ST. LOUIS. Her Action in Connection with the Chicago Fire. Solidity of tlie Buildings in tlie Missouri Metropolis. The Railroad Bridge Across the Mississippi. Correspondence of The Chicago Tribune. ST. Lons MO., Dec. ST. LOUIS AND CHICAGO. Though my present interests are here, I have always (having been a resident of your city for many years) sympathized with Chicago as against all rivals. But on witnessing the almost unanimous rcsponces of St. Louis to the call of charity, which the occurence of the great fire sent abroad, I felt my heart relent toward her shortcomings, and, from that day, forth, I have respected and revered, and always shall, the generous heart and liindlj* acts of St. Louis. But, as detractors are found everywhere, who endeavor to rob every act of kindness of its benignant character, and find some selfish motive for every benefit conferred— so there are those who see in the charity of fct. Louis only a speculative investment. It is true, St. Louis did expect to secure a large portion of the trade which manj*, who did not know Chicago, thought she had lost for the present, if not irrecoverably. But her charity was none the less genuine, her ex- j pressed-syjnpatliy none the less heartfelt, as I shall always feel it my duty to testify. OI course,—as they badaperfect right to do, —after responding to the claims of humanity. The business men of St. Louis set on foot some projects looking to the securing to them selves that portion of the trade of the Northwest which they supposed Chicago could not accommodate. But, lacking the vim and go-aheaditiveness which has marked the career of Chicago, their efforts so far have only resulted in disembarrassing the North Missouri Railroad of some annoyinglaw suits on the part of this city aud county, in con sideration of which the said road is to add to its stock of freight-cars, which was not suffi cient to accommodate the demands of ship pers in North Missouri aud Southern lowa. The St. Louisans arc a steady, somewhat plodding people, who look long and earnestly before they leap, and, while they are looking, some one else usually leaps before them, and by superior business agility, forestalls them in the race for tbe prize. As vou know, she was originally peopled by Trench,—but French of the old school, before France took a foremost place in the enterprises of the world. Some of this stock remains, supplemented by a strain of South ern blood, to whom business vim aud enter prise seem undignified; who lean back iu ca pacious easy-ebairs in snug counting-rooms, carefully pondering aud considering, while the irrepressible Yankee is “up and doing.’'* But a vast proportion of the population here is German, who, though thoroughgoing and efficient, require a closer association with the time American element than they will find it possible to obtain here, before imbib ing our characteristic energy. BUILDINGS IX ST. I.UUI,', But. in one respect, I wish Chicago could Lave resembled St. Louis, and that is, in the general churacterof her buildings. Although there are not half a dozen buildings, public or other, which -would attract the attention of the stranger for either beauty or grandeur, yet the city, as a whole, is solidly and substantially built, mostly of "brick, and, except in the event of an almost Impossible combination of circnmstanccs, such a nre as lately devastated Chicago could not possibly occur. Wooden build ings are so far the exception as to be quite rare, and never arc they in groups or clus ters mat would seriously endanger other more substantial property. If Chicago would only borrow a leaf from this portion of St. Louis’ example, it would be to her credit as well as safety. Of imposing structures, however. St. Louis canboast of but few. The new jail/ 7 on Clark avenue, now almost completed, is a building which would be an ornament to any city, but is unfortunate in having the name above quoted fastened upon it. as the jail proper is entirely out of sight in the rear of the main structure, which is devoted to court-rooms and certain city and county ofiices. The St. Louis Mutual Life Insurance Company are erect ing, ou the corner of Sixth and Locust streets, an immontivbuilding, which for both beauty aud massiveness, will eclipse any thing now here. The coping above the cor nice will be surmounted by twenty-four life size ligures. This feature, however, we do not consider in accordance with taste or propriety. To view them, except from a dis tance and at a disadvantage, will Bendangcr the integrity of one’s neck. All the streets below Fourth are so narrow—being those laid out a hundred years ago, by the French colonists—that any imposing building would be thrown away. A project is now ou foot, under favorable auspices, for erecting a mammoth Merchant’s Exchange, intended to cover the entire block bounded by Fourth. Pine.Third,andChesuut streets, aud designed not only for’Change purposes, but