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Two houses deal exclusively in agricultural implements, seeds, etc. The amount of seeds imported into the city during 1856, in value, was $6,597; of agricultural implements, $41,763; of reapers and mowers, $79,321. There are two nurseries within the city limits, which brought in, during the fall of $5,657, and have exported $3,600 in the year.

The lumber business of Dubuque is of much importance. A large amount is brought from the pineries of Wisconsin and Minnesota in the log and for its manufacture into square timber, boards, shingles, and lath, there are two steams saw mills and one shingle manufactory. The amount of lumber imported in 1856 was, ready sawed, 15,961,880 feet; in the log and manufactured in the city, 73,479,000 feet; aggregate, 89,440,880 feet; shingles imported, 8,984,000, the total value of which amounted to $612,000.

There are four establishments that manufacture doors, sash, and blinds, employing on an average about sixty men. The amount of lumber used during the year was 573,000 feet, and valued at $10,055; value of manufactured articles sold, $73,000; amount of lumber planed for customers, 1,128,000 feet; lumber split, 200,000 feet.

There are five wagon shops, employing on an average fifty-five men; value of manufactures in 1856, $105,500; and aside from these there are several shops where repairing is done.

There are three iron foundries and two brass foundries. Connected with the former are machine shops. There is also, connected with one of them, a threshing-machine shop, which turned out ninety-five machines during 1856.

There are sixteen steam-engines used in the city for propelling machinery — three, are used in saw mills, three in flouring mills, two in sash factories, two in foundries and machine shops, two in cabinet shops, one in a feed mill, one in a wood yard, one in a shingle factory, and one in a printing office.

A steam-boiler and steam-engine manufactory was commenced near the close of the year 1856. Preparations are being made for the erection of three large saw mills in the forepart of 1857. Another extensive foundry and machine shop is in course of erection. In these and other improvements, with the contemplated enlargement of old establishments, it appears that the various manufacturing interests of Dubuque are highly prosperous, and will be greatly augmented the present year.

The following table shows the various branches of business carried on the city, and the number of establishments in each: —

Stores and shops: — Boot and shoe, 21; furniture, 16; stove and tin, 16. Stores: — Grocery, 67; dry goods, 57; clothing, 29; drug and medicine, 11; jewelry, 11; hardware and cutlery, 9; fruit and confectionery, 9; saddle, harness, and leather, 9; liquor, 6; cigar, 4; music stores, including piano rooms, 4; book and stationery, 4; iron and steel, 2; crockery and glass ware, 2; agricultural warehouses and seed stores, 2; periodical depots, 2. Shops: — Blacksmith, 19; tin, 11; paint, 10; wagon

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The embryo city of Dunleith, situated directly opposite Dubuque, is the northern terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad, which, by its connections, affords Dubuque constant communication with the East. The following is a statement of the merchandise delivered at Dunleith for Dubuque and points above it, from May to December, inclusive, in 1856, and of the freight charges for the same: —

Of the first four months of 1856 no record could be obtained, but it would be fair to estimate the freight received at 32,948,724 pounds, and the charges at $226,456 24, which, added to the above, will make a total of 110,434,613 pounds received, and of $790,267 freight charges. Of the receipts more than one-fourth was for Dubuque.

During 1856, there were 908 arrivals of steamboats and 906 departures. The greatest number of arrivals and departures, 186, was in the month of May. The first arrival was the Alhambra from Galena, on 11th April; on the same day arrived the Metropolitan, the first from St. Louis; and on the 17th April the Fanny Harris, the first from Pittsburg. The last boat arrived from above was the Resolute, from La Crosse, on 2d December. The season of river navigation in 1856 was nearly eight months, which was one month less than the season of 1855.

There are three express companies — the American, E. Haydon, agent; the Northwestern, T. Adams, agent; and Parker's, Eaton, agent. During 1856, the transactions of these companies were as follows: — In receiving; $3,121,129 92 of moneys, and 1,565,448 pounds of merchandise. In forwarding, $4,580,961 of moneys, and 132,984 pounds of merchandise. These amounts of pounds do not include packages, which were a large proportion of the goods received.

There is one telegraph office, the business of which, in 1856, amounted in receipts to $4,800; total of messages sent and received, 7,200 — a large increase over the year 1855.

