Nothing has been said respecting the price of provisions either in Hudson or Manchester; but we believe we are perfectly safe in setting that, at this place, down at one-half. However, as we have no certain data by which to make the comparison, we will quote a part of the Pittsburg prices, which are very near the same as those of Kittanning.

Butter 6 a 7 cts.; cheese 5 a 6; candles 9 a 10; coffee g. in bags 16 a 18; cotton 8 a 9.

Copperas 34 a 34; flour $3 p. bbl.; wheat 45; barley 40; rye 31; corn 31-plenty.

Onions, bush. 50 a 75; pork 23 a 3; potatoes 40; sugar N. O. lb. 7 a 8; country do. 6; lump 16 a 17; loaf 17 a 19; tallow, (ren,) 8.

Beeswax 23; whiskey, old, gal. 28, new 19,

As to facilities of transportation, no section of the Union is superior to this. Situated at the head of steam boat navigation, and also near the great Pennsylvania canal, and the almost certain prospect of the Allegheny becoming the channel by which the Canal and the Ohio river will be united with Lake Erie, it will at once command the trade of the east, the west, and the north; cotton can be brought from New-Orleans, Alabama, or Tennessee, at from 3 to 1 cent per lb. and delivered at the factory. When manufactured, it can either be put into the steam boats and sent westward or northward, or upon the canal and be sent eastward, or thrown into the Pittsburg market. Drugs can be procured here as cheap as in the eastern states; and certainly wages are as low.

It is one of the simplest positions in the world, that if a man can erect the buildings, procure the raw material, fuel, provisions, &c. at 40, 50, or 60 per cent. less price than his neighbour, his profits will be proportionably greater, or otherwise he can dispose of the manufactured article proportionably lower, This, we believe, we have satisfactorily shown, would be the case in the coal district of the Allegheny river.

Almost any species of the manufacture could be prosecuted here to the greatest advantage, but especially such as require much power or fuel. No place could be better adapted to the manufacture of glass than this, on account of the cheapness of fuel, and the abundance of the best sand. (see Geddes's Report.) Our hills are filled with iron ore, and thickly covered with timber; consequently this is a profitable business, especially as there very little expense attending its transportation to market.

is

every buckett to the number of one hundred, provided they are equally good with the sample he now offers, & well painted with oil colours.

Edward Nicholls now applying to the board for leave to make a vault before his house at a corner of Chesnut street, the board upon the sd application do allow the sd Edward Nicholls to make a vault paying twelve pounds p ann. as a rent or acknowledgment to the cor, poration.

Isaac Norris & Daniel Radley are desired to get the common shore near the bridge in Second st. immedi diately repaired.

4 July, 1730.-T. Griffiths, Mayor.

The Mayor acquainted the board that the two ffire engines, and two hundred and fifty of the ffire buckets, which were sent for to England, are lately brought over, and desired the board would consider of proper places, not only to keep them from the weather, but also for the conveniency of speedily carrying them upon any accident of ffire. The board having taken the same into consideration, are of opinion, That one corner of the great meeting house yard will be a proper place to lodge one of the new Engines, the other new engine, at the corner of ffrancis Jones's lott, which ffronts the ffront st. & Walnutt street, and the old Engine in a corner of the Baptist meeting house yard (if leave can be obtained,) and that the bucketts be hung up in the court house.

17 April, 1732-C. Hasell, Mayor.

The board taking under consideration the frequent & tumultous meetings of the negroe slaves, especially on Sunday, Gaming, Cursing, Swearing & committing many other disorders, to the great terrour and disquiet of the inhabitants of this city. In order not only to prevent such meeting & disorders for the future, but also to prevent children & white servants meeting in such great numbers on the sd day to play games & make disturbances & noise in the city, It is by this board, thought necessary that an ordinance be forthwith drawn & prepared to prevent the same.

18 Aug. 1732.

The Mayor acquainted the board that the Hon. Thos Penn, Esq. one of our proprietors, being lately arived in this city, He thought it the duty of this board to give him a handsome welcome by providing a decent collation to entertain him at the expense of the corporation, to which the board unanimously agreed, & the time ap pointed is on Monday next at the Court-house, & the Mayor & Recordr. are desired to give the invitation to the Proprietor, Govr. & such gentlemen as they shall think proper to invite, & the Mayor & Aldn. Griffiths are appointed to make proper provision for the said En

29 Octr. 1733.-A Memorial from the Monthly Meeting of friends being read, It is ordered that a former or der for preparing an Ordinance for the regulating of ne groes & white servants within this city be further putt in execution, & that the person appointed for drawing it, produce the same at the next Council, that the same may be settled and passed.

17 Octr. 1734. T. Lawrence, Mayor.

burry for the Entertaining of Coll. Montgomery late Gov. of New York.-The board having taken sd. acct. into consideration do order that the Treasurer of ye Corporation do pay the Mayor the sd. sum.

28 July 1735-Edward Woolley exhibited an acct. amt. to ten shillings & six pence for work done to the tables & benches in the court house at the time of the entertainment of the proprietor. It is ordered that the treasurer pay the same.

8 May, 1736-W. Allen, Mayor.

20 Sepr. 1737.-The Clerk of the Market now Ex

*The same proceedings as above took place at the arrival of the Hon. John Penn, Esq.

the left bank of which river he built himself a cabin, and sat down permanently at the very spot where the town of Harrisburg now stands.

Here he deposited his merchandise, and opened a profitable commerce with his red neighbours, who were numerous about the Paxton creek, and had several villages in its vicinity, along the Susquehanna shore. Mr. Harris acquired the friendship of most of these tribes, receiving their peltry and other objects of Indian traffic, for his ammunition and rum. This led to an active exchange of commodities, and gradually enabled him to purchase the land adjacent to his establishment, and to undertake considerable agricultural improvements.*

The majestic Susquehanna, nearly a mile broad, flowed in front of his hut, while along its high banks nothing was to be seen but one dark mass of woods, reaching to the summit of the lofty hills that bounded the view in every direction. In the bosom of this wilderness Mr. Harris's family was located, and here was born Mr. John Harris, who, in the year 1785, laid out Harrisburg, and who was the first white child born to the west of Conewago creek.

In this state of things, it happened one day, that a number of his Indian customers, who had been drinking freely, called for an additional supply of rum. On Mr. Harris's refusing to gratify them, they dragged him from his hut, and bound him to that very mulberry tree, at the foot of which he now lies buried.

Here they declared to burn him alive, and bade him prepare for instant death. Dry wood was gathered and fire held in readiness to kindle it; the yells of the exasperated savages echoed along the shore, while with demoniac gestures they danced around their victim. Death in its most cruel form was before him, and bereft of hope he gave himself for lost. In vain did he supplicate for mercy, and offer every thing in exchange for life; deaf to his entreaties, and determined on his destruction, they declared he should die. The fire was brought to the pile, and about being applied, when a band of friendly Indians, in numbers sufficient to rescue him, burst from the woods and set him at liberty.

These Indians were led on by a negro man named Hercules, a slave belonging to Mr. Harris, who at the first alarm ran to a neighbouring tribe to beg for succour, and now brought it to his master's relief. The deliverance was well timed. A moment's delay would have been fatal. The presence of mind, the decision, the speed of this negro alone saved the respectable Mr. Harris; and so sensible was he of the great service rendered to him by this poor slave, that he instantly emancipated him, and the descendants of the worthy Hercules now reside at Harrisburg, and enjoy their freedom so nobly won, in the bosom of the large community who occupy the ground on which the occurrence took place.

Wherever this story is related, let the virtuous African share largely in our praise and admiration.

An escape so providential was suited to make a deep and lasting impression on the mind of Mr. Harris. Pious and grateful feelings fastened on the heart. It was a signal deliverance; it was a manifest evidence of God's merciful interposition. Struck with this conviction, Mr. Harris, in order to perpetuate the memory of it among his own descendants, directed that at his death his body should be deposited at the foot of this mulberry tree; and there it lies, a memento at once of savage ebriety,

domestic fidelity, and above all of the watchfulness of Him "who alone can inflict or "withhold the stroke of death."