also to accommodate, under the same roof, various banks, insurance ofiices, aud such other 7ju>iuess as would be mutually benefited by a close juxtaposition. This building, if car ried to completion, will probably cost S-*.uco,oCo, and be the chief architectural feature of the cilv. It is also proposed to rebuild the great Lindell Hotel, whoso site has not been improved since the lire which destroyed it, —one lofty and somewhat orna mental chimney-stack still standing as a monument to its former greatness and dis astrous end. THE RRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI But the public work, of all others, which will most benefit St. Louis, is the great steel bridge across the Mississippi, slowly but Meauily progressing. The stranger who notes the two stone piers, now some fifteen feet above the surface, would scarcely re alize, without elaborate description, the amount of labor, the high degree ot engineer ing skill, and the actual danger involved in the work of sinking these immense columns of granite through the current of the stream, and the deep but shifting sand form ing the bed of the river, until the solid bed aock was reached, at distances of from GO to even* ICO feet belew the surface of the wa iir. An intelligent description of this brdge, and the various engineering devices —jomc of them audaciously bold aud vrigi ual—could not be compressed within the limits of a letter of reasonable length. Suf fice it. then, to say. that it is attracting the attention of the whole scientific and engin eering world, aud after the Niagara and Cincinnati suspension bridges, is the most htupendous and novel undertaking in that department of engineering. And this bridge is needed, if ever was. The wide and rapid Mississippi cuts off St. Louis from her eastern connections* and the hairier it presents is inadequately sur mounted by r the steam ferries which Hy every live minutes between the opposite banks. To a nervous person, with an eye to possible dangers, and the chances of escape there from, these boats—crowded, as they always are, v i h omnibuses full of passengers, trans fer baggage, and freight wagons, and every' description of vehicles, loaded with the goods ;iml produce arriving aud departing on ten different lines of railroads, to say nothing of me ordinary local traffic always entering or Laving a large city, all seemingly inextri c*»V»lv jammed together, with hundreds of people mingled with the mass—seem admi ral)! v arranged for some terrible, appall ing "accident: for. in case of an explosion, ollision or other diaster, the sacrifice of life would nec ssaiily be immense. In addition to such fearful possibilities when an unusu ally cold snap freezes thenverover.theferry boats, powerful as they are, wage a terrible, and not always successful struggle with the ice* and all communication between the opposite banks is sometimes suspended, in volving great inconvenience, delay, and ex pense to passengers, the detention of freight until it accumulates in unmanageable quan tities, aud the suspension of the mail car riage. These inconveniences would be great in the case of any ordinary-sized, village: but when it involves the business of i city of over Soo,ooo inhabit ants, with wide-spread aud far-reaching trade connections on fourteen lines of rail way its magnitude may be realized. aud the safty and conveicnce which the bridge will bring be appreciated. Thepieis are nearly n ady for the superstructure, which will main ly be of steel; and it is hoped aud expected that the fall of 1*7:1, will sec it completed aud in succesful eperatiou. The cars, on enter ing the city, after crossing the bridge, will not run upon the street level, but, cuteriug a tunnel, pass under the most crowded busi ness thoroughfares, and cmbouch west of the business centre, iu a depressed trea, once accnpied by a sheet of water known as Chouteau’s Pond, i but which is now dry. with streets graded through it, aud from which, ere long all traces of its former condition will bo obliter ated. It is here that the great Union depot will bo built, if the conflicting interests ami views of the three great lines of rail road entering the city from the South and West can ever be harmonized aud concen trated upon any one spot. At present, the depots of the Iron Mquutain, North Mis souri, aud Missouri Pacilic are nearly a mile from each other—to the digust of the travel ler, aud the corresponding delight of the omnibus company, hackmen, scalpers/ 7 &e. THE RIVER. During the cold snap” of tho past week, the river here closed; but tho efforts of tho ferrv company, supplemented by a mild spell,” reopened it, and travel is again un impeded. REAVTS. Wo have one man here, at least, who has a mission,” and who is iudefatigahly per- 'nt in itß prosecution. I refer to Mr. L. Reavie, the Capital mover.” I presume vou have seen his compilation of statistics, &c., under the title of