There are seven banking houses, conducted by firms with ample resources and of much experience; the first was established in 1844, the last in December, 1856. The amounts of exchange drawn by them during 1856 were — on New York, $4,936,208; Boston, $1,115,900; Chicago,

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The business of the post-office affords an excellent criterion of the general progress of the city. In 1856, the number of letter bags received was 21,870, a daily average of nearly 60; newspaper bags, 6,570, a daily average of 18; letters distributed during the same year amounted to 8l,149,60; number of clerks, 11, at an aggregate salary of $6,600. The following are some statistics for three years: —

The post-office is in the Odd Fellows' Building, erected in 1856, and is regarded as one of the most commodious and complete in the entire West.

The total number of buildings erected during 1856 was 502, of which 292 were frame, 178 brick, and 32 stone. The total expenditure for their erection was $1,167,145, this being entirely exclusive of the large expenditure made upon the ground on which they were constructed, and of the cost of the ground itself. The amount of $15,000 should be added for the cost of certain improvements of buildings not otherwise mentioned. The amount expended by the city authorities in grading streets, making sewers, etc. , during 1856 was $51,228 58. The Dubuque Harbor Company expended $51,228 58, and the Dubuque Harbor Improvement Company $41,636 78, in accordance with their respective contracts with the city.

We will mention some of the principal buildings erected in l856. Among these are several large hotels, increasing the whole number of hotels and inns in the city to eighteen. Their names and their reported cost are as follows: — Lawrence Hotel Block, $90,000; Larimie Hotel, 125,000; Graffort's Hotel Building, $30,000; Merchants' Hotel, $16,000; Kesler's Hotel Building, $16,000; and Adams's House, $14,000. The city now contains thirteen religious societies, three of which erected new houses of worship during the last year. The Alexander College Building is of stone, four stories high, 100 feet long, 40 feet deep, and when completed will probably cost $30,000. Early in the spring of 1856 the school system was reorganized, and appropriations were made for two new school buildings, one of which was completed at a cost of $23,000, and the second is under contract. The Odd Fellows' Hall will have cost when completed about $38,000. Messrs. Geo. Rogers & Co. erected a shot-tower, at a cost of $7,000, which has the following dimensions: — It is of square form; its base measures 26 feet, and at its base the walls are 9 feet in thickness; its height is, in all, 150 feet; to the height of 110 feet it is composed of substantial stone masonry, and the other portion, or 40 feet, is of brick. One of the finest business buildings in the city is Rebman's Block, which cost $30,000, and with this may be mentioned the Washington Block, which cost $15,000, and is in part occupied as the Julien Theater. The Iowa Brewery was erected at a cost of $10,000, and its capacity will permit of one hundred barrels of beer being manufactured daily. The Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company erected on their grounds two frames, one an engine house, and the other a freight and passenger depot, at a cost for both buildings of $14,000.

nts

Notes

1. The Merchants' Magazine of March, 1848, (vol. xviii. , pp. 285-298,) contains an article on the "Lead Region and Lead Trade of the Upper Mississippi," by Hon. E. B. WASHBURNE, of Illinois, to which the reader is referred for a more detailed account of the history of Dubuque and region by which it is surrounded.

2. He was a member of the first General Assembly of the Territory of Wisconsin, in which Iowa was then included, and was one of the delegates to form the State Constitution of Iowa. He also occupied many public trusts, and died at Dubuque, May 21, 1855.

3. The Merchants' Magazine of July, 1852, (vol. xxvii., page 138,) contains a statement of the business of Dubuque in 1851. The number of May, 1853, (vol. xxviii. , pp. 632-633,) contains Mr. G. R. West's detailed statement of the trade and commerce of Dubuque in 1852.

4. Including the goods manufactured in this line.

5. There are also eleven tin shops in the city, doing an aggregate business of $40,000 yearly.

6. Including the value of the clothing manufactured in the city during 1856, viz., $35,987.

7. These items include the transactions of the drug stores in paints, oils, etc.

8. Including $45,000 as the amount manufactured in the city.

9. Of the sixty-seven grocery establishments, ten are heavy wholesale houses; of the fifty-seven dry goods establishments, there are eleven that job goods, four of them exclusively; the items of imports of hardware and iron are exclusive of the items of sheet-iron, tin, zinc, and copper, the importation of which amounted to $76,000; of the twenty-one boot and shoe establishments, three are large jobbing houses, others do a jobbing and retailing business together, and several are new houses, started in 1856; of the drug stores, six are wholesale; a fifth book store opened in the spring of 1857.