It may not be irrelevant to mention a few statistica. facts illustrative of the change that has taken place, since the date of the foregoing adventure, on the spot to which the narrative refers.

Mr. John Harris, son of the subject of this communication, founded a town on his patrimonial estate, in 1785, which he called Harrisburg; and built an elegant stone mansion where the hut had stood, and about one hundred and fifty yards from the celebrated mulberry tree. Harrisburg, now the seat of the State government of Pennsylvania, contains a population of nearly four thousand souls. It communicates with the opposite shore by a covered bridge nearly a mile long, erected by the State and individuals at an expense of 195,000 dollars. The public buildings for the accommodation of government are very splendid, and cost 252,000 dollars, and were paid for out of the State treasury.

This borough is the county town of Dauphin, and contains six churches, two of which are handsome, and were constructed by Mr. Hills, an architect of taste and science. There are four hundred dwelling houses, and a probability of a great increase, when the Pennsylvania canal shall be finished, for that useful work will pass through the town. The court-house is a spacious and convenient building. A theatre was erected a few years ago, but rather prematurely. The borough has considerable trade, and sustains a Bank in good reputa tion.

SAMUEL BRECK,

Of the County of Philadelphia.

P. S.-The foregoing narrative was submitted in substance to the inspection of Mr. Robert Harris, and declared by him to be correct.

* Since the date of Mr. Breck's communication, a Ro

The form

man Catholic and a Methodist church, both very neat buildings, have been added to the number. er is indeed an exceedingly pretty edifice and is erected on a handsome site about midway between the State house and the river. A new front to the Presbyterian church, which was formerly destitute of architectural beauty, has greatly improved its appearance. The churches in Harrisburg are now the following, viz.Two Methodist, an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a Lutheran, a German Calvinist, a Roman Catholic, and an Unitarian. Mem. Penn: Historical Society.

Apprentices Library.

The average number of boys using the Library during the past year, exceeded 600, being considerably greater than at any former time. The new applicants during the same period amounted to 612, and those now using the Library 778. New members elected since last report 19. Receipts $550 25, expenditures 561 02.

Weather-On Monday last it commenced snowing early in the morning, and continued to snow during the day; notwithstanding the ground was unprepared by the rains of the previous day, to retain it, the depth of snow

was several inches. There was also snow at Harrisburgh.

blished a new post office at Penn township, Philadel New Post Office.-The Postmaster General has estaphia county, and Jeremiah Hukill, esq. has been appointed post master.

made on these piers, by presenting an oblique side to the current, it may have the happy effect of throwing a larger quantity of water across the river, and thereby deepening the channel on the bar,

There is no doubt that the ebb tide gives the river its particular character and direction, since much more water passes down than up the river. It is on this account chiefly, that so great an inequality exists between the times of the ebbing and flowing of the tides; the former being about seven, the latter only five hours.

Bold banks are most exposed to the fury of a violent current; while flats, especially when covered with grass, subdue the rage of a current almost into a calm.

The winds have a tendency not only to give the current velocity, but also direction. Many artificial banks have been prostrated, by a strong wind directing the current against them. The banks of Hog island sometimes suffer much from the north-east gales.

At the north-east end of this island, we found the proprietors engaged in making a new bank, in the rear of one which, in consequence of its being a little prominent, had frequently been almost prostrated before the north-east gales; and which was now deemed insufficient to stand those gales any longer. The old bank was surveyed, and the new one laid down.

It would be an important improvement to these banks, to build them with a considerable declivity on the river side, so that the violence of the waves and current would thereby be much broken.

At the upper end of Hog island, in consequence of the vast accumulation of ground recently made, the proprietors were erecting banks that will enclose at least fifty acres, and on the same place over which large sloops formerly sailed, at high water. As these new banks were nearly completed, they were surveyed, and no attention paid to the old ones, as they will hereafter fall entirely within the boundaries of the island, and may perhaps soon be obliterated.

The small shoal that exists between Tinnicum Island and the Jersey shore, nearly opposite to Mr. Lodge's dwelling, was formed from a pilot boat which was sunk a number of years ago.

The remains of the British frigate Augusta, whose history is well known, he at present in about six feet depth, at low water. The sand and mud have accumulated around her for some distance, and formed a considerable shoal, in which she is nearly buried. While we were surveying in the vicinity of that place, three or four eighteen pounders were grappled up from the wreck, by men whose subsistence depends on that business. The cannons are perfectly free from rust, and are supposed to be in as good condition as they ever were, after having lain in the water upwards of forty

years.

More than ordinary attention was bestowed on that part of the survey which is immediately within the vicinity of the contemplated bridge. The direction of the current, its tendency to produce an effect, its velocity in ebbing and flowing, the depth and nature of the bottom, were taken with scrupulous exactness. ebbing and flowing of the tides make first in this place, as is usually the case in the shoaler channels.

The

The velocity of the current in this channel is much inferior to that of the western channel; and, as a vertical section of the latter, in the narrowest place, is more than three times as great as the former, it must of necessity convey the great mass of water in the ebbing and flowing of the tides.

The eastern channel has throughout a depth of twelve feet at low water, and in the narrowest part has a breadth of four hundred and fifty feet, commanding a depth of ten feet at low water.

This channel may be navigated, at high water, by our ships drawing fourteen feet. Our pilots are generally ignorant of the nature of this channel; and on extraordinary occasions only would they be induced to prefer it

especially as it terminates above that part of the city where the shipping generally lies.

Sloops often use this channel to an advantage; and, in contrary winds, and near high water, can tack more than three-fourths of the distance from shore to shore. A vessel coming up to Philadelphia, with the wind from the west, and the tide ebbing, may pass up this channel, and arrive at the city, when such arrival could not be effected by the western channel. Similar advantages are afforded to a vessel descending the river.

this channel as the more direct course; and, should there Vessels bound above the city from below, may take be an ebb tide, they will have less current to encounter than in the western channel. Vessels descending the river will have similar advantages.

A strong westerly wind drives the great mass of ice into this channel, and relieves the western side. A contrary wind produces a contrary effect. Each channel has been used by turns, as they have been thus cleared of ice.

The water, on the ebb, coming out of Cooper's creek, throws the current over near the flats on the south end of Petty's island, and has a direct tendency to check the water from flowing freely down this eastern channel.

-

The bar opposite Philadelphia, and at the north end of Windmill island, has undergone one of the greatest changes, during the last year, that was ever known. On the 16th of January last, a storm from the east broke up the icy fetters in the river. On the 17th the wind blew strong from the southward; and the tide rose higher than it had done for a considerable time previous, inundated many of the wharves, and covered them with drifting ice. Shortly after the flood had set in, a large body of ice was collected on the bar, nearly opposite Arch-st. to the height of nearly twenty feet, in the short period of about ten or fifteen minutes, and continued there a number of days. There can be no doubt that this bed of ice was instrumental, in connexion with the drifting ice, in producing the great change that followed.

The wreck lying on the east side of the island, last year, was on a line with the south edge of the wharf since which, it has been removed in a line with the north edge of the wharf. It is highly probable that this change of position has promoted the change of the bar in that vicinity.

The bar, a short time since, was surveyed, in order to ascertain the precise change that has taken place since last year. Agreeably to the recent survey, taken on the 20th of July 1820, it appears that the channel of last year is now converted into a bar, and the bars of last year into channels.

On the ebb tide, particularly towards the close, the tide runs with considerable strength across the bar towards the Jersey shore. This was also found to be the case on the bar north of Davis's pier, opposite fort Mifflin.

Soundings of the River Delaware, from the same. The following is a list of the soundings, in feet, at low water, at some of the most important parts of the river, taken at right angles across from shore to shore. They are obtained from the map,* at certain equal distances apart; so that the relative situation of each depth is readily found, by dividing a line into one part more than the number of soundings, and annexing to each point of division the depth in the order exhibited in each line.

From Richmond to Petty's island, 10, 15, 10, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 20, 15, 11, 14, 12.

In the direction of Richmond, from Petty's island to Jersey, 12, 16, 20, 24, 22, 14, 8.

Delivered to Councils with the Report, and not printed.