Schooners, scows, sloops and brigs, navigate up and down, And are a pleasing sight when sailing by a town; While passenger steamers of great beauty and speed, Carry many thousands and furnish what they need. But greater the freight ships, full five hundred feet long, With thirty feet of hold and in proportion strong, And large are the cargoes these great ships can transport, Food to feed a city, or supply a large fort. A whole township of crops in one enormous load, Or railroad rails enough for eighty miles of road, A copper cargo worth three millions of dollars, Or cloth enough to clothe four millions of scholars. Many are the products transported by these ships, And vast is the volume for they make many trips, So great is the traffic it is safe to relate, There’s no other river has a commerce so great. Michigan, Wisconsin and big Minnesota, Furnish the greater part of the immense quota, And the states further west help augment the treasure, And Canada assists with a handsome measure. Grain comes from all the states in the thrifty northwest, And Manitoba’s wheat takes rank among the best, Millions of tons of grain are yearly carried by, And fill elevators that tower in the sky. Lumber comes from the lakes above the river’s head, And from the many streams by which the lakes are fed, Copper and iron go east, coal always to the west, And ordinary goods the way that pays the best. Tea and silk from China, India and Japan, And thousands of products, the handiwork of man, Fruits from California, elegant wines from France, And ev’ry thing on earth that does man’s wealth enhance. One product not mentioned that moves itself along, Is the excellent fish that in the river throng, Myriads in number, of great value for food, Catching them for pleasure does the fisherman good. With commerce unequaled and beauty unexcelled, And water as pretty as ever river held, This elegant river, its story now outlined, Deserves to be admired by all ranks of mankind. PART V. MISCELLANEOUS POEMS COMPENSATION. Under nature’s just laws, All effects have their cause, And bear each other a true relation; And the good deeds of man Are measured by this plan, And in some way receive compensation. What tho a loving wife Be united for life, To one heartless as the moon or the sun; Her soft love may entwine, Like a beautiful vine, And embellish the whole life of that one. If a true hearted man, Who lives by moral plan, Should be bonded to an ill-natured wife; Of one thing he is sure, ’Tis the love sweet and pure, Of warm, sympathizing friends all his life.