-
serves to be noticed. It was brought before the court on the
petition ofM. W. Dickey, a contractor for the transportation of
the U. S. mail to and from Lexington and Maysville, who
prayed for a mandamus directing the Maysville and Lexington
turnpike company to open their gates and permit the mails to
pass the same free of toll. The grounds on which Dickey based
his claim are thus stated by the judge:.c.__
“The petitioner suggest that there is established from the
city of Lexington, to the city of Maysville, a post road tor the
carriage of the mail of the United States—that on said road are
established at various points, post offices; that on the route
leading from the one point to the other by the way o the va-
rious post offices, there is no road except the turnpike road,
known commonly as the Maysville, Washington, laris and
Lexington turnpike—that said turnpike, to a great extent, runs
over the same ground over which has passed a public road for a
great length of time, to wit: for thirty years, last past, and
during all which time, the United States mail has been regu-
larly and freely transported on said road, from Lexington to
Maysville aforesaid, until the construction of said turnpike-
that the petitioner has contracted with the government ot the
United States to transport or carry the mail daily in stages,
from Lexington to Maysville, and from Maysville to Lexington,
by the various post offices on said road—that the president and
directors of said turnpike road company, have on said road in
the county of Fayette by their agents, stopped and threatened
to continue to obstruct the passage of said mail unless the pe-
titioner will pay them sundry heavy tolls and illegal exactions
on the carriage and horses in which the mail is carried that
they by charging toll on the mail stage, both as a carriage of
pleasure and a carriage of burden, collect double tolls on the
mail stage, whereas it should rightfully pass free of toll. By
which illegal exactions the said company have extorted and
continued daily to extort from the petitioner, large sums of mo-
ney. He prays a mandamus to said corporation, to open their
gates and permit the United States mail to pass the same free of
The turnpike company, regularly incorporated under a gene-
ral law of Kentucky, admitted the facts stated in the petition,
including that of their refusal to permit the mail to pass over
their road without payment of the tolls allowed them by their
charter. In the discussion of the case, the court decided in the
first place that it had jurisdiction over it, and it then proceeded
to consider the main question—“has the petitioner a right by
the law ofthe land, as a carrier of the mail in the employment
of the postmaster general of the United States, to pass upon
said turnpike road, free of toll.” The various points involved
in the consideration of this question were discussed at length,
and, to our apprehension, with great clearness, and the deci-
sion of the court was that the petitioner had not the right
which he claimed, and consequently that his petition be over-
ruled. [Balt. Amer.
Liability of turnpike corporations. The Springfield (Massa-
chusetts) Gazette publishes a case which was lately decided
before the supreme court, while in session in that town, which
is interesting to the public in general. .. .
Yale vs. Hampden and Berkshire turnpike corporation. I his
was an action to recover damage for an injury done to the
plaintiff’s horse in passing over the road belonging to the de-
fendants. The defendants’ counsel rested the defence on the
alleged fact, that it was through no fault or negligence of the
turnpike corporation that the accident happened, and offered
evidence to show this—but the court rejected the evidence,
and ruled that turnpike corporations are liable at all events for
accidents happening through any defect in their roads—that in
every case they guarantee to the traveller, on his paying the
toll, a safe passage over the turnpike, so far as the road itself
i« concerned. In the common pleas, judge Cummins, on this
point, gave a different decision, ruling in favor of the defendants.
A verdict was taken for the plaintiff, damage $90, subject to the
opinion of the full court on the above point. Leonard for plain-
tiff—Knox and Chapman for defendants.
Towns, too, should take heed, and mend their ways. Ano-
ther paper gives an account of a case tried at Northampton, in
which Seth Williams recovered $400, in an action against the
town of Cummington, for an injury sustained in consequence
of his team and loaded wagon running off the highway and
bridge, two miles west of the village in a dark night.
) [Sentinel of Freedom.
Slave case. In the district court of the United States, for the
western district of Pennsylvania, held at Pittsburgh before
judge Irwin, two cases of interest have lately been decided.
Baylor et. al. vs. Elijah Heath, J. N. Steadman, esq. and A.
Pearsoll- and Stephen Dalgarn vs. the same defendants. The
plaintiffs were citizens of Virginia and the defendants of Penn-
sylvania. The plaintiffs were owners of two negro slaves, who
absconded and came to Venango county in this state, where
they were arrested, and after a judicial investigation, handed
over to their owners. On their way home through Brookville,
Jefferson county, on the evening of Sunday, the 14tb Sept.
1835, the negroes were placed in the jail for the night. A large
and excited crowd collected, the defendants being among them
and leaders of the multitude.
A singular contrivance for their liberation was devised. A
sham prosecution against the masters for travelling on Sunday
was held before Steedman, who is ajustice of the peace. Bra-
dy for the prosecution and Prime for the defendants, were to
make their speeches as long as possible, so as to afford the
slaves time to escape beyond the reach of their owners. The
whole contrivance seems to have been carried into effect, and
the negroes, although pursued by their masters for several days,
were never retaken. Verdict for the plaintiffs in both cases.
Damages in the first $600. In the second $840. Motions for
new trials were refused by the court.
NORTH CAROLINA GOLD MINES.
The following statement from the Rutherford (N. C.) Gazette,
would seem to remove the impression pretty effectually, that
the southern gold mines are becoming exhausted:—
BECHTLER’S gold coin.—Mr. Bechtler has politely furnish-
ed us with the subjoined statement of money coined by him
from the 18th of January, 1834, to the 12th December, 1836, to-
gether with the amount of gold fluxed during the same period.
Most of the gold was taken from the mines in Rutherford and
Burke counties, although much of it is stamped Georgia gold.
It will be seen that the subjoined statement extends no later
down than 12th December, 1835. Since that time, instead of
being a falling off, there has been an increase of business. We
paid him a visit on last Saturday, when he had just polished off
the last $3,000 for a day’s work. Mr. B. has promised to fur-
nish us with a statement of the amount coined and fluxed since
that period, at as early a date as possible. . .
Statement of the amount of gold coined and fluxed by Christopher
Bechtler, near Rutherford, N. C.
Amount coined in $5, $2% and $1 pieces, from the
18th January, 1834, to 22d December 1834 #109,732 50
Amount coined in $5, $2% and $1 pieces, from the
22d December, 1834, to the 12th December, 1835 695,895 00
Total
$805,627 50
Number of dwts. fluxed from the 22d December,
1834, to the 12th December, 1835
Number of dwts. fluxed from the 18th January, 1834,
to the 22d December, 1834
711,5334
395,804
Total $1,107,387;
These statements prove the immense extent of the mining
interest in this section of the state. We do not know to what
proportion this forms to the amount collected from the mines,
perhaps a half, perhaps not one-fifth. Yet mining has not fair-
ly commenced with us. Deposite mining is more profitable
than ever, and vein mining, though it has been but barely test-
ed, is yet sufficiently so to induce several large capitalists to
embark in the experiment extensively.
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Niles, Hezekiah, 1777-1839. Niles' Weekly Register. (Baltimore, Md.), Vol. 14, No. 23, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 6, 1836, periodical, August 6, 1836; Baltimore, Maryland. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1694176/m1/16/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .