A VISI TO THE STATES FROM Wk* FIRST SERIES A VISIT TO THE STATES, i A. IREIPIRriXrT OF PROM THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Of FIRST SERIES. PRICE LONDON; PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE EDWARD WRIGHT, AT THE TIMES OFFICE, PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE, CONTENTS. J. -Entering New York Harbour ...... 1 II. A Stroll Down Broadway ......... 14 III. Fifth- Avenue and its Characteristics ... 30 IV. The New York Central Park and Beyond 46 V. The City of Churches ......... 60 VI. The American Brighton ......... 72 VII. The Long Branch Bluff ......... 82 VIII. From the Hudson to the Delaware ... 93 IX. The Quaker City ............ 107 X. The Quaker City, its Park and Suburbs 123 XI. The Schuylkill Valley ......... 138 XII. The Lehigh and Wyoming Valleys ... 152 XIII. The Valley of the Upper Delaware ... 168 XIV. From the Delaware to the Chesapeake ... 181 XV. The American National Capital ...... 191 XVI. From the Capitol to the White House ... 206 XVII. The Washington Suburbs and Mount Vernon ............... 220 XVIII. From the Potomac River to the James ... 231 XIX. The Great Theatre of the American Civil War .................. 244 XX. Voyaging Down James River .... ... 258 XXI. The Chesapeake Bay Region ...... 271 XXII. The Garden Region of Pennsylvania ... 283 XXIII. The Gettysburg Battlefield ...... 295 XXIV. The Blue Juniata ... . 315 9129VO II. CONTESTS. PAGE XXV. Crossing the Alleghany Mountains ... 326 XXVI. The Black Country of Pennsylvania ... 338 XXVII. The Pittsburg Natural Fuel Gas ... 350 XXVIII. The Chicago Limited Express ... ... 362 XXIX. The Metropolis of the Lakes 373 XXX. The Great City s Leading Spirits ... 385 XXXI. The Lake Shore Route 399 XXXII. The Falls of Niagara 414 A VISIT TO THE STATES, I.-ENTERING NEW YORK HARBOUR. The great Atlantic ocean ferry is a wonderful institution. Sometimes a hundred huge vessels are crossing between Fastnet Rock and Sandy Hook. For nearly half a century two of the most absorbing problems of marine engineering have been how to quicken speed and economize fuel problems always being solved, yet ever invoking new solutions. The greatest triumphs of marine architecture have been achieved in building the magnificent floating palaces for this Atlantic ferry, which has its unending processions of statelyships swiftly moving in both directions. A week s journey on one of the grandest steamers of Eng land s fleet across the trackless waste brought ui close to the American coasts. Through storm and fog, against gales and waves, the vessel had been steadily driven, at times rolling and tossing, and again gliding upon smoother waters, the great screw quickly turning with scarcely an interrup tion day and night. An army of stokers poured coals under the boilers, and toiling and sweltering far below the decks kejpt up the power necessary i-a 3 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. to drive the ocean racer. The ponderous engines had revolved nearly half a million times when they, were briefly halted in the night to take the Sandy Hook pilot aboard the steamer off the shoals that border the once famous headquarters c-f tho,,now almout oxtiuct American whale fishery tho isknd of OMnntiitket. Then, as the night wore on, anxious eyes wore on the look-out for land, and ultimately it was sighted just at the dawning a far-away flashing white light off to the north-west, seen above a long low sand strip known as Fire Island beach, on the coast of Long Island. Then, as the morning broke, was seen ahead, gradually rising, as if from the sea and mist, the Highlands of the Navesink, a part of the New Jersey shore, their colour slowly developing as approached from hazy blue to a deep green, with a pair of twin lighthouses perched upon their elopes. As the sunlight came across the water, there could be seen stretching northward from these Highlands, and apparently right across the steamer s path, a long strip of yellow sand, partly wooded and having another lighthouse on its outer end. This was the goal of the ocean voyage, the narrow peninsula of Sandy Hook protecting the harbour of New York. A remarkable contrast exists between the grand steamer of thousands of tons that slackened speed, and with line and load carefully felt the bottom as the sand strip was approached, to see if water enough could bo got to cross the bar, finally anchoring to await the higher tide, and the earliest vessels seeking a haven behind the " Hook." A legend exists that Verrazzani, the Florentine, first looked upon the magnificent Navosink Highlands and entered Now York Bay as early as 1524. This, however, is a disputed story, and the authentic discoverer now universally ENTERING NEW YOEK HAEBOUE. 3 recognized was the redoubtable Hendriek Hudson. Searching along the American coasts in his fifty- ton ship for that mysterious " North-West Passage " which, during centuries, our maritime ancestors thought the road to commercial wealth, Hudson entered New York Bay in September, 1609. He was sure he had found the long sought route to the Indies, and explored the great river for many miles to the northward, taking possession of the country for the Dutch, whom he served. He had originally sailed from Amsterdam, and hence the Dutch colony afterwards planted upon the island in the river became known as New Amster dam. From the Indian tribe inhabiting it the island was named Manhattan, while thn land across the East River was called Nassau, the earliest name of Long Island. It took five yeara after Hudson s first arrival at what he named the " River of the Mountains " to found on the loAver end of Manhattan the nucleus of the colony, which, when begun in 1614, consisted of a small palisaded fort and four little houses near by. Thus originated the Dutch aristocracy of New York, whose descondants,known as the " Knicker bockers," have impressed their peculiarities upon the American metropolis, though, in this later and prosaic generation, they are giving place to the army of immigrants and the newer and more pre- tontious aristocracy of wealth that now claims pro cedenco in the modern city. The early colony grew but slowly, and 17 years after Hudson s arrival, Peter Minuit, the Dutch Governor, who was of a speculative turn, drove a sharp bargain with the Indians, and bought the whole of Manhattan Island from them for goods worth less than five pounds sterling. In 1644 the town numbered a thousand people, and a fence was constructed along what is now the line of Wall-street to mark 4 A VISIT TO THE STATES. its northern boundary. This fence ten years later was superseded by a palisade wall as a pro tection against the Indians, and this ultimately became the wall of the city. Fifty years after the foundation of the colony, "in 1664, the Duke of York s expedition came over, ousted the Knicker bockers and Stuyvesants from the Government, took possession for England, and turned the name of New Amsterdam into New York. The city at that time had 384 houses, while in 1700 the population had expanded to about six thousand. The rising tide soon giving enough water to cross the bar, the great steamer weighed anchor and slowly rounded the " Hook " and the liries of unfinished earthworks which may some day grow into a fortress for its defence. Then carefully threading the way around the shoals, it gradually turned its course northward and proceeded up the Lower Bay towards the Quarantine station. This Lower Bay of New York is one of the grandest harbours in the world a triangular sheet of water, from nine to 12 miles on each side and almost completely landlocked. The shore of New Jersey makes its southern boundary, stretching back from the Navesink Highlands far westward into Raritan Bay, which is thrust up into the land between New Jersey and Staten Island. The green hills of Staten Island, crowned with villas and graced by parks and luxuriant foliage, make the north western boundary of the bay. To the northward is the narrow entrance to the inner harbour, up through which glimpses can be seen of fleets of vessels and the cities in the distance. To the right hand of this contracted pass is the long ami level eand strip of Coney Island, with its stretch of hotels and other buildings the summer sea shoj^ resort of the metropolis. This magnificent Lower Bay provides an anchorage ground covering NEW YORK H AEfcdtTR. Sj eighty-eight square miles, while the pass through the Narrows leads to the inner harbour, an irregular oval-shaped body of water about five miles broad and eight miles long. The whole of New York Harbour, including the rivers on either side of the city, provides about 115 square miles of available anchorage one of the greatest road steads. From Sandy Hook up through the Narrows to the Battery at the lower end of New York is about 18 miles, and two ship channels lead to the city, having 21 to 32 feet depth at low water. Passing the Quarantine, a range of low buildings, built on a shoal known as the West Bank of Romer, the steamer heads for the Narrows, where the hills of Staten Island and the opposite land of Long Island north of Gravesend Bay, which is behind Coney Island, gradually approach each other and contract the passage. This famous pass of the Narrows has been formed by the mighty Hudson river forcing an outlet through a broken-down mountain range, and is barely a mile in width, being also partly obstructed by an island. The hill-tops and slopes on either side, together with this island, are occupied by the fortifications defending the entrance to New York. Formerly these consisted only of the oldeu-time stone works of Fort Lafayette, built on the island, and Fort Wads- worth on the western bank, with the ship channel between them, provision being made for its obstruction in the ancient method by a chain. These obsolete forts have in later years been superseded by more modern constructions on the hill-tops and slopes guarding the pass. The new works are known as Forts Hamilton and Tomp- kins, these names preserving the memories of two famous citizens of New York, one having been the First Secretary of the American Treasury, and th 6 1 VISIT TO THE STATES. other a Governor of New York State arid Vice- President of the United States. Above the forts on each hill-top the standard waves in the wind, giving the first view to the arriving traveller of the American Stars and Stripes. There can be seen the long lines of earthworks, with little black guns poking their forbid ling muzzles out between the grass-covered mounds surmounting the inter vening casemates. Below Fort Tompkins, by the water side on the Staten Island shore, is the old- fashioned bastioned gray stone fort of the earlier day, while on the Long Island side, in front of Fort Hamilton, is the little red sandstone Fort Lafayette, built on the reef that makes the island in the Narrows. This old fort is kept mainly as a relic of the troublous times during the late Ame rican Civil War, when it confined many famous political prisoners. Fires in the barracks have since scarred and blackened its walls. These defensive works at the New York Harbour entrance look formidable, but their systems of construction do not seem to have kept pace with modern improvements, and the more recent armoured ships, it is said, might readily run by them. Every little while a scare on the subject is started in New York city, which results in a de mand by the newspapers and business exchanges that Congress shall give the port better defences, but the discussion thus far has not had much result. The Produce Exchange, which has a fino building in the lower part of the city, with a great square brick tower that stands as a landmark in coming up towards the Battery, made a special appeal on the subject last winter, being convinced that its tower would make an elegant target for hostile gunnery. It is quite possible that a liberal cowing of torpedoes on Sandy Hook bar, with other methods of blockading the passage, would ENTERING NEW YORK HARBOUR. 7 prove an effective obstacle to the entrance of an enemy s ships before they got within range of the Narrows. The steamer passes the forts and is soon ploughing the expanding waters of the Upper Bay. This splendid haven spreads out with the vast commerce of the city in full view, the greatest port of tho NOAV World. The scene is among tha finest that eye can look upon. To the right hand is the Long Island shore, handsomely shaded, with pretty hamlets and villas peeping out from their screens of foliage. On the left hand the hills of Staten Island rise much higher, crowned with noble mansions, while bust ling villages line the edge of the bay. Tha water presents a constantly changing panorama. Tall, white-sailed ships, swiftly moving, snorting and puffing tugs, great ark-like ferry boats or unique style, looking like houses built on rafts, large and stately steamboats with cabins tier above tier, graceful pleasure yachts, tall-masted and broad-sailed schooners, flotillas of barges and lighters, with fleets of vessels anchored, and representing all nationalities, are scattered over the wide expanse. A background is formed by the distant cities, :and the steamer moves northward towards the statue of Liberty on Bedloe s Island, and tho cluster of green foliage flanked by the round building of Castle Garden in tha Battery- park. The pretty villages of Clifton and Stapleton are passed on Staten Island, with their fleet of yachts, while on the eastern side the villa-covered shores curve into the cove known as Gowann a Bay. Far away over the level land behind it can bo seen the distant tombs of Greenwood Cemetery, on the borders of Brooklyn, where the dying New Yorker hopes to find his last resting-place. The shores of Gowann s Bay gradually develop into 8 A VJfclT TO THE STATES. Brooklyn, which spreads out a sea of roots beyond the jutting point north of the bay, with almost endless sky-reaching spires, the town fronted by long lines of docks and stores. Over on the western side the shores recede, and the strait that makes the boundary of Staten Island, which the Dutch named the Kill von Kull, stretches off into New Jersey, and leads around behind the island tc Arthur Kill and the coal ports on its banks, where the great coal railways leading from the Penn sylvania mines have their shipping piers. Ahead of tne steamer the statue of Liberty gradually grows with the approach into colossal proportions. Alongside it, and < slightly to the right of the Battery, at the entrance to East Kiver, rises Governor s Island, with its old-fashioned circular stone fort, looking rather the worse for wear, and known as " Castle William," and its long ranges of barracks and officers quarters. This island is the headquarters of the most import ant command in the American Army, the <4 Military Division of the Atlantic," and the flag is flying over its modern defensive work, Fort Columbus, where a handful of blue-coats are on duty. Upon nearing Governor s Island, :Red Hook, the jutting point of Brooklyn, is passed, and suddenly opens up the East River, which flows between the two cities, with its borders of ocean shipping and the great East River bridge in the background. This strait connects the harbour with Long Island Sound, 20 miles distant, and through it is said to flow a large part of the tidal current of the Hudson River. The " Hell Gate Passage," near the entrance to the Sound, where the waters formerly boiled over the rocks, haa been improved by very expensive rock excava tions, which ^have .cost vast sums of money. The ENTERING NEW YORK H4[RfcOtT&; 9 East River is a great highway of commerce, and at its piers the larger portion of the deep sea shipping from distant voyages is found. The steamer passes between Bedloe s and Governor s Islands, and as the Hudson river is entered a good view is given, over the trees of the Battery- park, far up New York s chief street Broadway which stretches through the centre of the long and narrow city. Behind the trees on one side rises the big square tower of the Produce Ex change, and on the otherside the tall Washington* building at the commencement of Broadway, already about 15 stories high, with surmounting turrets, which its aspiring owner, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, still pushes skyward. The round building of Castle-garden adjoining the park was in the early part of this century built for a fort, and called Castle Clinton. It afterwards became a tea garden, and then a music-hall, patronized by the most fashionable New York society half a century ago. when the Battery was the city s principal park. It was here that Jenny Lind first sang in America. The place is now the emigration depot. The park, with its curving sea-wall and old trees and well-kept lawns, looks attractive. Over on the New Jersey side the land, which has been distant, projects opposite Castle-garden to the point of Comrnunipaw, and on that side for miles up the river the shore is occupied by the Jersey City railway terminals, making successions of docks, ferry houses, and grain elevators. The long projecting piers on the New York side stretch 600ft. to 600ft. out into the river, covered with substantial sheds to protect the goods, and having intervening docks for the shipping. Behind these piers there is a vast mass of the buildings of the city, some rising much above the rest, while the higher structures upon the elevated ground <4 10 A VISIT TO THE STATES* Broadway stand out prominently. There is the tall and graceful spire of Trinity Church, with the towering domes of the Equitable Life Insurance building, and the Western Union Telegraph building, while far away rises the great dome of the New York Post Office. In the foreground is the huge square chimney of tho Stoam Supply Com pany, which furnishes steam for heat or power through pipes laid under the streets, and is said to be doing very good business. In the long stretch of docks which the steamer slowly passes the vessels are nearly all ocean steamships or large river steamboats, while ferry houses are numerous, and the crab-like ferry-boats moving across the [stream sometimes come uncomfortably close. Thus progressing just off the ends of the long piers among the maze of steam vessels and craft of all kinds that are moving in every direction, pro bably the most lasting impression made is by the constant din and screech of the steam-whistles, most of them veritable fog-horns of all notes and degress of intensity, which maintain a steady chorus of signals to aid progress through the crowded har bour. Gradually we slacken speed as the city passes in panorama, and the pier is reached that terminates the voyage. Several of the great Trans atlantic lines have their docks together ; and over on the New Jersey shore, ; almost opposite, is Hoboken, at the upper end of which, in strange contrast with the commercial aspect of everything around, the river-front rises in a bluff shore, on top of which is a delicious grove of trees running Up into a low mound, whereon is built the Stevens Castle. This was the home of ono of the railway pioneers of the country, who endowed the Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, and also built a famous war-ship for New York harbour defence the Stevens Battery. ENTERING NEW YOBS HARBOUR. 11 He bequeathed it to the State of New Jersey, and that thrifty commonwealth soon after sold it to the highest bidder for old iron. While looking across at Hoboken the long and unwieldy steamer is attacked by a bovy of quick-motioned littletugs, which slowly coax it around into the dock along side the pier. Floating into the berth, it is rnado fast,while greetings are exchanged with the people on shore who have come down to welcome the ar rival. The moment the gang-planks are fixed a crowd of stevedores rush aboard to carry off mail- bags and luggage, and as they noisily wrestle with Backs and boxes the unmistakable brogue gives plain testimony that the arrival is at " New Ire land " as well as at New York. The Customa officers examine the luggage, and then the pas sengers are free to go. Upon emerging from the wharf it seems as if Bedlam had broken loose when the horde of shouting and scuffling hackmen try to capture passengers and goods. Swooping down on their prey, those not trying to get possession are apparently anxious to drive their hacks over you. The street fronting the pier is West-street, abroad avenue that stretches along the Hudson riverbank, with a row of low and irregular houses on the op posite side. It has several lines of railway, laid to accommodate both tramcars for passengers and steam locomotives hauling goods trains for the Vander- bilt railways. The street is muddy and almost im passable from the jam of vehicles of all kinds try ing to move in various directions, while policemen sparsely distributed try to keep a semblance of order. It requires an effort to break through this struggling blockade, but the hack makes the plunge, and forcing a passage among the con glomeration of wagons, cars, people, horses, police- mon,and mud, the gauntlet is run, and we rapidly >M A VISIT TO THE STATES, drive along one street after another into the heart of Jtfew York. We jolt over the rough stones of the not too good pavements, and pass the usual nondescript purlieus that adjoin the docks of a great port. There are " saloons " and liquor shops in abundance, with many wooden houses inter spersed among the brick buildings. We go under the elevated railways, where the steam trains rush swiftly along overhead, their roadway being perched up on rows of iron posts,and also cross re peated tramcar lines, the rails being poorly laid on the pavements and causing horrid jolts and jerks when the coach -wheels encounter them. Thence WQ move into a region of tenement houses, where the poorer population which so densely inhabits both the east and west sides of New York are compelled to live, generally in a condition of semi-squalor cooped in small apartments in the tall and populous buildings, whore their pro lific progeny play about the sidewalks and gutters, and the family wash is fluttering in the wind, being strung on high upon long clothes lines running from window to window. The balcony systems of fire-escapes with iron ladders adorn the fronts of most of these buildings, for the law is strict in providing this, which often is the only means of rescue in the sudden fires to which these tenements are subject. Driving to Washington-square, we pass through it into Fifth-avenue, thus in almost an instant changing from the humble abodes of the poor to the regions of fashion and wealth. Rolling smoothly along this great street, we are soon at Madison-square, and halt at our hotel in what may be regarded as the centre of the metropolis, fifth-avenue, which runs towards the north, is crossed at right angles by Twenty-third-street, dde thoroughfare, and the intersection is a wide JENTEEING NEW YORK HAJtBQtTB. 13 crossed diagonally by Broadway coming up from the south. This union of celebrated streets has laid out adjoining it an open square, covering about six acres, with tine trees, lawns, and foot- walks. Surrounded by large hotels and famous buildings, this is probably the best place for the visitor to get his tirst impressions of the wonders and attractions of New York ; for to the north ward Fifth-avenue stretches with its rows of magnificent brown-stone residences, while Broad way in both directions is the home of business and sends up a ceaseless roar from its constant traffic. They are both wide streets, and are tilled from dawn till midnight with crowds of people and vehicles, the brilliancy of the electric lights in and around the square making the night almost as bright as day. The yellow tramcars move along Broadway upon the road whose franchise was got by Jacob Sharp s notorious bribery of the New York aldermen, several of whom, as well as Sharp himself, have been gaoled for their share in the knavery. Jusb alongside the intersection of Broadway and Fifth-avenue is the monument to General Worth, a granite shaft erected in memory of a hero who fell in the American wai against Mexico forty years ago, and to the plateau whereon it stands the President and other high dignitaries come to review New York s elaborate military and other displays. Bronze statues of Admiral Farragut and William H. Seward also adorn the square. Madison-square occupies in New York much the position of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, though its adjacent palaces are mainly great hotels. At the north-west corner is Delmonico s famous restaurant, whose owner, after feeding thejeunesse doree of New York upon the choicest viands for many years, wandered half-demented over into the wilderness of 14 A VISIT TO THE STATES, Jersey, and, getting lost in the woods, died of starvation. On the west side is a row of stately hotels, the Fifth-avenue Hotel, with its white marble front, being the most imposing, while just above is the Hoffman House, noted as containing the most gorgeously appointed drinking saloon on the continent, where high art in painting, sculp ture, and rich decoration is invoked by the Quaker proprietor to give a relish to " American drinks," concocted in seductive form at stiff prices. Fine residences and shops, picture galleries,r8staurants, and hotels are in abundance aroundthis celebrated square ; and the adjoining streets abound in churches, theatres, and popular resorts. Madison- equare, in fact, is the social and fashionable centre of modern New York, where its Parisian air and constant life and animation show how vigorously and successfully the Old World examples can bo reproduced in the American metropolis. II. A STROLL DOWN BROADWAY. NEW YORK. Tlre-rapi^ growth of the American metropolis bas expanded it beyond the original limits of Man hattan Island, so that tho population has over flowed to the adjacent regions. The long and narrow island stretches about 13 miles, while it is not mnch over two miles broad in tho widest part, and in some places, particularly the upper portion, narrows to a few hundred yards. Tho corporate limits of Now York city are extended over the mainland to tho north and east of this upper por tion, so that, while tho icland area is about 22 p, the city coy.ers 41 A STROLL DOWN BROAD WA*. 15 its boundary goes four miles eastward from the Hudson to a little stream known as Bronx river j The Harlem river and a winding narrow strait running through a deep gorge, which the Dutch, named the Spuyten Duyvol creek, separata northern Manhattan from the mainland with the East river washing one side and the Hudson, familiarly called the North river, flowing on thei other. The expansion of population has built, populous towns on the opposite shores of all those* waterways, Brooklyn and Williamsburgh being across East river on Long Island, and Jersey, City, Hoboken,and Weehawkon across the Hudson* river in the State of New Jersey. Various smaller, islands are also built upon, the long and narrow*; formation of land in East river, known as Black- well s Island, with Ward s and Randall s Islanda fco the northward, having about 300 acres of sur face, whereon are the citv s penal and charitable* institutions. The converging rivers, with the capan cious harbour and numerous adjacent arms of the; eea, combine all the requisites of a great port, and could not have been better planned if the hand of man had fashioned them. The vast frontage for docks and piers can accommodate an almost limit less commerce, there being in and around New< York Harbour over 50 miles of shore available for loading shipping. Thio has attracted the large* population surrounding the harbour, it being esti mated that nearly as many people as live on Man hattan Island itoolf are housed on the opposite shores or in near-by towns, and daily pour into- the lower part of New 5Tork to take part in its business activity. The surface of the southern tho island ifljcnej>ut tQ the north- , 16 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. ward it becomes rough and rocky, culminating in high spurs along the Hudson, rising at Washing ton Heights to 238ft. elevation, where the elegant villas have a grand outlook. There were originally, marshes and ponds on the southern part of the* island, while business needs caused it to be con siderably widened by reclaiming shallow portions from the rivers. The long and narrow construction of New York, with Fifth-avenue and Broadway laid out along the middle of the city, and all cross streets enter ing them, necessarily puts into these two highways an enormous traffic, which is especially large in Broadway below Madison-square. It is almost; impossible to make any extended movement in{ New York without getting into Broadway. Hencej that street has become the most famous in Ame rica ; a show always on exhibition of the restless rush of life in the modern Babylon. Its archi tecture excites wonder ; and its business whirl and perpetual din of traffic, its restless crowds, and jams of vehicles represent the steam-engine proclivities of the money-getting nineteenth cen tury American. This wonderful highway is SOft., wide between the buildings. It comes" from the north into Madison-square, having started two miles off at the south-western corner of the Cen tral-park, where the park boundaries of Fifty-ninth- etreet and Eighth-avenue int-ersect. It crosses diagonally the Seventh and Sixth avenues before crossing Fifth-avenue at Madieon-square, and then it is prolonged for three miles down through tha centre of the city to the Battery. Above Madison- equaro,Broadway passes many hotels and theatres, and also several of the very tall " French-flat ;> buildings that have been devised for residences in/ crowded New York, whoro the scarcity of ]and ; urface is made_up by adopting tho. fashion of thoi A. STROLL DOWN BROADWAY, 17 Tower of Babel and elevating the houses towards the sky. It also passes the new Metropolitan* Opera-house, the finest theatre of New York, but a profitless investment as yet, which tho. modern generation of wealth and fashion built to- eclipse the Academy of Music that satisfied; their fathers. From the upper end of Broadway the " Boulevard," 150ft. wide, with pretty little parks in the centre, is a favourite drive to the porthern suburbs. Let us take a leisurely stroll down Broadway! *from Madison-square. The street is lined with huge buildings, many of them ten to 12 stories in height, and having double collars and vaults under the pavements to give additional space. As wo walk along and see one establishment after another of wide renown, tho ceaseless roar of the street traffic continually dins into the ears. Here aro three great business houses covering vast space, the dry-goods stores of Lord and Taylor and Arnold Constable and Co., and the carpet warehouse of W and J.Sloaneywrhichrise like giants on either handj Twentieth-street to the east leads off to tho hand some residences of Gramercy-park, where SamueJ J. Tildon lived, and Sixteenth-street passes Stuy^ vosant-square, with its fine St. George s Church, 1 Broadway then circles around Union-square,, 1 another pretty park of about .four acres, oval in shape, with lawns and shrubbery and adorned with statues of Washington, Lafayette, and Lincoln. This square is surrounded by fine buildings and shops,the chief being Tiffany s noted jewelry store,j where fashionable iNew York loves to go for prettyi things. Fourteenth-street, a wide avenue, having an extensive retail shopping trade, crosses Broad way at Union-square, and the neighbourhood is a favourite locality for theatres, this square being p. veritable. " liialto " for tho actors. To tho* 19 A VISIT TO THE STATES. eastward of Broadway on Fourteenth-street is the * Academy of Music," a plain red-brick building) of ample proportions,herotoforetho opera house of ; fashionable New York. Juet beyond is Tammany- hall, the headquarters of the Democratic " bosses * and " sachems " who largely rule New York city politics, also a brick building with stone facings, but taller and much more pretentious, surmounted by a statuo of the presiding genius of the " Kail, * the Indian brave, St. Tammany, who with out stretched hand beneficently looks down upon us.. Tammany was a chief of the L*nni Lenapes or Delaware Indians, more used to the just ways oil William Penn and his Quakers than to the schemes^ of political plunder and trickery of which New] York now makes him the patron saint. Over oppo-i site, and possibly as a warning, the pretty littlo Grace Chapel is inserted among the rows of concert! halls and drinking shops with which this regiooi abounds. Returning to Broadway, three blocks below iti bends slightly towards the right, and here Graca Church iteelf is located, with its rich marble facade* and beautiful spire. The parsonage adjoins withi a small enclosure in front upon which the towering stores encroach as if resenting oven that little* space reserved from the needs of trade. Below-; the church is the great store formerly conducted] by Alexander T. Stewart, an enormous white ironi building stretching east to Fourth-avenue, and occupying an entire block. Astor-place is a little- beyond, and turning into it a short distance bring* us to the Mercantile Library, formerly Clinton-hall, a brick building, where the notorious Macready; riots occurred. This building was then the " Astor-< place Opera House," and the friends of Edwin Forrest, with whom Macready had a misundor-< Btandinji, threatened that Macready should noil A STROLL DOWN BROADWAY. 19 bo allowed to play in New York on his arrival in 1848. Ho appeared there, however, a number of nights in October, but vhen he began his farewell engagement in May, 1849, ho was menaced by serious opposition. On Monday, May 7, he ap peared as Macbeth, but there was so much confusion that the curtain had to be rung down before tha play was ended. He was inclined to cancel tho- engagement, but a number of prominent pooplo having requested him to remain, and promising to protect him, he reappeared on tho following Thurs day. Tho precautions taken to preserve order in tho house enabled him to perform his part, but outside tho theatre the friends of Forrest, after vainly endeavouring to secure entrance, began an attack upon the building with stones. Tho police being unablo to restrain them the troops were called out, and after several volleys of musketry by which some 60 were killed or wounded, the mob- was dispersed. Macready declined fmrther invita tions to act in New York, and soon afterwards: went home to England. Tho library now oc cupying the building is a large one and has a fma reading room j while near by in Lafayette-place if. the Aster Library, a substantial brick and brown-stone building, one of the benefactiona of 1 the Astor family to New York. At the end of Aetor-plaoe is the Cooper Institute, occupying an entire block, a brown-stone building with a fine front, founded and endowed by Peter Cooper for tho free education of both men and women in science and art. Tho " Bible House" of tho Ameri can Bible Society,an immense rod-brick building is opposite, also covering an entire block, and at tho- end of tho street separatingthom tho Third-avenue Klovated Railway, with its rushing trains, closes tho view. Atjtor-plr.ee, Lafayette-place, and the uortion of Broadwav. with Bond- 20 A VISIT TO THE STATES. street just below, are the homes of much of the bookselling trade of New York. Tho lofty cronm-coloured marble front of thj Brand Central Hotel on Broadway, opposite Bond- gtroot, is a reminder of another tragedy. It was here that James Fisk, of Erie Railway famo, was Bhot and killed by Edward Stokes, a Philadelphia Quaker, who, after being liberated from Sing Sing Prison, where he was sent for the crime, secured! the Hoffman-house, of which he still is the landlord, at Madison-square. This locality is the region ol the celebrated hotels of lower Broadway which froro New York s famous caravanserais before the newer houses were established further up town. On the left hand is the Metropolitan Hotel, which encloses Niblo s Theatre, a broad and high brown- stone structure. On the right hand is the St, Nicholas Hotel, of white marble. The great high way here begins to change its character. Tho retail shops gradually give place to the large wholesale establishments, and Broadway, with the adjacent Btreets,becomes the home of the dry-goods trade of .the country. From Broome and Grand streeta down to the City-hall Park, and stretching over a broad belt of adjacent blocks, is the " dry-goods district, dealing with all kinds of staple products of the mills and looms, clothing and similar goods. In this region are located the factors for nearly all makers in America and for many abroad, and the annual money value of the trade represented in estimated at 150,000,000. Here throbs the pulse of the dry-goods trade of the United States, strengthening and weakening, as good or poor crops give the agricultural community a surplus to spend lor dress. Through the heart of this region, crossing the city, runs the broad Canal-street, formerly a water-course from one of the largest tEonds aed marshes on the island, across Broad- A STROLL DOWN BROADWAY. 21 way to the North river, but now a wide avenue conducting a busy and valuable trade. It carries a crowded traffic across town, and the intersection swith Broadway is usually a lively place. Turning off below on Leonard-street, a short distance east ward, at a few hundred feet from Broadway, is the iTombs Prison, which stands T pon the site of the pond Canal-street formerly drained. It is a sombro f^ray building in the gloomy Egyptian style. All the captured New York murderers live within, and the cells of the condemned, called " Murderers ^ How," are always full. Proceeding southward, the business aspect of pBroadway again begins to change. The dry-goods idistrict gradually gives place to other interests, and we enter a vast labyrinth of corporate insti tutions and great buildings towering high above rus, containing multitudes of separate apartments, whose occupants conduct all kinds of business. The [lifts or, [as they are called here, " elevators " constantly run, and some of the larger buildings lhave several of them, so that it is immaterial to ftenant or visitor how far skyward he may have to go. This is the region of banks, trusts, insurance companies, newspapers, railway offices, politicians, jlawyers, brokers, and exchanges, with lunch rooms land restaurants liberally distributed to feed the (multitude who rush into lower Broadway every porning and away again at night. In this locality! iof intricate business and financial ramifications ia jaleo found the speculative centre and the head quarters of most of the great corporations of the country. Crowds of people move hurriedly along the side-walks, almost all intent on business and ;bent on the chief New York object, amassing (wealth. An outpost of this region at Leonard- street is the maesive building of the New York DLita Jnanrance ComjaaiiK, ofjcure. witiie msrble ini 2 J A VISIT TO THE STATES. Ionic style, with othor spacious structures near it. !3e>iow is passed, between Rcado and Chambers streets (filling the block), the large white buildings where Alexander T. Stewart made the most of his f orturse, which has since boon converted into a vast capavanserai for all sorts of tenants conducting; every possible kind of business. At Chambers-; jstreet is the City-hall Park,, and on Broadwayjust opposite its northern end, stands a modest brown- etone building, which is the location of the most famous bank in New York, whose phenomenal: eucceos is known in every financial community, j This is the " Chemical National Bank," an incti-j tut ion with but CQ,OCO capita], which is so tho- roughly trusted that it holds tho greatest amount of cfeposits of any bank in New York, and its 20 shares command 450 when they are sold, which is ecldom. This bank has amassed a surplus that ia more than 15 times its capital, and in its reserves it often holds 2,COO,COO gold, and ie generally, (the strongest bank in New York in its surplus re serves over the legal limit. The trust the New [Yorker repoees in this favourite institution ia Simitless, its deposits reaching 5,COO,C 0. The City-hall Park is the eeat of the New Yorkj city government, and may be regarded as thei (political and business centre of the city.: It is a triangular apace, original!} a sort; of garden around the City-hall, but now well-: occupied by large buildings, for the new Cpurtn Jiouse has been built north of tho City-hall, and the Post-ofHco eouth of it. Park-row, coming from the ncrth-east, debouches into. GBroadway and makes tho pork a triangle withi fChambcrs-ctrect bounding it on tho north. Th inew Court-house which faces Chambers-street is a massive Corinthian structure of white marble, and yaas a dozen years, in building> being Esptorioiia m A STROLL DOWN BROADWAY. 23 the building used by the " Tweed Ring " which rnlod New York 20 years ago, for extracting 3,000,000 from the Treasury on fraudulent bills, or more than five times what the work actually cost. This Court-house and the Stewart building on the opposite Bide of Chambers-street stand on the site of the old fort, which in the days of the American Revolution was the British outpost, commanding the entrance to the city by the northern road, now Broadway. The Court-house is substantially built and has a largo central ro tunda around which are the courts, while accom modation is also provided for the chief political officials of the county, such as the Sheriff, County [Clerk, Surrogate, Registrar, &c. These posts are khe rich " plums " in the local government, and hence the rotunda stairways and corridors are (usually crowded with the email-fry politicians arid dependents of the political chieftains who hold 1 these fat offices, the predominant brogue showing the Hibernian origin of the majority of these small I few York statesmen. The Court-house entrance on the northern front is imposing a flight of broad etops, flanked by massive marble columns. The City-hall is a much older and less pretentious rbuilding constructed of white marble in the Italian style, with brown-stone in tire rear. This is, the office of the Mayor, and the meeting place of that odorous body, the New York Board of Aldermen. It also has a central rotunda, arid the usual copious supply of small politicians, and it contains the Governor s room, which is adorned with portraits of the Governors of Now York and revolutionary heroes, with also a fine portrait of Columbus. It is here they treasure Washington s dos and chair which he used when first President of the United States, but it must !be sorrowf ulljL recorded that some, of the Dresent ^24 A VISIT TO THE STATES. occupants of the City-hall do not imitate that fillustrious man s example to any eminent degree. On the eastern border of the (Jity-hall Park is "the entrance to the approach of the great Brooklyn- bridge, with an elevated railway coming dovu Chatham-street across it, and a complex system : of tramcar tracks in front. This Chatham-street is the locality of Jew tradesmen, old-clothes- dealers, and low concert-halls, and it is prolonged north-east into the Bowery, a wide and crowded! thoroughfare that presents a striking contrast to- Broadway, being the avenue of the humbler classes and lined with cheap shops, beer saloons, and the like. The Bowery also shows in a remarkable degree the extent to which New York permits railways to bo brought through the streets. It has four double sets of rails occupying the entire width of the roadway below, while it is roofed over with another set of elevated tracks above. Horse cars, goods cars, steam care, and elevated cars have unlimited privileges, and there is not room left for much else. Crowds of busy people move along the jpavements and in and out of the shops, and hero |is found Now York s ancient and famous temple of the exuberant drama, the " Old Bowery," now the Thalia Theatre. To the southward of the* Brooklyn-bridge entrance is the locality of the. great New York newspapers Printing-houso- Bquaro which adjoins the City-hall-park, and has on one side the tall and narrow Tribune build ing, with its surmounting clock tower elevated 285ft., and on another side the more modest yet capacious homo of the Neiu York Times. A bronze Btatuo of Franklin, who is the patron saint of, American newspaperdom, adorns the square, while from it Park-row runs diagonally off to Broadway" with a galaxy of other newspapers located upon] it, including the Sv.n, News f WorlcL and in tha A STROLL DO\\TN BROADWAY. 25 distance, a* the Broadway corner, the New York Herdid. Thcso journals are close neighbours, yet they are always quarrelling about something. Many, of the tramcar lines coine in along Park-row for- their terminals at Broadway, this being the point! of departure for much of the up-town traffic. Ati the lower end of the park is the magnificent PostH office building, which cost 1,400,000, a granite structure in Doric and Renaissance, whoso broadj surmounting dome and tower make it a landmark for miles around. Standing in front of this Post- office, and looking down Broadway, the stranger pets an idea of the rush and restlessness of New iork. Two groat streams of traffic pour together through the highway below the junction of Park-< row with Broadway, and the policemen endeavour^ almost in vain to regulate the crowds of people,; wagons, and trarncars that get jammed together in horrible confusion. The white marble New York Herald building on the left, and the sombre church of St. Paul with its tapering spire on the right, look down upon probably the worst street crossing in the world. N The famous hotel of a past generation, the Astor-house, rich in historic associations, stands on the opposite side of Broadway from the Post- office, occupying a broad space with its severely] simple front facade. The white marble Park Bank adjoins the Herald office, and at the next corner is the New York fivenvng Post, long edited by William Cullcn Bryant. This corner ia the Pulton-street intersection with Broadway,, v/horo another jam and turmoil from conflicting streams of traffic show that here again exists from morning till night the full tide of human life aa developed in New York. Fulton-etreet stretches \ across the city from river to river, and at its end fcre fiwat 26 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. right hand the imposing ton-story edifice of the Western Union Telegraph Company elevates its surmounting tower 2*50 feet above the pavement. Structures of enormous size now line Broadway, having myriads of occupants, and lifts con stantly on the move. The cross streets are narrow and in some cases crooked and irregularly laid out, but each pours its traffic into the main stream which has now become a surgingmass of humanity, for everything and everybody have to got into this portion of Lower Broadway. Tho vast grp.nito building of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, probably the largest of all these aggregations of: offices, is at Cedar-street, while in Nassau-street the Mutual Life Insurance Company has built another enormous house which towers far towards the sky. Theee great office-letting structures aro seen everywhere, and finally Wall-street is reached, and tiirning into it the money centre of New York IK paeeed in review. Wall-street is of vary ing width and winds down to the East river, the same as the origial city wall whose place it takes. Here are banks and brokers innumerable, its centre of attraction being the corner of Broad and Wall streets, whore the Drexel building stands on one side, the United States Treasury on the other,, with the Assay Office alongside, the Stock Ex change a few feet down Broad-street, and tho gigantic Mills building opposite. The Treasury, is a white marblo building, which replaced the old! f Federal-hall." A flight of broad steps ap proaches tho front from Wall-street, and hero is a Btatue of Washington on the spot whore he was inaugurated as iirst Prosidentof tho United States. Looking down Broad-street from these Bpocious- steps, the great square tower of the Produce Exchange can be seen at tho foot of Broadway, and pn these steps have boeu frauent]y com-ned A. STROLL DOWN BROADWAY. 27 lie meetings of weighty influence when grave sub jects hnve stirred tne financial centre. Further) down Wall-street is tho Custom-house, with its! long granite colonnade, where tho Government! OOllecta tho larger part of its revemiee and main tains an army of placemen, who form the most powerful political " machine " in tho country. Trinity Church, the Westminster Abbey of Nero "York, stands in Broadway at tho head of Wall- street, and its chimes morning and evening sum- mon tho restless brokers to attend Divire service,, yet few pay heed. Its old graveyard stretches along Broadway, *md in the street behind the elevated railway trains rush by every few minutes.! It was in 1C96 that tho first Trinity Church was built on this spot, being afterwards burnt, while a second church was built and taken down to be re-J placed 50 years ago by the present fine brown- etono structure, whose spire rises to the height of 284 feet. -Inside, in the chancel, is the great Astor^ teredos, of marble, glas 1 *, and precious stones, a^ memorial of the late William B. Astor. Trinity] is a, wealthy parish, with a large income from tho^ buildings on the church lands round about, which/ have advanced enormously in value. Lst us climb its steeple and see the view over Lower Broadway, and tho harbour. The Battery-park, with its dense* foliage, is a half-mile away, and beyond, on the* water, are counileos vessels, many moving but more at anchor. In the foreground is Governor s Island, with its forts, and on Bedloe s Island tho statue of Liberty, while away off over the harbour, are the hills of Staten Island and the route through.! tho Narrows to the sea. The roar of Broadway,, with its mass of moving traffic, comes up to cur ears, and turning northward the groat street cam be seen stretching far away, with its rows of, stately buildings hemming in the bustling throng. 23 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Xow, descend to the churchyard, which still re mains a mass of worn and battered grave-stonoe,] resting quietly in the busiest part of New York.; JThis tree-embowered spot has been a burial-placoj for nearly 200 years, and contains near the northern end the " Martyrs Monument," erected over the bones of the patriots who died in tho prison ships during the American ."Revolution. Tho oldest grave dates from 1G81 ; the most noted grave is Charlotte Temple s, under a flat stone, which has a cavity out of which the inscription plate has been twice stolon. Her romantic career and miserable end, resulting in a duel, have been woven into a novel. William Bradford s grave is not far away one of Penn s companions in founding Philadelphia, and for 50 years anteriorta the Revolution the American Government printer. A brownstono mausoleum covers the remains of Captain James Lawrence, of the frigate Chesa peake, killed in action when his ship was captured by tho British frigate Shannon in 1813. Hero lio Alexander Hamilton arid Ilobert Fulton, with other famous Americans, almost the latest grave- being that of General Philip Kearney, killed during* the late Civil War. Below Trinity Church the Broadway traffic is less; an volume and the street soon comes to thof ^Bowling-green, where it divides into two smaller^ highways Whitehall on the one side and State-< letr^et on the other. This is a triangular space of] about half an acre, having a small oval park andj lountain in the centre, around which tho Broad-. way tramcars go for their terminus. This place in the ancient days was the Court end of tho ,town, surrounded by tho residences of the proudest jof the Knickerbockers, Here, in revolutionary^ (times, lived Corawallis, Howe, Clinton, and other" generals.. ^Benedict Arnold lived at JSa.. 5J A STEOLL DOWN SROAETVAY. 29 Broadway, and Washington s headquarters was No. 1, now occupied by the great Washington- building, which rises 251ft. to the top of its tower, on the west side of tho green, while to tho Eastward is the broad stretch of the Produce Ex change, part of the land it stands upon having been the site of the house where Robert Fulton Lived and died. Talleyrand also lived on Bowling- green at one time, and the space to the southward, now a row of six buildings, was the site of the old Dutch fort that in the early days guarded " New Amsterdam." This region is the favourite locality of the steamship offices and the foreign Consuls. Beyond it the island ends in the Battery-park. The British Consul-General looks out upon tho foliage of this attractive park from snug quarters on State-street, in one of tho large buildings let out fcr otlices, the landlord having due regard for tho safety of Her Majesty s repre sentative by providing elaborate fire escapes out- eide his windows. The elevated railways come down into the park and occupy much room, ter minating at the point of the island, at the South Ferry. The park is well kept and the outlook over the harbour Is fine, but the upper classes, who in remote days took their airing here, now avoid the pleasant pla.ce. To the right of tho park is the emi grant landing station, whore sometimes twenty-five thousand new arrivals are brought in a single week, and its occupants overflow throughout all the neighbourhood. Into tho spacious rotunda of old Castle Clinton all tho emigrants are brought and cared for until they leave New York, that tho harpies abounding in tho metropolis may have no chance to prey upon them. Tugs land them from tho arriving steamers and take them away again to tho railway stations, so that they noe/d not 20 put into the city 80 A VISIT TO THE STATES. at all. It is a wonderful sight to soe tli Jit rotunda filled with men, women, and children from all nations, who bring thoir old country fashions and language with them, and re produce a Babel of tongues as they change their money, buy their railway tickets, and ask informa tion. It is a pleasant spot, this pretty foliage- covered park, which is their first landing-place in tho JSTew World, and is a fitting end for America s greatest street Broadway. III. FIFTH-AVENUE AND ITS CHARAC TERISTICS. NBWYOKK. iThe New Yorker s chief object in working so bard to amass wealth is said to be to get a browns ietone mansion upon Fifth-avenue. The vast busi-J Snoss development shown upon Broadway and thai adjacent streets naturally produces the magnificence displayed upon this grand avenue, 100ft. in width,, extending northward almost in the centre of (Manhattan Island. The square from which it starts was originally a humble locality the f" Potter s Field " for many years the city Cemetery, where the unknown, the friendless, and the outcast were buried, and 100,000 bodies were interred. The steady expansion of the city had reached beyond this burial-place when it was de termined to convert it into a park. Thus origi nated Washington-square, an open space with trees and lawns, covering about nine acres, and located on Fourth-street, a short distance west, ipf Broadway, _from which the. famous Fifth-avenues FIFTH-AVENUE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 31 in laid out northward six miles in a straight line until it readies the Harlem river. For the first three miles this noblo highway is bordered by tho homes of tho leading people of tho great city ; then for over two miles further it makes tho eastern boundary of Contral-park, while beyond are a succession of attractive villas. It presents striking examples of the best residential and church architecture in Now York, and tho pro gress of tho street northward into tho newer por tions shows how stylos -change with tho lapse of time. The older houses at tho lower end aro generally of brick, which gradually develops into brownstone facings and borders, and then into uniform rows of most elaborate brownstone struc tures with imposing porticoes reached by broad flights of stops. As Central-park is approached tho more modern houses aro of all designs and varieties of materials, thus breaking the mono tony of the rich yet sombre brown. In the neigh bourhood of Fourteenth-street, and also at Madison-square, the overflow of business from Broadway has invaded Fifth-avenue with shops, many of them of large size. But the two miles from Madison-square to Central-park present a street of compact buildings and architectural magnificence, which in its special way has no equal in tho world. Washington-square is surrounded by fine resi dences, and upon its eastern side is tho white marble Gothic structure of the University of the City of New York, one of the chief educational institutions. Adjoining is a granite church of the ,Wesleyan Methodists, whilo many other attrac tive churches are upon the avenuo. The busy chopping region adjacent to Fourteenth-street, spreads some distance, and at Fifteenth-street is a, :poted Qornor t Here is tho broad brpwnston.Gi 32 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Manhattan Club, the home of the aristocratic politicians of the Democratic party or,as they are- called, the " swallow tails," to distinguish them from tho plebeian " short hairs " who congregate at Tammany-hall. Behind the Club are the build ings and church of the College of St. Francis Xavier, the headquarters of tho Jesuits in North America, and near by is tho spacious New York Hospital. On Fifteenth-street, east of Fifth- avenue, is the Century Club, the most noted literary and artistic club of New York. Proceed ing three blocks northward, at Eighteenth-street is Chickering-hall, tho great lecture hail of the icity ; and opposite to it is the spacious dwelling .of August Belmont, the banker and American representative of the Rothschilds, whose son, Perry Belmont, is Chairman of the Foreign Aff aira (Committee of Congress. Ivy overruns the man sion, and behind it is a largo picture gallery. The> wealthy and exclusive Union Club is at Twenty- first-street, with tho more modest house of tho Lotus Club on the opposite corner. Approaching Madison-square at Twonty-third-street shops again invade tho avenue, while fine hotels border the square, and upon leaving it at Twonty-sixth- , street the avenue passes between Delmonico a {famous restaurant ana the Brunswick cafe and Ihotel. Delmonico s great brick building stretches ffrom Fifth-avenue to Broadway, and in its gorgeous hall are given New York s most elaborate and costly dinners. Tho Brunswick is little less renowned, and its lino brownstone front has opposite tho great Victoria Hotel at Twcnty- p.eventli-stroct, also extending west to Broadway. Far to tho northward tho groat street now stretches up Murray-hill, with its rows of stately Buildings, interspersed with shops, art galleries, Und . decorative establishments ; its myriads of FIFTH-AVENUE AND ITS CHARAdTERISTICS. S3 carriages, and crowds of people on the sidewalks. Parallel to Fifth-avonuo and a short distance east of it is Madison-avenue, also a street of fashionable residences, and second only to the greater highway in its displays of wealth and elegance. On Twenty-eighth-street, some distance east of Madison-avenue, is St. Stephen s Roman Catholic Church, which has attracted BO much attention on account of the disciplining of its pastor, Father M Glynn, who became entangled in the vagaries of Henry George. It is a large brown- stone building with a rather unprepossessing front, but inside is quite attractive, there being a magnificent altar-piece, said to be the finest in New York, and a grand painting of the Cruci fixion behind it, upon which an exquisite light is thrown down from above. This, like all American churches, has the floor covered with pews. Beyond it, down near the East river, is the largest hospital in New York, the Bellevue. Returning to Fifth-avenue, at the next corner, is a plain and substantial granite church of the " Dutch Reformed " congregation, while at some distance west of it the giant Gilsey-house tower oif on Broadway. To the eastward, also, on Twenty-ninth-street, is a little church, a, few yards from Broadway, that has attained a wide reputa tion. It is a picturesque aggregation of low brick buildings, set back in a small enclocure, looking like some mediaeval structure. It was to this edifice that a lordly prelate, when asked to say the latit prayers over the dead body of an actor, sent his Borrowing friends, saying he could not thus pray for the ungodly, but that they might be willing to do it at the little church round the corner. This picturesque Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration performed the last sad rites in the presence of an overflowing congregation, and h^a 22 ~34 A VISIT TO THE STATES. ever sinco boon popularly known aa " the little ichurch round the corner." ! Mounting gradually up the gentle ascent of ^Murray-hill we get to what was a few years ago the centre of the aristocratic neighbourhood at Thirty-fourth-street, a broad avenue running across the city, on the opposite corners of which are represented the two greatest fortunes produced in America before the advent of the Vanderbilts. On the west side of Fifth-avenue, occupying the block between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets, are two spacious brick houses with brownctone facings and a large yard between enclosed by a red brick wall. These are the homes of the Astors, John Jacob and William, the grandsons of John Jacob Astor, who amassed the greatest fortune known in America anterior to the Civil War. Near by, in Thirty- third-street, lives a great grandson, William Waldorf Astor, who was recently the American Minister at Rome. The Astor estate is typical of the unexampled early growth of New York and of the accumulation of wealth by the advance in the value of land as the city expanded. The original Astor was a poor German peasant boy, from the village of Waldorf, near Heidelberg, who migrated to London and prior to 1783 worked for his brother there at making musical instruments. In that year, at the ago of 20, ho sailed to America with about 100 worth of musical instruments. On the ship ho met a furrier, who suggested that he should trado his instruments for American furs. Ho did this in New York, hastened back to London, and sold the furs at a large profit. Returning to New York he established a fur trade, making regular shipments to England and the East, and finally building ships to carry on the business of a merchant. Ho prospered so much that at the opening of the present century he had amassed 50,000.. He then, FIFTH-AVENUE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 35 bepn,n buying land and. buildings in Now York, built many houses, and was BO shrewd in his in vestments that they often increased in value a hundredfold. Ho was charitable and liberal, but of a retiring disposition in later life, and at his death in 1848 his estate, then the largest in the country, was valued at 5,000,000. His chief public benefaction was the gift to the city of New 1 ork of the " Astor Library," of which I have already spoken in describing the neighbourhood of Broadway. He bequeathed 80,000 to found this library, and his son, William B. Astor, supple mented it with liberal donations of land and money, so that besides the buildings the institu tion now has an endowment fund of 360,000 and about 230,000 volumes, it is maintained almost entirely as a library of reference. The great Astor estates as represented now by the third and fourth generations are estimated as aggregating oO,000,000. On the north-west corner of Fifth-avenue and Thirty-fourth-street is the magnificent white marble palace built by Alexander T. Stewart when at the height of his fame as the leading New York merchant. It was intended to eclipse anything then known on the American continent, and upon the building and its decoration 600,000 were ex pended. This noted house outshone all other Now York dwellings until the Vanderbilt palaces were constructed further out the avenue. The Stewart fortune was an evidence of the enormous possibilities of New York as a place for successful trading, though much of the wealth he amassed was afterwards invested in large buildings in profitable business localities, notably the ^reat hotels on Broadway in the " dry goods district." Stewart, like Astor, began with almost nothing^ though at a somewhat later period. He was & 38 A VISIT TO THE STATES, Belfast Irishman, born in 1802, who studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and without taking a degree migrated to New York as a teacher in 1818. But teaching was not to be his destiny, and he ultimately got into the " dry goods trade " in a small way, near the City-hall-park, hia business steadily expanding until ne acquired all the adjacent buildings and erected the groat storo on Broadway with which his name was so long associated, and afterwards established a retail branch further up town. His business was en larged in all directions until it became tho greatest in America, with branches in the chief cities, Stewart owning the best American factories making the fabrics dealt in, besides being a large importer. His business methods involved the remorseless crushing of rivals, so that he made more enemies than friends, and in his later years had only one trusted adviser, Judge Henry Hilton, whose modest brownstone house adjoined his own on Thirty-fourth-street.! Yet Stewart had a charitable side. He sent a ship load of provisions to Ireland in the famine of 1846, and made large public gifts to aid suffering, while at his death, he was building on Fourth- avenue at Thirty-second-street an enormous struc ture designed as a " Home for Working Girls, " on which 300,000 were expended. When completed after his death it was opened, but under such stringent rules about cats, parrots, and " company " that there was soon a rebellion among the intended beneficiaries, and it had to be closed. There was a shrewd suspicion that the difficulty was intentional, for tho place, which as a charitable foundation would have produced no re venue, was soon afterwards reopened as an hotel. Stewart had barely moved into his Fifth- avenue palace when he died, and his body was FIFTH-AVENUE A<ST> ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 37 temporarily placed in a vault awaiting removal to the mausoleum being constructed at Crarden City,/ Long Island, where ne was building a town on an extensive estate he owned. Then the country was horrified with the news that the corpse had been stolen ; not for prospective ransom, but to revenge business tyranny, and so far as known it was never recovered. His childless widow lived in gloomy grandeur until her recent death in the palace, without visitors, and with watchmen pacing the sidewalk day and night. Stewart s great business has been broken up and scattered einco his death, and as he left no descendants the fortune went to collateral heirs, who are now* quarrelling about it. Thirty-fourth-street is a great highway. Some, distance west of Fifth-avenue it has the extensive Institution for the Blind, its white marble build ings surmounted by turrets and battlements, while the spacious greystone State Arsenal, the military headquarters of the State troops, is on Thirty- fifth-street near by. To the eastward, after cross ing Madison-avenue, Thirty-fourth-street crosses Fourth-avenue, which is here widened to 140ft. to permit the railways and tramways to go through a tunnel under the elevated ground that corresponda to Murray-hill. This tunnel extends northward] to Forty-second-street, and the open spaces above,/ giving it light and air, are surrounded by a seriesi of little parks, making this, which is called Park-avenue, one of the pleasantest places in New York. Standing alongside this park, eastward at Thirty-second-street, is seen the enormous pile of buildings that make Stewart s WorkingWomen s Home, constructed around a spacious courtyard. At Thirty-fourth-streot corner is the Unitarian Church of the Messiah, a reddish-brown Gothic eji of .whic4 _th noted .preacher. 38 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Collyer, is pastor. At Thirty-fifth street is another church, much similar in appearance, built in Lom- bardo-Gothie stylo of gray etone, but not so elaborate, the Presbyterian Church of tho Cove nant. Off to the northward, over tho little parks, the view is closed by the Louvre domes of the Grand Central Railway Station of tho Vandorbilt roads rising in the distance. Returning to Fifth- avenue at Thirty-soventh-street is found tho Old Brick Church of the Presbyterians, solid and substantial, with a tall brick and brown stone spire. The congregation of this church dates from 1767. This stands at about tho most elevated portion of Murray-hill, and a short distance beyond, at Thirty-ninth-streot, is tho finest club-nour.e in New York, where the magnates of the Republican party are wont to concoct plans for political management that reach even to the election o! Presidents the Union League Club. This is an elaborate brick and brownstone edifice, with a beautiful colonnade over the entrance, and its spacious windows disclose the comfortable apart ments within. Just above, on the east side of the avenue, is a broad dwelling of brownstone, evi dently built some time ago, and having a carriage entrance at the side into a small courtyard. This is No. 459, another historic house, for it was the original home of the Vanderbilts, and is now the residence of one of Commodore Vanderbilt s younger grandsons, Frederick. The Vandorbilt fortune, the greatest ever amassed in America, represents modern New York s financially expan sive facilities, as manipulated by the machinery of corporations and the Stock Exchange, and is the accumulation of two generations, a father and eon, within tho present century. Cornelius Vander- ibilt, the original Commodore, was a poor and ignedupated boatman, borij on Staten Island ia AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 89 1794, who carried on trade in a small way around Now York harbour, and at the ago of 23 is said to- have owned several small vessels and estimated his wealth at 1.800. At that time ho became a stcamboat captain and went into the transporta tion business between Now York and Philadelphia, afterwards extending his operations in other direc tions. In 1848 ho operated most of the profitable steamboat lines leading from Now York, and soon afterwards invested in ocean steamers in connexion with the transit of the Isthmus of Panama. Ho expanded these ocean routes, and at the busiest part of his steamship career owned (30 vessels, th finest of which, the steamer Vandorbilt, costing him 160,000, ho presented to the Government for a war-ship during the rebellion. In 1884, finding that from economic and other causes steamship owning in the United States was likely to bo un profitable, be determined to abandon it and devote his attention to railway management, ho having already made large investments in railway shares.. At that time ho estimated hia fortune at 8,000,000. Ho acquired control of various rail ways leading oast, north, and west from Now York, the shares, which he bought at low figures,, largely advancing in value and the roads improving in earning powers under his excellent management. The greatest of them, which, with its western ex tension, makes a continuous route from New York to Chicago, is the Now York Central Railway. When he died his estate was estimated at 15,000,000, and nearly all of it was left to his son, William H. Vandorbilt, as the old Commodore felt the importance of concentrating wealth when held in American railway investments in order to got the full advantage of its power. By sheer force of its own earning capacity, aided by Stock Ex change operations, the son gaw this colossal f or-*, 4(f A VISIT TO THE STATES. tune still further grow, and when he suddenly >died two years since it had reached an aggregate estimated from 40,000,000 to 50,000,000, the bulk of it being bequeathed to his two elder sons, while he left other sons and daughters who were also liberally provided for. At one time William H. Vanderbilt had 10,000,000 in United States Fours, and it is no wonder that the unpreten tious dwelling at Fortieth-street became too cramped for the increasing wealth of the modern Croesus, and that he had to build a row of palaces to house his family further out Fifth-avenue. i Diagonally across from the Vanderbilt dwelling, and on the west side of the avenue, is the Croton Keservoir, the old distributing reservoir for the city s water supply, which covers four acres on the uummit ot tha hill, and has a pretty little park, jfche Bryant, behind it. This ivy-covered structure looks not unlike the Tombs Prison, the enclosing trails being constructed in the massive arid sombre DEgyptian style that seems to ha 79 had such at tractiveness for some of the earlier New York architects. North of the reservoir, Forty-second- Street is laid out across the city, a wide highway leading off to the Grand Central Railway Station, where all of the Vanderbilt lines come into Now STork. This is the largest railway station in Ame rica, covers over nve acres, and had 450,000 expended upon its construction. It is an impres sive building of brick with stone and iron facinga and ornamentation, surmounted by Louvre domes, iwith a vast interior hall for the trains under a term-circular roof supported by arched trusses. Elevated railways and tramcar lines from " down town " run into this groat station, the latter coming through the Park-avenue tunnel ; and the adjacent region is a lively place, abounding with Jiotpls arxcJ lodging-houses, restaurants, .and thq FIFTH-AVENUE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 41 various adjuncts of a railway terminal, including a prosperous bank which thrives upon theVander- bilt patronage. This is the Lincoln National Bank, which has for its manager a recent Cabinet Minister, showing how New York absorbs talenlj of all kinds. The outgoing railways ran north from this station through tunnels for a long distance,! until they reach the suburbs, and crossing tho Harlem river depart north and east. This is the only railway system for passengers leading directly from New York city. All the other lines have their stations across the North or East rivers and havq to be reached by crossing ferries. The Jewish race have built upon Fifth-avenue, at Forty-third-stroet, their finest American syna-i goguo, the Temple Emanuel, a magniticent( specimen of Saracenic architecture, with the in^ terior gorgeously decorated in Oriental stvlej Creeping plants are overrunning the lower portions of the two great towers. Beyond it, at Forty-fifth- street, a few small red-brick houses of the olden time remain, which have not yet been torn dowm to make room for the imposing brownstones. Over* shadowing them is the Uiiiversalist Church of the Divine Paternity, one of the finest in the cityJ Just above is the Episcopal Church of that Heavenly Rest, a strange-looking, narrow-frontedj reddish-stone structure, squeezed between the ad joining houses, but expanding to large proportions inside the block, and looking more like a museum than a church. It is surmounted By statues of brown angels vigorously blowing trumpets towards the various points of the compass. In the next, block, and occupying the whole of it, is the finest modern hostelry of Upper Fifth-avenue the Wind < eor Hotel, tall and solid looking, with an inw posing front and comfortable appearancej Pretty,..- window^ gardana _adorn . - tke. window* 42 A VISIT TO THE STATES. alongside the entrance, and the lobbies within are spacious, being filled in the evenings, es pecially in times of excitement, with the chief men of the city, this being the p-eat resort for news and gossip and stock speculation at night. Across Forty-sevcnth-street from the Windsor Hotel is a square and roomy though not a large house, with a mansard roof, an abundance of foliage plants in the rear windows, and an ela borate front portico, under which a solid stairway flanked by evergreens and garden vases leads up to the hall door. Within this residence, at No. 579, Fifth-avenue, lives the most mysterious and pro bably the besi>-abused person in the States aj modest and retiring man, who, though usually in seclusion, yet manages to keep up communication with the outer world by means of an abundance of telegraph and telephone wires entering his house. Upon these radiating wires the bulls and bears of Wall-street blame most of their woes, for Jay Gould is oupposed to sit within and mani pulate them. He is the greatest power in the New $"ork of to-day, and hao had a remarkable career, oeing alike the product and the producer of modern ^ValF-street methods. He was a poor orphan boy who was clerk in a country store, and afterwards a surveyor and mapmaker. Subsequently ho got an interest in a tannery in Pennsylvania, and to sell its leather was the object of his earliest visits to New York. Then he owned the whole tannery ; but his visits to the metropolis had taught him there wore better methods of making money, so ho sold out and removed thither, being too much afraid of New York at first, however, to live in the city, so he made his homo over in New Jersey. It was not long before Now York got afraid of him. His subsequent career is well known. No stock anywhere ha,s had such a career or made. FIFTH-AVENUE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 43 such ventures. He was for years the "great bear," Bulling down, wrecking, ruining, controlling news papers, courts, legislatures, and being even ac- ruieed of bribing a President of the American Re-j public. Yet lie has his good traits, is charitable, domestic in his habits, and to the very few whom he trusts is a firm friend. His fortune is the largest at present in the hands of any one man in New York, being mainly invested in railways, but it is. impossible to estimate its amount, for Jay Gould is a Sphinx who tells nothing. Unostentatious and modest to an extreme, this wonderful specu^ later moves quietly in his work, and makes display* in but one thing his grave. He has expended! 25,000 in building a miniature of the Pantheon for his mausoleum in one of the cemeteries, and,; true to his retiring nature, declines to have his, sculptured upon it. When the old Dutch Governor of New York,; Peter Minuit, had bought the whole of Manhattan! ( !sland from the Indians for goods worth less thani 5, he looked after the spiritual welfare of his: little colony by founding, in 1628, an orthodox; [Dutch church. This same church, after several removals, now exists in a costly brown stone build-j ing at Fifth-avenue and Forty-eighth-street. The: inscription tells us that this magnificent edifies ** the " Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutchi Church of the City of New York, organized under, Peter Minuit, Director-General of the : Newt Netherland, in 1628, chartered by William, King of England, 1696," the present church having been erected in 1872. Upon the next block above,, . -ccupying the entire space between Fiftieth and Fifty-first streets, is the great Roman Catholic cathedral, appropriately named St. Patrick after, ,the patron saint of a large part of the populationj L It is of white marble, in.. f <h.Q. Decorated J&othwi 44 A VISIT TO THE STATKS. style, and covers 332ft. by 174ft., the central gable jof tho front rising 156ft., while the unfinished i spires flanking it, upon which work slowly progresses, are expected to roach a height of 328ft. Going inside this great church, one can Admire its high nave, rich decoration, magnificent altars, and beautiful windows. The softened light unfolds the cloistered arches of the roof, and the interior presents a striking resemblance to the great Cathedral at Cologne. In the rear, fronting upon Madison-avenue, is the Archbishop s residence, also of white marble, and on the next block northward, in an enclosure fronting Fifth-avenue, is the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, an extensive brick structure with a large portion of the front made of continuous series of glass windows. Upon Madison-avenue, opposite the Archbishop s residence, are the ex tensive buildings of Columbia College, surrounding a courtyard. This is the old King s College of !New York, founded in 1754 by a fund which was started from the proceeds of several lotteries, raising 3,443. It is now a wealthy establishment with other buildings and departments in various Darts of the city, arid is famous both as a school of law and medicine as well as in the academic departments. ! , We have now reached the finest portion of tho newer Fifth-avenue the Vanderbilt palaces. On the west side at Fifty-first and Fifty-second streets are two elaborate brownstone dwellings with ornamental fronts and having a connecting covered passage, which contains the doorways or hoth. Tnese are the homes of William H. Van- derbilt s daughters, and are only exceeded in magnificence by his own house, a castellated drain fttone structure, at the upper corner of Fifty- econ.d-8reet. This is also., highly decorated, and AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS. 4$ is now the home of his eldest son, William K. Vanderbilt, tho present president of the Now York Central Railway. His second son, Cornelias Vanderbilt, livea in tho fourth palace at tho corner of Fifty-seventh-streot, a brick building with orna mental stone decorations. These palaces were built, decorated, and furnished to outshine any other dwellings in New York, and it is said that 3,000,000 were expended upon them. But the. great Croesus who designed them, like BO manyi men who have built grand houses, had barely moved in before he died. It was in the reception parlour of his new home that Mr. William H. Van derbilt, about two years ago, while talking to Mr. Robert Garrett, suddenly foil over from his seat, almost into the latter s arms and instantly ex pired. The death was unexpected, and that ni^hfc the New York speculators had hard work laying tneir linos to prevent a panic in the next day a stock market. Mr. Garrett had visited Mr. Vander bilt merely for a social call, the disputes that pre viously had arrayed the two families in hostility on account of rival railway interests having been reconciled. Opposite this grand mansion, the finest in New York, is the tall structure of the elegant Langham Hotel, while at the corner above are the beautiful rose windows of St. Thomas s Episcopal Church. All the dwellings in this region are costly, and show that fortunes havo been expended in their deaoration. St. Luke s Hospital, at Fifty-fourth-street, is a notable structure managed by the Episcopal Church. Dr. John Hall s Presbyterian Church is at Fifty-fifth street an elaborate brownstone building, and the largest and wealthiest Presbyterian church in the world. Its pastor is said bo preach to 50,000,000 every Sunday. All the cross streets display long rows of brownstone dwellings, and as Central-park 4G A VISIT TO THE STATES. is approached, the enormous apartment houses facing it rise high above us in various directions. Tho foliage of the park which is at Fifty-ninth- Btreet oblitoratos the view beyond, but the groat avenue extends far away northward as the park boundary with many tine buildings fronting it. Notable among those structures is the Lenox ^Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This desultory description will give some idea of Now York s groat street of wealth and fashion the world-famed Fifth-avenue. IV. THE NEW YORK CEN TEAL-PARK AND BEYOND. NEW YORK. One is not long in New York without taking a ride on an Elevated railway. These light and airy constructions, set upon stilts, have solved the problem of rapid transit for the elongated, narrow city. In fact, methods of quick transportation of all kinds have had much study in the American metropolis. The character of the city and its surroundings, and the migratory habits of the vast crowds rushing in from all quarters in the morning and rushing out again at night, have forced this. Over a million people cross the North and East Rivers every day ; and half a million or more rush " down-town" every morning, and back * up-town " at night. No city anywhere has so many ferries or such enormous capacity in the huge ferry-boats that cross the rivers, or such gigantic floating palaces as carry the passenger traffic from its piers to distant places. A hundred THE NEW YORK CENTRAL-PARK AND BEYOND. 47 thousand people daily cross the Brooklyn-bridge which etands high above tho East Kiver. A second bridge is projected to cross at BlackwelPs Island, BO that " up-to\vn " may have a chance for easy transportation to Williiunsburg, and the railways on Long Island may secure a terminal in New York City. Tho Hudson River is bring tunnelled to secure similar advantages. Almost all the principal streets have tramwaj S, and some, like the Bowery, have two or three sets of iron road ways upon them. Four linos of Elevated railways carry rapid and frequent passenger trains over head ; and their capacity is so overtaxed that a project is on foot for tunnelling Broadway, which already has a most lucrative tramway upon its surface. As tho city could only grow at its northern end, tho groat distances forced now solu tions of tho problem of rapid transit. Hundreds of omnibuses formerly crowded Broadway, but their din has ceased as their system was outgrown. Tho tramcars moving through the narrow and crowded streets were often obstructed, and always too slow. Then tho relief was sought cheaply over head, that London got at great cost underground. But the new plan was difficult of introduction. When someono first thought of setting a railway up on posts, and it was built along Greenwicli- etreet and the west side of the city, it had but a sickly existence for several years, and most people feared to ride lest tho airy structure should fall down. But it afterwards grow in favour, and when it paid, there was soon a rush of capital for investment in more Elevated railways. They were speedily built, and stretched their lines to the extreme northern boundary, and they have for the present solved the problem of rapid transit in Now York. Then all were gathered together into. 18 A VISIT TO THE STATES. ft single gigantic corporation, known as the ^Man hattan Company, 77 and, under the present control of Jay Gould, they quickly carry you for 2^d. wherever you desire to go. High up in the air, the trains rush past the upper windows of the houses, the passengers gazing in at the residents doing their work, or eating their meals, or per chance going to bed; while the street traffic proceeds in its usual slow and obstructed fashion beneath. Smoothly and swiftly gliding through and over the great city, round the corners and among the houses,now hemmed in by tall buildings in some narrow street, then quickly given a broader view on a wide avenue, there is abundant opportunity to observe the peculiarities of the metropolis. To most visitors this is as great an attraction as New York can present, and it certainly gives more real enjoyment for less money than any other enter tainment in the usually costly metropolis. The convenience of the system is also a charm, as the Elevated trains make quick and easy routes where- ever one wants to go, up or down town. Let us take one of these lines and ride out to Central-park, for two of them lead to it, and two others pass not far away. Within a half-hour s time from the southern extremity of New York, the Elevated train travels the live miles from the Battery to the park, halting at a dozen stations en route. This great park is the pride of Now York, B pleasure ground upon which has been lavished nil that art and expense can accomplish. It occu pies a parallelogram in about the centre of Man hattan Island, two-and-one-half miles long and a half-mile wide, and covers 843 acres. A con- uiderable part of this space, however, is taken up with the Croton water storage reservoirs, which are elevated above the general level, and, with other grounds also occupied . for various purposes. THE NEW YOEK CEXTftAL-PARK AJSD BEYOND. 49 reduce the actual surface- of the park itself to 683 acres. This was the first great park established in the States. Thirty years ago the only rural resorta of the populations of the great American cities were the cemeteries or pic-nic grounds. It was not until 1858 that the preparation of the southern part of Central-park began, and the work was pushed vigorously, as many as four thousand men being at times employed. The topography of tha ground was generally the reverse of what is needed for a park, but there was no alternative. Tha original surface was either rock or marsh, and most rough and unattractive. It had for years been the depository of the refuse of the town, and was a veritable desert of rubbish and coal ashes, used as the temporary abiding place for colonies of " squatters, "who set up their ricketty shanties wherever they thought the task of raking out the ash heaps might yield something of value. Much of the earlier work was the removal of this refuse to the depth of many feet before the natural surface was uncovered ; but the prodigious amount of labour soon bore fruit, and an enormous outlay overcame the difficulties, so that the popularity of the parts of the park first opened was so great that the money for further improvements on a large Ecale was readily granted, and the enterprise then a novelty in America acquired much celebrity. As this long and narrow enclosure would interfere with the cross-town traffic, at about each half-mile a street is carried by a sub way under the: park walks and drives, thus giving free passage without interfering with the pleasure grounds. The engineering skill of the park manage ment has made the most of the unsightly surface they had to deal with, and some of the greatest defects have been converted into most attractive features. Art had to do everything j for upon 50 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the cr.lginal surface there was neither lake nor torest, lawna nor walks. Tins waste ot rocks and debris had to be excavated to make the lakes, bridges were built, trees planted, and roads laid out. The great pleasure-ground now needs only the maturing of some of the trees to become one of the handsomest parks in the world. Uniting art with nature, its Italian terrace, placid waters, many bridges of quaint design, its towers, rustic houses, nooks and rambles, place it in the front rank among the parks of America. Entering the park from Fifth-avenue, the road leads by a gently-winding course past pretty lakea and vista views, to where the Mall or promenade is reached. Hero many thousands gather on pleasant afternoons to hear the music. The broad green surfaces seen to the westward, which include a spacious ball-ground, give a tranquil landscape, and, looking northward through the Mall and ita avenue of bordering elms, the Observatory, a little gray-stone tower, closes the view away off over another lake. At the end of the Mall, the terrace is crossed, bordering this lake,to the edge of which the ground slopes down. On one side a fountain plashes, while on the other is the concert-ground, overlooked by a shaded gallery called the Pergola. Here congregate the nursemaids with the children, where art has done its best to make magnificence. The former are bedecked in white French caps and broad aprons, but generally have a Hibernian air that cannot bo disguised. Across the pretty lake where the Observatory stands is a wooded, rocky slope called tho Ramble, with numerous paths winding through it, and a massive structure on its highest point called tho Belvedere. There are playgrounds for the children an aviary and menagerie, and other amusements provided. The road winds along, past statues .and beautiful THE NEW YORK CEXTRAL-PAEK AND BEYOND. 51 views, and comes out in the space alongside the smaller resorvoir,where not far away is Cleopatra s Needle, which the late Mr. Vanderbilt had brought to New York and sot up near the great Art Museum, which will ultimately have the finest art collection in the metropolis. Then the road passes alongside the larger reservoir, just at the edge of the path, with barely enough room for it to get through between the great bank of the basin, and Fifth-avenue, though both are admir ably masked. The northern portion of the park has extensive meadows, with another lake, and the j:oad gradually leads to the western side, where you ascend Harlem Heights and have a fino look-out. Far off to the north can be seen the tall arches of the l< High Bridge " over the Harlem Kiver, which brings the Croton Aqueduct into the city, and the tower at its nearest end, which is used to force the water into the highest basins. The winding banks of the river are steep and picturesquely wooded, and can bo traced towards the Hudson River, across which, dim and hazy in the distance, are those curious formations on the Wow Jersey shore known as the Palisades. In the foreground, just beyond tho edge of the park, an elevated railway runs along on its treotlo, hero rising higher than over as it crosses & depression in the surface, whiles outside the railway is the Lion Brewery and its picnic-grounds, a favourite resort of the Germans. Within tho park itself are many secluded paths and em bowered walks where tired pedestrians recline on benches under tho trailing vines. A flock of con tented sheep browse upon the meadows, and at night are housed in a building more magnificent than many seen upon Fifth-avenue. Tho northern boundary of Central-park is One JIundred and Topth-streetj about ee. ven and a- 52 A VISIT TO THE STATES. half miles from tho Battory. Manhattan Island beyond this has boon laid out with superb drives and broad public roads known as * Boulevards," and tho extensions of the elevated lines to the Harlem River are rapidly converting it into a civilized and inhabited region. Driving along one of these Boulevards, 150ft. wide, the fast trotters of the young bloods of Now York speed rapidly by us, raising groat clouds of duet, for (these are the racing-grounds for tho turfmen, there being little restriction on fast driving. Tho elevated road off to the westward curves around on enormously high stilts over the low ground, and a train cautiously moves on its ticklish perch, giving much tho sensation produced by skating on thm ice. This is a land of tho " squatter * for man} shanties are snugly placed among trie rocks, whose inhabitants are opposed to paying any rent. Gray, scarred, and moss-covered crags poko up their heads through all this region, though intervening nooks are found where good soil abounds, and here are little market gardens and hotbeds growing berries and vegetables. Approaching the Harlem River, across it are seen Morrisonia and other villages, the distant view being closed in by hazy hills. The Boulevard runs into the King s-bridge-road and down into the wooded elopes of the Harlem Valley and across the river by that little old historic bridge whoso fame is intertwined with the early history of New York. This river flows through a deep gorge, which winds about, with tho New York Central Railroad seeking an outlet by ito northern shore to the Hudson River. Several bridges cross it, but the greatest is the " High Bridge/ tho hand- Bome structure of tall granite piers and graceful arches, showing with singular beauty from different points of view, wnethor seen through THE NEW YORK CENTRAL-PARK AND BEYOND. 53 ristas of foliage or from approaching drives^, from the river or from distant hilltops. Beyond is Spuytcn Duyvel Creek, the strait that connects the Harlem with the Hudson ; and makes Man hattan an island. It opens out upon the great river with a magnificent view of its broad bosom, having the Jersey Palisades for a stately back ground. The Croton Aqueduct is the most costly work of Bridge, 3 structure worthy of the Roman Empire." The aqueduct is over 40 miles long from the Croton River to the Distributing Reservoir in the city, and originally cost 2, 500,000, but muchmore has been since expended in enlargements and improve ments. The Crotou falls into the Hudson about 25 miles north of New York, and its head waters ttre dammed to make artificial lakes that gather the water supply. The works, excepting the great reservoirs in Central-park, were built between 1837 and 1842, and surpassed all modern constructions of the kind in extent and magnificence. The aqueduct in its course j*oes through more than a mile of tunnels bored in gneiss rock, while much of the open cutting is also rockwork. The Croton was first dammed by a wall 40ft. high, forming Croton Lake, covering 400 acres, and holding 500 millions of gallons. Then afterwards a dam 700ft. long was built across the western branch of the river, flooding 300 acres, and making a storage basin for 3,000 millions of gallons. For 33 miles from those lakas to Harlem River the aqueduct is built of stone and brick, with a cross section of about 53i square feet and an inclination of about 1ft. to the mile, or 34ft. in the entire distance. Borne 115 millions of gallons flow daily with a 04 A TISIT TO THE STATES. movement of about a mile and a-half per hour. Throe iron pipes carry tho water across the High Bridge, which is 1,460ft. long and rises 110ft. above high-water mark. The original intention waa to have carried the water across Harlem River in iron pipes down one bank and up tho other, but the objection was made that this would obstruct navigation. The present plan was then devised of a bridge with arches 80ft. wide and openings 100ft. high to provide for the passage of masted vessels. There are eight of these arches in tho river crossing and seven other arches on tho banks, each of 50ft. span. At tho Now York side of this picturesque bridge is tho tall and solid-looking tower that is a special feature in all the views, designed to supply a more elevated reservoir for the convenience of the highest portions of Manhat tan Island. Its surmounting tank is at 265ft. ele vation. A portion of tho water coming across the aqueduct is pumped up there, but tho greater part flows on to the reservoirs in Central-park covering 135 acres, and having 3,200 millions of gallons capacity, their elevation being 119ft. Several underground pipe lines thence convey jvater to tho Fifth-avenue distributing reservoir on Murray-hill. which is about 115ft. elevation and holds 20 millions of gallons. Tho Croton water is pure and clear, tho large storage reservoirs in connexion with the Croton lakes giving amplo opportunity for tho subsidence of impurities. The entire cost of waterworks and aqueduct was about 0,000,000. The growth of New York has, however, almost got beyond the capacity of these groat works, extensive as they are. New enterprises are afoot. The most enormous reservoir in tho world is being con structed at the Quaker Bridge, in the Croton dis trict, designed to hold 4.0,000 millions of gallons, B9 that storage maybe had when drought threatens THE NEW YORK CENTRAL-PARK AND BEYOND. 55 the supply. About 4,000,000 will bo expended upon this work, and a now aqueduct is to bring the water to Harlem River, 12lt. in diameter, tun nelled for 27 miles through the rocks, and also carried by a tunnel under that river at a depth of about 250ft. An imposing gatehouse at One Hundred and Thirty-Fifth-streob will admit the new water supply to the city mains. The new aqueduct is expected to be finished in 1888 at a cost of 3,000.000, and the now Quaker Darn reser voir about five years hence, these works being the most enormous ever projected. Now York now gets less water than her population needs, but the new works will increase the supply to at least 250 millions of gallons daily, and this is expected to be enough for many years to come, even in this rapidly-expanding- city. The Harlem River windi between its wooded banks below the High Bridge, and has on it$ eastern side the attractive suburb of Morrieania. Here lived Lewis Morris, one of the signers of tho Declaration of Independence, and his brother Gouverneur Morris, a famous Now Yorker, who bore a striking resemblance to General Washing ton. The old Morris mansion stands on tho verge of the river not far away from the bridge. Several road bridges carry city streets across the Harlem River and up through Morrisania and the other suburban villages, all of which have now been ewal lowed up lay tho great city of New York. Although in earlier times much trouble was taken to make Euro that navigation was not obstructed in these waters that connect Long Island Sound with tho Hudson River north of Manhattan Island, in practice no commerce of any importance has gone by that route, and it is now not regarded as of value, excepting for email vessels and local traffic, ijie Harlem River flows south oast tho 56 A VISIT TO THE STATES. town of Harlem to the East River, where tt divides Manhattan from Ward s Island. This, with Randall s Island to the north and Blackwell s Island to the south, is known as tho group oi 4< East River Islands " which was availed of for tho city penal and charitable institutions. The " Commissioners of Charities and Correction," who care for these classes in New York, have charge annually of a large population, sometimes as many as 250,000 to 300,000. Their chief buildings aro on Blackwell s Island, the long, narrow strip of land stretching nearly two miles in East River oft the upper city piers, and being rarely over 200 yards wide, the whole area covering about 120 acres. Jthe buildings are of granite quarried there by tha convicts. Bellevue Hospital is adjacent in the city, also in their charge, and has extensive build ings and grounds. Here is the Morguo and tho headquarters of the Ambulance Corps, while on the island are almshousos, workhouses, various hospitals and asylums, and a penitentiary. " Sent to the Island >; is the announcement made in cases cf vagrancy and minor offences. Ward s Island has inebriate and insane asylums, and a soldiers retreat for men who served in New York regiments during the late civil war. Randall s Island has institutions caring for children and idiots. Hart s Island, over in Long Island Sound, has the pauper cemetery and industrial schools. All the buildings and grounds are on an elaborate scale and are well kept, some thing like 400,000 being annually expended on their maintenance. The steamboat ride along East llivor past these institutions, whore everything is in full view, is one of tho most charming excursions from JN ew York. i South of Ward s Island the Long Island shore juts out, causing th,e East^Riyer^ passage to be THE NEW YORK CENTRAL-PAKE A&D BEYOND. 57 curved and narrowed, and here, below where the Harlem River joins the East River,the latter, which turns away from the former and flows around the other side of Ward s Island, goes through the famous pasa of Hell Gate to reach Long Island Sound. This was formerly a most dangerous region through which the rapid tidal current boiled and eddied. Hallett s Point,on Long Island, narrowed the channel, and Flood Rock, Pot Rock, the Gridiron, and other reefs obstructed it and made navigation sometimes quite perilous. More than 30 years ago desultory operations were begun to improve this channel, but no comprehensive plan was projected until 186G, when General Newton took charge of the work. The first thing done was the removal of Hallett s Point. This mass of rock projected about 300ft. into the stream, and threw the tidal current from tho Bound against an opposing rock called the Grid iron. He sunk a shaft upon the Point, and then excavated the land side into a perpendicular wall which curved around and was designed for tho future river bank. Tunnels were bored from the shaft into the rock under tho river in a radiating direction, and these were connected by concentric galleries. The design was to remove as much rock as possible without letting in the water from over head, and then to blow up the roof and sup porting columns with a charge sufficient to reduce the rock into fragments which could afterwards be removed at leisure. The labour began in 1869, tho shaft being sunk 32ft. below mean low water, and the tunnels drilled out under tho river through a tough hornblende gneiss lying in strata of various degrees of inclination, which presented interesting problems as tho work progressed. In 1876 the work was finished, and thousands of blasts had been planod in tho roof and supporting 58 A VISIT TO THE STATES. columns ready for the explosion, which was fixed for Sunday, beptornber 24. There was a good deal of trepidation shown in Upper Now York, and thousands of people left the city, while through out the country and in Europe the result of this greatest artificial explosion yet attempted was awaited with deep interest. General Newton s little child touched the electric key that discharged the mine, and the explosion was entirely success ful, no accident resulting, the calculations having been made so accurately that the great reef was pulverized and the fragments fell into the spaces excavated beneath it Without causing more than a slight tremor in the surrounding region. A similar system of excavation was then begun to remove Flood Rock, in mid channel, and this \vas carried out upon an even more extended scale than the operations at Hallett s Point. The second great blast, blowing Flood Rock into fragments, was made by. General Newton in October, 1885, and was also entirely successful. The tidal current still flows swiftly through the famous strait, but the terrors of the " Hell Gate Passage " are a thing of the past. The northern portion of Manhattan Island has its most elevated ridges on tho Hudson River side. Below the Spuyten Dnyvel a bold blurT rises from the river to Fort Washington IIeights,where, at an elevation of 200ft. to 240ft., are some of New York s finest suburban villas, their owners having a mag nificent view across the river at the bold New Jersey shore, and the grand escarpment of the Palisades stretching far away to tho northward. These remarkable columnar formations, which ex tend for 20 miles along the river on its western bank, are of trap rock, and in parts appear not unlike the amphitheatres adjacent to the Giant s Causeway, Occasionally a patch of trees grows on THE NEW YORK CENTKAL PAEK AND BEYOND. 59 their sides or tops, while broken rocks and rubbish that have fallen down make a sloping surface from about halfway up their height to the edge of the river. These strange rocks in some places rise 500ft. Fort AVashington and the opposite bluff, called Fort Lee, were in early times the sites of fortifications defending the river approach to the city, but nothing now remains excepting the names. Fort Lee is a favourite excursion ground, where a grove of trees encloses a pagoda-like structure with double turrets, while extensive buildings and a spacious steamboat landing down at the waterside tell of the popularity of the place. Fort Washington, with its aggregation of villas, lawns, and fine trees, has a prominent ob ject in a mosque-like building with a large dome, surmounted by a smaller gilded dome, which was the suburban home of James Gordon Bennett, of the Neiu York Herald. Fort Washington Heights fall off somewhat towards the south and gradually develop into the village of Manhattanvillo. Here in a depressi on a broad avenue (150th-street) comes out past the groat red brick steeple-crowned structure of the Soldiers and Sailors Home, and makes a good route down to the river s edge, where there is a ferry landing. There are spacious colleges and also a convent in Manhattanville, and below it the bluff shore again rises to a con siderable height above the river. Along the sur face of this bluff, and stretching for throe miles almost down to the region of piers and shipping, lliverside Park is laid out, making a grand drive overlooking the Hudson. At the upper end of this park and upon its most elevated ground, nearly 140ft. above the- river, there is a small round-topped mausoleum standing alone among the trees, andiri full view from all the surrounding region. It is . a pleasant spot, and the Mecca for 60 A VISIT TO THE STATES. many pilgrims ; for it contains the remains of the American hero,General Grant, awaiting interment beneath the grand monument that is to bo erected near by, and will bo a landmark seen from afar, and worthy the greatest military chieftain yet) produced in the New World. V. THE CITY OF CHURCHES. BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. New York is said to go over to Brooklyn chiefly to sleep or be buried. It is the dormitory for a large part of the working population of New York ; and in its beautiful suburbs are the leading cemeteries where dying New Yorkers lay their bones. Greenwood, which overlooks New York Harbour from Gowann s Heights, in Southern Brooklyn, is the finest cemetery on the continent. The funeral processions constantly crossing bridge and ferries have probably aided in developing the religious fervour of this populous suburb, for no where are found so many sacred edifices, and under the ministry of a regiment of clergy, led by men like Beecher, Storrs, and Talmage, Brooklyn has properly earned her popular title of " tho City of Churches." This city, tho third in the States, being only exceeded in population by New York and Philadelphia, is entirely a growth of tho present century, and owes the remarkable expan sion of recent years to the inability of New York to spread excepting far northward. Brooklyn stretches several miles along East Kiver and for three or four miles inland, and is err owing at such THE CITY OF CHURCHES. 61 a rapid rate that the next census may show a population in 1890 not much below a million, although when this century began it was hard work to find 3,000 people there, and, strange as it may seem, they then had to go over to New York to church. A band of Walloons originally settled the place just about the time that old Peter Minuit was buying Manhattan Island from, tho Indians. They and thoir descendants used to drive their cows across East River to Governor s Island, the river being in that part Buttermilk Channel shallow enough to be forded, though now this channel is scoured out deep enough to float the largest steamer that comes into the har bour, and tlie Brooklyn docks and wharves at Bed Hook Point and above accommodate an enormous commerce. The little ferry at Fulton-street, which first accommodated the village, has grown into more than a dozen steam ferries of the largest capacity, and a half-million people cross them daily at a halfpenny apiece. To see a human sardine-box packed to perfection it is only neces sary to look at a Brooklyn ferry-boat going homo about sundown. The thousands who pour through the ferry gates do not hope for seats ; if they are only ablo to get standing room on the boat they are thankful. The ferry is a short one, for the East River is comparatively narrow, being only one-third the width of the Hudson, but the fleet, of Brooklyn ferry-boats are the greatest trans-* porters of human beings in the world. ! It was to supplement these boats, and in times of fog raid ice to relievo them, that the great East Liver bridge was built. Its massive piers aro among tho tallest constructions around New York, rising 268ft. above high water. They are built upon caissons sunk upon the rocky bed o^ the stream,, which is 45ft, below the surface on thai 62 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Brooklyn side and OGft. below on the New 1 ork Bido. At the water lino a section of these gigantic piers covers a surface lIMl t. long by 5Gft. broad. Their towers carry four lOin. wire cables to hold up the bridge, which is 85ft. wide, giving ample passage ways for two tramcar linos, wagon-roads, and footways. The bridge is all of iron and steel, and the cables are made of galvanized eteol wire, the floor of the bridge at the centre of the river being raised 1135ft. above the water. The distance between the piers is about 1,600ft., and the length of the bridge between the anchorages of the cables ifl 6, 475ft. Those anchorages are most massive con structions, each containing about 35,000 cubic yards of solid masonry. The roadway approaching the bridge rises on the Now York side from Chatham-street alongside the City Hall Park, while in Brooklyn it comes down upon Fulton- street at some distance from the river ; so that the whole length of the bridge and approaches is con siderably over a mile. It was 13 years building, having been opened for traffic in May, 1883. by imposing ceremonies, its projector being the late John A. Roebling, and the builder his son- Washington A. Roobling, who caught the dreaded " caisson disease " while supervising the earlier work under water, and for years was an invalid watching the later work from his chamber window on Brooklyn Heights. The Roeblings made 14,301 miles of wire to put into the groat cables of this bridge, and their weight is nearly 4,000 tons. The cost of this enterprise, which was shared by New York and Brooklyn, was about 2,800,000, and it has given Brooklyn an impetus which makps .the population now increase factor than any other largo American city. Let us cross this famous bridge from New York to Brooklyn., It rises by easy gradient from tha THE CITY OF CHURCHES. 63 Eastern border of the City Hall Park towards the centra of East Ilivor. The cutsidos of the bridgo on either side aro the wagon-roads, while in the* middle is the promenade for foot passengers. Be tween the footway and each wagon-road a tramcar line is laid, the cars being run by an endless cable which hauls them over the bridge in trains ol three or four cars, thus greatly aiding the crossing, and having capacity to carry 8,000 to 10 ? OuU people each way every hour. The footway is raised above the outer roads so that the grand view from the bridge is unobstructed. A large number of pedestrians cross on fair days, and the vehicles of all kinds pass and repasa in almost unbroken procesfiion. The tolls aro ^d. to cross on foot and l|d. to ride over in a tramcar. The view from tho bridge when at the centre of the river is probably the finest which can be obtained in New Yorki Looking northward, the East River comes down around the sharp bend of Corlaer s Hook on the New York side, opposite \vhich is the deep inden tation of Wallabout Bay, on tho Brooklyn shore, tho place where the earliest settlement was madej and now occupied by the largest navy yard owned by the United States. This yard includes a total area of nearly 150 acres, and has over a mile ol wharf frontage. Tho yard proper is an enclosure of 45 acres, within which is an immense granita dry dock. On the opposite side of Wallabout ia the Marino Hospital. Both sides of Eaet River are fringed with piers that are crowded with vessels of all kinds, behind them being vast seas of houses on either hand, while large numbers of craft are moving upon the water. The rattle of the bridge cables that haul tho tramcars over and keep up a merry jingling across their pulleys and the gentle vibration of the bridge itself caused by passing traffic combine witfe the busy hum ol tiieJsro SRQm 3 64 A VISIT TO THE STATES, cities to add to the life of tho scene. The shrill whistles of the craft manoeuvring along tho crowded river punctuate it. Looking southward, the narrow waterway flows into tho broader Hud- Bon River, with Governor s Island and its fort and castle spread almost across the mouth of the stream. Red Hook Point juts out from the Brooklyn shore towards the island, while far away to the right is the French goddess holding up her liberty torch from Bedloe s Island. Beyond, the broad harbour, with many vessels, moving and anchored, spreads out for miles to tho blue hills of Staten Island that make an appropriate back ground. On both sides of the East River are tha storehouses and piers that accommodate the chief foreign commerce of New York, for to this region come most of the sailing ships from remote countries ; and here also is the headquarters oi the corn trade, the grain being brought in Erie canal barges and then sent in lighters all about the harbour. On the left hand, down by Red Hook, is the great Atlantic dock, where an enclosure oi over 50 acres is made that can accommodate 500 vessels and has over two miles of wharfage, with substantial brick and granite storehouses in closa neighbourhood to the wharves. It fronts for a half-mile on Buttermilk Channel. Beyond it, around Red Hook in Gowann s Bay, are the ex tensive Erie and Brooklyn basins, covering 100 acres. These localities accommodate the heavj goods, coals, iron, timber, corn, sugar, &c., ano over 20,000.000 worth are often in the stores, This part of Brooklyn is always a busy place, and behind it rises the aristocratic region ci * Brooklyn Heights," displaying rows of fin* dwellings and crowned by church steeples., with Gowanrrs Heights and the foliage and tombs of park and cemetery, seen far away in the distance. THE CITY OF CHURCHES. 5 On the right hand, behind the piers and vessels and storeliouses, is th compact city of New York, the tall buildings and towers of lower Broadway rising up, with the square tower of the Prodnca Exchange marking the southern extremity, beyond which is seen the hazy land of New Jersey. TU masted ships, drawn by little puffing tags, pasi beneath our feet, and the crowded ferry-boatr inove crab-like eiaeways across the river, as they are swung by the currents, on the Fulton ferry, which is just below the bridge. The wind blows freshly across our high perch, for it far out-topa the greater part of the surrounding region. It is much like looking down from a balloon ; and it would bo difficult to get anywhere in the world a better view of the vast commerce and intense activity of a great mart_of trade. The bridge upon the Brooklyn shore descends at Borne distance from the river banJt alongside of Fulton-street. This is the chief business highway of Brooklyn, and owing to the manner in which various avenues and streets radiate from it, to take Fulton-street becomes, much like Broad way, a necessity for almost every one who moves about in the sister city. It is a broad street with many tramcars and attractive shops. It stretches for five miles to the eastern edge of the built-up portion, and at a distance of about a mile from the river passes the City-hall and other city buildings. Seen over the little triangular ^ass- plot that fronts it, the colonnade and portico of the City-hall are impressive ; but it is not a very large building, and some of the adjacent struc tures are much more elaborate. The County Court-house is much larger, and, adjoining it, Brooklyn is about completing a line Hall of llcccrds. The Federal .Government is t>roiecting 66 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. a posE-ofiica for Brooklyn which will outshine them all. i have already mentioned that most of the chief streets of the city radiate from Fulton- Btreet. This is tho case with many of those lead ing into tho popular residential quarter of Brooklyn Heights, where the streets are bordered by trees, and there are rows upon rows of costly brownstone and brick dwellings. Not Far from the bridge, Orange-street leads off towards tho river, and at a short distance, in a quiet spot, is a plain, wide, brick church, entirely without ornament, excepting that the front wall over the windows encloses a broad brownstone slab with tho words " Plymouth Church, 1819." This |s the most famous church in Brooklyn, for within it was the pulpit of the late Henry Ward Beecher. The great Puritan preacher came from an old New England family. His father, Lyman Beecher, was for years a noted preacher in Boston and Cincinnati, who, like his son, fought slavery and intemperance. Lyman was erratic, and it ia said that after having been wrought up by the excitement of preaching he was accustomed to let himself down by playing " Auld Lang Syne" on the fiddle, or dancing a double r.lniftlo in the parlour. He had a remarkable family, nearly all of his children (he was thrice married and had J.3) achieving fame. Four of his sons became clergy men ; his daughter, Catharine Beecher was a noted authoress and teacher ; another daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote " Uncle Tom s Cabin." Henry Ward Beecher was 77 years old when stricken with anoplexy in March last, and he had been the pastor of Plymouth Church 40 years, being the most widely known of the many clergymen who gave Brooklyn its chiei reputation. A little further along Fulton-streetr beyond THE CITY OF CHURCHES. 67 UrangG-street, begins Clinton-street, which leads southward through Brooklyn Heights, and is re garded as the chief street of that fashionable quarter. It is embowered with trees and bordered by churches and fine residences, which one after another come into review. At Pierrepont-street is the brownGtone Dutch Reformed Church, a Corinthian structure with an elaborate portico and a rich interior. At Montague-street is the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, of Gothic brownstone, with a tall spire. The next street is Remsen-street, and it with the others extends down to the edge of the bluff, where the Heights fall sharply off fcowardstheriver.Here,at an elevation of about 70ft. and overlooking the lower level of the storehouses and piers at the water s edge, is Montague-terrace, where some of the finest residences are located, having a magnificent outlook across the harbour and lower portion of New York and far away to the New Jersey shore. The elevation of the ground gives an unobstructed view over the topa of the storehouses and the vessels, and the ends of the streets are carried through subways down to the shore, where it is necessary to provide a thoroughfare to the ferry-houses. This is as highly- prized a region by the Brooklynites as Fifth- avenue and Murray-hill aro by the New Yorkers. The ships land their cargoes within a stone s throw of the palaces, and the ladies can see the busy workers on the piers from their boudoir windows. Upon these once exclusive streets, however, tho huge French flat houses are now rearing their tall tope, up to which tho swift elevators lift the gre garious population, for New York fashions ara penetrating as the necessity for habitation in creases. OnRemsen-street, at the corner of Henry- street, which is one block from Clinton-street, ia another famous building, the " .Church of thq 68 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. Pilgrims. * This is a spacious structure of gray cut stone with towers, its most massive tower and epire at the corner being a commanding land mark when sailing up New York Bay. Let into the lower part of this tower, about 6ft, above the pavement, is a small rough-hewn piece of the "Ply mouth Rock," brought here from the original rock in Massachusetts where the pilgrims landed. This dark fragment, which has an irregular surface and projects a few inches from the wall, is held aa eacred as the old stone of Scone in the " Corona tion Chair " in \Vestminster Abbey. Richard Baiter Storrs, D.D., has been the pastor of this church for 41 years, and is an author, lecturer, and pulpit orator of wide repute. At Clinton imd Livingston streets is the finest church edifies in Brooklyn, St. Ann s Episcopal, with an adjoin^ ing chapel, an elegant brownstone structure in the middle pointed Gothic style. Clinton-street is usually alive with promenaders, and the carriages roll along the smooth roadway filled with well-dressed ladies, for these descendants of the Puritans are much like other folk who have amassed wealth. Almost everywhere one goes in Brooklyn he finds attractive churches, this being an especial feature of the city. On Scnermerhorn-street, which leads, however, away from the Heights, is the " Taber nacle " of the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, the most spacious church in the country belonging to the Protestants. It is not of much outside pretension, but is constructed within in semicircular form, not unlike a theatre, and seats 5,000 people, its pastor always drawing crowded congregations. The interior of Brooklyn displays miles of rows of comfortable dwellings, varied by church and school-house. In tho suburbs aro the great cemeteries which are the burial places of New Xork and Brooklyn together, and they make a THE CITY 07 CHURCHES. 69 border of tombs almost around the town. Green wood, Cypress Hills, Evergreen, Holy Cross, Citizens Union, Calvary, Mount Olivet, "Washing ton, and others occupy many hundreds of acres in lovely situations upon the ridges of hills surround ing Brooklyn. The famous Greenwood Cemetery includes about 400 acres upon Gowann s Heights, south of the city. This is a high ridge dividing Brooklyn from the lowlands of the south shore of Long Island, and having elevations that give charming views. The route out to it crosses various railways, all leading down to Coney Island, which seems to be|an objective point oi most of Brooklyn s transportation lines. Driving out Fifth-avenue, it leads to a region of florists and stonemasons, and past various extensive monumental -marble-works, for these trades all thrive largely upon the sorrows of the mourners. A neat lawn-bordered road leads up to the magni ficent cemetery entrance," an elaborate brownstone edifice, highly ornamented, and having a central pinnacle rising over 100ft. It covers twogateways, and is, with the wings, 142ft. broad ; over each gateway and on each side is a bos relief represent ing Gospel scenes,the chief being the Resurrection of the Saviour and the Raising of Lazarus. No burial place could have a more appropriate or more splendid entrance, and the grounds open in beauty as soon as the gateway is passed. The hills spread out in all directions, while off to the right tnrough a depression is caught a glimpse of New York bay. The cemetery is an alternation of hills and vales, the hillsides terraced with vaults, while grand mausoleums crown the_ hill tops, and frequent lakes in the little valleys add to the beauty. Days could be spent in explora tions of its many miles of roads and pathways. Vaat suma have t>een spent upon the 70 A VISIT TO THE STATES. tombs, some being constructed upon a scale of magnificence rarely seen anywhere. The pretty rural names of the avenues and walks, the com manding hilltopOjthe lakes, valleys, delicious foliage and flowers, and grand views of the surround ing country constantly presented, make Green wood as much a park as a cemetery, arid put it in a position that is without a peer. One mausoleum is a largo marble church that would hold a numerous congregation. A dozen minia ture pantheons and chapels cover the remains of well-known people. A peculiarly-constructed three-sided monument on a little hill marks the resting-place of Morse, the inventor of the magnetic telegraph. Horace Greeley s tomb is surmounted by his bust in bronze on a pedestal. The great De "Witt Clinton, the Governor of New- York who insured the city s commercial supre macy by the construction of the Erie Canal, has his grave marked by a colossal statue. Lola Montez ended her romantic career in Greenwood. A mosque-like building is the tomb of Commodore Garrison, who was Vanderbilt s rival as a steamship manager. The Steinway tomb is an immense granite building surmounting a hill. The Scribner tomb is crowned by a magnificent marble canopy, beneath which is trie Angel of Mercy. The pilots, the firemen, and the soldiers all have grand monu ments, the latter with statue sentinels mounting guard at the base, overlooking the waters of Now York bay. But among ten thousand grand sepulchres it is almoet impossible to particularize, though probably the most splendid toinb in the Bculptured marble magnificence of Greenwood is that in memory of Charlotte Cauda, who died in early youth, and her fortune was expended on her grave. Upon the eastern verge of this attractive place THE CITY Off OHUKCIIEi. Tl there is a high look-out, from which the flat land at the base of the rirt^e epreads for miios away to the sea. Dim in the distance arc the hotels and buildings of Coney Island down by tho ocean s cdgo, and the Kaveeink Highlands cloao the view far over the water beyond Sandy Hook. The many roads leading to Coney Island can be traced as on a map, some having trains running upon them. Crossing from the eastern to the western side of tho cemetery, and passing a forest of monuments, many people aro scon caring for tho flowers and graves, for in this all nature is akin. Then another look-out is reached, with a broad view over Brooklyn and the intervening harbour to the hills of Staten Island, with tho low Jersey meadow-land beyond. This ig the western edge of Gowann s Heights, and the busy commerce of Gowann s Bay spreads at our feet. It io upon this magnificent scone that the marble Eentinels guarding tho soldiers monument, erected by the City of New York, look out, the western sun, as it shines over the water, making everything beautiful. From Greenwood to Prospect Park is a short drife, crossing several more railways,all leading,like every other highway,, towards Coney Island. Finally, the M Coney leland Boulevard " or " Ocean Parkway " ia reached, & splendid road, 200 feet wide^ and planted with ebc rows of trees, which is laid outo in a straight line, direct from the south western corner of the park, down to the noted seaside resort three milea away. Pro spect Park is a recent addition to the suburban fittractions of Brooklyn, and covers nearly (square mile upon an elevated ridge in the south western part of the city. The perfection of the, decoration and landscape gardening ehown in the) Jfew Yor]s Central Fark is np$ 72 A VISIT TO THE STATES* it has the perfection of nature, the undulating eurface having scarcely been changed, and the fine old trees that grew before it was thought of for a park remaining to give it maturity. Its winding roads ? its woods and meadows, lakes and views, <5ombme all the charms of a perfectly natural land scape. From its most elevated point, Lookout Hill, there is a commanding view almost entirely i around the compass, stretching over sea and land, <md combining Brooklyn and NewrYork,the Jersey *nd Long Island shores, Staten Island, the Uavesink, the harbour, and the ocean. The park has an extensive lake, an enclosure for deer, and an elaborate children s playground, where the Brooklyn Sunday schools come for an outing. Its concert grove and promenade are attractive. "We leave this charming place by the main entrance, towards the city, called the Plaza, a large .elliptical enclosure, with a magnificent fountain in the centre, where the water pours down over a liuge mound, and as the cataract falls it runs over; openings that can be brilliantly illuminated. The ibenevolent face of Abraham Lincoln (in bronze) overlooks the Plaza, which leads out to Flatbush- evenue. and thence into town. Brooklyn has many charms of residence that are wanting in JS ew York, and to these may be attributed much, lof its rapid growth since the great bridge was, opened. It has plenty of room, too. for spread-, ing, both as a city for the living and a home for the dead, as the back country of Long Island is au extensive place that can easily absorb million* more who may overflow from the modern; Babylon. VI. THE AMERICAN BRIGHTON. A barren strip of white sand clinging to the TnE AMERICAN BRIGHTON". 73 edgo of Long Island, about ton miles south of New York, is the favourite sca-corst resort of the millions who populate the metropolis and its en virons. Its hard and gently eloping beach faces the Atlantic Ocean, and gives excellent facilities for sea-bathing. It can easily be reached both by railway and water, and on hot afternoons and holidays the people of New York and Brooklyn go down there by hundreds of thousands. This ii Coney Island, separated from , the mainland only by a little creek, and having tw<3 deep bays indented behind it, Gravesend Bay on tho west and Sheepuhead Bay on thd east. It stands pro-eminent as the greatest watering-place in the world, for there are often poured into it by the dozens of railways and steamboat lines leading from Now York and Brooklyn half a million people in a few hours^ when the idea takes possession of them to go down to Coney Island. During a hundred days from June until September the Coney Island season ia an almost uninterrupted French fete, and no Gallic Sunday afternoon and evening can exceed thfl jollity on Coney Island when a hot summer Sun day sun drives the people down to the sea-shore to have a good time. They spread over the four miles of sand strip, with hundreds of bands of music of various degrees of merit in full blast ; countless vehicles moving ; all the miniature theatres, minstrel shows, merry- go-rounds. Punch and Judy enterprises, fat women, big snakes, giant, dwarf, and midget ex hibitions, circuses and menageries, swings, flying horses, and fortune-telling shops open ; and everywhere a dense but good-humoured crowd, sight-seeing, drinking beer, and swallowing " clan 74 A VISIT TO THE STATES chowder." " Franco is the only country approaeri- ing it in similar scenes, and there is nothing like Coney Island elsewhere on the American con tinent. The French, however, while they may drink wine and beer, can hardly bo accused of eating " clam chowder " to any appreciable extent. It is here that the European who lands at New York is first introduced properly to tho bivalve to which Coney Island pays tribute the mya arenaria of tho New England coast, which is said to have been the chief food of the Pilgrims for years after they landed on Ply mouth rock. Hence the devotion of Now England and New York to tho mysteries of " clain chowder," which, like the " baked beans " oi Boston, has become a national dish. Found in abundance in all the neighbouring waters, Coney Island naturally serves up the clam as its most popular food, and it can be got, according to taste, amid the unlimited magnificence (including the bill) of the gorgeous hotels and restaurants of Manhattan and Brighton Beaches, or of varied quality and surroundings at the cheaper ehopa, further westward towards Norton s Point. . .... i The crowds that go to Coney Island on t Bummer afternoon or evening usually rush back home again the same night, although the hotel and lodging accommodations on the island are constructed upon a vast scale. I am told that the great Coney Island aggregation of wooden structures, some of magnificent propor tions and decorations, represents, with the means of getting to them and the general improvements, an expenditure of over 6,000,000. A season ia poor indeed which does not have ten millions ol visitors who will leave there as many dollars, besides paying their 2*.. faro auicco to and from THE AMERICAN BRIGHTON. the city .which would be five millions of dollars more. Here is a fortune expended on one brief watering-place season, and, with the preparations for gathering this harvest of 3,000,000, it can be readily believed that some of the huge hotels lose money unless they can take in an average of! 1,000 a day. Five thousand waiters are said to be employed in the hotels and restaurants when the season is in full movement, besides the neces sary regiments of other help. The long sand strip maybe divided into foursections,beingpractically a euccession of narrow villages, chiefly made up of restaurants and hotels, built along the edge of the. beach and a single read behind it. The original Coney Island,as known to the rough androwdy New, Yorker of a past generation, was the western end, or Norton s Point. The better classes of visitors do not now go to this " West-end, 5 any more than the casual visitor to London explores its " East- end." This western end, which has been a resort of long standing, occupies a considerable portion, and the middle of the island, which is a locality of higher grade, is called West Brighton Beach. Hero is the great iron pier, which projects a thousand feet into the ocean, and is a steamboat landing, being a huge two-story structure surmounted by pavi^ lions, the lower part used for extensive bathing arrangements, and the upper floor for promenade and restaurant. Music, electric lights, fireworks, and other attractions are presented upon this pier and its twin brother not far away, and millions of visitors thus got access to Coney Inland by water. At West Brighton are also the Observatory, which rears its tall and airy framc-< work high in the air, the " big elephant," and the extensive " Sea Beach Palace," which is used for an hotel k and a railway station. It must not be overlooked that every hotel of pretensions ii* 76 A VISIT TO THE STATES. this lively place has its own railway to Brooklyn or New York harbour, and that the competition to get possession of visitors really tegins at the Brooklyn ferry-houses. The grand " Ocean Parkway," the wide boulevard and drive-way leading from Prospect-park on the edge of Brooklyn, terminates at West Brighton Beach. East of this beach is a vacant space with an interval of nearly a mile between it and Brighton IBeach, and over this a fine highway is laid, called the Concourse. Brighton is the third section oi the island, and about a half mile further east Us the fourth and most exclusive station,Manhattart iteach, a little steam railway connecting them, called the " Marine Railway. 7 Here are the most famous, elaborate, and costly of the Coney Island hotels, the Manhattan and the Oriental, the latter; being an immense caravansary of over 00 roorna, which are let at the highest prices obtainable. v Vast crowds, emptied out by the trains arriving every few minutes, on the railways leading over the flat lands from Brooklyn, are poured into these great hotels, and swarm out into the large enclosures fronting them where the bands play. Here are the finest musicians and orchestras, who give afternoon aud evening concerts with many thousands of listeners. Favourite cornet players are paid 100 a week to appear on those occasions, and the prices of board and victuals are correspondingly high. The scene at one of these great hotels on a crowded Sunday after noon will not soon be forgotten. In front of tho enormous building many acres are laid out with wooden pavements and flower gardens spreading down to the beach, where there are pavilions for visitors to look out over the eea, which is prevented by bulkheads from en croaching The vinusic^Btand^ witli. its broad THE AMERICAN BRIGHTON. 77 amphitheatre of crowded seats, faces the capacious piazzas of the hotel. As scarcely a tree can be got to grow, extensive awnings keep off the sun as he moves around to the westward, while the breezes blow briskly from over the water. As evening falls and the crowds thicken, the blaze of illumination and the brilliancy of fireworks are added to the glare of the electric lights, and the bustling crowds, the music, and general hilarity give the air of a great festival. Vast bath ing establishments adjoin, with hundreds of separate dressing rooms, and having wooden path ways laid from the rooms down to the sea, Poles and ropes enclose the bathing ground in the water so as to guard against danger. These bathing houses usually have restaurants attached, with open-air exhibition halls, where thousands eit and sip their beer and listen to the perform ance, much the same as on the Champs Elyse es in Paris. Out in front the sea rolls upon the smooth eandy shore, while in full view before us is the pathway of the ocean commerce into New York Harbour. Some of the side scenes are attractive. For a small fee one individual contracts to take care of all children until their parents return for them. He has an extensive place, well stocked with all kinds of playthings, and the babies can amuse themselves and have a good time, instead of being dragged around in the hot sun as their parents may wander over the island. Here eits the " scientific for tune toller )} in a booth, and for 5d. pro duces your fortune, already printed and enclosed in an envelope, after various cabalistia motions are indulged in. A neighbour cuts silhouette profiles out of black paper, and doea such a thriving trade that he sa} r s his little girl tells him ho never comes home excepting to 78 A VISIT TO THE STATES. count his money and go to bed. Hero you can get accurately weighed for 2{jd., after having filled up with the " clam chowder " which is eo iliberally placarded in all quarters. Everywhere the most elaborate preparations are made for serving meals, as the vast crowds must bo fed. .There are also as extensive arrangements for selling beer, for the laws customary elsewhere in imposing Sunday restrictions do not seem to reach as far as this extraordinary island, and the thirst its atmosphere inspires is of most con- ieuming character. The Marionettes and Midgets give their exhibitions all day, being under tho patronage, according to the programme, of " tho feadors of fashionable society." The " Conven tion of Curiosities " is aJso in session, composed of giants and dwarfs, tho man who oats glass, the bearded woman, and others. Rifle ranges abound, the amateur marksmen keeping up a cou- ptant popping at the targets. Westward from this enlivening region ait elevated railway as well as the Concounso leads to the Iron Pior and tho maze of hotels, restaurants, and shows, all in full operation, that make up the West Brighton beach. Hero are Punch and Judy and tho- fat boy, the snake charmer and tho mermaid, the mind-reader, and dozens of merry-go-rounds, flying horses and coasters, all in full tide of prosperous Sunday exhibition. Organs and bands of music are in loud tune everywhere, with crowds watching what is going on and enjoying them selves. The multitude, too, are all good-humoured, and orderly, requiring but slight police super vision. Iced milk is varied with beer as a beverage, the milk being drawn from reservoirs shaped like, BOWS. Steam swings are run, these mechanical the public awueeiaent being cozt-. THE AMERICAN BllIGIITON. 79 fitnicteclonagrantlscalo. Base-ball grounds abound this being the American national game. Scores of places have their touters about, snouting at the crowds to come in and invest their small coins. Here aro Cable s and Vandorveer s big hotels and bathing pavilions, with a dozen other largo esta blishments, with music everywhere playing for tho entertainment of the jolly multitude. Rows upon rows of smaller places have their flags flying and their signs out to show their devotion to tho popular Coney Island luxury the clam. Tho " Hotel de Clam " is a pavilion whore they cook the clams in full view ; and at tho headquarters of the " Louisiana Seronaders " one can see tho show for a shilling and have il a genuine old style Coney Island Clam Roast " into tho bargain. Another establishment announces the " Rhodo Island Clam Bake and Shore Dinner, where, in addition to the food, tho visitor also gets a copy of the " Song of the Clam/ whereof the following aro the most thrilling lines : " Oh ! who would not be a clam like me,- " By maiden s lips embraced ? * 4 And men stand by- Avith jealous eye, " While I grip the fair one s waist. ** "Who better than I ? In chowder or pie, " Baked, roasted, raw, or fried, * I hold the key to society, * And am always welcome inside." The " West Brighton Terrace " is an extensive row of these establishments, and its denizens as they watched the shows and listened to the music seem all partaking of a diet of clams and beer, the children and babies taking thoir libations the same as their elders. Pedlars also abound who sell all kinds of knick-knacks. For quite a distance along tho beach towards the* e^d at Norton s Point 80 A VISIT TO THE STATES. peated, and the extensive scale of the eating and drinking arrangements Bhows now great is the army that has to be cared for. Photographers make an honest penny by taking people s pictures on the beach, and there are " Safe Deposit Com panies," where lunch-baskets and parcels are stored until called for. This is the cheaper end of Coney Island, " five cents." (2|-d.) being the fee for almost everything, or, "as most of the natives put it, " a nickel." The further westward one wanders, however, although tho crowds do not diminish, yet the style of the place degenerates. The great observatory, a- light iron frame-work rising 300 feet, having "lifts " constantly running, supports an elevated platform which gives an ex cellent view. When the journey to the top,which occupies three or four minutes, is accomplished, the first impression made is by the dissonant clangour of the myriads of bands of music below, heard with singular clearness and much more intensity of sound than when on the ground. The noise ascends from all sorts of structures, of every imaginable shape and style, built of wood and generally having flat pitch and gravel roofs. From this high perch Coney Island is seen spread out & long sand-strip upon the edge of the ocean, with, the foaming lines of surf slowly and regularly roll ing in upon it. To the eastward, ^towards Brighton and Manhattan beaches, it bends backward Tike a bow, with the convex side presented towards the Bea. To the westward the curve is reversed, and the extreme point of the island ends in a knob- having a hook bent around on the northern side.; The " Concourse," covered with many moving carriages, curves around parallel to and just inside the surf lino, with the big hotels of Manhattan beach far away beyond it, "Behind this lonir and THE AMERICAN BRIGHTON 1 . 81 narrow strip of land there are patches ot grass and any amount of marsh and meadow stretching away to the northward, and through the marsh caii be traced the little stream and scries of lagoons that separate Coney Island from the main land. Far on" over the level meadows runs the broad and tree-bordered " Ocean Parkway J> towards Prospect-park and Brooklyn, with the hills of the park and the tombs and foliage of Greenwood Cemetery closing the view at the- northern horizon. Other wagon roads and a half- dozen steam railways stretch out in the same direction, some crossing the marshes and boggy ground on extended trestle bridges. Upon tho beach and open spaces beneath us thousands of people are walking about, while on the ocean side the piers extend out in front, with their proces sions of steamboats sailing to or from the Narrows to the north-westward around the knob and hook at Norton s Point. Over the water to tho south ward are the Navesink Highlands behind Sandy Hook and the adjacent New Jersey coast, which gradually blends into the Staten Island hills to the westward. Haze covers the open eea, and far to the eastward, seen across, tho deeply indented Jamaica Bay, are the distant sand beaches of Rockaway, which is Coney Island s rival, though in a smaller way. As the night follows the day and a glorious American sunset pales, tho artificial lights come out and sparkle all over tho place electricity and gas aiding innumerable coloured lanterns to make an illumination. The music renews its strongest if not its sweetest strains, and gorgeous displays of fireworks burst from before the great hotels. The festival goes on with uninterrupted pleasure and hilarity throughout the evening, until the crowds Cot an idea that it is time to go home, 82 A VISIT TO THE STATES. and then com 09 a stampede for the rail ways and steamboats. Over land and water the great human current sets towards Now York and Brooklyn. The crowds that have been BO orderly are still well-behaved and they stream through the ticket-gates in an almost resistless tide, the trains and steamers being loaded and despatched as fast as possible. It is when the time arrives for going home, and these swelling torrents of humanity flow out upon station and pier that the vast magnitude of a Coney Island Sunday crowd can best be measured. No other watering-place has such an aggregation of near-by people to draw upon, for it is estimated that over three millions of population are within a brief ride, and hence its great popularity among the masses of New York and its neighbourhood. VII. THE LONG BRANCH BLUFF. AoNew York s "masses" seek their brief summei recreation at Coney Island, so do the " classes n pass a longer season at Newport and Long Branch, The sea-coast of Northern Now Jersey for over 20 miles southward, from Sandy Hook to Mana isquan Inlet, is a succession of popular watering- places. The earliest attraction was the bluff at Long Branch, where a broad plateau, 20ft. above the sea level, comes out to the beach, and is covered with the hotels and cottages of the summer popu-. lation. This celebrated place, which in the days of President Grant, who loved it well, was known as the " summer capital of the United States," is about 10 miles south of Sandv Hook THE LONG BRANCH BLUFF. 83 and 18 reached both by railway and steamboat. Other towns are spread along the bluffs and beaches both up and down the adjacent coasts, so that the summer population often exceeds 2GO,OuO. Hero are Seabright and Monmoutli Beach, second in fame only to Long Branch, and Ocean-grove and Asbury-park, which are noted religious colonies, the former being a popular Methodist camp meet ing. They aro all the growth of the last 25 years, and the earlier people who set the watering-place fashion for the Long Branch bluff built their houses out much beyond the present line of the cliffs, upon land that the sea long since washed away. It has taken elaborate constructions of protective sea-walls to prevent further encroachment,and even now the groat storms occasionally make serious inroads. The Navesink Highlands, which are the landmark for tho mariner approaching New York, mark the northern limit of this villa-bordered shore. The narrow strip of Sandy Hook juts out northward beyond them, and in the bay behind it the Navesink or Shrewsbury river, which flows at their feet, finds its outlet. These highlands are bold and picturesque, their highest summit, called Mount Mitchell, rising nearly 300 feet. Upon Beacon-hill, their eastern declivity, which is at the mouth of the Shrewsbury, stand tho twin lighthouses guiding to tho New York harbour entrance, located about 100 feet apart. Tho southern light a revolving Fresnel, at an elevation of 250 feet above tho sea is said to be tho most powerful light on the Atlantic 84 A VISIT TO THE STATES. coast. Its rays reach 40 miles out to sea, or as far as the horizon permits. This and the adja cent hills are almost entirely occupied by villa sites, and there is seldom found a finer place for grand views over ocean, bay, and river. The Shrewsbury is more an arm of the sea than a river, and it gives excellent opportunities for all aquatic diversions. It comes out past the pretty town oi Red Bank, and below the highlands has a fasci nating nook formed by Branchport Creek, whore the trees grow in clustering groves down to the water s edge, and known as Pleasure Bay. Here can be found, if anywhere, luxurious repose, and here has been attracted quite a settlement, where the popular Shrewsbury oyster can be got diroct from its native home. Southward from the highlands stretches the narrow strip of sand dividing the river from the ocean. Out on the ocean front there are thousands of fine wooden cottages, some costing largo amounts. There are hotels with colonies of out lying cottages, whose occupants in modern fashion look to the hotel for their meals. Railway and wagon road are laid side by side behind the cottages, while inland the fishing settlements of an earlier date line the shores of Shrewsbury river. The beach gradually develops into the town of Seabright, where the profusion of ice houses shows the devotion of the inhabitants to fishing, and this in turn becomes Low Mour and then Monmouth Beach. At intervals of about throe miles are the life-saving stations, this being THE LONG BRANCH BLUFF. 85 a coast where wrecks are frequent of vessels mis taking the New York entrance in times of fog or storm. They have tasteful little buildings to house their boats and implements. The pyramid* topped ice-houses of the fishing town of Galilee are in sharp contrast with the villas on the beach, and hundreds of nets and fishing boxes spread about give zest to the signs that are displayed, announcing * Lobsters and " Soft Shell Crabs." Not a tree grows, but the profusion of grass which overlays the sand relieves the glare of the sun, and pretty lawns and flower gardens adorn most of the villa sites. These villas are usually of ornamental design, Swiss chalets and Queen Anne cottages being numerous. The sand beach as we proceed gradually rises to a bluff, and Monmouth Beach at its lower end displays many very handsome establishments. Passing Atlanticville and the Land s End, where it is said the Indians came in early times to fish, the road finally brings us to Long Branch, which is a town stretching about five miles along Ocean- avenue, the great driveway on the edge of the bluff bordering the Atlantic. In the older portion, the hotels and cottages are back of this avenue, with little lawns and gardens in front, anda narrow Btrip of green sward bordering the roadway on the ocean side, with an occasional Bummer-house or pavilion on the brink of the bluff. Below, at the foot of the steep de clivity, which is maintained by strong bulkheads, is a narrow beach where the waves roll in. Some distance inland a small and irregular stream, with a series of narrow little lakes in its course, porthward to Shrewsbury .river, and this, A VISIT TO THE STATES. larly known as the " long branch " of that rivor, has given the place its name. Few ocean views are more pleasing than that from the succession of porches and verandahs fronting tho long rows of fine buildings on Ocean-avenue. Tho surf booms upon the beach at the foot of, but hidden by, tho bluff, while to right and left, as far as eye can see, is the broad road ai\d its green borders, with tho white-topped waves rolling in and tumbling into breakers. An iron pier juts out to make a steamboat landing, while upon tho eea there aro hundreds of vessels in sight, and several steamers from Sandy Hook southward bound leave their long black smoko-linos against tho eky as they crawl along like specks upon tho water. Tho beach is shelving and tho waves come closely in before breaking, BO that the surf-line is narrow. The grass grows down to the edge of the bluff, for, unlike most of the American coasts, this is all good, fertile land, and siistains, behind the rows of houses, fine trees and luxuriant vegetation. Beginning at tho eastern verge of Long Branch, lot us take a survey of this noted placo, until tho bluff fades away into Deal Beach, beyond the aristo cratic " "West-end." It must not be supposed, how ever, that Long Branch is only upon the edge of the Bea, for it is a thriving settlement, having several thousand permanent inhabitants, whose homes spread far back into the interior. The village of East Long Branch, which is passed in going inland towards the northward is quite a thriving town. A. succession of great summer hotels border Ocean- avenue, in the neighbourhood of tho pier, which is flanked by summer-houses. Further on is a low cottage with double porches, and very pretty fco look at the Stockton Cottage which is said, to have been the first built at Long Branch. Beyond is thu Wuyt-oiid Hotel, wherp the THE LONG BEANCII BLUFF. 87 by a bend leaves the edge of the bluff, and goes between the hotel and an ornamental building, known as its " Annex " this being the costliest hostelry in the place, and in the height of the season the centre of attraction. The pyramid towers of the " Annex " are a landmark at Long Branch, and its magnificent suites of apartments are let at quite as magnificent prices. Ocean-avenue now runs south-westward in the West-end, with rows of fine villas on either hand, those on the left facing the sea, and having their summer-houses on the edge of the bluff. Exten- fcive and, in most caees, quite ornamental grounds purround these villas, and no expense has boon spared upon them. A large part of the great wealth of New York and seine from Philadelphia fiac been devoted to the enrichment of the "Wost- Bnd of Long Branch, and eveiy available lot is oc- bupied, there being among the hundreds of villas Baany that are of note. Mr. A. J. Drexel, the banker, whoso bank is the leading one in New York arid Philadelphia, spends his summers here in a square-built cottage, surmounted by a cupola, and having a profusion of shrubs trained over the porches and about the grounds. The Soligmans also have attractive cottages near by. Adjoining is a series of stately villas that were built out of the profits of a popular medicine "Mrs. Winslow s Soothing Syrup." On the right hand side of the avenue a beautiful cottage, with surmounting towers, is the summer-homo of the inventor of the " Pullman Palace Car." Out on the ocean front is " Sea Cliff-villa " a broad and comfortable Swiss chalet, partly embowered in running vinos, which is George W. Childs 1 residence. Hedges enclose the lawn, and ad joining is a modest cottage behind a grove of trees., .which is nrobablv the best known, at 88 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Long Branch. It is occupied by the widow of General Grant, and for 1C years \vas the General s Bummer residence, where he has often said that he spent the happiest hours of his remarkable career. Beyond it is an oddly-built structure of large size, with pinnacle-crowned towers and brick chimneys running up outside the main tower walls. In this castellated mansion Jived Commodore Garrison, whose widow is now the occupant. The West-end gradually becomes the village of Elberon, where the elaborate hotel has a large colony of outlying cottages, whose tenants conduct their housekeep ing in their own way, but draw their supplies from the hotel. This Elberon Hotel is a large villa and gets its name by a lingual twist from that of its owner, Mr. L. B. Brown. It was built by Mr. Franklyn, long the agent of the Cunard Steamship Company in New York. Mr. Frankly n afterwards moved into a less pre tentious reddish-brown house a short distance westward. It was to this building that President Garneldwas taken after being shot by the assassin Guiteau in Washington, and in one of its upper chambers he lingered for weeks and finally died, amid the universal mourning of the English-speak ing world, in September, 1881. The Swiss chalet is the prevailing fashion, but an odd-looking Nor mandy house is just beyond the Elberon wherein Victor Newcomb, a prominent railway man in Wall-street, enjoys the breezes. Beyond this the bluff shore ends,and the avenue passes out of Long Branch towards Deal Beach. The most famous seat at Long Branch is the estate of Hollywood, the home of John Hoey, located some distance inland and lack of the " West-end." Cedar-avenue runs back to this estate, and advancing up the drab-coloured drive Jbprderedl . by line, of Bellow and re_cLfence on THE LONG BRAITCH BLUTB 1 . 89 either side, a wonderland appears. Twenty-one palaces of startling architectural design, painted a brilliant red with yellow facings, surmounted by gilded cupolas and spires, are perched upon low knolls upon a stretch of greensward. All the styles of all the nations seem to have been com-* bined in their design. Some are called " hotels " and others are " cottages," and in them live rail way kings and merchant princes gathered in an artificial summerpara<fgo whore life is costly one of the most remarkable places in America. Adjoin ing is Mr. Hoey s home, there being nearly 100 acres laid out in garden and park, tho yellow and red decorations and colouring being predominant. The flag flying from tho mansion-house when the owner is at home is a signal seen throughout the village, and the rows of cottages and the hotels adjacent yield him a princely revenue. Maborato care has been taken in decorating those grounds with flowers and trees ; and successions of lawns, groves, and flower-beds, with winding roads loading through them, fill up tho broad surface of the level land, while far within the park rises the mansion almost like a tropical house, with piazzas up to the roof, and tho lower stories en closed in glass. Thero are acres of palrn-housesand greenhouses, and orchids and cactuses are in full supply. Flowers are daily sent from these perennial gardens to the fortunate people who live in tho adjacent cottages ; and Hollywood is thus main tained as the show place of Long Branch. Tho Adams Express Company, the chief carrier of parcels in the States, an opulent and powerful organization, made the fortune that maintains this seaside paradise. An intervening expanse of meadow, with an occasional bog or stream, separates tho " West- end " of Long Branch and Elboron from Deal 90 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Beach, the bluff becoming exhausted, and being succeeded on the chore by low sand hills. Scattered farmhouses, hotels, and cottages front the ocean, and the road soon crosses the sparkling Caters of " Great Pond," and enters Asbury Park, a summer city of many thou sands, and one of the most thriving settle ments on the New Jersey Coast. Here has been established by a body of schoolmasters and savants, for philosophical and other discussions, what they call the Summer School of Pedagogy, wherein is found a variation of the usual methods of seaside recreation. In this region there are a succession of long and narrow fresh water lakes, reaching almost to the sea, and their banks are fringed with cottages. There are thousands of little houses clustering together just at the back of the beach and fronting upon the long straight streets which cross at right-angles. Hero are " Sunset Lake " and " Wesley Lake," with a populous town between and far beyond thorn a town largely of boarding-houeee swarming in summer and almost deserted in winter. The wide avenues lead at regular intervals down to tho broad sand beach, where there is excellent surf bathing. The pretty Wesley Lake, full of littlo boats, is tho southern border of Asbury Park, and the pleasant row of cottages on tho opposite side give the visitor tho first viowpf tho great Methodist "cnmp- meeting " settlement of Ocean Grove, which in July and August will have a population of seventy thousand. We are rowed across tho lake for a penny and enter the town. It is owned by an associa tion who designed it as a summer resort for Christian families and have a charter empowering them to make laws for its government. No intoxicating liquors are permitted to be brought into tho place ; : _all unbecoming behaviour is prohibited, THE LONG BSAXCH BLUFF. SJ and bathing, bociting, and driving are strictly for bidden on Sundays, whon all the entrance gates, excepting those by footpaths, aro closed and locked. This grove has become immensely popu lar with the Methodists, and draws its visitors largely from Philadelphia. It is mostly cut up into little cottage lots, measuring thirty by sixty feet, upon which wooden cottages aro built. The plan of the town shows its religious origin. The projectors first obtained a compara tively small tract of land on the south side of the Wesley Lake for their " camp meeting" ground, and hero, at about a thousand feet from the beach, they Jocated their " Auditorium," which is a spacious roof surmounted by cupolas covering a platform and seats capable of accom modating many thousands. Here, and in the " Tabernacle." and the " Temple," which have since been built, the religious services are hold, and the most noted Methodist clergymen come from all over the States to assist at them. As Wesley Lake lies diagonally from the ocean, short streets run from this camp-ground north and west to the lake, while eastward, down to the eea, there is opened a broad avenue, called the "Ocean, Pathway," with gardens on each side, and border ing rows of cottages. This gives a wide open, space direct from the sea to the " Auditorium," along which the sea-breeze comes without obstruc tion. All around the " Auditorium" is a broad surface with platforms for tents and ample room for overflowing crowds. On the south side 13 the " Tabernacle," an attractive church. In front of the tenting ground, and laid out at right angles to the "Ocean Pathway" is the " Pilgrim s Pathway," while other streets, called Mount Zion Way, Mount Tabor Way, and Mount Carmel, run northward to the ehoie_of .the lake* fjT2 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Mount Hermoii Way is south of those, and more streets in tho extending settlement are nailed after prominent Methodists. Fletcher Lake is another pretty sheet of water in tho settlement,and besides thousands of cottages and boarding houses, and any number of tents, it contains several ornate structures, a library, and other costly buildings, though everything is constructed of wood. Among the curiosities of this settlement plainly showing its religious characteristics is an extensive topographical model of Jerusalem, laid out with great care and exactness, which reproduces in faithful miniature the sacred city. The town is properly called Ocean Grove, for it is filled with little trees giving a delightful shade. No city is more crowded than it is during the " camp meet ing 35 season. In addition to the usual daily ser vices in the " Auditorium" there will then bo held " surf meetings" on the edge of the ocean, where congregations of many thousands unite in services in the open air. It is a cool place, and the amber-coloured cedar water of the lakes adds ,to the attractions ; but its rules are strict, and possibly most cosmopolitan visitors might ulti mately tire of the crowds and tho restrictions. But it has spread at a mere rapid rate than any other settlement on this popular coast. Shark River Inlet, an arm of the sea, bounds it to the south ward, and beyond is another settlement of com fortable-looking wooden houses known as Ocean Beach. Below this, set just inside the ocean, is a perfect little gem of a lake, known as Spring Lake, surrounded by cottages, and also having its big hotel. Another great arm of the sea comes in further on Wreck Pond Inlet and beyond is Sea Girt. Hero tho coast is fringed vyith buildings, an enormous hotel being set right on tho ehora. where the waves dash UD to tho IT.OM THE HUDSON TO THE DELAWARE. 93 edge of its immense piazzas. This is about the southern limit of the summer settlements on this famous coast, which for 20 miles is a succession of watering-places. They say they usually have no mosquitos, which are a pest of low sand-beaches and the ealt marshes that often adjoin them, but .the mos quitos are plentiful this season, and occasionally a thick fog rolls in and saturates everything, while the listener can hear the fog-whistles blown as warnings by the steamers passing cautiously along. The railways that are laid in convenient proximity to this attractive sea-coast region give easy access from both New York and Philadelphia, and the settlements, though none of them are yet 30 years old, and most of them are newer, aheady have all the adjuncts of cities but a public graveyard. To bury the dead the people go seme distance inland, behind Long Branch, to Branchburg. Here, in an unattractive cemetery, are interred chiefly the unfortunates who have been shipwrecked on this treacherous shore, and in one common grave are buried 200 emigrants drowned in a ship that was driven ashore at Great Pond. In fact, the strand ing of steamers is an almost constantly recurring excitement for Long Branch and its neighbour hood, and the season is rare that does not bring an important wreck. The vessels can rarely be saved, and most of them are stranded because their navigators mistake Long Branch lights for those at Sandy Hook entrance, VIII.-FROM THE HUDSON TO THE DELA WARE. The Channel Island of Jersey has its name re produced in one of the most prosperous 94 A VISIT TO THE STATES. American Commonwealths. The American Jersey is a narrow State, lying between the old " North River " and " South River " of the earlier explorers the Hudson and the Delaware, Barely 50 miles in width, it separates the two greatest States of the American Union, the t( Empire " and the " Keystone " New York and Pennsylvania. Through its advantages of position, this shrewd community manages to make both oi its wealthier neighbours pay it tribute. The great railways loading from New York and Phila delphia cross it, and all have to yield toll. It i largely a land of market gardens for the supply oi those populous cities, and of sea-coast and moun tain resorts for their recreation. Its own population is made up to a great extent of the overflow from New York and Philadelphia, of people who prefei suburban homes, where light taxes and other ad vantages, added to convenient railway access, give them more attractive and certainly healthier dwell ings than if they were in the metropolis. Hundreds of thousands of Jerseymen daily flock over the great Hudson River ferries to their regular labours in New York. The eastern side of this broad river is covered with settlements that owe their exist ence entirely to the proximity of Now York. For several miles the river bank on the Jersey shore ia lined with the docks, piers, ferry houses, stations, and elevators of the trunk railways, behind which have gro wn up a series of populous towns. Tho Reading, New Jersey Central, Pennsylvania, Erie, Lackawanna, and West Shore Railways monopolize the entire river . front with their terminals, from urhich tho steel rails stretch to the most remote FJROM THE HUDSON TO THE DELAWARE,. 95 portions of the continent. Hero are Jersey City, Hoboken, and Weohawken, and a few miles in the interior Newark, the largest city o! New Jersey, and beyond it Patorson, Eliza beth, Rahway, and New Brunswick, all ol them little moro than dormitories for New York. Jersey City was originally Paulua Hook, a tongue of flat farming land, with a rocky backbone called Borgen-hill, thrust out between the Hudson River and abroad estuary known as Newark Bay. At the beginning of this century its population was only 13 persons, living in a single house. Itr> groat growth has been since tho development of tho railway system in the last 30 years. While spreading over much surface, it has httlo attractions beyond its enormous terminals and tho factories that are adjacent, and it is a very good specimen of an American railway town, for those enterprising and at tho same time mono polizing public conveniences have managed to cap* ture tho entire city front and much of its surface,- and to bisect it in all directions with their lines, the whole of them seeking western outlets, by going around or boring tunnels through Bergen-* hill. The northern portion of tho settlements on the Hudson River bank is known as Hoboken, which is a noted location for steamship docks and stores, and beyond is Weehawken. Tho early Dutch settlers brought tho name of Hoboken from the Scheldt, whence they came originally. The Vxtigo ferry-boat of the Pennsylvania railroad carries us over the Hudson River to the extensive station at Jersey City. This boat is like scores of others traversing the river a veritable Noah s Ark that can carry thousands of passengeVs and many wagons on a single trip. It is a flat-bottomed, broad-decked craft, driven by. huge paddle-wheels, and having wagon-roads . ini 96 4 VISIT TO THE STATES. the centre for the accommodation of the vehicles, with a spacious cabin on either side. On the right hand is the " ladies cabin" and on the left hand the " gents cabin" this latter diminutive indicating that time and space are both precious in this busy, hurrying country, and therefore re quire the word " gentleman" to be thus abbre viated. The huge boat is a " double-en der," Bailing with equal facility either way, so thafc all the wagons drive on at one end in New Yorlc, and when the boat has crossed the river are ready to drive off at the other end. It makes its land ings in a " slip" under a house, so that full pro tection is given in stormy weather, and a timber bridge, moving up and down at the outer end asthe tide rises or falls, connects the boat with the land, the craft being guided accurately into place by the long sides of the " slip" which jut out into the water. These boats make the passage every few minutes, so that the river crossing is easily tra versed, and they carry an enormous traffic. Going aboard the " gents cabin" is sought, but soon de serted, for the free-born Americans, who congre gate there in largo numbers, have saturated "the floor with tobacco juice and managed, by smoking vile pipes and worse cigars, to convert the atmosphere into an odorous substance almost solid enough to cut. Then the ladies cabin is visited, and is found to be a broad and com fortable place, with tiled flooring, mirrors, electric lights, and capacious seats, which are largely occupied by the men, whose lives would have boon endangered had they remained in the ** gents cabin." Prominent signs forbid in dulgence in tobacco on the ladies side of the boat. The ferry is quickly crossed and the crowd of people and wagons emptied out into the station in Jersey City. At the head of the ferrv FROM THE HUDSON" TO THE DELAWARE. 97 slips, of which there are half a dozen, is a broad avenue 500ft. long and (JOft. wide, covered over and giving ample room for the crowds to walk about, and across this the multitudes go to and from the boats. A brigade of troops could almost manoeuvre and countermarch in this Jersey City ferry-house of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and adjoining it is the extensive railway station, with its waiting rooms and offices, whence the train starts that is to carry us 90 miles from New Yori to Philadelphia. The train moves swiftly out through Jersey Citjj and, rising from the street level, soon plunges into the deep rock cuttings that carry the line into Bergen-hill. Far off to the southward, over the salt marshes, can be seen the harbour and its islands, with the Liberty ; Statue a prominent object in view. Then, passing through the rocky hill, the railway crosses these meadows for a long distance, and we move quickly over the vast level expanse towards Newark, crossing the Hackensack River and skirting along the banks of the Passaic, upon which Newark stands. While rolling smoothly across the level land of Jersey, let us take a brief look at this typical American railway train, which presents much that is a novelty to English eyes. It is a " two-hour train," traversing the distance be tween the two great cities, and making two or three stops in that length of time. It is running upon the finest piece of railway construction in; America the New York Division of the Penn sylvania Railroad a solid road bed, kept in ex cellent order, smooth, stone-ballasted, with heavy steel rails and four parallel lines of metals, giving separate double systems for the passenger and the goods traffic. Rushing along at a mile a minute our 8.0-ton locomotive, which jneasurea 4 2 > 98 A VISIT TO THE STATES. \vith its tender a length of over 60ft., draws a train of almost a dozen long coacnes. The four linos of metals are laid at grade, and at every few miles the signal towers mark tho sections of the block system, and control the semaphores that direct tho engine drivers. The road-crossings are guarded by watchmen who open and shut the safety gates and thus prevent accidents. The passengers can >varider through the train at will, going from one end to the other if they wish, and enjoying per fect freedom of movement. Tho luggage and ex press coaches are next to the locomotive, and fol lowing them is the " parlour car." This is a luxurious coach littcd with comfortable arm-chaira that revolve on pivots, and having broad windows giving a good view of tho passing scenery. For an extra charge of two shillings this coach may be taken. It has convenient toilet rooms and a buffet, so that lunches may be had while riding along. The ordinary passenger coaches follow, with roomy seats arranged like the pews in a church, the backs turning over so that tho passenger may ride forward or backward asho chooses. A long aislopassea down the centre, and is the highway of travel through the train. The conductor comes along to examine tho tickets, and the baggage mastei to see such passengers as may desire to arrange foi tho delivery of luggage ; and a largo proportion oi tho passengers promenade about to see and talk with acquaintances or otherwise relievo tho mono tony of tho journey. Largo plate-glass windows afford an excellent view, and tho high top of the coach has plenty of ventilators. Everything is in good order and cleanly kept ; tho railway servants are obliging and show every courtesy ; and by wan dering to tho end of the train a good outlook ia got over the line and the adjacent country. PROM THE HUDSON TO THE DELAWARE. 91 Tlio train rolls across the Passaic River draw bridge and into the city oi ! JNowark, where a brief halt is mado. This is the chief city of New Jersey, spreading far over the level land on each &iiJo of the railway, while its northern suburbs extend up on the hills of Orange. It is tho shire town, of the county of Essex, showing how English names are reproduced in this western land. The train cresses Market-street to enter the station, a rnagmttcent highway running through the business section, and tho lino proceeds among rows of great factories for miles in traversing this extensive city. It is a large manufacturing centre, and tho Morris Canal leading from tho Upper Delaware river to the Passaic, as well as several lines of railway, bring the Pennsylvania coals to its doors. Ib is also a groat suburban outlet for New York, and has a considerable area covered with comfortable aiid oven handsome residences, through which runs its finest avenue, Broad-street, 132ft. wide, bordered with many ornamental buildings, shaded by majestic trees, and skirting three attractive parks embowered with elms. Newark makes good carriages, leather, and boor, and few would sup pose it had a strictly Puritan origin. Yet such was tho caso, for its original settlers wore pilgrims from Now England, led by their minister, Abra ham Piorson, who had in early life preached in Newark. England, and gave their Jersey settle ment its name. The train starts up, and glides rapidly along tho fenced-in lino, with its gates at tho street-crossings, past rows of factories, and then out among tho pretty suburban villas, past lawns and gardens, and across tho dark red level soils towards Elizabeth. This is another rural suburb of New York, whose mer chants come out to sleep in the comfortable houses 5n its broad and shady streets. It spreads under 100 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the name of Elizabethport eastward to the strait behind Staten Island, and over there are most ol its mills and factories, and also extensive coal shipping piers to which much of the coal mined by the Reading Railroad is sent. In the heart of the city we cross at grade the line of the New Jersey Central Railroad, which runs down to Elizabeth- port, and then by a longtrestle-bridge across Newark Kay and into Jersey City, this being the route by which the Reading Railroad gains access to New York. Elizabeth is a pretty place, and an ancient town (for the States), the original settlement on the little Elizabeth river dating fromlG65. Its lead ing manufactory is an enormous one, tho works of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. The train runs rapidly fcjirough this attractive town, cross ing tho streets and cutting the house-lots diago nally, and for a long distance passes row after row of suburban villas, with gardens and groves sur rounding them, which line all the highways far out into the rural section. Off to the eastward over the level surface can be seen the hills of Staten Island across the strait that separates it from the mainland. Station after station with ornamental buildings, lawns, and flowers,well kept and attractive, rushes by the windows, and the line begins to wind among some low hills. It quickly passes through Rahway, noted as a great carriage-making town, having 20 factories in active operation. The railway again cuts all the house-lots bias, and the train still winds among the hills, and flits by the little gems of garuens and pretty stations nestling by the roadside. Village after village ia passed, each with its little church and tall spire, pointing upward, as some one has said, as if a lightning rod to avert the wrath of Heaven. At 25 miles from New _York is Menlo_ Park, where. FROM THE HUDSON TJ3 THE DELAWARE. lOl the inventor Edison toiled f.oi yrc to perfect his electrical disco rorieo. :He> has stiice located his factory and homo in Newark, and his office in New York, though still called by admiring friends <k the Wizard of Menlo Park. 7 Not far beyond, at Metuchen, the Lehigh Valley Railroad runa under our lino on its way down to its coal-shipping piers at Amboy on Raritan Bay, south of Staten Is] and. Then wo dash across the Raritan river, over a high bridge, the chocolate-coloured stream bear ing on its bosom much of the dark red soils washed out by recent rains, flowing down through wooded banks, the turgid waters seeking an outlet in tho Raritan Bay, 15 miles below. Along the western bank is the extensive basin, on a higher level than the river,of the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which here terminates in New York waters, and deliver! an extensive commerce brought over from the Delaware. \Ye rush through New Brunswick,Bkirting the corner of its college grounds, and are in the county bearing the familiar name of Middlesex. Hero are more factories on the lowlands alongsid the river and canal, and a handsome town upon the higher grounds which encircle the older portions like a crescent. The red sandstone college buildings and attractive grounds we are rushing by with so little ceremony are those of Rutger s College, a seat of learning of the German Reformed Church, which is flourishing and richly endowed. It has an adjunct in the New Jersey Agricultural Col lege, with an experimental farm of 100 acres ; while to the northward, and occupying a com manding position above the river, is the Theolo gical Seminary of the German Reformed Church with its buildings. Leaving the region of the red soils, the Penn sylvania Kailway now runs in almost a straight line across the level land to the Delaware River at 102 A VIST. 1 ? T O TIU: Sl ATES. Trenton. Dimly seen,. far to thp nortnwarcl, ,iro thelj;>27 outlhaejsof tfoQ-epurr.of the South mountain range, the Bouthernmost of the Alleghonies. The train makes highspeed on the smooth roadway .with a procession of east-bound trains darting by and showing tho enormous traffic carried by tho lino. "We pass much forest and bog, and an occasional station or railway junction, though the region is but sparsely settled. Soon can be seen to tho westward over tho plain the steeples of Prince ton, rising apparently out of a park, eo thick is the foliage around them. Princeton is a small town, but one of the most noted in New Jersey, threo miles away from the main railway, a quiet place containing many elegant residences. It is chiefly prominent as the location of the College of Now "Jersey, hotter known as Nassau Hail or Princeton College, over which Professor James M Cosh, who came from Belfast in 18G8, presides with so much success. Fino build ings surround its campus, and it is libe rally endowed. Dr. John Witherspoon, tho celebrated Scotch Presbyterian divine, who was one of tho signers of tho Declaration of American Independence, was at that time and for 30 years its President, and among its graduates were two other signers, Richard Stockton and Benjamin Rush. Its Library and School of Science are ma-gmficent buildings of modern construction. The original " Nassau-hall, 3 which was burnt many years ago, and to which the College was brought from its iirst foundation in Elizabeth, was erected in 1757 " to the immortal memory of tho glorious King William the Third of tho illustrious house of Nassau." It suffered greatly in the war of tho Revolution, and around it raged tho final skirmish of tho battle of Princeton in 1777. Washington afterwards presented 50 gui THE HUDSON TO THE DELAWARE. 103 to tho college to repair the building. Princeton is ono of tJio rioted Heats of American learning, ranking with Harvard and Yalo, and it has flourished wonderfully under the care of Dr. M Cosh, who has had great influence upon the development of American thought and philosophy. A few miles further, and the line descends tho grade towards tho Delaware river, and runs at a low level under the southern part of Trenton, tho capital of New Jersey. We have passed from Middlesex into Mercer county, named in memory of General Hugh Mercer, an American patriot of Scotch birth, who fell on its soil in the battle of Princeton. The railway goes under the streets, and also through tunnels beneath tho Delaware and llaritan Canal and its feeders, and then out upon a lino iron bridge crossing the Delaware river, which is at this part a rapidly flowing stream about SCO yards wide, and filled with boulders, South Trenton being the head of navigation. Canals are constructed on both banks, mainly for tho cheap carrying of coals from the Lohigh mines, located near ono of its chief tributaries, the Lehigh river, debouching some distance above Trenton. The New Jersey capital spreads along tho eastern bank of the river and for a good distance inland. It is a thriving city, two centuries old, and chiefly famous for its battle ground, now built over to such an extent as to interfere with the periodical " sham battle of Trenton," which is fought, with a final feast, to revive revolutionary memories. It is also noted for its potteries, established by colonies of workers from Staffordshire, who supply almost all tho crockery for tho States. Much of the town is filled with canals and also with tho conical kilns of these potteries, dropped down at random, and all appa rently in full operation with a prosperous trade,. 104 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Trenton is built over beds of clay, so thao the materials are dug out of the ground almost along side the place of manufacture. The finest and most delicate decorations adorn their goods, and the thoroughness with which these imported potters do their work has almost stopped the im portation of china ware from Europe. The Trenton State House, where the New Jersey Legislature meets, has gardens fronting the river, at the foot of which the swift current bubbles among the rocks and boulders, and adjoining the public grounds are rows of fine residences. The city shows every evi dence of thrift and prosperity, and although it often, in times of active legislative quarrels, dis plays exhibitions of questionable politics, yet these Jersey lawgivers usually manage to govern at light direct cost to the people, for they are noted in the States for the skill displayed in making outsiders supply most of the expenses of local government. Rolling across the Delaware river bridge the train enters the great " Keystone State" of Pennsylvania, the line curving around to the oouthward towards Philadelphia, over 30 miles away. We are now in the county of Bucks a^ain an English name, and proceed for a long distance upon a rich agricultural plain, having some of the most productive farm-land in America. On one side is a canal, and at varying distances on the other side, as its shores wind along, is the river. Past village and farmhouse, among the nest of mills at Bristol, the English town being here reproduced 23 miles from Philadelphia as the county seat of Bucks, and then ultimately into a thickly-settled region of suburban villas, with handsome grounds, the line leads us, its east-bonnd metals burdened with series of trains bearing coals, petroleum, timber, corn, and cattle, as weU PROM THE HUDSON TO THE DELAWARE. 105 as many passengers, towards New York. Broad streams are crossed, all falling into the Delaware, and the population steadily increases until the railway, which has grown into five parallel lines, enters a region which is a succession of mills and villages. Those are Tacony, Bridesburg, Frank- ford, and others, all outlying suburbs that make part of Philadelphia, a city covering more surface than any other on the continent. Huge steel and iron foundries, cotton, woollen, and cordage factories, arpet mills, and every sort of industrial establish ment are passed, the intervening surface disclosing thousands of comfortable dwelling-houses for the operatives. It is evident that the Philadelphia working man is much better housed than his New- York brother, who is herded with dozens of other families in a crowded and often repulsively filthy t( tenement house. 7 For miles the railway runs through these industrial portions of the expanded manufacturing city, approaching it from the north east, and then diverging from the Delaware river, k oing through the northern and north-western sec tions towards the Schuylkill river. The line crosses "treet after street, many laid with tramways for local travel, and the train halts a moment at a busy suburban station, where a branch goes off to dermantown. Then it skirts along some ceme teries, and entering a region of low hills it sud denly comos out from among them upon a high- bridge crossing the Schuylkill. Few scenes of preater beauty are given than this which quickly tursts upon the view as the train on its elevated ]ine crosses the river and Fairmount-park. The Schuylkill placidly lies between tree-clad sloping banks, and curves grandly around both above ana oelow the bridge. On either shore are well-kept park roads, filled with carriages, and thousands of people are out for an airing. A broad iron bridge 106 A. VISIT TO THE STATES*. carries the great highway of Girard-avonuo across the river just below, and it passes unclor un on the western bank. To the right hand HTQ the groves of the higher grounds of the park, and to the left the delicious shades of the J4oo]ogical-garden, which contains tho finest col lection in the States. Everything is luxuriant and smiling, while down the river are the domes and s . oeples and towers of the city, with its bridge! and mass of buildings beyond the park that fill up nil the view. The railway turns down the western bank, and then for a great distance tho train runs iilong the vaat distributing yard of the Pennsyl vania, Railroad, which occupies hundreds of acrea in West Philadelphia, with the city grown all around it. Here come together railway lines from all directions, concentrating a vast goods traffic from many thousands of miles of lino that has to be assorted and passed on to its destination. To the west goes out the line to Pittsburg and the Mississippi Valley ; to the south the line to Baltimore and Washington. Past thousands of cars, many extensive railway buildings and shops, with locomotives snorting and puffing in all direc tions, our train moves upon a line which has gra dually risen above the level of the yard ; then quickly curves to tho eastward, and, almost doubling upon its previous course, goes over tho yard and out to the Schuylkill. Directly ahead is the tall white tower of the City Hall, unfinished, but rising far above tho buildings, with a galaxy of other steeples, domes, and towers around it. We swiftly re-cross tho Schuylkill to its eastern bank, and move along an elevated line among the tops of the houses right into tho heart of Philadelphia. A moment later the train halts in tho " Broad-street Station," and we go out into the City Hall-square, in the centre of the " Quaker City." THE QUAKER CITY. lU7 IX. THE QUAKER CITY. The prosperous city founded two centuries ago by William Perm is chiefly built upon a broad plain between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, about 100 miles from the sea. The Dela\v&ro is a wide stream that comes from the Catskill moun tains in New York State, and breaking through the Alleghanios about 80 miles north of Phila* delphia flows from the north-east to its wharves, and broadening into the estuary of Delaware Bay roaches the ocean between Cape May and Cape Henlopen. A redoubtable old skipper of the Dutch East India Company, Captain, Carolis Jacobsen Mey, came along there in 1C14 with a small fleet of 60-ton frigates, and tried to give the river and the capes his various names, but only one has survived, in the sea-coast water ing-place of Cape May. Thomas West, the third Lord De La Warr, who was at that time the Governor ofVirginia.in hisvoyagos bothbeforeand after 1614 was in the bay, and both bay and river were given his name, which was also assumed by the Indiana living on the banks with whom Penn made his treaties, and afterwards by the "Dia mond State" of "Little Delaware," bordering tho bay and river s western yhoro. The Sehuylkill river is a mountain stream, about 120 miles long, coming from tho north-west through tho anthra* cite coalfields of Pennsylvania, and falling into the Delaware, in such a lowland region just below Philadelphia, that its mouth is scarcely dia* 108 A VISIT TO THE STATES. cernible. In fact, the early Dutch explorers of the Delaware passed and repassed the place and never discovered it, and when the stream was afterwards found by going overland and traced down to it3 mouth, they appropriately named it the Schuyl- kill, which means " the hidden river." A low alluvial plain stretches for miles back of the con fluence of the two rivers, and finally rises into hills of gravel and rock towards the west and north-west. Upon this plain and the undulating surface around it Philadelphia is built, being in shape between the rivers much like an hour-glass, although the city has recently spread far west of the Schuylkili. The Delaware in front of the built-up portion sweeps around a grand curve from north-east to south, and then, reversing the movement, flows around the " Horseshoe bend" below the city from south to west to meet the Schuylkili. This extended river front, with that on the smaller river,gives about 20 miles for docks and wharfage, so that quite a largo commerce is carried on both streams, and the town being en circled by railways its trade roaches a grand aggre gate. It is the headquarters of two of the greatest American railways, both being largely owned in England, the Pennsylvania and the Heading. Their linos encircle the city, go through it in various directions, and their managers are generally able to rule it eo far as to get from it whatever they want. It is these railway and commercial conveniences, together with the ample room for spreading in all directions and the proximity to the coalfields, added to the cheapness of living, that have made Philadelphia the greatest manufacturing city in the world, and attracted to it a million of inhabitants. It is surrounded, through the alluvial character of the chores of both rivers, bv a recion of tho richest THE QUAJKER CITY. 109 market gardens, and the adjacent counties em brace a "wealthy agricultural and dairy section. Clay underlies a large part of the surface, and this makes bricks for building. Living is conse quently cheapened, and the people are able to command their own homos, the occupant, through a, most extensive use of building associations and savings funds, being usually the owner of his house. There are a thousand miles of paved streets and nearly two hundred thousand dwell ing houses, while more buildings are put up year after yoar by the thousands, as acre upon acre of now territory is absorbed by the rapidly growing city. When William Penn laid out his town-plat he made two broad highways pointing towards the four cardinal points of the compass and crossing at right angles in the centre, at which he located a public square of ten acres. His east and west street, made 100ft. wide, he placed at the narrowest part of the hour-glass, where the rivers approached within two miles of each other, their confluence being six miles below. This he called the High-street, but it is now known as Market- Btreet. His north and south street was laid out in the centre of the plat, and at its southern end reached the Delaware near the Schuylkill s mouth, while the northern end was produced indefinitely. This he made 113ft. wide and called Broad-street. Upon the public square in the centre of the plan there was built a Quaker Meeting-house, the Friends, while yet occupying the caves under the banks of the Delaware that were their earliest dwellings, allowing anxiety to maintain their forms of re ligious worship. This mooting has since mul tiplied into scores in the city and neighbouring regions, for the sect, while it may not increase in numbers like some others, fully holds its own in 110 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. wealth and importance, and has still great in fluence in modern Philadelphia. After more than a century had elapsed, the pump-house and re- eervoir of the waterworks wore placed in this Centre-square. Those fulfilled their duty until the Fairmouut Waterworks were established, and then the place was made a park. Finally, it was deter mined to utilize the ground for a new city hall, and for 1G years Philadelphia has been erecting there a grand structure of white marble, which is one of the most magnificent buildings in the world. It is now almost completed, and the tower, which is the great landmark in approach ing the city from every direction, is intended to be taller than any other steeple in existence. Upon the apex will stand a colossal bronze statue of William Ponn, the founder, who will gaze com placently over his vast City of Brotherly Love, grown far beyond the dimensions he gave it and spreading away in every direction. The Centre- square, which has now become the City-hall- square, is the official centre of Philadelphia, but it has ceased to bo the geographical centre, which, through expansion of population, is now located nearly a mile northward, on Broad-street. William Penn not only started his settlement Dn principles of the strictest rectitude, but he was thoroughly rectangular in his ideas. All the streets on his plan were laid out parallel to the two prominent ones, so that they crossed at right angles, and his map thus made the town a perfect chessboard. This plan has been generally fol lowed in the newer districts, although a few country roads in the outer regions that were laid upon diagonal linos have been absorbed by the city s growth. Penn s city also included four other squares, located near the outer corners oi his Dlan. Those cover about so von acres each. THE QUAKER CITY. Ill and lie designed them, as his earliest map states, " to bo for the liko uees as the Moor- fields in London," They wero unnamed for a long time, and during many years three of them were used as cemeteries. Tho two that wero south-east and south-west of the centre wero early surrounded by the built-up city as it spread westward from the Delaware front, and they were ultimately given the names of Washington and Franklin. being now attractive little parks that are the breathing places of populous localities in tho older portion of the city. Tho north-western and south-western squares wero named at a later period, the former after James Logan, who was Ponn s secretary, and tho latter after David Ivitteuhouso, the philosopher. They are now centres of fashionable residence, and are both popular parks. Fiontir.g upon Logan-square is the largest and most imposing church in the city, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, a grand Roman-Corinthian structure of red sand stone, whoso lofty dome, rising over 200ft., is seen from afar. This cathedral, which is tho seat of the Archbishop of Philadelphia, covers 120ft. by 21Cft., and has a finely decorated interior. The Academy of Natural Sciences, containing the best natural history collection extant, with over 250,000 specimens, also fronts this square. Hittenhouse- squarc is surrounded by dwellings, and is bordered by \Vest \Valnut-street, which may bo described as tho Fifth-avenue of Philadelphia, being tho most coveted location for private residences. The Holy Trinity Church, the leading Episcopal church, is on Walnut-street, fronting this square. For a long distance this fashionable thoroughfare ia lined by imposing residences, generalty of brown- stone in tho newer portions, and the chief local ambition among the parvenus is to get there to live. 112 A VISIT TO THE STATES. The Pennsylvania Railway on the arrival at Philadelphia lands its passengers in an elaborately constructed station on the western eideof the City- hall-square, so that the first view in the Quaker city upon leaving the building is of the magni ficent City-hall, whose marble walls rise in grace ful beauty far above the pavement, and exceed in grandeur of construction and comprehensiveness of plan anything we have yet seen in the States. This vast structure covers about 5-^ acres, and is built in the form of a quadrangle around a central courtyard about 200ft. square. The sides of the building measure respectively 486ft. by 470ft., and Mansard roofs and Louvre domes sur mount the four lofty stories. The entire edifice is of white marble, the broad tower having already risen 3COft. and is to be carried to a total height of 557ft., the Penn statue to be put on top being 36ft. high. This tower is 90ft. wide at the base, and at 361ft. elevation will have clock faces 20ft. in diameter. The building is the largest on the American continent, having over 14 acres of floor surface, and containing more than 500 apartments. It is designed to accommo date all the Law Courts and the offices of the city governments, several departments having already moved in. Its cost will bo 3,COO,OCO, and tho patient people of the town are paying for it entirely out of the annual tax-rates, about 100,000 to 140,000 being devoted to the purpose each year. The work began in 1871, and the mammoth corner-stone, weighing eight tons, was laid in the north-eastern angle of the foundations of the tower in 1874. A wide open space surrounds this City-hall, and from the centro of each side Broad-street and Market-street stretch towards the four points of the compass wide Dassa^ce-ways for pedestrians being opened THE QUAKER CITY. 113 througn. tlie great building on tho line of each street. Upon the northern side of City-hall- Bquare, at the corner of Broad-street, stands the Philadelphia Masonic Temple, the finest Masonic edifice in existence, built of granite, a pureNorman structure, 250ft. long, 150ft. wide, and having a tower rising 230ft. It is richly ornamented, and is used exclusively by the various Masonic bodies, who meet within in the fine halls in the interior, each finished in accordance with an order of architecture the Norman, Corinthian, Doric, Ionic, Egyptian, Oriental, Italian, Renaissance, &c. The Temple with its furniture cost 300,000, and its carved and decorated granite Norman porch is universally admired. Ta. the northward, on Broad-street, at the next comer Arch-street, is a cluster of churches, each a model of classic construction. On the south side of the Equare, and extending through to Chestnut-street, is the white marble building of the United States Mint, where aJl the coinage is executed, and work is now going on day and night at manufacturing the short-weight American silver dollar, whicn cannot be forced into circulation. Over two millions of these " Daddy dollars," which the " silver party J) compel to be coined because they are of the same weight as the " Dollar of our Fathers," are turned out every month, and are then stored in the Treasury vaults as security for a paper circulation, because the people will not have them. To the eastward of the square is a great bazaar, which is one of the features of jPhiladelphia John Wanamaker s store. This is an aggregation of shops, selling all kinds of goods, and covering an entire block of about four acres. It is the great social exchange for the ladies, who troop there by thousands to meet their friends, make purchases, and see and hoar what is 114 A VISIT TO THE STATES. going on. Its owner, John Wanamaker, is a lypicr.l American, who runs two or three other largo business establishments in addition to this one, is the chief manager of tho biggest Sunday Echool in town, devotes much time to art and finance and tho management of Iho 13 ending rail road, and also occasionally dabbles in politico. Like most energetic business Americans, he began with almost nothing, and has amassed a fortune, though yet a young man. Ho recently bought the painting of Christ before Pilate " for 24,000, tho masterpiece of the Hungarian painter, MunKacsy. The chief street of the Quaker city is a narrow and crowded highway only 00ft. wide, parallel to and just south of Market-street. Ibis is Chestnut-street, which crosses Broad-street at a short distance from the front of the southern eleva tion of the City-hall. Its western end is a residential section which, like its companion, Walnut-street, is prolonged far beyond the Schuylkill river for miles into West Philadelphia. For some distance, both east and west of the crossing of Bread- street, it is a region cf attractive shops. To the eastward it then passes among the newspapers and banks, and finally into the section of busy wholesale trade for several blocks until it ter minates at the Delaware river. The southern side walk on Chestnut-street is the fashionable promenade. One block westward from Broad- street, upon Chestnut, is the massive sandstone and marble building of tho Young Men s Christian Association. A leisurely stroll east ward along this famous street will give probably the best impression of Philadelphia. The Mint IB passed, and the Wanamaker store, with rows of palatial shops. One entire block of these, between Eleventh and Twelfth streets, with all tho THE QUAKER CITY. 115 buildings northward to Market-street behind them, were given the city by its greatest bene factor, Stephen Girarcl. At Twelfth-street is the imposing marble buildirg of the White Dental Manufacturing Company, where artificial teeth are made for all tho world. At Tenth-street tho Mutual Life Irseuranco Company has a grand structure, with the Mercantile Library, the largest in the city, behind it, and the office of tho fkiladelphia Inquirer opposite. On b cuth Tenth- street is the Jefferson Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia being i he leading medical school in the States, the students coming from all parts of America. At Ninth-street is a corner adorned with magnificent buildings. Tho post- oflico of granite, with a frontage of 400ft., rises high above the street, currcounted with the flags and vanes of the Weather Bureau, this grand Renaissance structure having cost l,OCO,(iCO. Adjoining it is a perfect gem of a building which is the of lice of tho Philadelphia Record. On the opposite corner is a row of splendid white marblo stones. The easternmost corners have the largest hotels of the city the Continental and Girard, each a popular hostelry. At Eighth-street is the tall and handsome Times building, and. just above it the Lkiily NMS. Upon Eighth-street, eomo distance south from Chestnut, is tbe Perm- Eylvania Plospital, standing in ample and well- shaded grounds. At Seventh-street is tho Press building, and on Seventh-street, northward from Chestnut, is a colony of newspaper offices and printing houses, that locality being known aa " Printing-house-square," tho building at tho corner being tbo cflico of the oldest daily news* paper in America, the North American. In the midst of this typographical region is tho plain and substantial edifice of the Franklin Institute*, 116 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. designed to promote the mechanical and useful arts, and having a fine librar} 7 , museum, and lecture-hall. The stately brown-store Public Ledger building is at Sixth and Chestnut streets, this being the leading newspaper of Philadelphia, and published by George Yv r . Childs. It faces Inde pendence-square, and near it are the offices of the JBveniltg Bulletin and the German Democrat. Our Chestnut-street promenade has now brought, us to the most hallowed locality of American patriotic memories. Upon the Ledger corner is a statue of Benjamin Franklin, while a short dis tance further down the street is a statue of George Washington. Independence-square is an open space of about four acres, occupying the block between Chestnut and Walnut and Fifth and Sixth streets, tastefully laid put in flowers and lawns, with spacious and well-shaded walks. Upon the northern side of the square, and fronting Chestnut-street, is Independence-hall, a mcdest brick building, yet the most interesting object that Philadelphia contains. It was in this house, known familiarly as the " State-house," that the Continental Congress met, w r hich governed the thirteen revolted colonies during the American Revolution, excepting when driven cut upon the British capture of the city in 1777-78. TheDeclara- tion of Independence was adopted here July 4, 1776. The old brick building, two stories high, plainly built and lighted by large windows, was begun in 1732 and took three years to build, having cost what was a large sum for those days, 6,600, the population then being about 10,000. It stands back some distance from the street line, leaving a broad flagstone pavement in front, which is planted with trees. On either side are rows of dingy low buildings, occupied by city officials, which do the locality little credit, and THE QUAKER CITY. 117 being of modern construction ought to be removed. A larger building ends the row at each street corner, that of Fifth-street being the office of the Mayor. The State-house has a central corridor passing through it to the square, and is surmounted by a tall wooden steeple with clock and bell. Hanging from the roof of this corridor in such position that while in full sight it cannot be touched is the famous " Indepen dence bell." This bell, originally cast in Eng land, and sent to Philadelphia for the State-house steeple, -has running around its top the prophetic inscription, "Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof." It rang out in joyous peals the news of the signing of the Decla ration, and is the most precious relic the country possesses. It formerly was rung on anniversaries, but about 50 years ago was unfortunately cracked. The high and inaccessible location given it was a necessity for preservation, as relic-hunters have already knocked off much of the lower parts. Occasionally, however, the bell is taken aown, and is carried under guard upon a pilgrimage around the country to receive the homage of the populace. A wide stairway rises beneath the bell to the upper storey, which is used as the meeting place of the City Councils. It was here that Washington delivered his " Farewell Address " in closing his term of service as the first President of the United States. On the lower storey there : is a room on each side of the corridor, and it was in the eastern room that the Congress met, this being the celebrated room of the building. The apartment is preserved in the same form as when the Congress sat, and the old chairs and tables and other furniture used at that time have been gathered together and replaced there. On the \valls are the Dortraits of the sinners of the Decla- 118 A VISIT TO THE STATES. ration, with those of several Revolutionary officers, and also tho original " Rattlesnake flags " with the motto, " Don t Tread on Mo," that were the earliest iiags of America, and pre ceded the Stars and Stripes. A tiled floor has re placed the old one, which was worn out, but other wise the room is in its original condition. It ia about 40ft. square. The western apartment is of the same size, and is used as a depository of Revolutionary relics. Upon entering tho most prominent object seen is West s largo painting of " Pcnn s Treaty with the Indians," which is supposed to represent the founder negotiating on the banks of tho Delaware at Shackamaxon for the purchase of the Indian title to the lands in Pennsylvania. Alongside is a fine portrait of King George III. Few English men probably know that there is preserved in Independence-hall, in Philadelphia, as a precious relic, one of Allan Ramsay s best portraits of tho King whose name was once so odious in the American colonies. It is a full-length portrait representing him when a young man in his coronation robes. The walls are also adorned with excellent portraits of his ancestors, George I. and II., also of Queen Anne, William III. and Mary, and of Charles II. j and there is a valuable collection of autographs and letters written by these Sovereigns. The presence of so much British royalty under the very shadow of the liberty bell testifies to the friendliness now existing between tho mother country and her vigorous offspring. The portraits of William Penn and of his wife and relatives are prominent, and there is also pre served the original charter he gave to Philadelphia in 1701, with much else that is of interest. A fac simile of the Indian wampum belt representing a treaty is also preserved, wherein strings of beads THE QUAKER CITY. 119 indicate tho terms of the agreement made, and a stout man shaking hands with a smaller, thin one, also rudely worked out in the beads, is inter preted as the treaty between Penn and the Indian. The original is held by the Historical b ccicty. Ancient weapons, books, paper money, crockery, and clothing are preserved in cases, the clothing showing much of the unmistakable Quaker hue and fashion. Among the garments is a set of infant s clothing made by Mrs. John Adams at tho birth of John Quincy Adyisus both father and son having been Presidents of the States. Many interesting local portraits hang upon the walls, including that of Thomas West, third Lord De La V/arr. who named the Delaware river. The coats of arms of the 13 colonies first forming the American Union adorn the cornice. The old Hall has quite a flavour of historic sanctity. JN ot far away from it on North Fifth-street is the Quaker graveyard where Franklin is buried. His remains, with those of his wife, lie under a flat stone just inside the wall, and an opening, protected by an iron railing, gives passers-by a view of the spot. Penn, Bradford. Franklin, Morris, and Girard are- all closely intertwined with early Philadelphia history, and their names are everywhere reproduced. East of Indepondonce-hall, Chestnut-street crosses Fifth-street, and both sides are then lined with magnificent buildings, all of them banks and financial institutions. The great Drexel bank oi white marble stands at the corner, and bej-ond it on either hand arc a cloven buildings of grand construction, wherein are many millions of capital. These banks are. built with fine interiors, theii ceilings rising high above the floors, with the light "usually admitted from above. The Drexel bank was founded by Francis M. Drexel, and its 120 A VISIT TO THE STATES. present owner, his son, Anthpny J. Drexel, is the wealthiest Philadelphian of this generation, and is usually the leader of the greatest financial movements in the States. To the eastward is a solid Doric building, fronted by eight massive fluted columns, supporting a heavy entablature. This is the Custom-house and Federal Treasury, and was originally built at a cost of 100,000 for the United States bank. During many years this institution, which ultimately suspended, was a leading bone of contention in American politics. Standing under its portico, the view of the row of banks on the opposite side of the street shows one of the finest series in existence, granite and marble being varied in several orders of architecture. Upon Fourth-street, south from Chestnut, are the offices of the Heading and Pennsylvania Railroads, enormous buildings, the former of brown-stone and the latter of granite, with a narrow passage-way between them. The presidents of those railways are said to actually govern more men, control more active capital, and wield more real power than any other officials in the country. Eastward of Fourth Chestnut-street has more financial insti tutions, and in one of them the Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company is the largest fire proof safe in existence, a three-story structure, divided into six separate rooms. Along side this building, at the end of a narrow court, and some distance back from the street, is another house of great historical interest, a plain, two-story brick building of modest dimensions which is carefully preserved. This is the hall of the Carpenters 7 Company, and in it in 1774 the first Colonial Congress assembled, which paved the way for the Revolution. Third-street is a region of bankers and brokers offices. South of Chestnut-street is a fine marble THE QUAKER CITY. 121 building occupied by the Girard Bank, which was copied from the Dublin Exchange. This was Stephen Girard s bank until his death. Behind it is the Stock Exchange, whicn, with the bank and most of the neighbouring buildings, is part of the estate Girard gave the city. Below, at the corner of Walnut-street, is the Merchants Exchange, a splendid marble edifice, having a semi-circular colonnade on its eastern front, which opens upon a broad street leading down to the river. On "Walnut-street are rows of offices of insurance companies, and this is a centre of the mercantile quarter, the merchants occupyingmost of the space eastward to the Delaware. The Government Customs stores extend through from opposite the Merchants Exchange to Second-street, and here is the brown-stone Chamber of Commerce building, which stands on the site of William Penn s old dwelling known as the " Slate Roof House," and afterwards occupied by John Hancock, who pre sided over the Continental Congress, and later by Benedict Arnold when he ruled Philadelphia for the King. Second-street, north of Market, has the venerable Christ Church, built in 1727, the most revered Episcopal church in the city and the one to which Bishop White came after his conse cration at Lambeth a hundred years ago. It still possesses the earliest chime of bells sent out to America, and the steeple, rising nearly 200ft., is a prominent object seen from the river. Warehouses fine Chestnut-street east from Second, and the noted street finally leads down a sloping hill to long lines of pi and vessels stretch for miles in a grand semi-circle, for the Delaware River bears aheavy commerce. The opposite shore beyond the _ intervening 122 A VISIT TO THE STATES. mill Island is low and level, and over there, a mils away, is the flourishing New Jersey suburb of Camden. Standing on the end of a pier the grand sweep of the river is seen with the broad stretch of wharves and docks of the Pennsylvania Railway at the southern end ana the low, black outline- o[ the Heading Kailroad coal-piers at the upper curt. Not even an apology for a hill is visible, all the land being the low river shores or the equally low outlying islands. To the north-east are wido extents -of factories and iron-mills, with heavy, overhanging smokes, and busy ship-yards loom up among them in the Kensington district. That was once the bcst-knov, 11 portion of primitive Phila delphia " the neutral land of Shackamaron," It was here, during centuries before Penn s arrival, that the Indian tribes from all the region east of the AllegbauitE, between the Great Lakes, the Hudson River, and the Potomac had been accustomed to kindle their council fires, smoke the pipe of deliberation, exchange the wampuni belts of explanation and treaty, and drive bargains with each other. Some eaino by long trails hundreds of miles overland, and some in their birch canoes by water and portage. It was on this " neutral ground " by the riverside that Penn soon after his arrival held his solemn council with the Indians, sealing mutual faith and securing their lifelong friendship for the infant colony. This treaty, embalmed in history and on canvas, was probably made in November, 1082, under the "treaty elm " at Shackamaxon, which was blown clown in 1810. This tree was kept sacred by the early inhabitants, and the spot where it stood, now covered in by iron-mills and ship-yards, is marked by a neglected and decaying monument bearing the significant inscription, " Treaty Ground of William Penn and the Indian Nation, 1C82. Unbroken Faith. THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PARK AND SUBUKB:?. 123 Thus began Perm s City of Brotherly Love, based on a compact which, in the words of Voltaire, was " never sworn to and never broken." X. THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PARK AND SUBURBS. In the early settlement of Philadelphia tho citj was on tho Delaware river front. It gradually spread westward towards tho Schuylkill river, crossed it, and now extends several miles beyond. The growth of tho city has caused no less th an fourteen bridges to bo built over the Schuylkill, and several new ones arc contemplated. The two chief streets in Poim s plan, as I have heretofore stated, were Market-street and Broad-sfcreet, which intersect at City Hall-square, its groat white tower standing at the intersection being the landmark, visible from all parts of these wide highways. Market-street is a groat mart of trade, and stretches nearly six miles westward from tho Delaware, with its rows of storehouses and shops. Arch-street, parallel to and north of Market-street, \vas tho favourite place of Quaker residence, and at Fourth-street and Arch- etreet was one of their prominent meetinghouses. But business has invaded this once exclusive re gion, and tho venerable meeting-house and its graveyard in the block to the westward, where Franklin is buried, are now intrenched around by stores and factories. It was tho adoption of tho principle that every man should live in his own; 124 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. house, supplemented by liberal extensions of tramcar lines, that has made Philadelphia grow. Four, six, eight, and ten roomed dwellings have been built by the mile, and set up in row after row as the city expanded. Two-story and three-story houses, of red pressed brick, with marble steps and white or green window shutters, make up the greater part of the town, and each house is its owner s castle, this owner being in most cases a successful toiler who has saved hia house out of his hard earnings, literally brick bj brick. It has been lamented by some of Henry George s disciples that his land theories " take , better in every other large American city than in his native town of Philadelphia, and the reason ia apparent. Most Philadelphia householders ara landowners, and, having ? laboured hard to get their homes, they hesitate before espousing schemes for a " now divide." There is almost limitless surface in the suburbs yet capable of absorption in the same way, and the pro cess which has given Philadelphia the largest city surface in America will go on indefinitely. The population also is more representative of the Anglo-Saxon races than in most American cities, although the Teuton numerously abounds and speedily assimilates. There is one large manufac turing section of the Quaker city, in the north eastern quarter, that is almost entirely English and Welsh, and in this region of busy weaving mills are said to be made more carpets in a year than are produced in all England. It literally makes carpets for all the world. The English are Joyal to old country memories, they have their flourishing benevolent societies, and their head quarters at _St. George s-hall, jon . Arch-stroet. a THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PAEK AXD SUBUEES. 125 short distance from the City-hall, is one of the finest assembly rooms in Philadelphia. St. George is slaying the Dragon in a magnificent bronze group surmounting the front faade, and on all English gala days the British standard floats over the building. The greatest extent of Philadelphia is upon a line from south-west to north-east, wnich will stretch fifteen miles upon a continuous sur face of paved and lighted streets and buildings. Broad-street, which is the popular highway for the display of processions and pageants, is built upon for seven or eight miles, and is extended about thirteen miles north and south of the City- hall. At the southern end is League Island, the location of a Government Navy-yard. Northward for some distance the street crosses the alluvial lands of the " Neck, mostlyprolific market gardens. The broad granite building of the Ridgway Library Btands in the centre of a lawn about one mile soutn of the City-hall. It cost 350,000, a bequest from the late Dr. James Rush, and is a free library o reference attached to the Philadelphia Library as a branch, one of the restrictions of the gift, how ever, excluding newspapers, because they are vehicles of " disjointed thinking." Several public institutions and attractive churches and resi dences adorn South Broad-street, and at Locust- street is the Academy of Music, the largest opera house in America. The favourite box in this temple of music and the drama is known as the " Prince of Wales s box," having been occupied by him when he visited the city in 1859. On L ocust-street, east of Broad-street, the Philadel phia Library has handsome quarters, it having been founded in 1731 by Franklin and his friends, who there formed a literary club called the " Junto." Northward from Locust-street to the City-hall is a distance of throo blocks, and 126 4. VISIT TO THE STATES. this is one of the most important sections of Philadelphia, having lino hotels at the in tersections of Walnut and Chestnut streets, and also having the attractive building of the chief club in the city, the Union League, which represents the dominant Republican party in local politics. Passing the City-hall-squaro and its attendant Masonic Temple and cluster of churches to North Broad-street, tho profusely ornamented Academy of Fine Arts is located at Cherry-street, a magnificent structure in the Byzantine school, containing a valuable collection of paintings and statuary. Beyond thio, Broad-street passes through a shabby quarter that is in a transition state, grand buildings being constructed in what was for merly a region of railway storehouses that have since been abandoned. Hero are tho armouries of the local troops, tho Homoeopathic CoJlcge and Hos pital, tho Catholic High School, and some others. Beyond them the Reading Railroad has a pas senger station, and then the Baldwin Locomotive Works, one of tho most extensive factories and the largest of its kind in the country, extends for a long distance. The adjacent blocks, far back from the street on both sides, are filled with iron mills and foundries, this being tho Congress district which sends to Washington tho Pennsyl vania Protectionist champion, William D. Kolloy, who is familiarly known as "OldPig IronKelloy." Spring-garden-street, which is lined with fashion able residences, crosses Broad-street at right angles, and then there are more churches, while beyond, for a couple of miles, the street is bordered with magnificent dwellings, and is a favourite drive and promenade. Hero live hundreds of ths wealthy manufacturers and successful business men who have made fortunes, and spend large upon tho adornment of .their homejj, ancl THE QT7AKER CH% ITS PARK AND SUBURBS. 12? the street runs northward beyond them through the populous suburbs to Uerrnantown^ In its northward cource,at the distance of about a mile and a half from the City-hall, Broad- street intersects Girard-avenue. This grand high- way, over 100ft. wide, stretches almost from the Delaware River westwards to the Schuylkill, which it crosses upon a splendid iron bridge, just below the crossing of the New York division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Girard-avonue, in ita course westward from Broad-street, diverges around the enclosure of Girard College, * whicli occupies grounds covering about 42 acres. The riame of Stephen Girard, to which I have already referred, is a familiar one in Philadelphia^ and before the advent of Astor at New York, hia was the greatest American fortune. Stephen Girard was born in Bordeaux in 1750, and, being a Bailor s son, ho began life as a cabin boy. He first appeared in Philadelphia during the Revolution aa a small trader,andaftor come years trafficking was reported in 1780 to have an estate valued al 0,000. Subsequently, through trading with the West Indies, and the advantages that a neutral had in the warlike period that followed,he amassed wealth rapidly, so that by 1812, when he opened his bank, he had a capital of 240,000,and so great was the public confidence in him that depositors flocked to his bank ; he increased its capital to 800,000, and when the United States go1 into its war with England in that yeai he was able to take, without help, a GC* vernment loan of 1,000,000, He was s remarkable man, frugal and parsimonious* but profuse in his public charities, though strict in exacting every penny due himself. He con? itributed liberally to tho adornment of the cityj and erectdd many fine buildinga, He despised the 128 A VISIT TO ~TfiE~ STATES. few relatives that he had, and when he died, in 1831,his estate, then the largest known inAmerica, and estimated at 1,800,000, was almost entirely bequeathed for charity. He left donations to hospitals, schools, masonic poor funds, for fuel tor the poor, and other charitable purposes, but the bulk of his fortune went to the city of Phila delphia, part for the improvement of its streets and the Delaware river front, but the greater por tion to endow Girard College. This was left in :the form of a bequest of 400,000 in money and a large amount of lands and buildings, together with the land whereon the college has been built. He gave the most minute directions about its construction, tho institution to bo for the support and instruction of poor white male orphans, who aro admitted between the ages of six and ton years, and between the ages of 14 and 18 years aro bound out as apprentices to various occupa tions. A curious clause in the will provides that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister of any sect whatever is to hold any connexion with the college, or oven bo admitted to tho premises as a- visitor, but tho officers are required to instruct tho pupils in the purest principles of morality, leaving them to adopt their own religious beliefs. The college is of white marble, and is the finest specimen of Grecian architecture in tho States. It is a Corinthian temple surrounded by a portico of 34 columns, each 55ft. high and 6ft. in diameter. The whole length of the building is 169ft,, its width lllft., and height 97ft., tho roof being made of heavy slabs of marble, from which, as the college stands on very high ground, there is a grand view over tho city. Many other buildings, some but little less pretentious than the college itself, aro located within the enclosure. This comprehensive charity supports and educates from THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PARK AND SUBURBS. 129 1,200 to 1,500 orphan boys, anclfor nearly 40 years Las beon in successful operation. Excepting to the southward, Philadelphia is- surrounded by a broad bolt of attractive- suburban residences, the semi-rural region for miles being filled with ornamental villas andi the comfortable tree-embowered homes of the middle classes. West Walnut and Chestnut streets, with the adjacent regions north and south, make up the popular suburb of West Philadelphia.; Here, in a commanding location overlooking the Schuylkill river, are the grounds and buildings of, the University of Pennsylvania. This is the lead ing seat of learning in the Quaker city, and it in cludes medical and law schools of great prorni- nence, as well as the scientific departments, having also an extensive hospital attached. The institu tion dates from 1745, "and is munificently endowed..; ;West Philadelphia spreads a long distance north ward and westward, and has gradually surrounded and enclosed the extensive yards and shops of the Pennsylvania Railway, which cover a large surface adjacent to the Schuylkill river. The attractive suburban features spread north ward across the Schuylkill, and are large]}* de veloped in the north-western portions of Phila delphia and the well-known sections of German- town and Chestnut-hill, Jankintown, and th Chelten-hills. The wealth of the people in allj this wide section has been lavishly expended in, making their homos attractive, and the suburban belt for miles around Philadelphia displays shady grounds, well-kept lawns, and pleasant lanes, with ecenory that is essentially English. The chief at-^ traction of these suburbs, however, is Fairmounti Park, one of trio world s largest pleasure-grounds. It includes the lands bordering both sides of tha >chuylkill above the .city, and was ^primarily 5-2 130 A VISIT TO THE STATES. blishedto secure the purityof the water supply ? whicti is taken from that river," by protecting its shores from contamination. Fairmount Park includes nearly 3,000 acres, and its sloping hill-sides and water views give it unrivalled advantages in delicious natural sconory. At the southern end are pump-houses, and the oldest water reservoirs, covering six acres, on top of a curious and isolated conical hill, about 90ft. high, which is the " Fair Mount " that gives the park its name. The Schuylkill is dammed at this point to retain the water, and the park borders the broadened rivor for seven miles above,and its chief tributary, the Wissahickon Creek, for six miles further. Entering this beautiful park alongside the Fairmount-hill, the road leads past a fine bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, with surround ing fountains and flower gardens, and then skirts a row of ornamental boathouscs on the river bank, and, passing beneath the rocky cliffs of Lemon- hill and the bridges above, reaches a broad plateau. Here the city is slowly constructing a vast water reservoir, whose unfinished banks look like the slopes of a grand fortress. Winding about, past hill and ravine, with glimpses over river and city, the road leads about two miles to Edgely, and comes out upon the bluff shore a hundred foot above the river, disclosing a most glorious landscape. The placid Schuylkill is at our feet,and a^ wo look up-stream curves around towards the left, with green hill-sides on either hand most richly clothed in verdure. Little boats dot the water, and an occasional steamboat passes laden with pleasure seekers. Away in the distance is the Falls village, another industrious settlement of English factory hands, through which the Reading Railroad runs. The railroad bridge crosses tho river, its stone arches making cozxqdote circles a$ THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PARK A!sD SUBURBS. 131 they arc reflected in the water, while above the whito steam puffs from a diminutive train, looking almost liko a toy, it is so far away. In the fore ground a park drive climbs Strawberry-hill in front of us, and beyond are the whito tombs of Laurel- hill Cemetery, embosomed in foliage. Across, on the opposite bank, carriages looking like insects are slowly climbing up another park road towards the hill-top of Chamounix. Serenely o^uict, except ing when the silence is broken by the distant roar of a passing railway train, this is a most lovely bit of wood and water scenery, giving almost at the thres hold of a groat city tho idea of perfect rural beauty. Wo descend Strawberry-hill to the road along tho river s edge, above which are precipitous rocks, many of them hollowed out for the tombs of Laurol-hill. Passing under an arch of tho railway bridge, which is a ponderous stone structure, one of tho earliest built in tho country, and constructed by English engineers sent out especially for tho purpose, wo see in the river tho rocky ledges that made the "Fails "before thoFairmount dambacked tho water so as to obliterate them. Patient youths now haunt these rocks with fish-lines and wait for " bites " they seldom get, as the river was long since fished out. Wo cross the stream and mount Chamounix-hill. Hero is again a glorious view. The Reading Railroad is far beneath us, and its coal-marked roadway can be traced in black lines a long distance in both directions. Tho river flows placidly under its bridges, and opposite is tho Falls village a city in miniature, looking like little models of houses set in rows on the hillside, so that if one toppled it would knock down the whole town like so many rows of bricks, Laurel-hill,with itsf orest of snow-white monuments, stretches down the river until shut out by tho bonding stream, Above, the Schuylkill can be traced 132 A VISIT TO THE STATES. far away northward, past the densely-wooded ravine of the WissahicEon, over which a high rail way bridge is thrown, while the tall chimneys of the Manayunk mills, another nest of busy fac tories, are closed in by a background of hazy hiHs. Fields, woods, and pretty villas make a pleasant border to this charming scene. This is Chamouniy modest in dimensions when compared with ita Swiss namesake, but its old house is in a pictu resque spot. Its latest owner, when the city s necessities forced an abandonment of the beautiful Elace, is said to have died of a . broken eart. Then we move briskly over the hill tops and table-land, and come out at George s-hill, on the western limits of tho park. Here has been formed a grand concourse, with abundant flower-beds and shrubbery, and from it is had the most extended of all the park views, marred only by the absence of water scenery. A broad surface is laid out with the roads, statues, and ornaments of the park ; and here, which was tho site of tho buildings of tho Philadelphia Exposition 11 years ago, there is being made another concourse in memory of John Welsh, formerly American Minister to England, who was the head of that great enterprise. This is to be a grand driveway and promenade in front of the " Memorial building," which was the arfc gallery of the Exposition. Beyond this extensive plateau is spread out the distant city, with its subdued hum of industry, its myriad emokes from factory chimneys, and the low and faint border in the background made by the hazy land of Jersey, fnr across the Delaware. On the green fields and many foot- walks people are scattered about, creeping slowly over the surface like so many ants. To the right is the longj straight lino of the Pennsylvania Rail- THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PARK AND SUBURBS. 133 road, just beginning its westward route to the Mississippi Valley, while beyond it the town steadily grows, and boforo long will completely encircle this most elevated outlook of Fairmount Park. We descend the hill towards the city, and on its slopo pass the attractive Shropshire-looking house which England built for the Exposition and afterwards gave to Philadelphia. " St. George s House" has many admirers, and it was the means of introducing many new ideas in the way of quaint gables and chimney sand deep window-Boats and cosy apartments in the straight-laced and rectangular hcMso architecture that had prevailed in the Quaker city. Its furniture and adornments are heirlooms in many Philadelphia homes, and its hospitable memories are talked about to this day at Philadel phia firesides. It is now without furniture of tenant, but is one of the city sights always pointed, out to visitors. We leave it behind, and cross the park again to the Schuylkill, coming out high, above the river bank at Belmont. Here is another superb view down the beautiful Schuylkill valley, crossed by its pretty bridges at Girard-avenuo, with the ponderous dome of the Cathedral and the tower of the new City-hall and its galaxy of attendant steeples beyond. We pass the Horticultural-hall, an elaborate conservatory and palm-house, also preserved as a memory of the Exposition, and cross the delicious ravines made by diminutive tributaries of the Schuylkill, known as the " Lover s Retreat " and the " Lans- downe Ravine," for this in former times was the Lansdowne Estate, owned in London, and the home of Joseph Bonaparte, the ex-King of Spain. Its acquirement twenty years ago began the for mation of Fairmount Park. We descend by the riverside again, honeath the towering hill of Bel- 134 A VISIT TO THE STATES. mont, and here find a little stone cottage with overhanging roof, where tradition says that Tom Moore lived when in Philadelphia in 1804. His ballad beginning ** I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled " Above the green elms, that a cottage was near, " And I said, If there s peace to be found in the world, " A heart that was humble might hope for it here, 7 " is said to have been written at and about this cottage. Tom Moore s letters written at that time generally evinced dislike for much that he saw on his American journey, but he seems to have found better things in Philadelphia, and was delighted with the Quaker hospitality. Ho composed an ode to the Schuylkill, its natural beauties having impressed him, and in it gives evidence of his regard for the people. He says : ^ Alone by the Schuylkill a wanderer roved, " And bright were its flowery banks to his eye ; " But far, very far, were the friends that he loved, " And he gazed on its flowery banks with a sigh. ** The stranger is gone but he will not forget, * When at home he shall talk cf the toillie has known v " To tell with a sigh what endearments he met, " As he stray d by the wave of the Schuylkill alone ! " Tom Moore s harp is preserved in Philadelphia among the collection of attractive relics of many famous men adorning Mr. Childs private office in the Public Ledger building. The opposite view across the river from this modest little cottage is of the tombs that sur mount tho cliffs which border Laurel-hill Ceme tery. This is tho most noted burial place of Philadelphia, and embraces about 200 acres of tho sloping banks of tho river, it having boon opened about 50 years ago. Its -winding walks and terraced slopes and ravines give constantly yarying landscapes, making it one of tho, THE QUAKER CITY, ITS TAKE AND SUBDUES. 135 mosb beautiful cemeteries in the world. In front, the river curves around like a bow, so that from a hundred points of outlook can be seen the placid waters far below, the green fields sloping up on the opposite bank in picturesque beauty, with views for miles away on either hand. Some of its mausoleums are of enormous cost and elabo rate ornamentation, but, generally, the grandeur of the location eclipses the labours of the deco rator. Standing on a jutting eminence, almost over the Schuylkill, is the Disston Mausoleum, where is entombed an English sawmaker, who came to Philadelphia without friends or money, and when he died was the head of tho greatest saw- making establishment on the continent. At one place, as tho river bends, the broad and rising terraces of tombs curve around like tho banks of scats in a grand Roman amphitheatre. Here y beneath a modest tomb, lies General Meade, who commanded tho Union armies at the battle of Gettysburg. In a plain, unmarked sepulchre down by the river bank, hewn out of tho solid rock, ia entombed tho Arctic explorer who conducted the Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, Dr. Elisha Kent Kane. A single shaft near by on a little eminence marks the grave of Charles Thomson, the Secretary of the Continental Congress that made the Declaration of Indepen dence. Some of the graves are in most exquisite situations, and it is said of many that the Bpots wore chosen by those who lie there. In this cemetery are buried Thomas Godfrey, the inventor of tho mariner s quadrant, and General Hugh Mercer, who fell at the battle of Princeton, tho remf.ins of tho latter having been removed to this spot in 1840, and tho Scots Society of St. Andrew having erected a monument in his memory. Commodore" leaac Hull* who com- 136 A VISIT TO THE STATES. mandod the American frigate Constitution m the war of 3812 when she captured the British frigate Guerriere, is buried beneath a Roman altar tomb, surmounted by a finely-sculptured American eagle, which defends the flag with the most life-like demonstrations of energy in beak and talons. Thomas Buchanan Bead, the poet-artist, is also interred at Laurel-hill. At the cemetery entrance, facing the gate, under an orna mental temple is the famous " Old Mortality " group, carved by Thorn, and sent from Scotland to Philadelphia. The quaint old Scotchman reclines on a gravestone and pauses in his task of chipping out the half-effaced letters of the inscription, while the little pony patiently waits alongside him for his master and Sir Walter Scott, who sits on another tomb, to finish their discourse. Nothing can exceed the propriety of this for a cemetery entrance. But the most peculiar charm of Philadelphia miburban scenery is the Wissahickon. This ia a stream that rises in the hills north-west of the city, and, breaking through the rocky ridges, flows [by tortuous course to the Schuylkill,a short distance .above Laurel-hill. It is an Alpine gorge in miniature, with precipitous sides rising two to three hundred feet, and the winding road along the creek gives one of the most charming rides in the neighbourhood. Populous suburbs are on the jhigher ridges, but the ravine has been reserved land carefully protected, so that it has all its natural beauties unharmed. A high railway bridge is thrown across the gorge at its entrance, and> rounding a sharp, rocky corner, we are at onco within the ravine, tHe stream nestling amid high forest-clad hills, and the winding course of the fissure giving pretty views. For several miles attractive ggrge can Jbe JoUowed uo tj Near THE QUAKER CITY, ITS PARK AtfD SUBURBS. 137 it is the " Hermit s Pool," where John Kelpins, the eccentric "" Hermit" of the Wissahickon, ** two centuries ago due: his well and made his home, preached to his disciples the near approach of the millennium, and exhibited his magical " wisdom stone." Finally he cast this weird stone into the stream, and in 1704 he died, much to the relief of the Quaker brethren, who did not relish such mysterious alchemy in close proximity to the city of Penn. An old log cabin is near by, and a quaint bridge to give access to it is thrown across the creek, this region and its attendant wild scenery having long been a favourite subject for the artists pencil. Above this, in a command ing position on the summit of the gorge, is a statue of William Penn, bearing the single word t( Tole ration." The gorge gradually emerges from its rocky confines at thefooto!Chestnut-hill, where the sloping hill sides are filled with lovely villas, in one of the popular regions of suburban residence, their occu< pants having a magnificent outlook over the rich agricultural region of the Upper Wissahickon valley. During the warm midsummer season and at times the torrid heats of the Quaker City rival those of India there is always relief found on the wooded slopes and in the foliage-covered recesses of this Wissahickon gorge. Its charms of scenery, if not of legend, make the people proud of its fame, and its natural beauties have not been, marred by art. There is throughout Philadelphia, both within the city and its attractive suburbs, strong evidence of the prevalence of a content ment that seems lacking in some other places. All classes of the population give signs of thrift and comfort, and the working people appear to be generally better provided, and evidently at less cost to themselves, than in most American cities* The_ Quaker snji;i^,./?^ carefulness and economy, 138 A VISIT TO THE STATES. implanted by William Perm s original colonists flourishes luxuriantly on the banks of the Dola- jvaro and Schuylkill. XI. THE SCHUYLKILL VALLEY. In oar American jourrjej ings heretofore the has been confined to the lowlands near the Atlantic seaboard. The coast has a general trend from the north-east to the south-west, and back from it, towards the north-west, the land gradually rises, being formed in successive ridges, with in tervening valleys, until it reaches the Allcghanies. The great ranges of this mountain chain run almost parallel to the coast for over a thou sand miles. Their outposts are found about 40 miles nortli of New York and about 60 miles north and north-west from Philadelphia. They are noted mountains, not very high, but of remarkable construction, and said to be much older in geological upheaval than the Alps or the Andes. They are formed of series of parallel ridges, ono beyond the otlier,and all following the Bamo general course, like the successive waves of the sea. For long distances these ridges run in perfectly straight lines, and then, as one may curve around into a now direction, all the others curve with it. The intervening valleys are as remarkable in their parallelism as the ridgea bounding them. From the seaboard to the mountains the ranges of hills are of the Bame general character but with less elevation, gentler slopes, and in most cases narrower and much more fertile valleys. The " South Moun tain," an irregular and in some places broken- down ridge, is. th.ft_outpost ._of .the Allecrhanies, THE SCHUYLKlLL VALLEY. 139 while the great " Blue Ridge" IB their eastern buttress. The former cresses the Delaware below the mouth of the Lohigh, and crosses the Schuyl- kill at Reading. The latter is about twenty miles beyond it, and is the famous Kittatinny range, named by the Indians, and meaning in their figurative language " the endless chain of hills." if stretches across the States, from the Catekills in New York as far south-west as Alabama, a distance of more than eight hundred miles a veritable backbone for the Atlantic seaboard, its rounded, ridgy peaks,; sometimes rising to a height of 2,500ft. *It stands up like a great blue wall against the horizon, deeply notched where the rivers flow out, and is the eastern border for the mountain chain of numerous parallel ridges of varying heights and characteristics that extend in rows behind it for a width of a hundred miles or more. Within this chain is the vast mineral wealth that has done so much to make fortunes for the American people the coals and iron, the ores and minerals, that are in exhaustless supply, and upon its surface grow forests of hemlock and pine, and harder woods, that are so extensively used in the seaboard cities. The great Atlantic coast rivers rise in the Alleghanies, break through the Kittatinny ridge, and flow down to the oceaii. The Hudson River breaks through its out crop, the Highlands, at West Point, just above New York. The Delaware forces a passage at the 11 Y\ r atei-gap." one of the most remarkable Ame rican natural curiosities in scenery, about 80 miles north of Philadelphia. The Lehigh passes it at the Lehigh Gap, below Mauch Chunk ; the Schtiylkill rends it at Port Clinton, above Read ing ; the Susquehanna at Dauphin, above Harris- burg ; and the Potomac at Harper s Ferry, whore the passage is described by Jefferson as .." one of 14(f A" VISIT TO THE STATES. the most stupendous scenes in nature. These rivers eitner rise among, or force their wind ing passages through, tho various mountain ranges behind tho groat Blue Ridge, and also through tho South Mountain and the successive parallel ranges of lower hills that are met on their "way to the coast, so that all the streams have knost picturesque valleys, whose natural beauties increase as they are ascended among hills rising higher and higher into a region becoming more md more wild and broken. Within the valleys and among the mountains behind tlio Kittatinny are the anthracite " saddles " and " basins " of the Pennsylvania coal fields that yield so much revenue to British investors in American railways. The valleys of the :Upper Schuylkill and Lehigh, of Shamokin and Mahanoy, and the Wyoming and .Lackawanna Valleys of the Susquehanna, are the most prolific anthracite coal measures. Their product givestraffic to tho Pennsylvania, Reading, Erie, Lehigh Valley, Now Jersey Central, Lackawanna and Dela ware, and Hudson Companies, whose securities are well known on the London Stock Exchange. With Philadelphia as a base we will make a brief excursion into this attractive region by starting up tho SchuylkillValley to the southern coal-field. Both the Pennsylvania and the Reading railroads have lines laid along the banks of this picturesque river, and a canal also aids in fetching the coals down to market. The railway leads us out through Fairrnount Park and past the mills of tho suburb of Manayunk, which geta its title from Manniyunk, one of tho Indian names of tho Schuylkill. The Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley line here crosses the river on a high bridge, giving a fine view over tho populous and busy factory : town. and for a long . TUS SCHUYLKILL VALLEY. 141 distance up and down the foliage-covered banks. .The river winds around bend after bend as ifr passes through one ridge of hills after another, now laying its course for a long distance along the- fbase of a ridge, and then making a sharp curve- and passing through it. The populous valley is a constant succession of towns and villages, cluster ing around large and prosperous factories, all; having " live " chimneys, for business is brisk, especially in the furnaces and forges which, contribute so much to this hive of indus-; try. There are rows of cotton and woollen fac tories, paper mills, and other works, some of enor mous size, while operatives houses and orna mental villas dot the hillsides. Frequently deep quarries are hollowed out that furnish vast amounts of building stone, while huge ice-houses* are set up along the river banks stored with its: winter harvest. Past village and mill, twisting in and out, around bend and promontory, the rail way train runs, until it follows the stream in its course through the first great ridge above Phila delphia, and, making a grand sweep around from north to west, comes full upon the myriad chim neys of Coushohockon, a busy seat of the iron industry, and three miles above reaches JS orris- town, the largest settlement of the lower Schuyi- kill valley, about seventeen miles from Phila- ; . delphia, and a thriving manufacturing city,; bnilt upon a tract of land known origin ally as "John Bull s Farm." Three busy 1 railways, with trains constantly passing, show; the prolific traffic of this prosperous valley.. Its names, too, are reminders of the mother country that has sent it such a large portion of its industrious population. One of the great iron, mills near Manayunk is the Pencoyd Works, down: [by, which flowe_a_little_broqk .that _ comes past 142 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Bala. This is known as the land of Merion, and behind it, opposite JNomstown, is the Chester Valley, while opposite is:>the Plymouth Valley. Through this delightful region, underlaid with limestone and as rich in agriculture as it is in manufactures, the river runs between deep sloping banks, and makes grand curves from north to west and back to north again. In one of these eemi- circular sweeps, about six miles above Norristown, it breaks through another towering ridge with grand views far up and down its beautiful valley, and just above receives the waters of its chief affluent, the Porkiomen creek coming in from the north-east. In this magnificent location, on the western bank of the river, where a little creek flows down from among the hills bordering the Chester Valley, was the noted Valley Forge, the) place of encampment of Washington s tattered and disheartened revolu tionary army when his prospects were so dismal in the winter of 1777-8, one of the severest seasons ever known in America. The little farmhouse beside the deep and rugged hollow near the mouth of the creek, which was Washington s head quarters, is carefully -, preserved as a relic of " those days that tried men s souls." We have run out of the region of limestone and marble and into that of red soils and sandstone, and thus approach another of the ridges that cross the country and sway the river s course as it breaks through their barriers. Nestling at the foot of the great Black Rock, which is the name of the ridge, is another busy factory town Phoenixville > 25 miles from Philadelphia, which has the largest iron and steel establishment of the Sdraylkill Valley, the Phoenix Works stretched along the river bank, and occupying about 150 acres. The railways wind about and cross each other, the THE SCHUYLKILL VALLEY. 143 ading darting through a long tunnel ruder the rock, which projects so far out that the river s course is a perfect loop, aiii then emerging upon a bridge which jajries it across the river to the eastern bank. The Pennsylvania, built on a higher level, first crosses :he river and town, then going a short distance up ihoitributary, Pickering Valley, makes direct for thehill, pierces it with a tunnel, and then proceeds aorftiward. All these cuttings disclose the old red sandstone of these eastern outposts of the A.llejhanies, and the two railways having changed sides^ proceed up the river on their winding routes. We hWe now got fairly into the land of what are imow* as the " Pennsylvania Dutch " a people of simple habits, primitive ways, and great industry, who iriaabit a considerable portion of the interior of the "Keystone State" and have a dialect peculiarly iheirown. They are mainly farmers and handicrafts men, and differ entirely in language and habits from the population of the coast. Their dialect is a mixture and corruption of Dutch, German, and English vords, understood by neither of those races. They make up much of the population of the Schuyljall and Lehigh Valleys and adjacent regions, and their " sauerkraut " and " scrappel " have become staple foods in Pennsylvania. In the midst of their settlement is a village called Limerick, though it is doubtful if a Hibernian ever lived there. Above this is a stretch of good farms and level meadows, and the two railways both get together upon the same side of the rivei again, and pans through Pottstown, which has another nest of iron mills, all with active and glowing chimney-stocks. Off in the distance is Been the long range of the South Moun tain, whilo ieolatcd conical hills, covered with pineSj stand about liko sentinels guarding the 144 A VISIT TO THE STATES. entrance to the Alleghanies. The railways steadily approach the ridge in the north-west, and pa>a more iron mills at Birdsborough, down by tie river side, the stream having narrowed to less thin half its width at Philadelphia. Well-cultivated land and thrifty farmhouses cover the adjacmt region, and the scenery, as the river winds tnd the railways with it, is charming. Still more ron furnaces are passed, with new stacks buildng, showing that business is prospering, and we rtn in among the hills with railways, canal, and rive: all hugging closely side by side in the county of Berks, which is regarded as the especial hone of the " Pennsylvania Dutch," and ultimately ;o its shire town, the attractive city of Reading. The towering cliffs of the South Mountah and its attendant ridges come closely in to the Schuyl- kill, and thus the approach to Reading is made through grand scenery, the route having to bo hewn out along the edges of a deep and winding gorge among the high forest-covered hill?. There are frequent dams, as the slack-water navigation for the canal requires them, and thetwisting river givea magnificent views as it makes its long reaches, Tho Reading Railroad line runs along the basa of a huge mountain until it gets among the buildings of the town, while the Pennsylvania line crosses and re- crosses the narrow river on high and strong iron bridges to got a route of entrance. Mora iron establishments and factories are dotted about, and, the narrower portion of the gorge being passed, the city spreads out upon a broad and comparatively level plateau, through which the river flows in crooked course, having frequent bridges thrown across it. Factory smoke over hangs the place, and puffing steam jets on all sides show its busy industries. Reading is tho most populous city of the Schuylkill Valley^ an<i THE SCHUYLKILL VALLEY 145 lias about 70,000 people, whose homes are among tie South Mountain gorges, 58 miles north-west ol Philadelphia. The diminutive Schuylklll breaks its passage through this lofty range, with Pain s Mount on one side and the ISeversink Mountain on the other, both of them in view from the high hills bordering northern Phila delphia, 40 miles away. There is enough flat land between and behind the mountains for the con- etruction of this attractive and expanding town, whith gives its name to the Philadelphia ana Keating Railroad an American colossal financial institution, wliose woes of bankruptcy and throes of reconstruction, now happily ending, have for several years occupied a large share of the atten tion o? the world of finance. The shops and in dustrial establishments connected with this rail way s extensive system contribute much to the prosperity of Reading, and its aggregation of iron mills of all kinds and sizes work up the ores tha t are dug out of Penn s Mount, through the aid of the coals brought from mines only a few miles away. A fertile agricultural region sur rounds Heading, in the various mountain valleys, and the Dutch in large numbers come into town to trade. The townspeople are hospitable, and their comfortable homes on the clean and well- kept streots testify to the contentment as also to the wealth of the city. The tree-clad mountains rise precipitously on both sides, and the people climb up to the White Spot, elevated a thousand feet above the river, on Penn s Mount, to enjoy the glorious view. All day long the railway trains laden with coal roll through the town from the anthracite district just beyond down to their market at Philadelphia or New York. The old red sandstone, hewn out of the moun tain sidesj furnishes tho ornamental columns 146 A VISIT TO THE STATES. for the Court-house portico, and has built t:ie castellated gaol, -while the people, when they d: e, usually of a ripe old ago, are taken into the red freestone Gothic chapel, and thence carried through the red sandstone gateway intho suhmbs, leading to the Charles Evans Cemetery, built by the gift of a prominent townsman. The Heading Railroad has a spacious station in Heading, constructed upon a novel plan and reflecting credit upon its designer. It is a triangle with an open garden plot and lawn in the centre, where a fountain plashes. Each oi the three sides is concave, and a railway starts off from each angle, the rails of all connecting with each other around, the concave sides. The lino from Philadelphia comes in at one angle, ard then dividing goes off northward and westward. The Western line runs through the sandstorm rocks and among the iron mills, and suddenly out tipon a high bridge thrown in a beautiful situation across the Schaylkill, and proceeds far away through the Lebanon Valley to Harrisl/urg at the Suequehanna river. This rich limestone valley between the South Mountain and the Kittatinny is a fine farming region, and also a wealthy seat of the iron industry, its " Cornwall ore banks" being one of the richest deposits in America. The ."Read ing Company sends its East Pennsylvania Railroad eastward to Allantown in the Lehigh Valley, and thence to New York, while ita main lino continues further up the Schuyl- kill Valley. The Pennsylvania Company s line at Reading goes closely along tho river bank, and when out of tho town the two railways and tho river are laid almost north, amid picturesque scenery, and approach the Blue Ridge about eighteen miles away. The long range of mountains ahead stands up gray in tho distance, THE SCHTTYLKILL VALLEY. 14? and gradually turns to blue as the train swiftly approaches. It stretches grandly across the horizon, with the little notch cut down into it, where the Schuylkill river breaks through at Port Clinton Gap. The surface of the country in most places is too hilly and broken for much success at agriculture as we near the portals of the anthracite coal region, although there aro occasional stretches of comparatively level land, where there aro evidences of good farming. Approaching the blue wall of the Kittatinny, its roughened, yet gracefully-rounded, tops, v/ith the seamed and scarred hillsides, are plainly soon. Scon the spurs close in around us, and the railways, canal and river hugging closely together, enter the Gap. The notched and winding opening in the mountain range seems cut out, as if by human hands, to give a passage, and the narrow stream curves around the long protruding spurs that run down from the steep sides of the crooked pass, while the broad range stretches far ovwiy on either side. With brisk movement the current dashes over its bed of boulders, the more placid -canal keeping closely alongside, while the two railways have to curve out their route along the cliffs and bore tunnels through their spurs. This winding and romantic pass is about three miles long through the Blue Bidge, from Hamburg below, to Port Clinton above the. Gap. The newer line of the Pennsyl vania Railway is laid high up on the hillside, and thus finely overlooks the gorge. To the north* ward of its narrower portion there is a maze of railway lines, canal basins, and coal chutes at Port Clinton, where the Heading Company unites various lines that converge from different parts of the coal district. The Little Schuylkill River here falls into the larger stream* and a branch /448 A VISIT TO THE STATES. railway follows it northw ard to Tamaqua, while the main line goes westward to Pottsville. The summit of tho Kittatinny range is the dividing line between the counties of Berks and Schuylkill and the boundary of the coalfield. Port Clinton, though not much of a town, is a 0usy place or coal shipment. It stands on the &dge of the southern anthracite basin, and the country beyond is wild and broken. The next zreat ridge that extends across the country is the 1 Broad Mountain beyond Pottsville, though be tween it and the Kittatinny there are several smaller ridges, among them Sharp Mountain. At first the Schuylkill river and its attendant rail ways closely follow the northern bases of the Kittatinny, winding about its spurs, but after wards they begin to diverge towards Sharp Moun tain on the other side of the valley. The view thus broadens, and there are patches of rich and* level lands in the bottoms, where there are good farms. The buildings are substantial, and the Dutch farmers believe in painting them r^d, this being their favourite colour. The narrow, crooked Schuylkill has its waters turned black from the masses of culm and refuse from the coal-pits. Then we come to Schuylkill Haven, 90 miles from Philadelphia, where the Heading Company makes up its coal trains, and branch lines go out to the pits in various direc tions. This is also the head of tho canal naviga tion, and there are lines of chutes and pockets for loading the barges, with colliers villages dotted about in nooks among the hills. The river and rail ways pass into the gap alongside of Sharp Mountain, the stream narrowed to a black and repulsive- looking brook. Compressed into another winding pass the lines suddenly run into Pottsville among ithe hills, skirting a cluster of active iron mills THE SCHL YLKILL VALLEY. 149 upon entering the town. Potts ville has a pic turesque situation, but a very uneven surface, being confined within a deep valley among the hills, with its buildings spreading up on their steep sides. It has been of moro importance than now, for its situation in the centre of the southern coalfield made it the chief depot of trade when the many collieries around it wore managed by in dividual owners, who came into town to transact their business. It has about 20,000 people, ten banks, and many large shops, but much of its trade has been diverted by changed methods in the coal trade since the groat railways have ab sorbed most of the collieries, and thus trans ferred the regulation of their business from Potts- ville to Philadelphia. It is the shire town of Schuylkill county, and from it railways go out in various directions to the coal-pits. In fact, the whole country around, and particularly that north of Pottsville, is a perfect network of railways, lead ing to hundreds of pits and " breakers/ for all cf these anthracite mines have to set up complex machinery to break their coals into sizes fit for use. It is not unusual for this region to send 10,000,000 tons to market in a year. Northward of tho Schuylkill or southern coal region, and beyond the Broad Mountain is the " Middle Coal Basin/ extending westward from Schuylkill into Columbia and Northumberland counties, and reaching on that side almost to the Susquehanna river. This basin includes theMahanoy and Shamokin Valleys. Eastward of Schuylkill county, both these basins stretch into the Lehigh region, appearing at Mauch Chunk and above, and also in the Harleton district north-west of the Lehigh. The Mauch Chunk region, known aa Carbon county, was the place of the earliest dis covery of anthracite in the - States. . It is 150 A VISIT TO THE STATES. worthy that as the coal measures extend eastward they harden, while to the westward they soften. The hardest coals consequently come from the Lehi gh region, and they gradually soften as they are dug out to tho westward, until on the ether side of the main range of tho Alleghenies they become soft bituminous, and still further westward their constituents appear both as petroleum and as gases. Between the Schuylkill and the Lehigh regions, there are several connecting railways built and new ones arc constructing. One railway from Pottsville to the coal-pits is a type of all, and, to give an idea of the region, wo will go northward up a steep grade to cross over the Broad Moun tain into tho Mahanoy district. The route soon leads into the heart of the Schuylkill region, rilled with lateral railroads loading from the pits to tho main lines of tho various companies that carry the product to market. Tho land is full of little mining villages, but has little else. It is a rough country with bleak and forbidding hills, almost denuded of timber by the fires that have run through the forests, leaving the scarred trunks of the trees standing up as gaunt sentinels. Vast black heaps of culm and refuse, cast out from the mines, are poured down the hillsides, some of them the accumula tions of a half century, making miniature moun tains. The entire geological formation is changed into, the lighter coloured rocks which envelope the coal measures. Thus we pass St. Clair, with its coal breakers at work, grinding up the fuel which is poured with thundering noise into the cars beneath the chutes below. The train fills up with the Pennsylvania Dutch as it halts at the little colliery stations, and their curious dialect ia briskly jabbered all around us. Thoy u/ro not much at milling, however, for the English THE SCHTJYLKILL VALLEY. -W and Welsh, with some Irish, do most of the work in tho pits. The country is terribly rough and unattractive, there being no attempt because no show is given for farming ; and all tho ttreams as they pour over tho boulders in their deeply-worn valleys are blackened with the coal refuse, their waters being unfit for use. The surface is strewn with recks and debris, and tho railways twist about among them to make con nexions with tho numerous pita. Having climbed up the grade, we cross the top of Broad Mountain, with collieries all about us. Some of them, after a large investment, have been abandoned, as they ceased to pay owing to faults in the veins. Ventilating shafts are working their fans in this desolate region, and long lines of depressed surface show where the roof of a worked-out vein has fallen down. As the broad top of this extensive mountain is crossed, long views are got over tho subsidiary valloys,with their coal heaps and breakers and shiifthouscs seen for n iics away. The whclo country is a vast coal pit, the veins underlying tho entire surface, and being tapped wherever feasible. Tho northern elope o i the mountain gives a fine outlook upon the Mfihanoy Valley, anel tho Heading Company has inclined planes down, into it to facilitate the moving of coals, this being a prolific region. Four railways run their lines in, BO that theie is brisk competition, and as we go further northward the lines of the Lehigh companies appear to divide tiafi ic with tho Reading. There are new collieries just opening aa tho result of these recent movements, which are reinforced by an industrious competition from the Pennsylvania Company. Finally, the Lehigh lines, as we go into the Mahanoy district, appear to have the field tc themselves, as we have passed beyond the Readies lf>2 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Company s domain. We finally get down into a valley, wnicn takes us eastward towards the Lehigh River. The region is still desolate and rough beyond description, being without inhabit ants, excepting those connected with the rail ways or the mines. Our railway joins other lines and runs down the valley of Black Creek, saturated with coal dirt a crooked and pretty gorge, with precipitous sides, which leads out to the Lehigh Kiver. The rushing waters of the creek soon fall into that river, also a narrow, winding stream between high hills, withrailroads on both banks and a canal. The place of junction is Penn Haven, and near by is one of the strangest towns in the States the Lehigh coal shipping port of Mauch Chunk the head-quarters of the Lehigh Valley Kail- road and the Lehigh Navigation Company, which are known familiarly as " the two Lehishs." XII. THE LEHIGH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. Seventy miles westward from New York and about 50 miles northward from Philadelphia are the " Forks of the Delaware." To this place, the confluence of the Delaware and the Lehigh rivers, came the chiefs of the Lenni Lenapos to treat with William Pcnn s successors, and a town was founded 135 years ago. John Penn was theD a newly-married man, and his bride, the daughter of Lord Pomfrat, had been wooed and won at her father s seat of Easton, in Northamptonshire. So Penn instructed his agents that the town should be called Easton and the county Northampton, at the junction of the Delaware with the pretty THE LEHIGH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. 153 stream the Indians called the Lecha, which has since become the Lehigh. It did not grow much until tho Lohigh coals Bought this route to a market, but it is now a thriving city of 20,000 people, climbing tho hillsides between the Lehigh and the Bushkill and commanding the gateway ta this famous valley. Strong railway bridges carry the Lohigh Valley and New Jersey Central Rail roads across the Delaware to pass through Easton and up the valley, and other railways and canals lead from it down the Delaware river. Coal trains roll over the bridges and water flows below, while stone, iron, and coals are in profusion around, as you look across from the New Jersey shore at the smooth current of the Lehigh pouring down an aproned dam into the Delaware, with the towr behind, built in ridges upon the level land anc rising in terraces upon the adjacent hills. Easton is notably a hillside town. South of the Lehigh the spurs of tho South Mountain come out to th<3 Delaware river bank, and some distance belov? Easton they make the grand escarpment of the * Nockamixon Rocks," their red sandstone cliffe rising almost perpendicularly 300ft. high, with here and there a ravine of romantic wildness, where they have been rent asunder. At their foot the patient mules draw coal barges along a canal, The buildings of Easton run up all tho adjacenl hillsides, and in a rr-agnificent position on a higfc bluff north of the ISusbkill is Lafayctto Collepo. munificently endowed by ono of tho coal princes of the valley, Ario Pardee. Situated at iho en trance to a vast mineral region. this has been made largely a school of the mine and is devoted to that ,kranch_ of ...scientific, research, its chief., building 154 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Par doe-hall, huilt of brownstorio, boing the finest for its purposes in the country. Easton is sur- rounded by iron mills, the adjacent hills boing full of ores, and, in fact, progress up the valley passes a saccession of most elaborate iron .esta blishments, some of thom having tho largest plants in the country. For 12 miles the railways hug tho river and are laid along tho edges of the hills, past furnace, forge, and rolling mill, and scon they bring us to Bethlehem, The attractive stream flows along tho bottom of tho valley, with vast aggregations of ironworks spread upon its southern bank. Here also aro tho extensive establishments of tho Lohigh Zinc Com pany, zinc boing a prominent product. Over on tho northern side is the original settlement of tho Moravians, an odd old town, built mostly of brick, with a slate roof on every house, founded in 1740 by the rofngoo followers of John Huss ; and Count Zinzendorf, their leader, came hero to preach in 1741. This was the earliest and most important settlement of tho brotherhood in America, and for a century it remained a close denominational town. Many aro the relics shown of these careful poople,who dwelt in a sort of Communism, main taining their distinctive principles, such as tho " Family House," the separation of the sexes, and tho exclusion of an additional trader in any branch of business, unless tho amount of traffic warranted more than one. During the American Revolution tho Moravian " Single Sisters" em broidered a banner and presented it to Count Pulaski for having protected the town. Many of their original buildings still exist ; theWidows* and Sisters Houses, the" Congregation House, and the Chapel aro preserved with their broad oak stairways, stout furniture, diminutive windows, and low ceilings, their flagged pavements, sables. THE LEHIGH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. 153 and odd roofs contrasting strangely with the more pretentious modern buildings around them. This quaint town in its modern setting also has its college, the Lehigh University standing on a commanding spur of the adjacent mountain, and founded by another of the Lehigh coal princes, Asa Packer, who was the father of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the pioneer of the coal trade of the district. Taking his railway, laid upon the southern bank of the river, wo are quickty led above Bethlehem into one of the greatest seats of tho iron manufacture in tho world. Tho road winds along the crooked shores of this very tortuous river, which thinks nothing of making sudden right-angled twists among the steep bordering cliffs, passing plenty of iron mills with pig-iron in profusion and moun tains of slag, running among rolling-mills and blast-furnaces, and thus comes to Allentown, at a depression in the hills, where the Jordan creek flows in with rapid current, and has across it a comfortable-looking town of capacious houses, embowered among ample shade trees, its people having coined money out of the iron trade. Be yond are more ironworks and slag heaps, and amidadesert of lava tho railway passes Catasauqua, or the " Thirsty Land," where tho iron furnaces are on a gigantic scale, with their mountains of slag running off to the westward like miniature ridgos of tho Alleghany range. Everything is working to tho utmost capacity, and the more prosperity there is tho bigger grow the slag heaps. Then we pass the enormous plant of the tl Thomas Ironworks " at Hokendaqua, whose owners control the Lehigh Valley prices ; and then there are still more mills and more refuse at Coplay, after which for a little way the picturesque stream is free from iron .mills and slag;. 156 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Wo are again approaching the Kittatinny range, the buttress of the Alleghanies ; and the steep forest-clad hills now closely border the crooked Lehigh. The woods thicken, and the railwaya have their routes hewn out of the laminated rocka along the edge of the water, where the spurs of the mountains closely press the river. In swinging around the sharp curves there are magnificent views given of the pass ahead at the Lehigh Gap. Occasionally there is a corn patch on a level spot, but agriculture gets very little show. The Gap looks like a notch with sloping sides cut down in the mountain, with a distant ridge closing the view seen through the opening, and the cloud- ehadows move slowly over the dark green foliage covering the high hills to their tops. The rocks are masses of slate, and some of the protruding cliffs are deeply riven to give the railway a ledge to rest upon. VVe halt a moment at Slatington, where a brook makes a depression in the hills, and up its valley and alongside the railway are extensive elate quarries. Slates are being laden at the station, and masses of broken ones lie in profusion about. Theso are the most extensive slate deposits known, and the back country is being gridironed by railways to get at them. The output is enor mous, and it is one of the most valuable industries in the States. Beyond Slatington the great moun tain ridge stretches across our path like a wall, and we run directly towards it. The river flows over a slaty bed drawn in almost straight ridges directly across, for hero the Gap has been broken largely through the deposits of slates. Suddenly wo curve around into tho notch and go directly through, with railways, river, and canal towpath compressed clostly together between tho towering cliffs that stand up almost perpendicularly along side us. The scenery is grand, for tho Gap L? THE LEHIGH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. 157 narrow and its sides precipitous, and, then emerg ing, the rounded peaks of the range stretch fur away to the north-oast, as we run out in a scme- v/hat broader valley on the northern side, in Carbon county. A pretty villa is perched on a round-topped peak on the opposite bank, and an ancient road ascends the declivity, having upon it an old-time wayside inn the " Relay House" for this was in forraor days the stage-route to the far northward. The river passes more romantic, though less imposing, notches, giving magnificent scenery, and then a renewal of slag-heaps spoils some of the romance at the iron mills of Parry- ville, whoso chimneys are set in so deeply among tho enormous hills that their overhanging smokes can scarcely get out. A pork-packing establish ment varies the monotony at Lehighton, and at \Veissport is tho " Emory Wheel Company, "which makes its useful wheels of Turkish emery and American corundum. Then the train passes the extensive car-yards and shops of the LohighValley .Railroad at Packerton, named in honour of Asa Packer, and the long coal-weighing scale, where the loaded coal-cars are weighed while in motion. Above this tho projecting spurs of Broad Mountain begin to compress the river and make more fine scenery. The first result of this is that the other railway squeezed off the northern bank has to cross to our side and is carried over our heads. Tho two linos are laid a short distance side by side, but the hills will not permit this very long, for soon there is another compression by a big cliff and our Lehigh Valley line suddenly darts across an iron bridge to the northern bank, the two roads thus changing sides. Then we run again through a very narrow space with mountains hemming us in and rising hundreds jpf feet above as \ve enter the eoree in tho Broad 158 A VISIT TO THE STATES Mountain range. Curving sharply around from the west to tho north and then to the east we halt at a station, 48 mi]es from Easton, and across the river, apparent!} 7 leaning against the mountain wall behind it, is the town of Mauch Chunk. This is the oddest looking town in America. It is sot upon a rocky shelf alongside the river and has but two streets. One runs along the front of tho shelf, and the other, at right angles, extends back up a gulch, cleft into the mountain, down which comes a torrent, generally in a culvert built under the street. Most things seem set on end^ for khe steep hillsides leave little room for tha liouses, and the man whose front door opens upon the street generally goes out of the third story into his backyard, while tho piggery at the end of the garden may be 50ft. higher than his roof. Tho mountains curve around like a vast basin with the town on the edge, Imnging in a little fissure, behind which is Mount Pisgah, rising to a great elevation with its chimney-topped inclined plane. A few paces walk from tho station causes you to halt in amaze ment at the novel sight river, railways, canal, and the single street fronting tho town, all packed together into tho narrow, curving gorge which tends sharply around Bear Mountain, almost nnder which you have alighted from tho train.. Tho trees hang by slender tenure to the steep rocks ; tho roads are carved on ledges up the mountain side ; everything is chocolate coloured by tho red sandstone, and, looking down tho narrow valley, its sharp bend quickly takes it out of view, while, looking the other way, tho back ground is closed by tho distant sides of Broad Mountain. Crossing over to the town and facing about, the view is of a rushing torrent in the river jvhich jpours over the canal dam. and has its roar- THE LEHIGH AND WYOSIING VALLEYS. 159 ing aided by the vigorous blowing _ of stoam from numerous locomotives. Beyond is a grand pano-i rama, tbo river coming down through its* narrow valley from the eastward and making a, short sweep around the conical-topped Bear Moun tain, or, in tlio original Indian dialect, the- " Mauoli Chunk," in front. Around this curious: sugar-loaf hill everything curves, the rails, canal,, and river forming EO many arcs of circles, along- which snake-like trains of coal cars movo ana, canal barges are drawn by deliberate-paced mules. Bear Mountain rices TCCit. high, and everything about it is devoted to coals. At tho upper end of $he single front street a high hill cuts the high-* way off, and on its verge, closing the view, is a granite shaft erected for a soldiers monuiDent. Attractive villas and a pretty church adorn tho neighbouring hill sides, and here starts tho second street, zigzagging far up tho gulch into tho moun tain, with the torrent rushing beneath the pave ment and houses on either hand, having tho steep banks behind them walled in and terraced to prevent miniature avalanches. On the hilltop ia the cemetery. When the development of the coal trade made the town outgrow tho shelf and gulch, they hunted out a flat place about 2COft. up this hill and built Upper Mauch Chunk, and then Bought a later outlet on a plain by the riverside further up the valley and called it East Mauch Chunk. Altogether, they have rnanngecl to pro vide homes i or a population of about 10,CCO people, all, in some way or other, depending upon, coals. Mauch Chunk s most famous townsman was Asa Backer. He was a Lehigh Canal boatman,, who in tho early history of tho coal trade de veloped a remarkable aptitude for transportation management, and finally became the projector iand builder of the Lehkh VaJley Railroad, llis 160 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. name is intimately associated with all the enter- prices of the Lehigh region, for he reaped an enormous fortune, and with it munificently en dowed the Lehigh University, and also provided in other ways for his neighbours, while his estate, iheld as a trust, still controls the railway over which he presided for so many years. On the steep liillside, at the end of the street, behind the eoldiers 7 monument, is seen his former home, while far above and almost over the top of his house is the cemetery, on the summit of the hill, wherein lie his remains. His railway trains roll out a steady requiem below. Climbing to the hilltop and looking down over the narrow little town and the river and railroads like so many rings rounding Bear Mountain, it can be realized what a strange place Mauch Chunk is, and how well the people nave utilized the scanty space to get it in between hills and river. Behind us rises Mount Pisgah, with its inclined plane railway, the famous " Switchback," which was the earliest method bv railway of get ting the coals out to market. The hard anthracite was first discovered nearly a century ago about nine miles north-west of Mauch Chunk by a hunter, at Summit-hill, on Sharp Mountain. The earliest method of transportation was by the Lehigh Canal, the coals being brought out to the river in wagons, and in 1820, as Asa Packer used to tell it, 3&6 tons were sent to Philadelphia and " completely choked the market." But the trade afterwards grew at an amazing rate, these veins proving most prolific, their thickness in some places being 53ft,, and producing the hardest anthracite kncwn. The " Switchback" is a gravity railway, built in 1827, to bring the coals cut from the mines to the river. The loaded cars were run miles _down ^ ..grade oi_ about OQft . THE LEHIGH 1ND WYOMING VALLET3. 16t mile to Upper Mauch Chunk, where they emptied the coals into chutes that delivered them in canal barges in the river below. To get the empty cars back they were hauled up the inclined plane on Mount Pisgah, then run by gravity six miles to the foot of Mount Jefferson, hauled up a second inclined plane, and then run three miles further down the slope to Summit-hill. This cheap and ingenious transit,; after serving its purpose for manyyears,was super seded by another railway, and the " Switchback " has now become an excursion route for tourists. They go there by thousands to get hauled up the planes and then slide down hill, the exhilarating journey being at times given a spice of danger by threatened collision with a stray cow. Mount Pisgah rises 900ft. above Mauch Chunk and 1,500ft. above the ocean level, while Mount Jefferson is 1, 660ft. high. These elevated perches give grand views over range upon range of gray- topped mountains for a circuit of fifty miles or more. The mining town of Summit-hill is the chief one of the Lehigh region, having about 7,000 population, most of whom work the coalpits of Sharp Mountain and the Panther Creek Valley, sending their coals out through a tunnel to the Lehigh above Mauch Chunk. There is a burning mine at this place, which has been smouldering, over years, and has consumed BO much of the underlying coal measures that the baked and Bunken ground on the surface looks like the crater of a volcano. But Summit-hill is not attractive, and its chief feature seems to bo the enormous masses of elate and refuse that have been cast out of the pits. Above the curious gorge and town of Mauch Chunk the Lehigh Valley Railroad follows the river for many miles, a winxiingj narrow stream, 62 1G2 A VISIT TO THE STATES. encompassed by enormous hills, through which its deep and crooked valley is carved, evidently by successive convulsions of nature. Gorge after gorge is passed, the railways running on both banks. A canal had been, originally there, but it is not used above East Mauch Chunk, having been destroyed by a freshet seme years ago. The ruined dams and canal locks over winch the amber-coloured waters pour show hew extensive the work onco was. The country is rough and strewn with boulders and the river filled with them. Some of the bends are complete semi-circles, river and rail ways laid in concentric rings around the bases of bold promontories, a marvel of crookedness and good engineering. .Branch lines come in from the coal measures adjacent in the Mahanoy Valley and Hazelton region, but wo soon run beyond them into the heart of the Alleghanies, the stratified rocks with their saddles and dips, exposed by the river, giving excellent opportunity for the study of geology. We pass the Broad Mountain, and get into a different region, where the hills arc net so high, and have been almost denuded ol timber Iry the ruth Jess wood-choppers of a past generation/ The Upper Lelvigh was formerly a prolific timber- producing region, but it has seen its best days, the wasteful American habit of cutting off all the trees having left no signs of forest beyond some scrubby aftergrowth. In this section be tween the Broad Mountain and the long range next north-west, the floor of the intervening valley is about 000ft. elevation above tide-water. The stream is narrow and shows some timber rafts, with extensive dykes and booms for catch ing the logs.but these are chiefly the relics of a past industry tailing into decay. White Haven, a vil lage of wooden" houses sot upon the hillside, was formerly the centre of a brisk timber trade, and tHE LEHIGH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. 163 hero tho railway and river diverge, after having kept such close company for about 75 miles from the Forks of the Delaware. The Lehigh comes from tho north-east from its sources about 20 miles away in the Noscopec Mountain. The rail way turns to the north-west to climb that moun tain, for no friendly stream has here carved a gorge to let the locomotive through. Up a wind ing grade the engine labours, over the bleak moora that make the mountain side, tho brownstone strata cropping out, but the country almost with out habitation, and finally the summit is crossed at an elevation of 1,800ft., which marks the height of land between the affiuents of the Dela ware and the Sucqueharina. The road then ekirta along tho brow of the glen formed by the head waters of Nescopec Creek, whose valley leads off to the westward. A far outlook is given over tho dark and hazy mountain-tops, and here in a commanding position the railway has built ita t( Glen Summit Hotel, 37 where tho train halts, in a position that exhibits a landscape back over tho Hazel ton region and the Icng slopes of Broad Mountain ; while westward, across tho Noscopec Valley, ard seen far away the higher tops of tho main range of the Alleghanies, just rising into view beyond the Susquthunna. Thus the summit of one mountain ridgo shows the two long parallel ridges that border it on either side. The etcut and contented train hands, nearly all of them of the sturdy "Pennsylvania Dutch" race, who look healthy and hearty in this bracing moim* tain region, are caring for their coaches, while the passengers enjoy a good meal in the hotel, which is one of tho most popular resorts in the Allegha- nies, and then tho journey is resumed. AVo run Bwiitly down grade on a winding line until it cornea put at Ihp head of a, deep gorge, down which in 164 .* VISIT TO THE STATES. laid an abandoned inclined plane railway. The train moves out along the upper edge of this gorge to the verge of the Nescopoc Mountain, and the roadway, turning to the left, there bursts upon the si^ht.the finest view in the "Keystone State," the fair Wyoming Valley, with its gorgeous beauties of cities, villages, farms, and glinting river, seen from an elevation of 1,200ft. Such a view is worth crossing the ocean to see. The Susquehanna river can be traced for nearly 20 milea through the long and trough-like valley from the northern end, where it breaks through the moun tain range to get into the valley, at Camp bell s Ledge, down south-westward ly to where the river passes out through the narrow gorge of Nan- ticoko Gap. On one side the Nescopec and Moosie range enclose the valley and on the other the Shawnee Mountain, also called the North Mountain, with the long and higher ridge of the Alleghany main range behind it. To the north east this beautiful valley is prolonged by the Lackawanna river valley, which flows down to the Susquehanna and ioins it at Pittston just after the latter stream breaks through the mountain ridge to get in. This gorgeous vale, with the richest agriculture on its surface, n,nd underlaid by the most valuable of all the anthracite coal measures, is a succession of towns and villages, with inter- rening coal mines, the land marked over by busy railways with their little puffing engines ; and all is spread out at our feet as the train quickly emerges from the gorge, with a suddenness that is almost startling. It is like a view from a balloon. There is the village of ftanticoke, then Plymouth, then the spreading city of Wilkesbarrd. the chief town of the valley ; and far beyond, as trie river is kraced at its turning point, are the foliage-hidden houses of Pittston. JBetween them all are clusters THE LEHIGH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. 165 of villages and black coal heaps from the mines vrhile the whole surface is cut up into the green and brown fields of the rich farms of the valley, across which the lone streaks ot railways stretch. The train moves all too quickly to permit one to drink In this grand scene, as it slides down the grade of nearly a hundred feet to the mile along the face of the mountain side to get into the ralley, first winding about among the spurs far southward and then coming back northward to Wilkesbarre to obtain distance enough to make the descent. The old Indian trails are crossed which the red men followed in the earlier days, before the poet C&mpbell,who6e name is embalmed in its finest mountain peak of" Campbell sLedge," bad occasion to write of " Gertrude of Wyoming." The name of the Susquehanna means the "broad and shallow river, 7 the Indians thus designating this great waterway which takes so much of the drainage of the Alleghanies, yet is so filled with rocks and rapids as to defy all attempts at satis factory navigation, excepting by timber rafts and canal barges. It flows 400 miles from Otsego Lake, in Isew York, receiving many lar^e tribu taries, and at its mouth forms Chesapeake Bay. The Indians named the rich and fertile valley, which spreads for a width of three or four miles between the high mountain ridges, the " large plains," or the " Maughwauwama, which, after undergoing various changes, was finally pleasantly corrupted into the Wyoming. Its lower part makes Luzerne county and its upper portion Lackawanna county. This valley was bought from the " Six Nations " of Indians (the Iroquois) by an association of cottiers from Connecticut,and, after varying experiences, the war of the American Revolution found a thriving settlement of about 2^000 people pij the banl^ of th,e river above Wilkes- 166 A VISIT TO THE STATES. band s present site. In JunG,1778,during tnat wai, the settlement was attacked by a force "of British troops and Mohawk Indians, and the " Wyoming Massacre" followed on July 3, the British officers being unable to restrain the atrocities of the eavages. t( Queen Esther s Rock" is shown, where a half-breed woman, to avenge the death of her eon, tomahawked 14 helpless prisoners. Meet of the survivors fied from the region, and did not re turn until long after the war,when the infant settle ment was renewed by the foundation of the pre sent thriving city, just below the scene of iho massacre, which was gratefully named after two British defenders of colonial rights \Yilkos- Barrd. While these memories are recalled, tho train swiftly glides down the steep grade, tho roaches of the distant river glint and sparkle in tho sunlight, flowing through the centre of tha broad plain dotted all over with white houses like little specks, and the clustering villages that con gregate near the black coal heaps at the outcrops of the pits. We go away south in getting dov,*n the hill almost to Nanticoke, and then, turning back, pass in view of Plymouth, both having been the scenes of terrible mining disasters. There ia better timber on the hillsides than was found back alone the Lehigh, and after running among forests and coal and culm heaps, with long lines of laden coal cars, and passing squads of colliers tramping about with their lamps on their hats, we finally get down into tho bottom of the valley. Tho enormous coal output and large population of this thriving region have made it a tempting goal for the railways, although the construction of roadways over the mountains to get in has been very costly. The " two Lehighs " both run lines into it, and als6 "the "two Delawares " thoDola- ware aixd Hudson and the Delaware, Lackawepna, THE LEHIQH AND WYOMING VALLEYS. 167 and Western companies. The latter come in from the Lackawanna Valley to the northward, 1 while the former cross the mountains from tha south-east. The Erie Railway has a branch lead ing in from the north-east, while the Pennsyl vania Railroad has made a new route from the south through Nanticoke Gap. Thus six groat railways compete for the rich traffic of the- great coal basins underlying this magnificent Wyoming Valley. WiikesbarrdjWhich has about 35, COO population, covers a broad surface on the east bank of the Susquehanna, its suburbs stretching far on either hand and up on the spurs of the mountains. Its Court-house-square, surrounded by fine shops, banks, and showing every evidence of business, testifies with the neighbouring streets to the wealth and industry of the population. Row after row of fine houses, and particularly the grand esplanade of palaces fronting the Susquohanna, show how the people have dug riches out of the bowels of the earth. There are many residences here that ecpal almost the finest upon Fifth- avenue in ftew York. Yet every point of outlook, although the scenery in all directions is erau^ ia over a dismal coal- breaker, or long black: culm- lieap, or at lines of coal-laden railway cars, BO that it must become a trifle monotonous to the wealthy to be thus constantly reminded of, how they got rich. The Lehigh Valley Railroad does a brisk trade at its capacious and pretty sta tion, for the restless Americans like to spend their money in travelling, and the enterprising railway managers are always prepared to give them tho opportunity. This railway follows tha Susquohanna nearly a hundred miles northward into New York. It passos from Wilkesbarro* through a. auccessipn Q | valleys and oolliorifla, to 168 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. Pittston, nine miles above, the river meandering over ft comparatively flat valley of rich farms, com pletely underlaid with coal seams, the galleries being run long distances from the shafts, and a few of them completely under the river to the western side of the valley. Some of these mines have been worked for 30 years, so that the size of the mountains of refuse they cast out has become something portentous. At Pittston, tho two streams unite, the narrow Lackawanna flow ing into the broader Susquehanna, tho latter coming from the north-west through tho notch cut down in the mountain range. This is the most charming of the mountain views from tho floor of tho valley, tho broad lodge far up the side of the grand peak upon tho northern verge of tho notch having indicated the name of Campbell s Ledge. The railway disappears through tho narrow pass to continue its northern journey, going almost beneath thetowering peak which has been consecrated to the memory of the poet. Down upon the riverside, about half-way between. WilkesbarrtS and Pittston, is a plain granite shaft, near the village of Wyoming, which marks the scone of the massacre and tho burial-place of the collected bones of the slaughtered. It stands beside the swift-flowing river, and for a noblo background rises the great North Mountain range. XIII. THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER DELAWARE. Tne great Kittatinny mountain range, stretch ing north-east from the Lehigh Gap, is pierced by the Delaware river, 29 miles away. The two atreams that form this imDortant river rise in the THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER DELAWARE. 16& Catskills, and for more than 200 miles they flow down along the western side of the Kittatinny, seeking an outlet to the sea, uniting to form the Delaware at the north-east corner of the Keystone State. For much of this distance the Erie Rail way uses the Delaware valley in its route from New York to the West. Finally the river turns and goes through the " Water Gap " at a distance of about 80 miles in a straight line north from Philadelphia. On this great range between the Lehigh and the Delaware there are five other de pressions, the chief being the " Wind Gap," 11 miles from the Delaware. This notch is not so low as the Water Gap, and the Indians appro priately described them by giving names indicating that the wind went through one gap and the water went through the other. To this day the disap pointed farmers of the neighbourhood, when looking forrainintimesof summer drouth, berate the clouds that slip by them and are blown away through the Wind Gap. Another of the depressions not far from the Water Gap was named in honour of an ancient Indian interpreter, Moses Funda Tatamy, who was an important man in these parts, and is now called Tat s Gap," for short. In the dim past it is said the Kittatinny had no Water Gap, but dammed up the waters into a vast lake, covering North-Eastern Pennsylvania and all the adjacent country, and having its outlet at the higher level of the Wind Gap. But a mighty convulsion rent the rocks and let the waters through, draining the lake and uncovering rich lands, which became the favourite hunting grounds of the Lonni. Lenapes, who named it in their appropriate way the land of the "Minisink. * meaning " the waters have gone." The mountain 170 A VISIT TO THE STATES. chain tftus riven asunder left two abrupt peaks standing on either hand, towering l,600ffc. high. These were named in honour of the Indians, Mount Minsi from one of their tribes, and Mount Tammany from the moot renowned chieftain of the Lenni Lenapes, who wore afterwards called the Delawares. This was the great Tamanend, who, having been a " boss " Indian politician in his day, is not inappropriately reproduced aa St. Tammany, who is the spirit now presiding over the council fires of the " Sachems of Tammany Hall," who try to rule the turbulent politics of New York city. Retracing our steps down th Lehigh river to its mouth at the " Forks of the Delaware," and crossing the river to Phillipsburg in New Jersey, opposite Easton, we take a train on a branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad and ascend the upper Delaware valley. The river goes through a narrow gorge above Easton, with much pebble and shinglo in the channel over which the rapid current foams, and the valley then broadening makes long reaches that give quite a fine outlook as the rail- Way winds with the stream. Soon we pass Belvi- dere, tf the town with the beautiful view," which has a superb position and a magnificent panorama before it of the woodclad hills across the Dela ware, and the broad sweep of the river as it curves grandly around from tho north towards the east to make a peninsula upon which the town is built. Its favourite newspaper is the Bdvidcre Apollo. The slate-roofed houses are wholly embedded in foliage, and their luxuriant gardens border tha railway. Running over the farm-land and among rolling hills we soon get a broadening view far up the valley, and there, ton miles away, arc the dark sides of the Kittatinny and its Wator Gap. Tho train halts at the foot of the Penungauchung hills, THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER DELAWARE. 171 which tho modern railway builder has corrupted into "Manunka Chunk Mountain, "through which tho Lackawanna Railway comes by a tunnel, having crossed Now Jersey nearly ono hundred miles from Now York Harbour. Tho linos unito and proceed directly for tho Gap, which now stands up prominently before us, Minsi and Tam many rising far abovo tho intervening hills Tam many on the right, abruptly, and Minsi on tho left, more sloping. Between them, through the narrow notch making the Gap, can bo seen the dim out- lino of tho Pocono mountain range far to the northward. Tho road is hewn out of the hill-side above the river level, and just below tho Gap it crosses to tho Pennsylvania chore. Then can be seen just behind, and partly closing tho Gap, a lower peak, called tho Blockhead Mountain. Soon the train roaches the foot of Minsi, and turning with the river suddenly to the left it enters tho Gap, the line closely hugging tho edge of tho narrow stream that liars broken tho route through. The precipitous mountains rise high above us, rind in fact far higher and with more stupendous cliffs than tho range shows at either the Lohirfh or tho Schuylkill Gap. The enormous peaks seem almost ready to topple ovor. The railway swings grandly around to tho left, and then to the right^ through the gorgo, with vast masses of rock far above aii d almost overhanging the line. In a few minutes we are through, and rounding tho protruding Blockhead Mountain are at the station, tho length of tho pass being about two miles. Then tho passengers are dragged in wagons up a stoop zig zag road, through thick woods, on the highway loading to Tat s Gap. Successive lodges or geo logical torrr.cer, mark tho face of Minsi, r.nrl upon these are the hotels and boardirig-hbus^s, for tho Water Gao is a noted saininor reaort. After a 172 A VISIT TO THE STATES. crooked half mile and an ascent of aDout 400ft. the journey is finished. From the hotel piazza at this elevation of 400ft., with the cool morning air gently blowing from the northward across the land of the Minisink, there is a charming view of this remarkable formation of nature. Opposite, on the New Jersey shore, is elevated the bold and lofty form of Mount Tam many, and to the southward spreads Mount Minsi, the river forcing a narrow way between them, although it runs far below, and is so covered in by the trees and projecting cliffs that it cannot be Been. Down in the valley the passing trains roll along, and they can be traced upon the black lines of rails far away to the north-west as they move up the valley of a little stream known as Brod- head s Creek, the Brodhead family being the great people hereabout. The Delaware river comes ab ruptly around the projecting point of a mountain from the north-east. The hunting grounds of the Minisink are spread all across the view to the northward, a broad and luxuriant expanse of rich and rolling farm-lands, crossed bythe lower ranges of the Fox and Shawnee Hills, through which the creek comes by a miniature gap. The Pocono Mountains bound the Minisink in gray and misty outline at the horizon. Turning to the south ward, the huge mountains bordering the Water Gap, barely a mile from us, close the view abruptly, excepting where the Delaware goes around its graceful curve through the narrow gorge and is soon lost behind the intervening cliffs. These are part of a precipitous but com paratively low mountain jutting out in front o" Tammany, which prevents seeing the lower por tion of the Gap, and this tantalizing obstruction has caused the stupid mountain which has thus put itself in the way to be called the Blockhead THE VALLEY OP THE TTPtER DELAWARE. t.73 Mountain. With a companion cliff on the other Bide it makes the entrance gateway of the pasaj Their sides are densely wooded, and between them the narrow stream curves prettily to the eastward. Minsi, also densely wooded, rising just below, like the curved side of a great basin, closes in the view, while the tall and abrupt wall of Tammany on trie other side rises in bluish haze behind the smaller Blockhead in front. Between the two great mountains is the Gap, through which the river has broken its way to get to the eea narrow, contracted, and apparently just opening like a pair of sliding doors. This extra ordinary formation is upon such a stupendous scale that everything else seems dwarfed. Gazing upon the grand sight as the first beams from the sun have managed to get down and make a rip pling silver streak upon the river above the pass, while the gentle air from over the Minisink country breathes a solace, we lean back in the capacious armchairs on the broad piazza, and through the openings in the waving foliage arink in the glorious scene. Hero for fagged-out human nature is a balmy restorative, and the sight over blue hills and placid waters that gives a perfect rest. Such is the Water Gap as soon from Sunset- hill. But this romantic region cannot be gazed at, no matter how beautiful, too long before break fast. The mountain air while restful is an appe tizer. After the necessary fortification of a good meal, wo clamber down the hill by steep and wind ing paths and over rustic bridges, beside prettyl bits of shrubbery and flowers and little waterfalls^ and embark upon a tiny steamboat for a voyage down the Delaware through the Gap. The boat takes us out upon the narrow river at the bottom of an immense basin, with the towering m 174 A VISIT TO THE STATES. encompassing us, their green foliage clinging to the crags. We look back at Sunset-hill with the great hotels built upon its ledges one above the other, the upper cue, which wo have just left, eceraing almost suspended from the sky, it stands eo high above us. To the south ward, the inoun- tain.-s forming the gigantic basin, at the bottom of which wo are floating, raise their heads far highor, the almost perpendicular dill s surmounted by masses of trees. Thcso cliffs form a wall of dark rod sandstone, rent into a horizontal chasm, look ing not unlike tho open mouth of somo monster, and therefore called the " Dragon s Jaw." Far abovo, perched on an eminence, is a foliage-covered arbour. This is the " Lover s Leap," upon " "Winonr/s Cliff," elevated moro than 4COt. abovo the river. To tho eastward,; further around tho basin, a wooded ravine* divides tho cliff from the side of Mount Minsi, v.-hii.-h grandly rises far above. Here,,, cri the il Promontory," CCOft. above tho river, ia another arbour, and about ICOft. highor up, but further back from tho precipitous faco of the mountain, a third arbour rises amid the foliage on top of " Prospect Ilock." Tho river seems very Harrow, tlio almost perpendicular mountain-sides coming down to the water s edge, and in their vastnecs dwarfing all below. Tho little steamboat,. going down stream, heads for Mount Minsi, thafc ecems to close tho passage through which it flows., standing there liko an obciructivo wall as we round tlio end of Blockhead Mountain. Grandly the? gorge swoops around to the loft as we glide along. the curvin lines of rails at the foot of Minsi g in tho sunlight. Soon passing tho point of tho Blockhead, we BOO tho towering form of Tammany behind it, tho Gap, liko a little notch iJut.in tho ran^-e-j opening its. eliding sides THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER DELAWARE. 175 and further down, as the steamboat moves. Tho beetling crags rising far above chow the rocky upheaval that made this great mountain chain,, and on both sides of the gorge the range rises higher and higher as wo enter the Gap. Having rounded the eastern curve, we glide between tho Blockhead and Minsi, and now steer direct for the face of Tammany, as the river begins its second grand carve through the Gap, this time reversing 1 the movement and flowing towards the south; around tho base of Minci. Tho narrow stream, sharply bend.j to tho right as wo enter the pass, which is not SCO yards wide, while directly in front Tammany rises almost perpendicularly to nearly twice that height. The rocks on either hand, as we go between them, look as if tho fissure had been rent by a sudden convulsion, and tho whistle is sounded to show tho superb echo reverberating from one side to the other in the deep chasm. A little further and the Gap suddenly ends, for the face of the Kittatinny, south of tho pass, rises almost abruptly from a comparatively level plain, where low rocky ridges so cover the view of tho water that it is almost impossible to discern the routo- taken by tho river in flowing away. Such a wonderful place as this, within a few hours railway journey from the populous cities of tho coast, has naturally become a popular resort. There are 30 or 40 hotels and boarding-houses within a small circuit around the Water Gap, and tho earlier visitors formed associations that mado roads and footpaths to display the beauties of the adjacent mountains. Tho earliest of those was jthe " Honourable Corps of Sappers and Miners," organized upon tho truly American basis of giving every man an oiiico. This body of axemen and was composed of loading New Y oik 176 A VISIT TO THE STATES. and Philadelphia people, -who had about 100 officials of various grades of dignity to command a solitary individual who was known us the " High Private. " Then came the- u Minsi Pioneers," but after several vows of industrious labours they fell into ways of idleness, and now the landlord^ chiefly look after the roadmaking. Among them all, however, convenient paths have been laid out to develop the beauties of this extraordinary gorge. The romantic " Sylvan Way " is laid out along the \rild banks of the Calaeno Creek a name which was made by three of the roadmakers, each contributing a syllable. The path leads from the steamboat landing up the creek to the level of the hotol at 400ft. elevation, where it is dammed into the u Lakelet" for a water reservoir a pretty sheet of water surrounded by rocks and shrubbery. The " Sylvan Way" then leads further up the bank of the little stream, a rough and rocky path way, over rustic stairways, among the laurels, through wild woods, past cascades and rapids, all given romantic names, and finall}* away from the stream and out towards the face of the mountain, where it runs into another route known as the " True Ridge Path." This is the most travelled route of the Gap, its entrance being an arbour erected by the " Minai Pioneers," who have, covered it with rustic emblems, with the motto, Invcniam viam aid faciam. It is a pleasant path along the face of the mountain, with frequent views through the troes out over the magnificent gorge. The travellers who have gone this way have numerously cut their names on woodwork, hand-rails, stairways, and bridges along the path. It loads steadily upward by bridges, flights of wooden or stone stops, and inclined and tortuous ways, until we come out at the arbour perched " \Vinona s Cliff." from which there U. % THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER DELAWARE. 177 rand outlook over the river, the mountains, and the valley, far away to the northward. The thrilling story of Winona is the favourite tradition of the Water Gap. This beautiful maiden was the beloved and only daughter of the noble chieftain Wissinoming, who reigned over the .Minisink more than two centuries ago. The Dutch at that time penetrated into this region from New- York, and Hondrick Van Allen came along, upon an alleged mission from the Holland Government, to look after a copper mine, although, according to the story, his time seemed chiefly occupied by ; going out rowing and fishing with the charming Winonain a little red canoe. Soon afterwards Wis- Binoming died, and, his sonManatamany becoming chief, a rival Indian tribe essayod to defeat the youngman, but after several trials found it could not be done. These contests, however, embroiled the Indians with the whites, whereupon the fair AVinona, exerting her qualities as a diplomatist, restored peace. Then came the English conquest of the Dutch at Kew York, when orders were sud denly sent Hendrick to return to Amsterdam. He liesitated about breaking the sad news to Winona, but finally, taking her up upon the cliff, he read her the fatal letter. The effect was startling. The story says that, " standing firm and erect as the forest oak, displaying the heroism of her noble ancestry," she made an impassioned speech and " then disappeared. Hondrick ran to the cliff ; caught her in his arms ; they reeled on the precipice ; and ." Such is the story of the " Lover s Leap " from " Winona e Cliff," and the reader can imagine them dashed to pieces in the deep gorge beneath. The arbour stands where the lovera made the leap, and behind it a booth dispenses refreshing liquids to the less despairing lovers of to-day, who may get a whplesomo.. thirst 178 A VISIT TO THE STATES. by climbing those steep mountain sides. Wo can look out far away over tho Minisink and trace the .Delaware for miles cs it comes down in the flat land past a scries of islands towards the Gap. Tha narrow river below us curves around in front, first to the left and then to tho right, between the great mountains. Hero can be seen to perfection the effect of the mighty convulsion that has let the river through tho Kittatinny. Further up the mountain side the path goes on, and. winding around a grand ravine, comes out at tho "Promon tory," which is on Mount Minsi, and so per pendicularly above the water that if so inclined one could jump down into it. Another splendid view stretches far over the hills to the distant Pocono Mountains. The cloud shadows creep along tho dark sides of Mount Tammany, which looks like a vast recumbont elephant, its peaks towering above us, an almost unexplored region. The path then leads still higher over the rough eandstono to the " Prospect iteck," and finally, a mile further, to the " Summit." This 13 much higher, but its views lack tho superb beauties of tho transcendent scene from tho less elevated spots that overlook the Gap, although the summit displays an outlook over many milea of country on both sides of the great range. The gem of tho Water Gap is the Eureka Glen." High up on the mountain side spouts out tho " Hunter s Spring," and tho stream from it rushes down a precipitous gorge, wild beyond description, the overhanging trees shutting out all rays of the sun, so that the growth of mosses and ferns is most beautiful. Occasionally tho piles of moss-covored rocks almost cohcoal tho stream flowing beneath them, which makes a succes sion of cascades for over a thousand foot down the ravino until it darts under the railroad and THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER DELAWARE. 179 into the river. The p]en is entered from the u True Ridge Path " "at" the top. The broad Footpath down it has long rustic stairways and bridges so placed as to display all the beauties of the glen, its stream tumbling swiftly over tho moss-grown rocks and plunging down the cascades. At times the path crosses the wild gorge, which is the most enchanting of the wonders of the Gap. It is abrupt in its descent, BO that tho route descends lengthened stairways and winds in full view far below, as you look through the treea down the wild, rough, and rock-lined fissure. The stream dashes over its largest waterfall into the t( Grotto," where tho browristone rocks stand up in tho form of a capacious amphitheatre, and then it reaches " Rebecca s Bath," a little water-basin, BO naturally formed that it looks as if some onehad placed it just by the exit of the glen at the river, Alongside this bath, with winding steps leading tho path into it, is the most attractive arbour at the Gap, a pleasant placo to sit under the rustic roof and watch the waters run over the edge of the basin and disappear under a little bridge. From Eureka Glen paths lead along the face of the Giant s Cliff, hundreds of feet above the roadway far below, where caves are hollowed out, and then right into the Dragon s Jaw, where rough rocks on the cuter edge make teeth and fangs. Vigorous scrambling is necessary,buttho exercise is healthy, and no one can undertake the task without feeling the exhilaration. Above the Water Gap, stretching along the western base of thcKittatinny, is tho pretty valley of Cherry Creole, a land which tho local chronicle! describes as " full of dimpling hills and fine orchards, among which stalwart men livo to a ripe old ago upon tlio purest apple whisky." There are Dlonty of rocks, and tho country foils live in old- 180 A VISIT TO THE STATES. time log and plaster houses. Slate factories are a prolific industry, and the sign-posts on the high way along the valley generally point to the Water Gap one way and the Wind Gap the other way. Beyond this, across the range of the Fox Hills, is. the Pocono Valley, with the chief town of this region of the Minisink spread along its bottom lands, Stroudsburg,upon the Pocono Crook, with the lofty Pocono Mountain range rising in the dis tance behind it. This is a comfortable-looking place, with rows of shade trees fronting the main ptreet along the broad gardens that surround the cosy residences. Many of the people are slato- rnakors and tanners, both being profitable indus tries throughout this region. Like so many por tions of the States, religious persecutions in Europe sent the earliest settlers to the Upper Delaware. Nicolas Depui, a Huguenot, was the first European at the Water Gap, coining here in 1725, and living in friendliness with the Indians. Then three brothers La Bar, more refugees from French religious persecution, desiring to be soli tary, built a cabin below the Gap, and plodded through the gorge to get their wheat ground at Depui s little mill in the valley above. They married Dutch wives, but at the opening of the present century, the country getting too crowded for them, one of the brothers emigrated to the frontier, then in Ohio, to get more room. When he reached his 08th year lie had the misfortune to lose his wife, and feeling lonely out on the Ohio frontier, in his 100th year he married a second svife, and afterwards lived to the sturdy age of 105. This venerable pioneer loft a son at the Water Gap who became the most famous American centenarian of his time George La Bar, a vigor ous woodchopper almost to the day of his death, who died at the age of 107 in 1870. His brother FROM THE DELAWARE TO THE CHESAPEAKE. 18l lived beyond 9S,andhis son,who was aged 21 when he married a wife aged lo, still lives there with her, both being vigorous octogenarians. Such is the longevity induced by the wholesome air of these marvellous mountains. When Stephen Girard came to America he had a companion, Antoine Dutot, who wandered to the Water Gap, founded its little village that has grown into such a popular resort, opened the first road through the gorge in 1800, and then, when his life had ripened for the harvest, selected his own grave on Sunset-hill, where he was buried, solitary and alone, at a ripe old age, like all the otners. His original highway is now the railway route through the Gap. Such is the lecord of this great wonder of nature, the gorge the Delaware river has broken through the mighty Kittatinny ranee to get its route to the oceao. . FROM THE DELAWARE TO THE CHESAPEAKE. Having digressed upon our brief excursion among the Alleghanies, we will resume the jour ney along the lowlands towards the National capital. South-westward from Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Railroad s southern line follows the bank of the Delaware river. It crosses the Schuylkill and quickly takes the traveller through the suburbs and past a region of villas and market gardens that for miles make an almost continuous hamlet. Many streams are crossed that flow into the Delaware and have upon their banks the re mains of ancient mills whose wheels their waters turned. Darby Creek provides the country with 182 A VISIT TO THE STATES. whetstones, and the granites of its neighbourhood built tho Delaware Brcakivator. Bolow this is the region of earlieBt settlement upon tho Delaware, where the Swedes came years beforePenn s arrival. They Bottled at Wilmington, and later at Upland, now tho flourishing city or Chester, and it was hero that Penn first landed in 1C2, prior to tho settlement of Philadelphia. This is a busy manu facturing town, and was a centre of the iron ship building industry while John Roach lived. His extensive shipyards, spreading along tho river in tho southern part of the town, have recently been almost dcscitod, having next to nothing to do. John Roach, who came from Ireland to New York when a boy, penniless and friendless, became the most noted American shipbuilder of his time, but met with foes and misfortune, the weight of his ill-fortune finally sinking him into the grave. The railway beyond Chester" is laid closely to tho river over tho level land, and 15 miles from Phila delphia crosses the boundary into the " Diamond {State " of little Delaware. Then it diverges from tho river towards tho south-west, and, crossing the Brandywine croek, enters Wiljningtpj}. This pic turesque stream, which drains ono of tho most prolilic agricultural regions of Pennsylvania the Chester Valley a land of dairy farms and good butter, comes over falls and down rapids in reach ing Wilmington through a series of hills that form a fino background for the city. Delaware is tho smallest State of tho American Union, and yot among tho most powerful, becauso always represented by leading statesmen. \Vil- mington is the homo of Bayard, the American Secretary of State. It has 60,000 inhabitants, and is the seat of extensive manufactures, while within its borders is the .small rocky promontory UDOH FK03I THE DELAWARE TO THE CHESAPEAKE. 183 which the first Swedish colony in America landed in 1633, making tho first permanent European settlement in tho Valley of tho Delaware. Their little old church still stands alongside the railway in a yard filled with time-worn gravestones. The lino funs for a long distance past tho Wilmington shipyards, railway-car factories, and mills of all kinds in full operation, tho city stretching far up the slopes of the hills to tho westward. Then the train moves out of tho city and across tho level land towards tho head of Chesapeake Bay. A short distance off. is the parallel lino of the Balti more and Ohio Railway, just completed as a link in tho route of that company towards Kcw York. Tho country is uninteresting ; a few scatter od vil lages are passed ; and tho boundary is quickly crossed from Delaware into Maryland, which is entered in Cecil county, enclosing tho head waters of Chesapeake Bay. The road crosses its north east tributary, and passes Elkton at the head of Elk river, and, gradually curving around its head waters, comes to the Susquehanna river, 60 miles from Philadelphia. Tho Cnesapoako is the greatest inlet in tho Atlantic coast of tho States, extend ing over 200 miles up into the land, with a breadth varying from four to 40 miles, and tho largest ships can ascend almost to the mouth of the Susquo- hanna, which is its chief tributary, although other very largfe rivers, liko tho Potomac and tho James, also now into it. This bay is remarkable for the great number of its arms or estuaries, some serving as outlets for rivers, while others are fed by no permanent streams, but are merely indentations. It is the favourite resort of the sportsman, and its. oysters, fish, and game have wide celebrity. Tho Busquohanna river, upon which wo recently looked as it flowed through the beautiful Wyoming valley, is crossed by the Pennsylvania Railway just abpva 1S4 A VISIT TO THE STATES. its mouth upon a long and costly iron bridge. Above, the broad river winds between its wooded shores, and the bridge of the other railway is thrown across, a light truss upon granite piers, while below is the wide expanse of the bay, and across it the hazy " Eastern Shore," which is a land of peaches and market and fruit gardens for the northern cities. Beyond the Susquehanna there is little population, and [the flat land is varied with the great arms of the bay, wide, sluggish, and shallow, which are crossed on long trestle bridges. These Maryland rivers are not remark able for either length or scenery, but they make it all up in their width ; and, having crossed seve- .ral of them, the line reaches Baltimore, and turns westward to pass around and under the city. It goes through the northern and western suburbs by a series of tunnels, giving quick and easy transit, on the way to Washington. The Pennsylvania Company expended over one million sterling in making this line through Baltimore, one of the tunnels being nearly a mile and a-half long. In a narrow opening among the hills on the northern edge of the city, where a small but rapid stream known as Jones s Falls comes down through a ravine, the train halts under North Charles-street in the Baltimore Station. Here are in full view the fine buildings of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, off to the southward, one of the best charities of .the " Monumental City." Baltimore is the chief city of Maryland and the great port of Chesapeake Bay. The spreading arms of the Patapsco river provide an ample har bour, their irregular shores making plenty of dock room, and the two great railways giving it much trade. Its foreign traffic usually exceeds that of Philadelphia, there being profitable steam lines to Europe and^ a_long the coasts. Huge elevators JTROM THE DELAWARE TO THE CHESAPEAKE. 185 at Canton and Locust Point, always surrounded fey shipping, show the extent of the corn trade brought from the Far West for transit abroad. From the harbour, long and narrow docks, and also the " Basin," extend up into the city, and across the heads of them is Pratt-street. This highway along the docks is famous as the scene of the first bloodshed of the American Civil War. The Northern troops, hastily summoned to Wash ington, were marching through the city from one railway station to the other, on April 19, 1861, when the Baltimore mob of ll Plug Ugiies," who eyrapathized with the South, and were congregated about the docks, attacked them on Pratt-street. Eleven were killed and 26 wounded in the riot, which led to the adoption of energetic measures to maintain Government authority in Baltimore. Northward, some distance from. Pratt-street, is the chief avenue of the city, Baltimore-street ; bor dered by very fine buildings and shops. The creek called Jones s Falls, which comes down a deep valley from the northward, divides the city into two almost equal sections, and in the lower part it is walled in, with an avenue on either side. Colonel David Jones, who was the original white inhabitant of the north side of Baltimore Harbour, gave this stream its name more than 200 years ago, before any one expected even a village to be located there. The settlement afterwards began to the eastward of the creek, and it was known as Jonestown, while Baltimore was not started until 1730, when it was laid out some distance westward of the creek and around the head, of the " Basin," or inner harbour, the plan covering 60 acres. This was then called Newtown, as the other (Jones town) was popularly termed Oldtown, but they subsequently became united and lost their dis tinctive names in Baltimore, thus designated in 186 A VISIT TO THE STATES. honour of Cocilius Calverfe, Lord Baltimore. The city, which, in 1752, had about 200 people, now numbers 400.000, and has spread for miles ori all Bides of tho capacious harbour at the head of tho estuaries of tho Patapsco. The general appearance of the city is picturesque. It is laid out according to tho rectangular plan of nioiio American towns, upon an undulating sur face, and with streets of good width. The build ings show wealth and much comfort, there being an aspect of cheerful elegance throughout the resi dential portion that is very attractive. Tho many hills incline either to Jones s Falls or towards tho harbour, so that tho summer storms often mako eudden freshets, and, in fact, tho whole of lower Baltimore seems in a state of constant preparation for overflows, elaborate systems of tall stepping- stones being provided where the rainstorms are in tho habit of making temporary torrents of tho highways. Tho popular- title of tho " Monu mental (Jity " was given to Baltimore bocuufco it was the iirst of tho American towns that had lino monuments, and the name clings to it, although elaborate shafts are now seen in many other parts of the States. The State of Maryland at tho beginning o f the present century erected a fmo monument to Washington, on Charles-street, which rises 19oft., a Doric shaft of white marble, Burmountod by his statue, and standing upon a base oUft. square . This magnificent monument is erected in a broadened avenue at the summit of a hill, having an inclined and terraced walk leading up to it, with a fountain in front, the whole being surrounded by taeteful lawns and flower gardtns. It makes a centre for Mount Vernon-place, which contains the finest collection of buildings in Balti more, giving a scene essential ly Parisian. Here is the marble building of the Peabody Instituto t . PROM THE DELAWARE TO THE CHESAPEAKE. 187 which was George Peabody s first benefaction to his countrymen ; and hero haa been built a palace by Robert Garrett, of the Ealtimore and Ohio Rail- road, which lias just been completed, and eclipses in its elaborate and ccstly interior decorations even the Vanderbilt palaces in Now York. E ail- road management as pursued by Mr. Garrett s father produced sin enormous fortune, which has made the son the wealthiest man in Maryland. The t( Battle Monument" of Baltimore is located in Monument-square, on Calvert-street, and ia moro modest than the other, a marble shaft 53ft. high. It marks the British invasion of 1814, and commemorates the men of Baltimore who fell in battle just outside the city, when the British fleet shelled the town and the land forces marched from Elk River to Washington and burnt the national Capitol. There are several other monu ments of less pretensions, co that the name given Baltimore in popular parlance is well deserved. The chief building of this attractive city is the City Hall, a Renaissance marble structure, cover ing an entire block, and costing 400,000. Its splendid domo rises 2COft., and gives si magnifi cent view over -city and harbour. The Mount Vernon Methodist Church, of green stone, with buff and red facings and polished columns of Aberdeen granite, is the finest church, although the First Presbyterian Church near by is regarded as the most elaborate specimen of Lancet-Gothic architecture in the country, its spire rising 2G8ft. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is a granite church of some pretensions, containing paintings pre sented by Louis XVI. and Charles X. of France. There are many other sacred edifices of architec tural merit scattered about Baltimore. Its greatest charities are the Johns- Hopkins Hospital pnd the Joluis Hopkins University, the 188 A VISIT TO THE STATES. with which they are endowed reaching 1,500,000. The two prominent Baltimore names are John W. Garrett, tho railway manage r to whom I have above referred, and Johns Hopkins, a shrewd and penurious merchant, whom Garrett persuaded to make these princely endowments, much of his for tune being invested in Baltimore and Ohio Rail road shares. His hospital, on which 500,000 has been expended, stands upon a tract of 13 acres ? *nd its trustees declare it to be the largest and most elaborate institution of the kind in tho world. It is an adjunct to the Medical Depart ment of his University. Tho greatest institution of Baltimore is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, giving it direct railway communication with the Mississippi Valley. It was the first started of the peat American trunk railways, its origin dating back to 1826, when the movement for the charter- began, which was granted the next year by the Maryland Legislature. It is related that when the charter, granting most comprehensive powers, was being read in that body one of the law makers interrupted with, " Stop, man, you are asking more than the Lord s Prayer. " The reply was that it was all necessary, and the more asked the more would be secured. The interrupter, being convinced, responded, "Right, man; go on." The corner stone of the railway was laid July 4, 1828, beginning the route across the Allcghanies from Baltimore to the Ohio river. It now has its ex tensive terminals at Locust Point, its great shops at Mount Clare, and its lines reaching both north and west from Baltimore. . . The park of the " Monumental City " is Druid- hill, in the northern suburbs, a pleasure ground] of over COO acres. To reach it Eutaw-streefr broadens into Eutaw-place, where rows of stately brick. dwelling border the wide avenue, which haa FROM THE DELAWARE TO THE CHESAPEAKE. 180 gardens in the centre ornamented with flowers and tiled footwalks. These gradually change into a region of elegant villas, and the park is finally entered by a stately gateway. It has an undu lating surface of woodland and meadow, and the mansion and family burial-ground of its former owner are within its borders, the latter masked by trees. The entrance is by an avenue lined on either hand with long rows of flower vases stand ing on high pedestals, and laid out alongside Druid Lake, the chief water reservoir of the city. About a hundred yards within the gateway the avenue divides, and the backward view through the rows of vases to the entrance is charming. Imme diately one gets among thick foliage, and apparently far away from the city, the park not being over wrought by art, but mainly left in its natural con dition. The grand old trees are there in multi tudes, with broad stretches of lawns, rolling meadows, with smooth-cut grass and sturdy oaks on the hillsides, making a scene decidedly English. Numerous little lakes add to the beauty, arid every shady nook is liberally supplied with com fortable benches. The mansion-houso occupies a commanding position in the centre of the park, and fronting it is a wide concourse. There has here been produced at little cost one of the most beautiful park effects ever made. From the epacious piazzas the visitor has an outlook over the concourse, and beyond the sloping lawns and a magnificent fountain to a distant wood of oaks, through which has been cut a narrow vista across the Druid Lake to the park entrance, half a mile away. The land rir es on the northern side of the park to Prospect-hill, which overlooks the suburb of Woodberry, nestling in the valley formed by Jones s Falls, with hills rising beyond and many country houses, In tho bottom of .this. 190 A VISIT TO THE STATES. valley, and taking advantage of the fissure it makes, the jSorthorn Central Kail way runs from Baltimore northward into Pennsylvania, ulti mately reaching the Susquchamia river and follow ing its bunks up to 1 s * cw York State and Leko Ontario. From this hilltop there is a Eupcrb view all around the horizon and eastward for miles beyond the harbour. Much of the higher grounds in this beautiful park arc used for water reservoirs. The city has the advantage of receiving its supply by gravitation from the Gunpowder river to the north ward, where a lake has been formed, and tho water, which is of the purest, is then brought through a tunnel for seven miles to the reservoirs. There are a succession of these Lakes Montcbcllo and Roland, Druid Lake, and tho lowest level on Mount Royal nearer tho city. A look-out tower has been built 011 tho terrace making the southern border of Druid Lake, and this gives another pretty view across tho city and harbour. At our loot are tho railways in the Jones s Falls ravine,; while all along between us and the city, skirting under the side of Mount Royal, are bored the suc cession of tunnels making the Pennsylvania Rail way route through Baltimore to Washington. Leaving the park by a tastefully-constructed en trance on this side, wo go down into tho ravine, cress the railways and the creek, and, passing through an attractive residential section, ascend: tho other side of tho valley to Greonmovnt Come* tery. lated, Here is buri< Patterson Bonaparte, the discarded wife of Jerome, the King of Westphalia, her checkered history being one of Baltimore s favourite romances. Hero also Brutus Booth, the tracediaru and. bis THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL^ 191 family. A granite monument on a brownstone base surmounts the grave of his eon, John Wilkesl Booth, who was the murderer of President Lin-! coin. The most impressive sight presented by; Baltimore, however, is its fort a small but! strong work, dovrn in the harbour, on the extreme^ end of Locust Point, beyond the huge railway elevators, on a low-lying esplanade with green banks sloping almost to the water. It was the position of this fort, thoroughly controlling thos city, that held Baltimore during the early move ments of the Civil War, and maintained the road from the North to Washington. Its greatest memory, however, and by the association pro bably the greatest celebrity that Baltimore enjoys, comes from the .flag on the staff, now quietly waving over its parapets. The British made a fierce bombardment of this old fort in 1814 when they menaced Baltimore, and the flag waved from the staff unharmed throughout the night, an in terested spectator of the combat being a Balti- piorean, Francis Scott Key,, who was a prisoner en ouo ot the vessels oi the bombarding fleet. Iri- epired by the scene, and by the fact that the flag withstood the bombardment, Key composed the American patriotic anthem of " The Star-Spangled Banner," which has carried everywhere the fame of the town, its fort, and the flowery flag. XV .THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. From the city of Baltimore to the American National Capital of Washington the distance ia barely forty miles, and is quickly travelled by rapid railway trains on both the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio lines. The former is known here. as the Baltimore and Potomac Rail-? 192 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. way.a comparatively new road running south-west ward from Baltimore beyond the great tunnels bored under its suburbs, and in the outskirts of the city being carried under the rival line. The train moves Bwiftly through a hilly region and by a winding route, circling about the rolling country to seek the easier gradients, but presenting little that is interesting. About half-way between the cities a branch line goes off eastward down to the shore of Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis, the quaint and quiet capital of the State of Maryland, standing in a beautiful situation on the Severn river, and formerly a seaport of pretension until eclipsed by Baltimore. As the greater city was given the name of Lord Baltimore, so this was originally called Anne Arundel, in honour of Lady Balti more, and that is still the name of its county, although the town came to be finally known aa Annapolis, from Queen Anne, who gave it valu able presents. It is now best known as the seat of the United States Naval Academy, which has a fine establishment there. Our railway passing Annapolis Junction, soon approaches Wash ington from the north-east, and long before the city is reached there can be seen its greatest landmark, the white dome of the Capitol building upon its elevated location on Capitol-hill, rising high above the surrounding region, while appa rently alongside is the slender and delicate shaft of the Washington Monument. As we gradually approach, the railway circles around the eastern Bide of the city, and this movement of the train makes the monument apparently pass behind the Capitol from the right hand to the loft. Wo cross the Anacostia^or eastern , branch^of . the JPotpmag THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 133 river, and skirt along tho sloping hillside o the Congressional Cemetery, where many states men are interred, and then passing the Washington Navy Yard, with its ship-houses and shops, dart through a tunnel under the projecting spur of Capitol-hill into the heart of the cityj The train moves through several of the very wide streets and finally runs into the station, where the traveller receives a warm, welcome from a vocifer ous tribe of Negro hackmen and porters, for tha " coloured population " are numerous and do most of the work and have much to say in Wash ington. The railway station is an ornamental brick building on Sixth-street, near Pennsylvania- avenue, and is noted as the place where the late President Garfield was shot by the assassin Guiteau. The President had just entered the waiting room to pass through to the train when the assassin, quickly following him in from tha street, shot him from behind. A small star set in the floor marks where Garfield fell, and a tablet on the wall above records the name of James Abranx Garfield and the date of the crime, July 2, 1881. This was the second assassinated American Presi dent, killed by a mad office-seeker, as the first one,, Lincoln, had been by a mad tragedian, the minds of both murderers being unbalanced by the events of their time. The city of Washington ^ s a remarkable place.. In other countries the capital is usually the chief city, but it is not so in the States. Washington has no manufactures and barely any commerce, and while the population approximates to 200,000, yet the people are so largely made up of officials and civil servants of various grades, with the negro element fulfilling domestic duties, that were the Government removed .with all whp belong to o? depend upon it there wonlcl 194 A VISIT TO THE STATES. be little leit. There are at least 30,OcO army and &avy officers and civil servants constantly in fVashington,and these, with their families, arc the larger part of the inhabitants. The city has been lesigned upon a very grand plan, which is only Dartially carried out. It is made up of vast public buildings, parks and squares, circles and triangles, and " reservations" of open spaces, with a most liberal admixture of hotels, lodging-houses, and restaurants. In recent years, in the newer por tions, there have been added many fine dwellings by public men, it having become more and more the habit of theleadingMinisters and Congressmen to build and occupy their own homes. The ori ginal ground plan of the city was ambitious, and laid out upon an extensive undulating plateau bordered by rolling hills to the north and west, fcnd sloping down towards the Potomac river. The Indians called the place Conocochoaguo, meaning the " roaring water," from a rapid brook running through it. The stream which laved the foot of Capitol-hill was after wards very properly named the Tiber, but it has since degenerated into a sewer. Tho loalouRy among the colonies originally forming the United States was so strongly developed at their first capital at Philadelphia that questions !>{; locality almost disrupted the Union. To euro the difficulty the decision was made that an en tirely now site for the capital should be chosen in ;ho centre of tho nation, where no city then existed, and the bank of the Potomac river was selected, mainly through the agency of General Washington, who lived at Mount Vernon, a short Distance below. Under his guidance the plan of ihe city was made by Andrew Ellicott, a promi nent surveyor of the time, and it was called the l City, \ but. Congress change^ this.to, "the THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 105 cityof Washington." The corner-stone of the Capi tol was laid in 1703, although the Government was not removed from Philadelphia until 1800. The in tention was to secure a location that would be purely a capital, free from the control or influence of State or city government of any kind, or under awe of an unruly populace. This plan is so effec tively carried out that Washington to-day is ruled only (and with a really despotic power) by the President and Congress, the immediate population neither choosing nor having any voice in their government, which is vested in a commission whom the President appoints. So generous is the treat ment, however, that this system is gladly accepted, for, besides the enormous expenditures made for government purposes and upon the numerous public buildings, and the extensive and well-kept grounds, the National Exchequer also contributes one-half the necessary money for carrying on the actual city government itself. This latter expen diture, which is about 800,000 annually, is pro vided, one-half by the nation and the remainder by tho local ratepayers. Washington and Ellicott laid out their capital city upon a plan five miles long and three miles broad. They expected that a vast metropolis would soon grow up, but in practice only a compa ratively small portion has yet boon built upon, and this is hardly located where they intended the chief part of the new city to be. This surface, under a recent "boom" in building operations, is rapidly extending. They took tho plateau of Capitol-hill for their centre, and made a plan arranged accord ing to tho cardinal points of the compass, with wide streets stretching north, south, east, and west, and crossing at right angles, and wider avenues laid diagonally. No man s name was used for any ot them, as this might cause jealousy. 196 A VISIT TO THE STATES. BO the streets were numbered and lettered, and the avenues named after States. This plan of Washington has been significantly described as * the city of Philadelphia griddled across the city of Versailles." The front of the Capitol was made upon the elevated plateau of the hill facing the east, and their town was to have been mainly located upon this plateau in front of it. Behind the Capitol, on its western side, the brow of the hill descended sharply, and here they laid out a broad and open Mall, westward over the lower ground, down to the bank of the Potomac river. Off towards the north-west, at the end of one of the wide diagonal avenues, they located the Exe cutive Mansion, witli its park and gardens stretch ing southward to the river, and almost joinirg the Mall there at a right angle. Thus the city was designed to be in an elevated and salubrious situation, with the President secluded in a com fortable retreat with ample grounds nearly a mile and a half away in the rural district. But such is the unexpected outcome of most things, and the perversity of human nature, that the people when they came here would not build the original town on Capitol-hill, but they flocked to the lower ground and persisted in settling along and ad jacent to the broad avenue between the Capitol and the Executive mansion ; and there and beyond the latter to the westward and northward is the greater part of the Washington of to-day. There are thus two widely-separated Government establishments joined by this avenue, the Capitol where Congress rules and the chief Department buildings which surround the President s mansion, while the Pennsylvania-avenue between them haa become the chief" street of the modern city. The Capitol, upon which three millions sterling have been expended, and . which is Btill . costing *THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 197 large sums for the completion of its extensive marble terraces and ornamentation, is the chief building of Washington, and,\vith the exception of the City-hall at Philadelphia, is the largest struc ture on the continent, covering nearly four acres. Its commanding position on the brow* of Capitol- hill adds to its impressive beauty, for there are few f^ades in the world that are more magnificent than the broad western front of this grand Repub lican palace, stretching over 7EOft. along the top of this elevation, which rises sharply from the lower ground until it reaches an altitude of 90ft. above the Potomac, while the enor mous dome rears its- lofty lantern, ball, and Liberty Statue to the height of about 450ft. The white marble gleams in the sunlight and fitly closes the view along the great avenues which radiate from it as a common centre. The Ameri cans .are proud of their Capitol, which in its own growth has plainly shown the rapid expansion of the country, for it has had to be extended to ac commodate the increasing Congress. The original Capitol, of which General Washington laid the corner-stone in 1793, was, with the Executive mansion, burnt during the British invasion of 1814, and afterwards rebuilt, and was finished about CO years ago, being designed for a Con gress then scarcely half the size of the present one. Both the Senate and House soon out grew their quarters, and nearly 40 years ago extensive wings were planned, which were built before the Civil War ; and then the threat dome was erected as an architectural necessity to raise the low centre of the building, Bo that the Capitol as it now stands is about 25 years old. Where the original building provided for 40 or 50 Senators and a House of about 150 members, the present one is^accommodatinjg a 198 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Senate of 76 and a House of 325 members, with many committee rooms and adjunct ofiices. The Capitol stands in a park of about 50 acres, in cluding the western declivity of the hill and part of the plateau on top. The great central Ilotunda under the towering dome is the most striking feature of the interior of the Capitol. From the broad platform at the head of -.the elaborate stair case leading up from the grounds to thcontranceof the Rotunda on the eastern front, under the grand Corinthian portico, the President of the United States delivers his inaugural address on March 4 in each leap year, when he is : sworn into office by the Chief Justice. Congress is seated on the plat form behind him and the populace assemble on the esplanade in front, where in the background of the view is a colossal statue of Washington, seated in his chair of State, and facing the new Presi-> dent, as if in warning. The Grand Ilotunda is nearly 100ft. in diameter and above it the interior of the dome: rises 180ft. from the floor, the extensive canopy under the roof being ornamented with fine frescoes by Brumidi. Large panelled paintings on tho walls, and alii rilicvi above them, represent events in tho origin and early history of tho country, while at & height of IGCft. from the floor the artists aro now painting a series of illustrations, on a band Oft. wide running around the interior, which tell the story of American history from tho landing of Columbus until the present. It is significant that the elaborate decorations of tho American Capitol, while reproducing so much in Indian legend and revolutionary history, have not in any way been used to recall the late Civil War, the memory of which the mass of the people seem to desire to forgot. i- , . The original wings of the Capitol on jeither siclQ THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 199 of the Rotunda contain the old halls of the Senate and House, which are now devoted to other uses. Those are semi-circular apartments, the old Senate Chamber boing now occupied by the Supreme Court, and the Representatives Hallbeirsg practically vacant, Congress having designated it as a gallery for statuary, to which the States are to contribute patriotic subjects ; but they have only sparsely responded, there being 18 statues there, and most of them American revolutionary heroes. Beyond these old halls on cither hand are the extensive new wings, which are now tho Chambers of Senate and House, each wing cover ing a surface 238ft. by 140ft. Tho interior of the Representatives Chamber is 139ft. by 93ft., and is lighted by a transparent roof. Spacious galleries for tho public surround it, and the marble desk of the Speaker is flanked by full-length portraits of "Washington and Lafayette, behind which are the lobbies. Committee i ooms and offices adjoin the hall, and also fill up the basement beneath. The House meets usually at noon, and holds most of its sessions by daylight. The members sit in a series of concentric rings arranged on gradually rising levels as they recede from the Speaker s desk. Each member has his chair and desk and faces directly towards the Speaker, the whole arrangement being much like the forms in a school. The dominant Demo cratic party occupies the portion of the Chamben at the Speaker s right hand, and the Republicans the left. In practice, while the House is sitting, the members are usually reading or writing, ex cepting tho few who watch the progress or bnsi- necs because they are specially interested in the matter under consideration ; and the member who has tho floor and is speaking is actually heard by bat few of tho Hpwje^ his, speech being 2CO A VISIT TO THE STATES. rally made for the benefit of the public galleries and tlie official stenographers and newspaper re porters. It is rarely that debate rises to a point of interest engrossing the actual attention of tho whole House, and most of the oratory seems to be delivered for special effect in the member s home " district," this being denominated aa " talking for Buncombe. " The members read their papers, write their letters, clap their hands Bharply to summon the nimble pages who run about the Hall upon their errands, gossip ii groups, and otherwise pass their time, move in and out from the retiring and committee rooms, and in various ways manage to not listen to most that goes on. The business progresses under an iron clad code of procedure, with the Speaker a despot who largely directs matters by the method he adopts in recognizing members who may wish to speak, and generally get their wish by previous arrangement. The Senate Chamber is somewhat smaller than the House, and is similarly arranged, being an apartment 113ft. by 80ft. Its surroundings are grander than those of the House, magnificev marble staircases leading up to the galleries, while gorgeously ornamented apartments are provided for the President and Vice-President, and in the " Marble Hall" the Senators give private audience to those wishing to consult them. The President s room is only occupied during a few hours in the closing scenes of a Session, when all is hurry and confusion, and the President goes to the Capitol to give the final assent to Bills which have been de layed to the last moment. This splendid apart ment for the remainder of the year is a show-place, being the most elaborate of all in decoration, thaving had 10,000 spent upon it, although a comparatively small room-. .The Senators are THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 201 a more staid and venerable body of men than the members of the House, but they conduct business similarly, and in practice have greater power Each Senator;has his desk and chair facing the Vice-President, who is the Speaker of the Senate, and these desks, as in the House, are arranged in semi-circular rows. It can be said to the credit of the Senate, however, that there is much more attention paid to the debates than in the House, and while the latter almost constantly suppresses verbosity by the application of. the cloture, here called " the previous question," the higher body has not yet adopted such a rule, so that senatorial oratory is given free flow, and Senators who do not want to listen usually withdraw quietly to a committee-room until some thing transpires in the Chamber that is more attractive. The library of Congress, which is the largest in America, occupies spacious apartments west of the Itotunda, which, however, it has- en tirely outgrown. A fine new building has been ordered that is about being erected east of the Capitol, and this will give relief, for the books are now piled on the floors and wherever space can be made for them. This great library grows at the rate of fifteen to twenty thousand^ volumes a year, and now numbers about 450,000, containing not only the best collection known of American publi cations, but also being especially rich in foreign works in every department of literature. It is a .public library in the freest sense, and the Amerii can Jaw requires copies ot all copyrighted worts to bo deposited. There were 4,676 deposited last year. From the terrace on the western front of the Capitol there is a fine outlook over the city of Washington, spread upon the lower ground. Diagonally to the south-west^ and 202 1 VISIT TO THE STATKS. west extend two grand avenues as far as eye can see Maryland-avenue to the left, leading down to the Potomac, and carrying the Pennsylvania rail way to the river-bank to cross "over into Virginia ; and Pennsylvania-avenue to the right, the chief street of the city, stretching far away to the dis tant Treasury building arid the park south* of tho Executive mansion. Between these diverging avenues, and extending down to the Potomac more than a mile away, is the Mall, a broad en closure of lawns and gardens, having in the fore ground the Government Botanical Gardens, and behind them the spacious grounds surrounding the Smithsonian Institution, while beyond, near the river-bank, rises the tall, white shaft of the Wash ington Monument with its pointed apex. The Bota nical Gardens have conservatories filled with rare and valuable plants from all parts of the world, which are surrounded by ornamental grounds,there being some 30,000 plants on exhibition. ThQ Smithsonian Institution is, however, the most interesting of all the public structures in Wash ington. The beginning of this great establishment was the gift of an Englishman to America, Jameg Smithson, a natural son of the third Duke ol Northumberland, having bequeathed 120,000, which, upon the death of his nephew without heirs, occurring in 1835, was to go to the Government of the United States, to found at Washington an institution " for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The original fund ia deposited in perpetuity in the Treasury at six per cent, interest, and the income has been de voted to the erection of buildings and, with other sums, to the support of the vast establishment which has grown from the original gift. The late Joseph Henry designed tho scope wadl purposes of the Institution, and the buildinsa THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 203 were begun 30 years ago, Professor Henry con* tinning at its head until his death. His statue stands in the grounds near the entrance. The Institution is a splendid castellated structure of red sandstone in tho Renaissance style, with nine towers rising 75ft. to 150ft., the grand front stretching about 450ft., and tho tov/crs prettily rising behind a grove of trees. It contains an elaborate museum of natural history and anthro pology. In connexion with it tho Government nas built another elaborate structure about 300ft. square the National Museum containing numer ous courts surrounding a central rotunda, beneath which a fountain plashes. The two establishments are under the same management, the design being in time to perfect a collection much like that of tho British Museum, but paying more especial attention to American antiquities and productions. This adjunct museum began with the donations made by foreign Governments to the American Centennial Exhibition of 1876, most of which are preserved here. There is also a particularly good, collection of American ethnology, and a most elaborate museum of American fossils, minerals, animals, birds, and antiquities. Here are also shown by the Government Fish Commission speci mens of tho fishing implements and fishery methods of all nations, making an exhibition that is probably unexcelled in these special features. The Government during recent y-eura has been keeping through this Commission careful watch over the fishery interests of the country, restocking the rivers and coasts, and doing valuable work in studying- the habits and conditions of the food fishes. The museum also contains many other interesting things. The per sonal effects of George Washington and Andrew Jackson are here, arid those of General Grant 20* A YISIT TO THE STATES. have recently "been added, they having been given the Government. Benjamin Franklin s old print ing-press is preserved in a somewhat dilapidated condition, and it will interest Englishmen to know that the museum also contains the first rail way locomotive sent from England to the States. This is the original locomotive " John Bull," built by Stephenson and Son, Newcastle-upon- Tyne, in June, 1833 , and sent out as " Engine No. 1," for the Camdenand Amboy Railroad , now part of the Pennsylvania Company s lines between New York and Philadelphia. It weighs 10 tons, and has four 4-pt. driving-wheels. This relic was used on the railway for nearly 40 years, and, being superseded by improved machinery, was given to the Government as a national heirloom. Westward from the Smithsonian grounds is the Agricultural Department, occupying an extensive brick and brown-stone building, with its library, museum, and offices, and surrounded by gardens and greenhouses. The American Governmental system is one of developing the arts of peace rather than those of war, and henco great care is taken of the vast agricultural interests of the country. Those naturally become paramount in a land where over three-fifths of the men are farmers and agricultural labourers, and it has become a popular saying in Congress that if you wish to scare the House you have only to shake a cow s tail at it. This department is expected before long to rise to the dignity of having a Cabinet Minister at its head, and it is now used as a vast distributing office for seeds and cuttings, crop re ports, and farming information, having grown into an enormous bureau. Behind it, and rising almost at the bank of the Potomac and in front of the Executive mansion, is the Washington Monument, the pointed apex being elevated 555ft. above the THE AMERICAN NATIONAL CAPITAL. 205 river. This is a square and gradually tapering shaft, the lower portion being built of stones contributed by all kinds of public organizations and corporate bodies, and some by States and foreign nations, each bearing suitable inscrip tions in memory of Washington. A dark and dimcult climb elevates the visitor to the top, where through the little square windows a grand view is had over the surrounding country. To the north-west, "afar off, is seen the long, hazy wall of the Blue Ridge mountain range, its prominent peak, called the Sugar-loaf mountain, being 40 miles distant. To the south-east the broad Potomac passes away from the foot of the Monu ment, and winds between its forest-clad shores far below Alexandria, while across the river are the heights of Arlington, looking like diminutive bluffs, and the cemeteries that now cover a large* portion of the former home of General Lee. To the eastward, and a mile away, is the Capitol,with its surmounting dome, while all around the City of Washington is spread, like a toy. town, its streets crossing as on a chess^ board, and cut into gores and triangles by, the broad diagonal avenues, the houses inter spersed by many spaces covered with foliage.; Carriages and people move about, and PennsyW vania-avenue gives a hum of busy traffic/! From this elevated perch can be got an excellent; dea of the town and its peculiarities ; of the vast space taken up by the plan ; the great, and in! most cases unnecessary, width of streets andj avenues ; and the long stretches from one place to another. It is thus shown quite plainly why the Yankee nation, in their practical view of most- matters, have popularly designated their national caDital as tho " v Citv. of Magnificent Distances." 206 A VISIT TO THE STATES. XVI. FROM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. There is a fine view from the western front of the Capitol in Washington for a great distance along Pennsylvania-avenue. This magnificent highway, ICOft. wide and as smooth as a floor, leads straight to the Treasury Building, its southern portico being seen afar off with the Presi dent s gardens behind. This is the chief street oi Washington and is the route taken by every new President after his inauguration, when he is escorted from the Capitol,where he takes the oath, to his home at the Executive mansion, which is popularly known as the White House. This route represents the summit of American political Bmbition. The leading politicians usually get into Congress, and while attending its sessions at the Capitol most of them are striving to get translated to the White House " at the other end of the avenue. The Presidency is open to all men born within the States, and therefore every mother of a promising boy usualty dreams of the day when ha shall become a President. Hence from the Capitol to the White House is the political path in the States sought by many but travelled by few. In rare instances, and notably in the cases of Lincoln and Grant, Presidents were chosen who were not taken out of Congress, and the present President Cleveland never saw service there, but in most -the. Presidential candidates have learnt tkq FROM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 207 arts of statesmanship in tho Capitol. Many a prominent man sits in Congress to-day who, as tho Americans say, has " the Presidential bco ia his bonnet/ and longs for the time when his party may find it necessary to call him to tho highest post. Then, escorted by the troops and saluted by the populace, he may take tho rido along tho avenue that places him upon the people * throne in tho great Republic. In tho crowds usually thronging Pennsylvania- avenue, especially during the Session, there are probably seen more notable men than in any other city of tho States. Statesmen, diplomats, and strangers of distinction are always numerous in Washington, and it has a large floating popula tion. Tourists come in numbers, but most of the visitors are Americans, drawn from all parts of the country, chiefly politicians or shrewd (business men, each intent upon his own particular business, which in Yankee parlance is described as " grind ing axes." Hence the pilgrims to the national shrine are usually intent upon their special occu pations, and move vigorously about among tho public offices, and this brings them constantly in review upon Pennsylvania-avenue. A few get what they arc after, but the many are dis appointed. The ofBco and patronage seekers, however, never die, for new recruits are always ready to replace those who fall from the ranks, and while the population changes, } r et its charac ter and aspirations are always the same. Tho broad avenue has a double lino of tram cars in the centre, and on either hand a smooth, wide carriage way, Washington having the most cleanly kept and best-paved streets of all the American cities. The spacious sidewalks are generally shaded by trees, and are bordered by buildings usually commonplace, ttwugh pome of recent construction^ 208 A VISIT TO THE STATES. are quite imposing. A large portion of the houses on Pennsylvania-avenue aro lodging-places and! restaurants, interspersed with many snops, for the numerous visitors have to be cared for. Many, hotels are among these buildings, the chief ones being near the,. Treasury. The avenue crosses all the streets diagonally, thus cutting the lots into triangles, with various open spaces at the inter sections that are availed of for little parks. The streets running east and west are lettered A, B, C, &o. Those running north and south are numbered, from First-street at the Capitol to Fifteenth-street at the Treasury. There is an exception, however, and the stranger who is accustomed to habits of numerical sequence meets a harsh interruption after crossing Third-street, for there is neither Fourth nor Fifth street, though midway between where they ought to be there is a street called " Four-and-a-Half-street." This was an arrange ment interjected into the plan of Washington for the purpose of showing the ornamental colonnade fronting the District Court-house, a short distance north of the avenue. Behind this Court-house stands the new pension building, a large, barn- like structure, constructed around what might be called a covered quadrangle. This interior space is designed as a location for the " Inauguration Ball," which every four years is a great social event in Washington. The building itself is for the accommodation of the regiment of officials and clerks necessary to examine pension cases and keep pension accounts, this being now the heaviest item of payment from the American Exchequer, amount ing to more than fifteen millions sterling annually. The house has been put up cheaply, and by no means compares architecturally with the other great public buildings. One unique feature indicates its uses. ; Running all around the., .walls, over thq FROM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 209 lower windows, is a broad band bearing in relief a marcning column of troops, giving representa tions of every branch of the service. ! Seventh-street crosses the avenuo about mid way between the Capitol and the Treasury, and has many business establishments. At this inter* section is the large Centre-market which supplies the city with food. To the northward upon Seventh-street are two important department buildings. The General Post Office is a Corinthian structure, occupying an acre and a half, that cost 350,000. It is the headquarters of the American postal service and the office of the Postmaster- General. Behind it, to the northward, is tho enormous building of the Department of the In terior, better known as the Patent Office. This is a grand Doric structure occupying two blocks, and embracing about three acres of buildings, tho main entrance being a magnificent portico seen from Pennsylvania-avenue. This Department cares for various interests, such as Patents, the Indians, and the Land Office, and also supervises the Pension and Agricultural Bureaux. Tho larger portion of the great building is, however, occupied by tho Model Room of the Patent Office, a museum of vast extent, showing every phase of Yankee in genuity, and constantly increased by new inven tions. Proceeding further westward along the avenue, beyond Seventh-street, we come among the theatres, and finally get into the region of the newspapers. Fourteenth- street north of Pennsylvania-avenue is known as " Newspaper-row," and the olh ces also overflow into adjacent streets. These are not Washington city newspapers,however, forthe local Press at the capital is not very prominent. The " Newspaper-row " contains the Washington offices of all tfce 210 A VISIT TO THE STATES. part of the country, where their correspondents Qave their desks and prepare their telegrams. Every leading American newspaper, no matter how distant may be its city of publication, maintains a bureau in Washington, with a staff of experienced journalists, who transmit to tho home oflico by telegraph all the news (and sometimes a good deal more) that transpires at the capital. This business is conducted upon an elaborate scale, the " Wash ington correspondents " holding high rank in journalism, and being recognized by all the depart ments of the Government as a guild who have proper duties to perform and rights that public officials should observe. These correspondents arc also assigned regular desks in the Press galleries of Congress, and their work occupies prominent places in tho pages of their home newspapers. At Fifteenth-street the magnificent Ionic colon nade of the Treasury building interrupts the pro gress of Pennsylvania-avenue. The eastern front of this fine structure stretches nearly 500ft. along Fifteenth-street, and its grand colonnade, modelled from that of the Athenian Temple of Minerva, ia 350ft- long. This building is 26-ift. wide, and each end has an elaborate Ionic portico, while the western front, facing the enclosure around the White/ House, has a grand entrance in the centre, with side porticoes. The Treasury was tho first of the great buildings constructed in Washington for a Government Department, and it cost about 1,200,000. It is the office of the most powerful Cabinet Minister, the Secretary of the Treasury, and contains the various branches of the Exche quer, controlling the Customs, Inland Revenue, and the National Banks. Within this building an extensive business is transacted, for it receives all the revenues and disburses all the public money. Qver sixty millions stewing are annually received PROM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 211 from revenues, and again paid out, besides great movements of bonds and currency in the banking departments. Unlike most other large countries, America spends but little on the army and navy, neither costing over six millions sterling annually. The Treasury of the States, however, is in some respects a much more extensive institution than the British Exchequer, for it governs the 3,COO banks of the country, prints all of the paper issues both of the greenback and bank currency, super vises tho mints, lighthouses, and other depart* ments, and manages an almost universal Customs tariff requiring an army of Civil servants to col lect and protect tho revenues, having its own fleet of armed vessels, independently of the navy to guard the coasts. In one vault there is held over sixty millions sterling of the national debt deposited by the banks as security for their cir culating notes, this system keeping the notes at par everywhere, no matter how remote from the bank of issue, and each bank being required to hold at least 10,000 of the public loans. The Engraving and Printing Bureau of the Treasury has grown to such a large establishment that it ia provided for in a new building of extensive pro portions on the Mall near tho Washington Monu- ment. Tho Treasury held of various kinds of money when I visited it about 111,000,000, and against this it had outstanding obligations reducing its net available balance to about 40,000,000 sterling. The larger portion of the money held was gold to tho amount of 55,000,000 sterling and 41,000,000 sterling of standard silver dollars (205,CCO,COO of them) though all of these are not kept in Washing-* ton, even the capacious vaults of the Treasury not having enough room. There were thus held about 51)8 tons weight of gold and 6,804 tons of silvpr j aftd if this money .were a_ll p.acked . into Q lino ot 212 A VISIT TO THE STATES. wagons, ono ton to each, it would make a pro cession 21 miles long a most interesting spectacle to any crowd that might liko to develop commu nistic ideas. The American Congress most strangely persists, in order to maintain a fictitious market for silver, In coining these standard silver dollars which cannot be got into circulation. Therefore, they have to be stored in the Treasury vaults, and aro being packed away in every sub-treasury about the country, until all the vaults are now filled, and Congress has had to vote more money at the late Session to construct more vaults to hold them. I looked into one vault beneath the Trea sury which held 82,000,000 of these non-circu lating silver dollars. It was about 60ft. long and 25ft. wide and quite high, and the bags of dollars actually filled it to the doors. This vault occu pies all the space beneath the cash room of the Treasury a finely-ornamented hall, where the current money business is transacted, and which has adjoining another large vault, containing about 5,000,000 sterling in various kinds of money, used for the daily supply of the disbursing officers in the Cash Room. Many females are given employment in the Trea sury, mainly at work connected with the issue and redemption of the paper money a branch of busi ness in which they become experts. All the tmcurrent, defaced, and mutilated notes are sent to what is called the Redemption Bureau in Washington, and are examined and counted by the lady clerks. They are afterwards cancelled and reduced to paper pulp in a huge macerating machine, which daily cuts and grinds up hun dreds of pounds weight of these notes. In this way, by replacing the old and worn-out money with, clean new notes., the ^circulating j>aper cur- FIIOX THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 213 rency of the States is kept in good condition. The Secret Service Bureau is another important branch, devoted to the detection of frauds on the revenues and the capture of counterfeiters. Some very clever captures have been made by its officers, and they show many ingenious counterfeits, being usually able to trace a new counterfeit to its makers soon after it appears. One, however, has long baffled the ingenuity of the shrewdest detec tives. In 1879 there was sent from a bank to the Treasury a greenback note, which was a perfect imitation of a Government issue and yet was not actually a counterfeit. It was a twenty-dollar Dote that had been most carefully and skil fully made entirely by using pen and ink. As the most admirable imitation that had ever been made, the patience and ingenuity re quired to do this clever work challenged the highest admiration. At intervals afterwards other notes made in the same way have been discovered, and some 40 of them are known to exist. This expert penman whether man or woman is unknown has been working for eight years with a zeal and success worthy of a better cause, and is yet unde tected. What a vast stock of patience, secrecy, and application this task must require ! The engraving and manufacture of the plates and the printing of the vast amounts of paper- tnoncy employ an army of workers at the En graving and Printing Bureau. A large amount of work has constantly to be done, as it is neces sary to renew and replace the various issues of greenbacks, national bank notes, and silver certi ficates, of which an amount equal to 160,000,000 is steadily in circulation. The United States bestows far more care upon the manufacture of a Qote than is customary in the Bank of England. The most elaborate workmanship in every departs 214 A VISIT TO THE STATES. m.ent of the engraving and printing, as well as in f he preparation of the fibrous paper, is rolied upon as a protection against counterfeiting, and tho engraved imitations now made aro poor in compa rison and very easily detected. Expert engravers make tho originals of the plates, which are multi plied by transfers, and the geometrical lathe an ingenious machine of complex construction en graves intricate, yet mathematically accurate, de- eigns which it is almost impossible to successfully counterfeit. Tho notes are ornamented with vig nettes and portraits of exquisite finish, and the fibrous paper is exclusively used by tho Govern ment. The checks upon tho printing to pre vent fraud require nearly 50 separate pro cesses and countings before tho sheets of notes are ready to send from the printing office to the Treasury. Tho systems of protection are so per fect, and the honesty of the employes so universal, that fraud in the money departments of the Trea- Bury is unknown. There are about 4,000 persons employed in the various branches of the Treasury building and its Printing Bureau, and their latest improvement in the way or advancing their material interests has been the formation by some of them of a " marriage assurance company." Tho member ship is limited to 50, and each one agrees to con tribute 20 when a member gets married, to give a snug fund for starting housekeeping. Apropos of this subject, it is said that in a fashionable club of Washington an association has been formed by a dozen ot tho younger members for mutual aid in marrying heiresses. The members sign a contract agreeing to pay within a year after marriage one-tenth of tho money and property secured by the alliance into a fund. Each pledges all his energy and influence to the common object, and when <aio .begins & c<mrk?hip, all tUo others sot FKOM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 215 to work to make the financial wooing suc cessful. Upon the western side of the White House id the most splendid of all the Washington depart ment buildings the structure, not vet entirely completed, for tho State, War, and Xxavy depart- monts. It ia built of granite in the Koziian IJoric style, four stories high, with Mansard and pavi lion roofs and porticoes. This grand edifice covers a surface of 567 feet by 342 feet, and will have cost a million and a half sterling when finished. Tho Ambassadors salon is its most elaborate apartment, and is the audience chamber of tho Secretary of State, who occupies tho adjoining Secretary s-hall also a splendid room. The library is extensive, and is an admirable collec tion of nearly 40,QCO volumes, largely upon inter* national law. Beyondthis magnificent structure, which furnishes palatial offices for three of the Cabinet Ministers, Pennsylvania-avenue resumes its course north-west, and finally goes across Rock-creek, which flows through a deep ravino that divides Washington from the older city of Georgetown, To the northward of the Executive mansion is a small park known as Lafayette- square, containing an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, who was one of the vigorous Presidents of the United States half a century ago. West ward from this square, and opposite the State Department, is the Corcoran Art Gallery, an attractive Renaissance building of brick and brown-stone, containing an elaborate collection of paintings, sculpture, bronzes, and bric-&-brac, and the most complete and valuable gallery ol oasts of famous statues in America. This was the private collection of William W. Corcoran, who gave it to the people, and provided for its snp port; and improvement by #n _ ample endowment, 216 A VISIT TO THE STATES. The venerable donor still lives in a comfortable mansion near Lafayette-square, at an advanced ago, and enjoys the gratitude of this community, to whom ho has been a ber.efactor in many ways. He was formerly the loading banker in Washington, tne foundation of his fortune having been laid 40 years ago, when he had the pluck to take a Go- ;vernment loan which seemed to lack buyers. The modest building which was Corcoran s and is now * Rigg s Bank faces the Treasury. In the centre of the enclosure between the two great structures that accommodate the leading Cabinet Ministers, and standing within a park at some distance from the street, is the Executive mansion. A semi-circular driveway loads up to the colonnade supporting the portico. It is a plain building and without pretensions in anything but its occupancy. It is constructed of freestone painted white, and hence the popular name given it, the " White House." Around it are orna mental grounds stretching down to the Potomac River, which flows about 200 yarda below the southern front. The enclosure on that side for the private gardens is about acres. This famous house, the palace arid official residence of the chief magistrate of the great Republic, is about 170ft. long and SGft. deep, two stories high, with a stately portico enclosing the main entrance and driveway on the northern front, while in the centre of the southern front, with a lovely outlook to the river and beyond, is a curved Ionic colonnade over the broad nights of steps leading clown to the gardens. The building was not got ready for occupancy until after the death of Washington, and it was burnt during the British invasion, being afterwards restored to its present condition about 70 years ago. It has in no sense grown with tho nation or with., the enormous cublic buildings that FROM THE CAPITOL TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 217 surround and dwarf it, but nevertheless it is a com fortable mansion, though rigid in its simplicity. The finest apartment is the " East Room," the parlour of the house, occupying the whole of that side, and kept open for visitors during most of the day. The public go in there by droves, walk over the carpets, and sit in the soft chairs, and await the President s coming for his daily reception and handshaking. This is an impressive room, and in earlier times was the scene of many inauguration feasts when. Presidents kept open house. It was a famous en tertainment hall in Jackson s time. On the night of his inauguration it was open to all comers, who were served with orange punch and lemonade. The crowds were large, and the punch was made in barrels, being brought in by the bucketful, the thirsty throng rushing after the waiters, upsetting the punch, and ruining dresses and carpets. The punch receptacles were finally removed to the gar dens, and in this way the crowds were drawn off, and it was possible to serve cake and wine to the ladies. The elderly citizen still tells of this, and also of the monster cheese, as big as a hogshead, that was served at Jackson s farewell reception. It was cut with long saw blades, and each guest was given a pound of cheese, the event being the talk of the time. Jackson s successor was Martin Van Buren, and he came from New York, the lanoS of big cheeses. He was lound to emulate the> example, and an even huger cheese was sent him, and cut up in the East Room. The greasy crumbs were tr&mpled into the carpets, and all the furni ture and fittings were ruined. Now no guest comes to dine at the White House uninvited, but the change in the fashion aided to defeat Van Buren, who was a candidate for a second election, in 1840. i He had stopped keeping open house in order. to sa-?e the f urniturej and for months prececH 218 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. ing the election many persons arrived at the White House for breakfast 01 dinner, and threatened to vote against Van Burcn unices they were enter tained. This, with the fact being noised abroad that he was so much of an aristocrat that his table service included gold spoons, then an unheard-of extravagance in the States, was too much for him. Van Buren was beaten by General Harrison, known as " Old Tippecanoo." From the East Room a corridor leads westward through the centre of the house, to the conserva tories, which are prolonged beyond it further westward nearly 2COft. South of this corri dor, and with their windows opening upon the gardens, are a series of fine apartments, known as the Green, Blue, and Rod Rooms, from the prevailing colours in their decoration, and these open into each other, and finally into the State Dining-hall, on the western side of the house, which is flanked by a conservatory. Tho remainder of the first floor north of the corridor contains the family apartments. On the second floor are the sleeping apartments of the President and family and also the public ofiices. Tho Cabinet Room is about the centre of the house, a small apartment, where the Ministers gather at a long table. On one side of it is the President s private office, and on the other the apartments of his personal secretaries. Tho former is called the library, and in it the President sits at his desk for hours, with the southern sun. streaming in at the window, chiefly listening with exemplary patience to the tales and pleadings of offico- nunters and politicians, protected, however, to some extent by the watchful care of "Dan Lament," his secretary, who acts as a sort of filter in the pressing stream of urgent visitors* " The desk _ the President uses., .hag FROM THE CAPITOL TO THJ5 WH1TJS HOUSE. 219 a history of interest to all Englishmen. Years ago, alter many hardships in the fruitless search for Sir John Franklin, the British ship Resolute had to be abandoned in the Arctic Ocean. A portion of her oaken timbers was after wards taken back to England, and from these, by the Queen s command, the desk was made. She presented it to General Grant, and it has since been part of the White House furniture and the President s work-table. One of the adjacent chambers is known as the " Prince of Wales a Room," having been fitted up for him during his only American visit. It is furnished in crimson and gold, and adjoining is the bedroom whore Garfield suffered. In these two apartments the greatest American Presidents always slept. The accommodations for the President s family in the White House, however, are on such a con tracted scale, that, strange as it may seem, he is almost unable to invite visitors beyond two or three, for want of sleeping apartments. Yet all effort to got a better house or in a healthier locality has failed. The ruler of GO proud and wealthy a nation might be more generously pro vided. As it is, Ins dwelling is more than half a public office, for the people, as I have already said, flock into the East Room at will, and its worn and frided carpeting testify to the shuffling of many feet, while the torn window curtains de* morntrate the stealthy energy of the relic-hunter. A largo number, who can readily on various pre texts get permission, climb to the upper story, and bore the secretaries and often the President himself with their importunities, so that he has little comfort and not even privacy. Every day, when fagged-otit with the persistence of the visitors above stairs, or fatigued by the almost overwhelming cares of hU august_oilice* 220 A VISIT TO THE STATES. tho President seeks relief by coming clown to the East Room to pa&s a few anumcnts with the multi- tude. He feels secure from importunity there, 1 and is not averse to gratifying the pardonable curiosity of the citizen who is desirous of seeing and briefly shaking hands with the chief magi strate. Hundreds wait for this audience, and ne has a hearty grasp and kind word for all. Presi dent Cleveland is a sturdy, unassuming man, with a good face and pleasant ways, and this daily; * nandshake " has done much to popularize hinx with the visitors as well as the people of Washing ton. Tho ceremony, which is the only one bring ing the ruler in direct contact with the people, is very simply done, without any show or guard of any sort, and with open doors to every one, all classes, high or humble, being received with equal affability. XVII. THE WASHINGTON SUBURBS AND MOUNT VERNON. The American capital has attractive suburbs, particularly to the north and west. From the White House as a centre, various fine streets and avenues lead into the north-western section, which contains most of the newer and more elaborate residences. The prices of land in this favourite quarter have risen to high figures, for it is the location of the homes of most of the leading public men, and there are many costly dwellings bordering the attractive streets that make up thitJ more modern part of the city. Wealth has become in an eminent degree a stepping-stone to AJHCH THE WASHINGTON SUBURBS AND MOUNT VERNON. 221 rican honours, and this seems particularly the caso in the attainment of seats in the United. States Senate from certain of tho States. The Washing ton streets are well paved, are kept very clean, and are usually bordered with rows of shade trees ; while at the intersections are little circles and squares that are used for pretty parks, several containing statues of distinguished men. It is in this prized quarter that the broad brick building with brownstone facings has been built by England which is the home of Her Majesty s Minister and the office of the Legation, on Connecticut-avenue , ; When built by the late Minister, Sir Edward Thornton, it was thought tobe almost out of town, while now the city has reached and passed it for a long distance. The town goes beyond, and gradually fades into the rural region, where vacant lots are numerous. Here, and in fact in most parts of Washington, away from the business and fashionable residential sections, one is struck by the indication that most of the land and houses are for sale. Huge signboards announcing this are seen all about the suburbs, and there would be little difficulty in buying eligible lots in these remote parts if enough money were offered. It is quite evident that in some localities the building of now houses has been pushed beyond the imme diate necessities of the increased population, for almost the whole region appears to be offered to let or for sale. Northward of the city, upon Columbia Heights and beyond, the land steadily/ rises to an elevated plateau. Here is a Government park, covering nearly a square mile of rolling sur face, and surrounding one of the noted rural re treats on tho borders of tho capital, the " Soldiers^ Home." This is an asylum and hospital for Bunerannuated and disabled soldiers _of .the 222 A VISIT TO THE STATES. rican army, devoted more especially to those who have served in tho regulars. Amid lovely sur roundings, the veterans are comfortably housed and cared for, and in the adjacent cemetery thou sands of them have been buried. Upon tho southern brow of tho plateau, whoro a ridgo is thrust out in a commanding situation, stands a noble statue of Lioutoriant-GenoralWiniield Scott, who for many years prior to tho Civil War was the commander of tho American army. Ho gazes intently over the lower ground to tho city throe miles away,, with the lofty Capitol dome and Washington Monument rising to his level, while beyond them the broad and placid Potomac winds among its wooded shores, until lost amid the hills and forests far below Alexandria. It was to the " Soldiers* Home " that the Presidents formerly retired for; their summer retreat, before President Grant established his " summercapital " at Long Branch. In one of the cottages adjacent to the larger buildings of the Homo President Lincoln passed much time duringhis eventful administration. This is the most elevated spot near Washington, and overlooks a wide landscape, with smiling farms, city, and river, having the Virginia shores and wooded hills closing tho distant view from the Heights of Arlington far southward. The great Potomac river forms for a long distance the boundary between Maryland and Virginia. Its head waters rise among the Alle- ghanies, and it breaks through theKittatmny ranger at Harper s Ferry, where it receives its principal tributary, the Shenandoah. Below Washington it gradually expands into an estuary, being two milea wide at Mount Vernon, and finally, becoming six to ten miles broad, falls into Chesapeake Bay after a course of about 400 miles. Washington is about 125 mileaJroButs moutb^and. thd.tide_extends.uft THE WASHINGTON SUBTJBBS AND MOUNT VERNON. 223 eo Georgetown, while it is navigable to the Washington wharves for the largest" vessels. -The most noted place on this great river below Washington is Mount Ycrnon, which was the home, and is the tomb, of George Washington. This estate is about 17 miles below the city, and is reached by a pleasant steamboat ride, being visited by many pilgrims from all parts of the world. The steam boat takes you past the well-kept grounds of the Government Arsenal, the river being broad, with shores sloping up into hills ,that rise from 100ft. to 200ft., with long pile wharves stretching into the stream for boat landings. The old town of Alexandria is passed on the Virginia shore, for merly a place of considerable commercial import ance ; . but now it is sleepy and falling into cfecay a " finished American city " of about 10.090 people, who cherish many memories of Washington, who came into town frequently on business and attended church there. The wharves seem to be declining into dilapidation, the storehouses have broken windows, and negroes loll idly on the docks, where little goes on. A propeller, a ferry boat, a couple of tugs, and a half-dozen smaller craft represented the active commerce of Alex andria. Its people, who live in rows of comfort able-looking brick houses, built on the gently ascending slope from the river, have a pretty view over the water at the greater city, stretching all across the scene, with the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome rising high above, theso being the landmarks for all the . country round. Back in the town is seen the modest little steeple of Christ Church, where Washington was a member of the parish vestry, while nearer the river is the " Caroy House," with its yellow walls and dormer windows, where Washington, in 1755, received his first GexomisBion as . aide to tha British General 224 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Braddock with the rank of Major, just before the ill-starred expedition against the Indians in West ern Pennsylvania. Below Alexandria, the Hunt ing Creek flows into the Potomac, this stream having given Washington s home its original name of the " Hunting Creek Estate." The opposite Maryland shore rises into steeper bluffs, and the winding banks close the view, so that the river eoems like a succession of basins. Some of the projecting bluffs were used for fortifications, protecting the approach to the capital during the Civil War, and these are the first evidences met on our journey of that great conflict. The defen sive works are abandoned now, and are mostly dismantled. Fort Foote is on an abrupt bluff below Washington, six miles down the river, and was an enclosed barbette. Fort Washington, further down, is a larger work, being an old-time ctone fort on top of a steep bank about 80ft. above the river. This fort is without a garrison, but is quite well preserved, having been located there originally by Washington. The first view of Mount Vernon is obtained when the steamboat leaves Fort Washington and crosses the river diagonally towards the landing.four miles below. The mansion-house is in full view, stand ing among the trees upon the top of a bluff rising about 200ft. above the river. As we approach, the steamboat bell is tolled, this being the universal custom on nearing or passing Washington s tomb. It had its origin in the reverence of a British officer, Commodore Gordon, who during the in vasion of the American capital in August, 1814, sailed past Mount Vernon, and as a mark of respect for the dead hero had the bell of his ship, the Sea Horse, tolled. The " Hunting Creek Estate " was originally a domain of about 8,000 acres, and Augustine. .Washington, who died in THE WASHINGTON SUBURBS AND MOUNT VERNON. 225 1743, bequeathed it to Lawrence Washington, who. having served in tho {Spanish wars under Admiral Vernon, named it Mount Vernon in his honour. George Washington was born in 1732, in Westmore land County, further down thePotomac. and when, a boy lived near Fredericksburg, on tne Rappa- hamiock river. In 1752 he inherited Mount Vernoa from Lawrence, and after his death the estate passed by bequest tohisnephow,Bushrod Washing ton, subsequently descending to other members of the family. Congress made repeated efforts to have Washington s remains removed to the crypt under the Rotunda of the Capitol, which had been originally constructed for their reception ; but the family steadfastly refused, knowing that it was his earnest desire to rest at Mount Vernon. The remains were, however, removed about 60; years ago to a more secure tomb than the place of ^ original interment. Subsequently, the grounds and buildings at Mount Vernon being in danger of falling into dilapidation, and the place nassinat. Under the control of strangers, a patriotic move ment was begun throughout the country for the purchase of the portion of the estate containing the tomb and mansion. The Virginia Legislature passed a law in 1856 authorizing the sale, and under the auspices of a corps of energetic ladies, who formed the " Mount \ernon Association, Ji ably assisted by the oratorical efforts of the late Edward Everett, who traver&edthe country making & special plea for help, the money was raised by which a tract of 200 acres was bought for 40,000. These ladies and their successors nave since hac charge of the estate, have restored and beautified it, and it is now faitnfully preserved as a patriotic heritage and place of pilgrimage for the nation an<3 ior visitors from all parts of the world. A stock farm and fruit orchacd are maintained, but the chief 8-2 226 A VISIT TO THE STATES source of support is a fee of about Is. Cd. for admission, all the revenues being devoted to the restoration and improvement of the estate, which is kept in excellent condition. - The steamboat makes its landing at Washing ton s Wharf, which has been rebuilt, and projects a short distance into the river at the foot of the bluff. This was the place where he formerly loaded his barges with flour ground at his own mill, shipping the moot of it from Alexandria to the West Indies. A road from the wharf leads up a ravine cut diagonally in the face of the bluff directly to Washington s tomb, and alongside the ravine have been planted several weeping willows that were brought from Napoleon s grave at St. Helena. Washfngton i will directed that his fcomb " shall be built of brick," and it is^ a plain square brick structure, with a wide arched gateway in front and double iron gates. Above is the inscription, on a marble slab, " Within this enclosure rest the remains of General George Washington." The vault is about I2it. square, and the interior is plainly seen through fcho gates. It has upon the floor two large Btono coilins, that on the right hand containing Washington, and that 011 the left his widow Martha, who survived him over a year. In a closed vault at the rear are tho remains of nume rous relatives, while in front ofthetombare monu ments erected to several of them. Ko monument marks the hero, and. carved upon his coflln is tho American coat of arms with the single word " Washington." Near the tomb a young and sturdy elm grows, which was planted there in 1870 by Doin Podro, Emperor of Brazil. Almost in. front of tho tomb, in a small grassy mound, stand ing alone, there was planted a tree in 1860 by tho of Wales when on his American visit* It THE WASHINGTON SUBURBS AND MOUNT VEBNON. 227 has died, but the spot is marked, and it would be a graceful act were Her Majesty s Government to take nomo measure to renew this mark of respect to tho memory of Washington. . x The original tomb, where tho great man s re mains woro laid for over 30 years alter his death, ia Dut on the brow of tho bluff , and riot far away from the mansion, being in plain view from its southern windows . Here is the old tombstone, antedating IVashinaton and bearing the words " Washington Family," which had been carried away, but was discovered not long ago and restored. It is a plain granite block about 3ft. Jong. This was the tomb, then containing the remains, that Lafayette visited in 1824, being escorted by a military guard from Alexandria to Mount Vornon, when he paid homage to the ashes of the dead amid salvoes of salmon reverberating across tho broad Potomac. [t is a round-topped and slightly-elevated vault, built like an oven, and is now in process of re storation. The road passes it, and ascending further to the top of the bluff reaches the man sion, which stands in a commanding position, with a grand view over tho river and tho opposite "Maryland shore. The mansion IB a long wcoden house, with an ample porch facing tho river. It is constructed with severe simplicity, h two storeys high, and contains 18 rooms, with a small surmounting cupola for a look-out placo. Tho central portion is tho original house, built by Lawrence Washington, who called it his " villa," and after wards George Washington extended it by placing two largo square buildings as wings, one at each end, and when this improve- mont was added, ho gave it tho more dignilicd title of tho " mansion." The entire structure ia DOifc. long and 20ft. wide, tho porch. 228 JL VISIT TO THE STATES. along the whole of the front, being 15ft. wide, and having its top even with the roof , BO as to cover the windows of ooth stories. There are eight large square wooden columns supporting this porch. Behind the house, on either side, curved colon nades lead to the kitchens, with other outbuildings beyond. Alongside the road leading up to the mansion from the tomb are several farm buildings, including, a substantial brick stable and barn, the bricks of which it is built having been brought out from England about the time Washington was born. They were readily carried in those days as ballast in the vessels that came from England for the Virginia tobacco. The front of the mansion faces the east, and it has within a central hall- with apartments on either hand. Upon the wall of this hall, just at the foot of the stairway ascend ing to the upper story, is fastened a small glass casket, shaped much like a lantern, and this con tains the moat valuable relic in the house the key of the Bastille, which was sent to Washington as a gift from Lafayette, shortly after the destruction of the noted prison in 1789. This is the key of the main entrance, the Porte St. Antoine, an old irop key with a large handle of peculiar form. This gift was highly prized at Mount Vernon, and in, Bending it Lafayette wrote, " It is a tribute which; I owe as a son to my adopted father ; as an aide- de-camp to my general ; as a missionary of liberty 1 to its patriarch." The key was confided to Thomas Paine for transmission, and he sent it by the hands of another, together with a model and drawing of the Bastille. In sending it to Washing ton, Paine said, " That the principles of America opened the Bastille is not to be doubted, and, therefore, the key comes to the right place." The model, wnich was cut from the granite stones of the demolished^ orison, and the drawing, which THE WASHINGTON SUBURBS AND MOUNT VERNON. 22fr gives a plan of the interior and its approaches, are also carefully preserved in the house. As may naturally be supposed, this interesting building is filled with Washington relics with portraits, busts, old furniture, swords, pistols and other weapons, camp equipage, uniforms, clothing, books, autographs, and musical instruments, in cluding the old harpsichord which .President Washington ordered for 200 in London, ao a bridal present for his wife s daughter (whom he adopted), Eleanor Parke Custis. There ie also an old armchair which came over with the Massachu setts Pilgrim Fathers in the ship Mayflower in IG20. Each apartment in the houoe is named for a State of the American Union, and is cared for by ono of the Lady Regents of the Association, In the banquet-hall, which is one of the extensions Washington added, is an elaborately-carved nnantel of Carrara marble, which was sent him at the time of building by an English admirer, Samuel Vaughan. It was wrought in Italy and shipped thence, and the tale is told that on the voyage the mantel fell into the hands of pirates, who, upon learning it was intended for the great American Washington, sent it along without ransom and uninjured. Rembrandt Peale s equestrian por trait of Washington with his Generals covers almost the entire end of this hall. The upper floor of the mansion is divided into a number of chambers, chief among them being the room in the southern end of the building where Washingtor died. The bed on which he expired and every article of furniture are preserved, including his secretary and writing desk, toilet boxos and dress ing stand. Just above this chamber, under the peaked roof, is the room in which his widow died, but it contains very little of tho original furniture. ,Not wishing to occupy the lower room after hoi 230 A VISIT TO THE STATES. husband s death, she selected this one ? because its dormer window gave a view of his tomb. The lawns and gardens are behind the house, with an. extensive conservatory of modern construction, the original one having been burnt down about years ago. These are all well kept, and the ladies who have taken charge of the place deserve great credit for their energetic restoration. As one Walks through the mansion and about the grounds solemn and impressive thoughts arise that aro appropriate to this American Mecca. From the little wooden cupola surmounting the house there is had the same view over the broad Potomac upon which "Washington so often gazed. The noble river, two miles wide, seems almost to surround the estate with its majestic curve, as it flows between the wooded shores. Above Mount Vernon is the projecting bluff which Fort Washington surmounts on the opposite shore, hardly seeming four miles away it is visible so clearly across the water. In front aro the Mary land hills, while the river flows down to the south ward, its broad reaches being seen afar off. Behind the mansion, to the westward, are the forest-covered Mils of the sacred soil of the proud State of Virginia. Beyond the outbuildings and the lawn stretches the carriage read, which in Washington s time was the main entrance, off to the porter s lodge at the boundary of the present estate, about three-quarters of a mile away. Everything is quiet and in the thorough repose befitting such a great man s tomb ; and this is the modest mansion on the banks of the Potomac that was " the home of the noblest cha racter known in America. FROM THE POTOMlJC RIVER TO TEE JAMES. 231 XVIII. FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER TO THE JAMES. Tlio railway from Vv r ashmgton to the South crosses the Potomac river by the " Long Bridge," the train passing in. full view of Arlington-house 011 tho southern bank. This is a yellow building fronted by a columned porch, not very pretentious to look at, but having a line position on Arlington Heights, a bluff bordering the river. It was in his early life tho home of General Robert E. Lee, tho Confederate commander during the Civil War, whose memory, with that of Stonewall Jackson, receives the greatest homage from the present generation of Virginians. The Arlington estate ia now a vast cemetery, over 15,000 graves being oil tho plateau that spreads back from tho bluli ? a grim memorial of the war. The railway having crossed into Virginia passes through the sleepy town of Alexandria, and then southward near tlia Potomac for a long distance, winding among hills and forest, and crossing various broad creeks and batons that are branches of tho great river. Then, tinally leaving the Potomac, the route diverges towards tho Rappahannock river, and, beyond it, passes along the border of tho " Wilderness," au unattractive and barren, but historically noted, portion of Eastern Virginia, where several of the most sanguinary conflicts of tho war were fought in 18C3-4. V/e crossed the narrow and protty Rappahfumoek at tho quaint old town of Fredericks- burg. Tho cemeteries that terrace the hillsides DUO for each armytoll of the terrible battles A VISIT TO THE STATE3. fought near by in December, 18G2, and the later one of May, 1863, at Chancellorsville, when Jackson lost his life. The town is small, but has pleasant surroundings and considerable trade with the farmers of the Rappahannock valley. The " Wilderness " to the southward adjoins the Rapidan, and covers about 2CO square miles, being a plateau sloping to cultivated lowlands on every aide. The original forests were long since cut off for fuel for adjacent iron furnaces, and a dense growth of scrub timber and brambles covers nearly the whole surface, with an occasional patch of woods or a clearing. Chancellorsville was fought on the eastern border of this tract in May, 1863, and Mine Run, on its western border, in November ; while in the spring of 1864 Grant and Lee manoeuvred for weeks through it in the " battles of the Wilderness," when, in almost continuous conflicts during the month of May, the most sanguinary battles of the great contest, the losses of the two armies exceeded 60,000. The railway- passes over these battlefields. Twelve miles south of Fredericksburg, ^ at Guinea Station, is the house where Jackson died, a blow from which the Confederacy was never able to recover, and which it felt the worse as he was accidentally shot by his own men. Just after the battle of Chancellorsville, wherein the Confederates had turned the flank of the Union army, and Jack- ion had bent them back and cut them off from. the main body behind Fredericksburg, he and his aides, after -reconnoitring, returned within the Confederate lines, and the pickets, mistaking them for the enemy, tired into the party. Several of the escort were killed, and Jackson was shot in three places. Being put upon a litter, one of the bearers stumbled, and Jackson was thrown to the ground. His arm was amputated, but afterwards. YROM THE POTOMAC RIVER TO THE JAMES. 233 pneumonia set in. which was the immediate cause of his death. He lingered a week,and died May 10^ 1863, in his 40th year, his last words, dreamily spoken, being, " Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." He had been in command of two-thirds of the Confederate force in the battle, and it is said that this great loss of his ablest lieutenant had such an effect upon General Lee that he afterwards aged rapidly and his hair quickly whitened. Jackson s body, after lying in state in the Confederate Capitol at Rich* mond, was interred at Lexington, Virginia, where he had been an instructor in the Virginia Military Academy. His death was the turning point of the Civil War. The train moves swiftly over the poorly-culti vated soil through a thinly-peopled region, that shows scant evidence of skilful farming. The residents of this section say there is no money in their country, and little of anything else. We have got into the land of the omnipresent " darkey," and pass the little settlements where fche negroes are sunning themselves alongside the fences and cabins as they watch the train go by. The coloured race manage to enjoy themselvea under all circumstances, however, and at the same time they take care not to work too hard. A few cattle are seen, but almost the only animals visible are the swift-footed and hungry-looking " razor backed " hogs, that dart among the scrub timber in search of a precarious living. The white men of this region are usually ardent politicians, and fchey seem to have more success in argument than in planting. They assemble in crowds at tha " grocery " at the cross-roads to discuss state craft and " sample " the liquids. The buildings that flit by us as the train moves along save the mansion of some old homestead that has survived 234 A VISIT TO THE STATES the rum of the war aro usually most primitive. This is the section where the house commonly seen is a small wooden cabin sob alongside a hugo brick chimney. They aro said to first build the chimney, and then, it the draught is all right, they build the little cabin over against it and move in tho family. Those sparsely-cultivated and worn- out lands cannot sustain much extravagance in house architecture. As Richmond is approached, however, tho character of the country ai>d of tho agriculture iniprovco, and this region has been known to raise good crops. At Hanover aro more frigttt of "battles, and at Aehl.ind, about 16 miles north of Richmond, attractive houses border tho line, this being a favourite place of suburban residence. Ashland was the birthplace of the original American Protectionist apostle, Henry Clay, and southward of it tho railway quickly brings us to tlio valley of the James river and tatfong the red soils and brick houses of Richmond, named, from the si -Hilarity of situation, after Rich mond on tho Thames. Few cities have n more delightful situation than tho capital of Virginia,. The James river flows round a ^rand curve from the north-cast to south, ?Kmring over fa] Is and rapids, with myriads of ill];} ciwaclos amon r : -; i;rna<-;oof diminutive islands. Two or three largo hilki and several smaller onea rise upon the river s northern bank, and upon and hotweeii these eminences Richsflona is built, like Home upon her seven hills. The venerable Virginia State Capitol and the broad white Peni tentiary crown two of the most prominent ele vations. This situation f-ives the strceto a variety of hill and vale, toilcomo for locomotion but excellent for drainage, and from the higher grounds there are magnificent views. Richmond, as tho jjauittil of the Southern Confederacy, was .besieged, PKOM THE POTOMAC RIVER TO THE JAMES. 235 at intervals for three years, and the strenuous efforts made by the .North to capture it, with the strong Southern defence, gave the city world-wide fame. Between 1862 and 18G5 it was made an impregnable fortress, and the final evacuation and capture resulted from the fall of Petersburg, 23 miles southward, and the surrender of General Lee, who had retreated westward to the noted apple-tree of Appomattox. When Lee abandoned Petersburg there was a panic in Richmond, and the disorder rose to riot and pillage. The bridges were burnt and the great storehouses and mills tired, nearly one-third of the city being destroyed, causing losses reaching three millions (sterling. The city, however, has since been rebuilt in better style, and it now has a thriving population of about 80,000, who conduct extensive manufactures and have a large and profitable trade. The centre oi Richmond is a park of about eight acres, surround ing the Virginia State Capitol, upon the summit of" Shockoe-hill. This is" tho most conspicuous building in the city, and occupies a very promi* nent position. It was built just after the Ameri can Revolution, being at that time the most noted structure in the country, the plan having been brought from France by Thomas Jefferson, and modelled after the ancient Roman temple of the Maison Carree at jSTismes. The front is a fine Ionic portico, and from the roof, which is elevated Ear above the surrounding buildings, there is a beautiful view over the city. The James river, which comes from the south-west, makes a grand sweep among the islands and rapids round to the south, with numerous bridges spanning it, and bhen disappears among the hills, far away behind Drcwry s bluff, on its onward flow towards the- Atlantic. The square block plan of the city, with bhe streets all crossing at right , angles, is mappedi 236 A VISIT TO THE STATES. out, and the abrupt sides of some of the hills where they have been cut away disclose the high- coloured, reddish-yellow soil which has been sc prolific in growing tobacco in the past, and no\* aids in giving brilliant hues to the scene. The buildings of Richmond are spread over a wide surface to the east and west, along the bank of the river and upon and amon^f the hills to the northward for a considerable distance, with nume rous church steeples rising high above their roofs. To the north-west the land rises spmewhat higher, and there are the water reservoirs, while upon the lower lands southward across the James the spreading city has overflowed into populous suburbs. This Capitol building was the meeting-place of the Congress of the late Southern Confederacy, and the locality of almost all the statecraft of the " Lost Cause " in that great conflict. It contains the battle-flags of Virginia regiments and other relics, with portraits of all the Virginia Gover nors, and also of the three leading Confederate military chieftains, Lee, Johnston, and Jackson. A gallery built around the upper portion of its rotunda is used for displaying these portraits, while upon the floor below is Houdon s well-known statue of Washington, made while he was yet alive. The famous French sculptor, in 1785, accompanied Franklin to the United States to prepare the model for this statue, which had been ordered by the Virginia Government. He spent two weeks at Mount Vernon with Washington, during which time he took a cast of Washington s face, head, and ur>rjer part of the body and minute measurements of nis person, and then returned to Paris. The statue was finished in 17H8, and is regarded as the most accurate reproduction of Washington, in existence. The Virginia Leeis- FROM THE POTOMAC EIVER TO THE JAME3. 23f lature now meets in the Capitol, and the presence of the law-makers of the great tobacco-growing State is attested by the generous supply of cuspi dors scattered about the halls and the rotunda, and by the signs which are conspicuously displayed on the walls, requesting moderation in smoking and " Please don t spit on the floor." Henry Clay s statue and Lafayette s bust are also in the rotunda, while upon the esplanade north of the Capitol is the most splendid memorial of the " Father of his Country," Crawford s bronze equestrian statue of Washington, upon a high and massive granite pedestal . This is one of the finest bronzes in existence. The horse is half-thrown upon his haunches, giving the statue exceeding spirit, while upon smaller pedestals around stana six heroic statues in bronze of Virginia statesmen of the colonial and revolutionary period, the whole being adorned with appropriate emblems.; The cost of this masterpiece to Virginia waa 52,000, and it is universally admired. Not far away, and at the centre of the esplanade, is the late Mr. Foley s bronze statue of Stonewall Jack- eon, sent from London in 1875 by Mr. A. J. B. Boresford-Hope and other English admirers of that great commander as a gift to the State of Vir ginia. It is a striking reproduction of Jackson, of heroic size, and stands upon a pedestal of Virginia granite bearing this inscription : " Presented by English gentlemen as a tribute of admiration for the soldier and patriot, Thomaa J. Jackson, and gratefully accepted by Virginia in the name of the Southern people." Beneath is the remark that gave the General his sobriquet, which was made at the first battle of Bull Run in July, 1861, where Jackson commanded a brigade. At a time when the day was apparently lost his brigade made so firm a stand that some one in 238 A VISIT TO THE STATES. admiration criocl out the words that have become immortal, and they are here reproduced in the granite : " Look, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall." \Vhilo the Virginians in so many ways honour the memory of their chieftains in the Civil War, there still is evidence that the people desire to forget the animosities then en gendered and to unite together for the common welfare. Upon a building facing the Capitol-park I saw the inscription " United Voterans -hall Blue and Gray. 7 Tims are the once hostile uniforms mixing in an apparently successful effort to shako hands across the bloody chasm. It represents a beneficial organization, whose membership em braces former soldiers of both armies. The Virginia Governor s house adjoins the park, and io now occupied by General FitzHugh Lee. A short dis tance away is the " Confederate White House/ a square dwelling with high porch on its rear, and a small portico in front, built of brick, but painted to resemble stone. Here lived JefFerson Davis during the short and eventful career of his Govern ment, and after the grand collapse it was the head quarters of the military commanders who ruled Virginia for the United States during the Recon struction period. Its present use is the lees pre tentious but better one of a school house. The James river was the original source of tho location of Richmond, and is the present channel of its wealth. The city stands at the head of navigation, for the stream in a distance of nine miles has a descent of 116ft., and furnishes a mag nificent water power, employed for extensive manufacturing. Great ironworks and flour mills border the James in the upper part of the city, while below are the wharves and shipping, and adjacent to them the huge tobacco storehouses &nd factories. This tobacco traffic is the li.fo of FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER TO THE JAMES. 23& Richmond, for its chief tobacco mart of tho world, receiving and distributing most of the pro duct of the rich coils of Virginia, Kentucky, and Carolina. The pungent odour generally pervades tho town, for whichever way the breezes blow they waft tho perfume from some tobacco factory. The business centre is the Tobacco Exchange, and the traffic is of large amount and the first import ance. Several important railways and steamship lines compete for the trade of Richmond, and it has become one of the most vigorous cities of tho South, having more than repaired all the mis fortunes of the Civil War, besides profiting vastly from the inllux of Northern capital and the arri val of business men from the North. It is con structing a magnificent new City-hall adjacent to the Capitol-park, which, when completed, will be its finest building. Richmond possesses some memorials that refer to earlier times than the Civil War or even tho period of the lie volution. Its " first house J? ia an object of homage by the people a low, steep- roofed stone cabin on tho maiiL-street. said to have been there when the town site was laid out in 1737. The visitor is introduced to this as the earliest and, therefore, most important landmark, the " Old Stone House." So little is known of its origin that much has to be imagined, and the diminutive, solemn-faced " darkey 33 who shows one about it has convinced himself that lonp before Richmond was thought of it was the resi dence of that redoubtable Virginian, old King Powhatan, who had so much to do with the early history of the " Old Dominion." The little fellow tells us " King Po tan, ho built dis houso tree hunderd yeer c.go. J On the wall hangs au ancient and remarkable print, representing Pow- batan presiding at tho execution of Captain John 240 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Smith, and to this the boy points in testimony. The magnanimous savage sits on one side of the picture, while from the other the youthful Poca- Qontas, in rather scant costume, has rushed in and laid her head upon Smith s, which had already been laid upon the block, ready to be chopped off by a bloodthirsty brave who stands alongside with a murderous-looking axe,evidently (in the picture) of British manufacture. According to all the rules of romance Pocahontas should have forthwith married Smith, but she did riot, and afterwards wedded the Englishman Rolfe, was baptised at Jamestown, and lived at Varina, just below Dutch Gap, on the river. The " Baptism of Poca hontas " is the subject of one of the great national paintings in the Capitol at Washington. This old etone house, while not of Indian origin, is un questionably the oldest building of Richmond, and is believed to have been built in the early part ol the last century by one of the first colonists on the Upper James, old Jacob Ege. Not far away from this ancient building, in the eastern section of the city, rise two more of Rich mond s seven hills Richmond or Church-hill, and Libby-hill. On the summit of the former stands Bt. John s Church, among the old gravestones in a epacious churchyard. It is a little wooden edifice, xvith a small steeple. It was here that the first Virginia Convention was held in 1775, which listened to Patrick Henry s impassioned speech that sounded the keynote of the American Revo lution " Give me liberty or give me death. The pew in which he stood while speaking is still pre served, though the pulpit has been removed from its former position, the church having been after* wards enlarged. On the top of the adjoining hill, which is nearer the river, lived Luther Libby, who owoed most o tfee. land thereaJ^out,, an4 hence ij FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER TO THE JAMES. 241 was called Libby-hill. This eminence, rising with steep sides on the south and east, overlooks all ol the lower portions of Richmond, with the wharvei and vessels at Rocketts, as that section is called, and also gives a line view of the James river, witt its rockv islets and rapids, its five bridges. th broad stretch of level lands to the southward, and the stream flowing far away until lost among the hills. From this, as from all the other elevated grounds, can be seen the Capitol to the westward, crowning the central eminence of the city. Also from here, nestling among the trees, can be seen the locality on the river bank, just below the edge of the city, which was the home of Powhatan. Here his tribe pitched their wigwams, and here originated much of Virginia s legendary lore. The name of the place was then, as now, Powhatan, and this chief, who was originally named Wahun- eonacock, assumed the name of his home, as his power grew, for he raised himself to the command of no less than 30 tribes, and ruled all the land from far south of the James across the Potomac to Chesapeake Bay. Few men have been great heroes in Virginia, but Powhatan was probably the first one, succeeded by Washington and Jefferson, and later by Jackson and Lee. In the central part of Richmond, in the fashionable resi dential quarter, at No. 707, Franklin-street, is the plain brick house that was the home during the Civil War of General Robert E. Lee. It is re lated that after the surrender at Appomattox, when Lee returned to this house, the people of Richmond got an idea that he was suffering from privations and that his family were in want of the necessaries of life. Governor FitzHugh Lee says the people of Richmond then vied with each other in sending him everything imaginable. So gene rous were the sifts that the upper passaees or the 242 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. house were filled with barrels of flour, meats, and many other things, and the supplies became so bountiful that General Lee directed their distri bution among the poor. Turning to the westward, Gamble-hill, another of the seven, rises high above the rapids of the James, and the railway that comes down from the northward from Washington gets an entrance to Richmond by tunnelling under this hill. At its base spreads out the great Trcdegar Ironworks, the chief iron and stool factory of the South, which made for the Confederates cannon, shot, and shell during the Civil War, and also the armour-plates for their war-ships. This hill overlooks the Jarnes river and Kanawha canal, stretching far westward upon the river-bank, alongside which the torrent roars and foams through the rapids. Above, in midstream, is Belle Isle, a broad fiat island, which during the war was a place of confinement for Unionist prisoners, and is now the seat of a flourish ing nail mill, the clouds of smoke anchsteam from which indicate a prosperous trade. Further west ward Franklin-street leads through the fashionable quarter and past Monroe Park, fine residences bordering it where the millionaire tobacco mer chants and ironmasters live, and beyond this is Hollywood Cemetery, in a lovely position on the river-bank. The natural beauties of the locality add to its own charms of hill and vale, the terraced sides of its ravines being occupied by mausoleums and burial lots, while in front the rushing river rapids roar a requiem for the dead. Cedars and magnolias above and shrubbery and flowers below overhang the graves, making it one of the most beautiful burial-places in the States. Tho cemetery only covers about eighty acres, and in it are interred many noted Americans. On President s-hill.ovorlookirjc the river, is a circular FROM THE POTOMAC RIVER TO THE JAMES. 243 plot, with the grave in the centre, under an elabo rate monument, of President Jaineo Monroe, who held the office 70 years ago. Among the graves in the surrounding circle is that of President John Tyler, who ruled 45 years ago, and was the last of the Virginian Presidents, the " Old Dominion " having provided live of the American rulers. There is not a mark upon Tyler s grave, although his daughter buried ncr.r by has for a monument a beautiful marble iigure of the Virgin. Here are buried Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill, one of tha great Confederate chieftains, also in an unmarked grave ; J. E. B. Stuart, the dashing cavalryman ; and General George E! Pickott, the daring leader of the Confederate charge by the Virginia Divi sion at the battle of Gettysburg. The eccentric John Randolph, of Roanokc, sleeps here, and also Commodore Maury, the navigator ; Henry A. Y\ ? ko, who was governor of Virginia when she went into secession ; and Editor Thomas Ritchie, of the Richmond Engineer, who in his clay, half-a- ccntury ago, was a most powerful Southern poli tician, and -is regarded in Virginia as the " Father of the Democratic party," which so long ruled the Ptal.cs anterior to the Civil War. As one wanders aiiioi- g the noted graves of Hollywood there are many charming view? over town and river. Beyond this attractive cemetery are the higher grounds occupied by the water reeervoirs and an extensive region of farms and market gardens, where much good ngriculture is displayed. In this part ia one of the finest buildings of modern Richmond, the Baptist College, with its orna mental mansard roofs and pavilion tops. Kot far, away is the African Home, also a handsome struc ture. As nearly one-half the population of the city is made up of the negro race, it is gratifying to find that elaborate arrangements are provided, 244 Jl VISIT TO THE STATES. for their education. The younger generation of the coloured people are given the same school ad vantages as the whites, and it is their own fault if these are not well employed. It is to the great credit of the Virginian negroes that they show the live liest attachment for their homes, preferring to live amid the scenes of their birth, though it may be in poverty, rather than wander away in search of better fortune. Around Richmond these negroes are now cultivating the fields and gardens in much the same style as " befo de wah," a period when, according to the roseate tales now told by whites and blacks alike, the South is reputed tohave been a veritable Elysium. The negro women and chil dren gather the garden fruits and vegetables, and the sable head of the household hitches up his primitive donkey-cart as of yore to haul the pro duce into town for a market. They seem happy and contented ; glad, like every one else in the Southern country, that the war is over ; grateful for any kindness done them ; respectful, and gene- j-ally obedient. Almost the only changes in their actual condition from what it was in the days of slavery are the privilege they now have of hiring for whatever labour they prefer and the right ot voting. The former gives them a liberty usually involving heavier tasks and often a more pre carious subsistence. In reference to the latter, it is doubtful whether, even at this late day, the negroes of the South as a class fully comprehend the responsibilities of guff rage and the entire duty of their citizenship. XIX. THE GREAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. The chief memory of the late Confederate capital for all time to come will be of the Civil THE GREAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 245 War, when for three years battles raged around it. Adjoining the central Capitol Park stands St. Paul s Episcopal Church. It was herethat Jefferson Davis was attending Divine service on that event ful Sunday morning in April, 1865, when he waa brought the fateful telegram from General Lee which said that Richmond must be immediately evacuated. Almost all the present parks of Rich mond were then the sites of Confederate army hospitals or cemeteries. All of its great highways lead out to battlefields, and most of them in the suburbs are bordered with the graves of the dead of both armies. In Hollywood Cemetery are crowded together 12,000 graves of Confederate soldiers, marked originally with little wooden posts, numbered to give a clue to the occupants, but now fast rotting and disappearing. In the centre of this ghastly plot there rises a huge stone pyramid 90ft. high, erected by the Southern women as a memorial for the acres of dead around it* Vines overrun it, whose foliage half conceals the rough joints of the stones. It bears no man s name, for it was built as a monument to the unnamed Confederate dead. On one side is the inscription, " Memoria in ^Eterna ;" on another " Numini et Patrise asto ;" and on a third, * To the Confederate dead." The bodies were brought here and buried in rows, as they fell on the adjacent battlefields, or as they died in the hospitals. During one urgent and terrible season time waa not given to prepare separate graves, and the bodies were interred on the hillside in long trenches. This sombre pyramid, with its surround ings, is one of the startling memorials of the war. If the visitor ascends any of the hills of Richmond he can see other grim memorials, either in cemeteries outside the town or varied indications within it. The summit of Richmond or _Churchs 246 A VISIT TO THE STATES hill was at that time a vast hospital, and has now been made a park. The site of another extenoive hospital is now Monroe Park, named from Presi dent Monroe. On all Hides but the north the out look from Richmond is upon cemeteries, and all around the compass it is upon battlefields. From the top of Libby-hill the. route can be seen by which the swift-moving Union troops, after that fatal Sunday in 1805, advanced over the level lands from Petersburg towards the burning city. The bridges across the James were burnt, and acres oi buildings in the business section were in flames, when they came to the river bank and found that the greater portion oi the affrighted inhabitants had fled. The Yankees quickly laid a pontoon bridge over the James, crossed to the foot of Shockoo-hill, rushed up to the Capitol, and raised the Union " Stars and Stripes " upon its? roof, replacing the Confederate " Stars and Ears." Then with true Yankee thrift they eot to work and put out the fires that were devouring the almoot deserted city, probably this capture and the cloea of the war which speedily followed, though they came through a baptism of blood and lire, were the best things that ever happened for Richmond, as they inspired the people with renewed life arid business energy. From Libby-hill one also looks down upon another of tbo noted relics of the Civil War, tho old " Libby Prison. " It stands to-day in much the same condition as then, down by the water side a capacious storage warehouse, four stories high, with strong walls, many windows, and slanting roofs, and built almost square, with walls of rough bricks. It was originally occupied by Libby and Co., chiefly for the storage of tobacco awaiting shipment, and since the war it has gone back to trade uses, being now a fertilizer rnanui ac* THE GKEAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAE. 247 tory. This old prison is usually one of the first places visited by the Northern pilgrims, for during the war it was the abiding place of a multitude, over 50,000 prisoners having crossed its threshold. All Northern prisoners captured were first taken to Libby, the commissioned officers being confined there, while the private soldiers were afterwards sent to Belle Isle, Andersonville, or elsewhere in the interior of the Confederacy. Many are tho tales of hardship and suffering told of Libby, and the guards, who lived in tents outside the build ing, were frequently accused of brutality. Tho most noted event in the history of this prison was the boring of the tunnel through tho eastern wall, by which 109 of tho prisoners, led by Colonel JStreight, in February, 18G4, managed to escape into an adjoining stable and storehouse, and though moro than half of them were recaptured, the others got safely out of Richmond and into the Union lines. The making of tobacco fertilizers is to-day briskly conducted in tho old warehouse, but this odorous occupation is much lees romantic than its earlier history. The environs of Richmond still show abundant traces of the fortr>, redoubts, and long linos of earthworks by which the Confederate capital was so long and so gallantly defended. Tho North ern troops moved against the city at various times from different directions., and tho greatest amount of effort and the heaviest expenditure of life and treasure during the great American war was that devoted to Richmond s environment and capture. Tho first important movement directly against the city was made by M ; Clollan s invasion and siege in tho spring and summer of lbG2. The earliest attack was by the Union gunboats in May of that vear against tho batteries defending JDrewry s bluff, on the James river, seven miles below the 248 A VISIT TO THE STATES. town. The defensive works were so strong, how ever, that very little impression was made, but enough was learnt toprevent any subsequent naval attack at that place. The forts still exist behind the fringe of trees veiling them on the brow of the bluff. This attack had been made simulta neously with M Clellari s advance with his land forces up the peninsula between the York and James rivers from the Chesapeake, when, by successive stages, he came to theeastof Richmond, and extended his linos around to the north, en veloping the city on those sides upon a lino stretching in the arc of a circle, from about seven miles east to five miles north of Richmond. This line crossed the swamps adjoining the Chicka- hominy river, an affluent of the James, which flows through a broad depression in the adjacent table lands, and is bordered by meadows, fens, and thickets of underbrush, traversed by a few wretched and narrow roads. The Chickahominy thus divided M Clellan s right and left wings, and the first great battle near Richmond was begun by the Confederates, who hastened to take advantage of a heavy rain late in May, which had swollen the river, filled up the swamps, and overflowed the meadows. They fell upon the left wing of the Unionists on May 31, and the result was the terrible battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks, in which the losses were 10,000 men. It was an in decisive contest fought south of the Chickahominy, in which General Joseph E. Johnston, the Con federate commander ? was badly wounded, and General Lee, succeeding him, continued in com mand until the close of the war. The battlefield was among morasses and thickets, and extensive cemeteries now mark the place. J uring June the hot summer suns and the malaria of the swamps where M Clellan s troops were encamped filled the THE GREAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 249 hospitals with fewer cases, and he was forced to move the greater portion of his army to higher ground north of the Chickahominy, where he erected protective works. There still exist memo rials of these intrenchments and of the formidable ranges of opposing Confederate works upon the southern bank of the river. There soon followed the most brilliant Con federate movement of the Civil War. General Lee, having taken command, had got his army well in hand, and Stonewall Jackson had conducted a campaign of great skill, success, and dexterity of movement in the Shenandoah Valley, north-west of Richmond. He had defeated several separate Unionist detachments in the valley, and then made, late in June, a combined movement with Lee s main body to overwhelm M Clellan s right wing, the opposite manoeuvre to that attempted by Johnston a month earlier. The right wing was stretched around to the little hamlet of Mechanics- ville, on the Chickahominy, five miles north of Richmond, Lee sent Longstreet and Hill across the river above Mechanicsville, and they fell upon M Clellan s extreme right. This attack began the famous " Seven Days Battles," lasting from June 25 to July 1, 1862. Jackson was to have come down the same day from the valley, but his move ment was for some reason retarded and he was late in arrival. Then followed the battles of Mechanicsville and Ellerson s Mill, on Beaver Dam Creek, a little stream that flows from the north through a deep ravine into the Chickahominy, the Union troops all the time retreating:. General FitzJohn Porter, aided bv General Slocum, made a stubborn stand along tne higher grounds east of the Beaver Dam Creek to give IVrClellan time to withdraw his troops and extensive baggage trains across the miserable road that travel-Bed 250 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the swampy region below. This defence mado the terrible battle of Gaincc s Mill, the attack being by Longstrect and Hill, during which Jackson got clown from tho northward, and Porter changing front to face him the contest turned into the first battle of Cold Harbour. Porter held the defensive lines until the Unionist army had retreated, and he then withdrew through the morasses, destroying road and bridges behind him. These defensive contests gave M Cicllan time to make another retreat along a single road crossing the White Oak 8wamp, further down tho Chickahominy. The higher ground to the south ward of the stream was then held, and the Con federate attacks upon this new line made tho battles of Savage Station, Charles City Cross Roads, and Frazier s Farm, the pursuit being held in check long enough to permit the Unionist army to make further withdrawal, and to give Fitz John Porter opportunity to form another line of defence on Malveni-hill, 15 miles south-east of Richmond. Against this final defensive stand tho Confederates soon hurled their troops, but met a disastrous check, and, worn out by battles and marches, they then desisted. This closed tho " Seven Days," during which the losses wero 40,000. The Northern army having gone all around Richmond from tho north to tho south, then withdrew down the James river to Harric-on fl landing, where the stream was broad enough to accommodate the fleet of transports, and thero tho fatigued troops rested. They were subsequently removed by the shipping for a later campaign in Northern Virginia, IvFCiollan being superseded by General Pope. This brilliant Couf; derate move ment relieved Richmond, and gave them an enormous amount of military stores and other c&Dtured gccdc, besides emboldening them into THE GREAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 251 making tho two Northern aggressive campaigns across tho Potomac river in 1SG2 and 18G3 which led to the battles of Antietani and Gettysburg. In 18C3 there wore no Unionist attacks directly against Richmo nd. Tho second great movement upon Richmond began in June, 18C4, vrhen Grant came down through the " Wilderness," and after the terrible fighting there attacked Lee s Confederate forces intrenched at Cold Harbour in almost the same defensive position occupied by the Unionists under FitzJohn Porter two years before. Grant hurled his troops against Lee s strong position, and without making much impression lost in a brief and bloody contest 15, COO men. He then turned away from, this almost impregnable fortress on the north-east of Richmond and transferred his army to the south side of the James river,to make a new attack from an entirely different quarter. Thus the theatre of v/ar was removed to the south of Richmond, and in September, 1804, Genera] Butler s Unionist troops from Beimuda Hundred captured Fort Harrison, a strong work on the east bank of the James, opposite Drowry o Bluff and not far from Malvern-hill. Throughout the autumn and winter Grant gradually spread his lines westward around Petersburg, so that the later movements of tho war wore rather a siege oi that city than of Richmond ; and Grant used City Point, on the south sido of the James, at the mouth of the Appomattcx, which flows out from Petersburg* as his base of supplies, as M Cloihin had used the opposite shore at Harrison s Landing after tho retreat of 1862. As Grant spread hie lines steadily westward, he cut off one railway after another leading up to Petersburg and Rich mond from tho south, and ultimately starved Lee out, forcing the abandonment of Petersburg in the- 252 A VISIT TO THE STATES. spring of 1865 and the evacuation of Richmond on April 3, with the retreat of Lee and his final sur render at Appomattox, west of Richmond, six days later. This was the downfall of the Con- feaeracy and the end of the war. Until the epring of 1864 the nearest approach made by any Unionist force to Richmond was by the pickets advanced to the edge of the Chickahominy morass, north of Richmond, and within five miles of the city, by M Clellan s right wing in June. 1862. In March, 1864, a precursor to Grants advance through the " Wilderness " was a dashing cavalry raid from the northward, the troopers crossing the Chickahominy, then unguarded, and advancing to s point about one mile from the city limits ; but meeting some resistance, and learning of defensive works further along the road, General Kilpatrick, who commanded the raiders, retreated. General Lee s Confederate army was then 60 miles away from Richmond, guarding the lines along the Kappahannock . The present appearance and condition of the localities of the terrific contests around Richmond are of deep interest to every visitor. I went out by the northern road to Mechanicsville to see the great battlefields along the Chickahominy. Upon the brow of the plateau, where the land falls off to the broad stretch of meadow and swamp through "which this river flows, although a quarter of a century has passed, there still remain the formid able redoubts and long lines of earthworks which then protected the city from invasion on that side. This wayward stream, which seeks varied chan nels among the timber, has much meadow border ing the morasses on the Mechanicsville road, which has been improved into a moderately good high way. The river flows off towards the south-east, through a region of broader, swamps, inj3ome cases THE GREAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 253 spreading to several miles width, with extensive savannahs and thickets of undergrowth, the sur face, where decaying vegetable matter has gradually produced a hard superstructure over the morass, having much the character of what is. known in British America as a " muskeg." The main stream of the varying currents forming the river is generally near the northern edge of these ewamps, which are permeated by creeks and bayous. The whole region is sunken much below the level of the table land, so that in the war time the artillerists on the brow of the plateau on either hand could readily see each other over the thickets bordering the stream, and thus indulge in cannonading duels across tne Chickahominy. Beyond the river the land slopes up to the village of Mechanicsville, which consists of a half-dozen houses at a cross-roads at the top of the hill, show ing, however, no present indication of the fighting that raged there in 1862. The farmers were peacefully gathering their crops on soil which had been enriched by thousands of Unionist graves, for M Clellan lost far more men from sickness than from battle. The malaria of the swamps and the misfortunes of his campaign bred a pesti lence in the hot summer of 1862 that converted much of the camp into a hospital. We turned south-east along the brow of the hill bordering the declivity leading down to the swamps, and passed over what had been the front of the Unionist position. The whole region is now rich in agri culture, and almost every sign of the formidable earthworks, which then bristled with cannon, has- been obliterated. We crossed the Beaver Dam Creek, flowing through its deep ravine, and went past Ellerscn^s little mill, which still showed in its battered condition from cannon shot the fierce fighting that had raged about the ravine when 254 A VISIT TO THE STATES. M Clellan s rearguard was protecting his retreat against the attacks of Longstreet and Hill. Tho roads have evidently not been mended much since those exciting days, and are heavy and bad. Mounting laboriously up the other side of the ravine, beyond the woods that were BO gallantly defended "against the Confederate advance, v/e came to the little rquare wooden church at Wal nut Creek, which had been an army hospital. The few countryfolk about were mostly negroes, and they looked very peaceful as they gathered their crops or ploughed the ground or jogged lazily along on their little two-wheeled mule carts. They all, however, had a vivid recollection of the timo when Stonewall Jackson, with his fleet army of ragged and hungry rebels, who proudly called themselves the " foot cavalry, 1 came swiftly down from the " valley " and turned the Yankee right wing at the bloody battle of Gaines s Mill. The memory of Jackeon seems to be cherished by tho Southern people more than that of the other Southern leaders. His brilliant movements and inopportune death have made him their hero of the war. They talk with evident zest of their part in his dashing manoeuvres, and are full of most interest ing reminiscences, but all now acknowledge they have had enough of war and want no more of it. Wo moved over the Gaines s Mill battlefield. now a land of corn patches and scrub timber, and down in the hollow, alongside the stream that turned the wheel of tne famous mill, saw its ruins. Gaines s Mill was burnt, but tho wheel is still standing, with the water pouring through it, though it no longer turns. Wild roses groAV among the remains of the grass-covered floor inside the mill, and a pig-stye and two or three negro cabins adjoin tlio half-demolished and roofless structure, which was a key to one of tho greatest battles of modern THE GREAT THEATRE OS THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, 255 times. On the hilltop not far away was Dr. Gaines s house, which was the army headquarters fc Little evidence remains of the battle, all signs having been obliterated. Rough and dilapidated tf corduroy ;; roads lead about the field, which the Engineers had made by felling trees and filling over them a mixture of boughs and earth that made a hasty yet tolerable roadway. These are, however, falling into decay, evidently having had little attention since the soldiers built them. To the eastward, on the higher ground, is Gold Har bour, getting its name from a corruption of the title of " Cool Arbour," which in the dim past Was the name given the estate. Here, on the hilltops, first Porter, and two years afterwards Lee, held a fortress against fierce attacks, the armies having in the interval almost exactly changed places, Grant, in 1864, coming down to tho attack from the northward upon almost the sanio line ao Jackson in 1862. Here, also, the benefi cent hand of time had almost obliterated the marks of the double battles. We then turned south" ward, and crossed back over the Chickahominy swamps, by the route taken by M Clollan s forces in their famous retreat, when as they withdrew they burnt or blew up vast piles of stores, covering acres of ground, and destroyed the road and "bridges behind them. Then, the shipwrecked Wagons and disabled cannon, the scene being lighted by the vast conflagrations of the stores, marked the line of that terrible night retreat. Now, there was not a sign anywhere that told of the pursuit, but the frogs were croaking mourn fully in the abundant owainps and puddles, BO that our negro coach-driver could not help remarking that they were " holdin 7 a lively prayer meeting down dar." The broad swamp was crossed, withj its intertwining baypua and; \Datches of 256 JL VISIT TO THE STATES. timber, a most wretched location for an army encampment, and the road brought us out on the southern side to higher ground, overlooking the battlefield of Fair Oaks and Seven Pines to the eastward of Kichmond. the first great conflict fought near the city. Much of the lands then fought upon are now occupied by cemeteries.; Further to the eastward is the White Oak Swamp, another extensive morass, through which M Clellanc ^withdrew his army by a single road, the enemy toeing for three days obstructed and baffled to make good this retreat, which was successfully accom plished, though with great losses of men and materiel. All these roads are miserable and the engineering poor, the people evidently having little occasion or disposition to ./maintain high ways through such a wretched region. Looking- sat the uninviting surroundings, it seems wonder ful that any, even the most robust, could survive the sickness that such a malarious region is sure to implant. The children still gather bullets and other relics from these battlefields, which can ba easily got. The trade in war relics, however, ia not pushed in Richmond as in some other places, where enterprising merchants have learnt to import them to order. In approaching the city from the eastern side there are seen the same formidable lines of defensive earthworks and redoubts as on the northern side, and the des perate necessities of the defence that had to be made are shown by the inner lines of redoubts surrounding the city, which made a series of citadels. Much of tnese fortifications is being carted away as earth may happen to be needed, and garden plots are being tilled by negro women and children right among the earth works. The defensive works and battlefields to the THE GREAT THEATRE OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 257 southward of Richmond are best shown by a steamboat ride along James river. This historic stream, which preserves the memory of JKJng James I., flows several miles due south from Richmond and then makes a detour to the east ward around Drewry s Bluff, with Chaffin s Bluff oni the opposite eastern bank. Below this the river makes a series of remarkable gyrations through the low-j lands, flowing around three long hooks and curves,] none of which, although all are very long, enable; the river to make much actual progress. The firsts of these is " Dutch Gap," through which General! Butler cut his noted canal designed to elude parts of Drewry s Bluff. As a military measure it was! a failure, but it has since been made a shorter^ river channel for Richmond commerce. It is only 600ft. long, and yet it cuts off five miles of riverj The second long hook stretches northward towards Newmarket, and the third, further down, is bordered on its northern curve by Malvern-hill j This latter curve bends around Eouthward to! Bermuda Hundred, where Butler s camp was lo cated. Below this the James turns eastward into, a broad estuary, on the northern side of which i Harrison s Landing, where M Clellan s retreat ended, and on the southern side City Point. Herej in 1862, M Clellan rested under protection of hiaj gunboats ; while in 1864 Grant s lines stretched! far back along the Appomattox to and beyond Petersburg, being opposed by equally strong Confederate works on the northern side of ih& Appomattox and behind Bermuda Hundred. This latter neck of land, enveloped by the great fold of the winding James, is where Grant in 1864 significantly described Butler as being " bottled up." Earthworks, encampments, forts, and historio mansions abound throughout all this region south of .Richmond* whicli comDlote^ tho. environment Q^ 258 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the Confederate capital that was so stoutly defended. XX. VOYAGING DOWN JAMES KIVER. The James river flows entirely across Virginia, its head waters being upon the western border of the Old Dominion, and its mouth at the lower end of Chesapeake Bay. Like all the streams that drain the slopes of the Alleghanies, it breaks through the great wall of the Kittatinny, and passes ridge after ridge until it emerges from the, hills of Richmond into the lowland region below. It is 450 miles long in its tortuous course, and from the falls and rapids at Richmond it flows by ft winding chn,nnel 11G miles to the sea. It drains a grand agricultural district, and its coffee-coloured Waters tell of the rich red soils through which it comes in the tobacco plantations from Richmond Westward to and beyond Lynchburg. In its earlier history this noted stream was called, after the Indian King, Powhatan,and it bears that name on fche older maps. Just below Richmond is Pow- iiatan, the chieftain s homo, the spot whore the Princess Pocahontas is said to have interfered at the projected execution and saved the life of Captain John Smith. Hero stands a precious telic in an old chimney believed to have been Originally built for the King s cabin by his white Colonist friends. It is of solid masonry, arid has outlasted several cabins which one after the other wore built up against it in Southern style. A number of cedars grow alongside, and are said to fcliadow the very stone on which Smith s head was UicU , The James carries a heavy commerce VOYAGING DOWN JAMES RIVEK. 259 here to and from Richmond, and in tho way* ward river the depth of channel is maintained by an elaborate system of cross-current jetties, built out from the shores and over the shallows in alternating clusters, as the winding channel changes from one bank to the other. The deeper water thus secured by compressing tho tidal flow is in some places hardly lOQft. wide. Both banks show the earthworks that are relics of the Civil War, and as the steamboat carefully threads tho tortuous route the passengers listen to the interesting reminiscences of Stonewall Jackson a old soldiers, who proudly tell of the martial deeds at which they assisted, and also of their thank fulness that the strife is ended. Tho shores of the James at first are low, with hills behind them, until, a few miles below Rich mond, a lorig ridge comes out from the westward, and, projecting across the route of the stream, diverts its course sharply round from south to east. This projecting ridge is the noted Drewry a Bluff, which was tho citadel of the Confederate defensive lines upon the south. It stretches for some distance along the bank, a succession of bluff s in which ravines are carved out by littlq streams, and its summits having admirable com mand of tho river reaches. Kero are tho remains, of Fprt Darling and its outlying batteries, crown- ing the tops of the bluffs and almost masked by ti .o trees. The elevation of their positions gava tho gunners tho advantage of plunging shots upon tho docks of approaching vessels, "and the unsuc cessful attacks made showed them to be impreg nable defences. Passing Drewry, the crooked river then winds the other way in front of Chafim s Bin ft , on the eastern bank, which was also etior.g jy loriiUod, and Homo distance behind it in the interior \vas Itort Harrison, which General 260 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Butler captured in 1864. After passing oetween these strong defensive works on the two bluffs, the river flows into an almost level plain, and the channel widens somewhat as it approaches the famous region of Dutch Gap. Its course now is around a double reverse curve which carries it over considerable surface without much actual progress. The fishermen are out with their netsJ and after threading its way among them round the upper curve the steamboat avoids the second and longest one by sharply turning into the Dutch Gap Canal, cut through a bluff about 40ft. high at the narrowest portion of the long neck of land. This short canal saves the navigator a very long detour, and Butler s military fiasco has become a success for commerce. His object in projecting the canal was to avoid what were known as the Howlett-house batteries, placed at the eastern end of Drewry s Bluff, at the extremity of the river s sharp curve, and in such position as to command both its long reaches. These batteries were a great annoyance to Butler, and he conceived the idea of making the prisoners he held dig the canal, shrewdly reasoning that their own people would not kill them while working. There yet remain marks of the caves and holes in the face of the bluff into which the canal diggers crawled to escape the shells that often came that way. Just below is the large plantation of Varina, where Pocahontas lived after she married the Englishman, 1 Kolfe. Its fine brick mansion was the place of exchange of prisoners during the war. Jettiea project in front of this plantation, and the Govern ment is prosecuting extensive works in continua tion of the improvement of river navigation. The lowlands in this region are very rich, but there have been extensive overflows where freshets havo( broken the. dykes, so that valuable clantations. arei VOYAGING DOWN JAMES RIVER. 261 ruined, their owners not having the means to re claim them. The river then curves round again and again as it flows past Deep Bottom and circles about one elongated neck of land after another, the steamboat heading at times all round the compass, and though it goes steadily along the winding channel, yet seeming to always be steaming about the same landmarks. Long lines of earthworks stretch northward towards Newmarket, which made an important part of Richmond s southern defence. Having for a protracted period sailed round I know not how many necks of low-lying land excellent mosquito farms and ague generators the steamboat finally starts to encircle still another, the Turkey Island bend, and heads directly for Malvern-hill. This noted battlefield is on the slope of a long ridge rising just north of the bend, with almost bare fields running up to its summit, which is crowned by a small house and to the left, at some distance, a little wood. It was here that FitzJohn Porter planted his batteries on the crest of the ridge and made the closing defensive line, resulting in the final battle of the " Seven Days." Along the Newmarket road from the west and from Charles City road to the north the Confederates made their fierce attacks, which were repulsed with terrible slaughter. In failing to take advantage of this by attacking the decimated and disheartened Con federates immediately after the victory, M Clellan made the mistake of his life. The long ridge of Malvern-hill stretches away from the river towards the north-west, and in the great battle it was a vast amphitheatre terraced with tier upon tier of artillery, while gunboats in the river aided the Unionist defence. Now the only signs of life are given by a lew fishermen with their nets along 262 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the shore, an<3 we are told that since the battle this region has been famous mainly for good shad and vigorous mosquitoes. Having rounded Turkey Island bend, the meandering river has a brief interval of comparative straightriess, and the steamboat heads southward towards City Ppint, passing on the right hand the lowlands of Ber muda Hundred, where Butler was " bottled up." Its broad, flat, fertile surface was mainly a wheat- Held, stretching back to its boundary by the upper reach of the river on the opposite side. Here, on the eastern bank, is the plantation of Shirley, one of the famous Virginia settlements that come down from the colonial times, and is now held a rare thing in eastern Virginia by the descendants of its original owners, the Carters, who occupy a prominent place in the front rank of the " iirst families of Virginia." The wide and attractive old brick house, with its hipped and pointed roof, stands behind a fringe of treea along the shore, with numerous outbuildings constructed around a quadrangle behind it, arranged in the days when Indian attacks were dreaded, so that an enfilading fire could be made. It is two stories high, and built of bricks brought out from England. A capacious porch shades the front windows, while round the roof are rows oi dormer windows, above which the roof runs from all sides up into a point between the tall and ample chimneys. It is a largo mansion, with many chambers, and as we pass the doors are wide open and give a brief view through the hall. Behind it are the lower red-roofed outbuildings of much similar construction, that were forts in colonial times. This rioted house, built originally by the Hills, was held by then-descendant, Colonel Hill Carter, during the Civil War, and is now the home of his son, Captain Robert .Carter. VOYAGING DOWN JAMES BIVEK. 263 this pleasant spot the view across the river to the westward is over Bermuda : Hundred, and then aa the channel again bends from south round to east, with its surface greatly broadened, the Bout-hern view trom Sliirley is across the James to fche mouth of the Appomattox and City Point. The Appomattox river originates in the hills near Lyncliburg, where Lee surrendered to Grant, and flows eastward 120 miles to the James, it passes Petersburg 12 miles south-west of ita mouth. Tho place of union with the James is a, high bluff thrust out between the rivers, with abrupt banks and a plateau on the top which ia well shaded. Here is another noted houjse, nestling among the trees high above the water, tho home of Dr. Epps. its great fame came from ita use by General Grant as his headquarters during the operations from the south side of the James against Petersburg and Lee s army in 1864-65. Grant occupied two little log cabins on the top of the bluff , juot east of the house, one being hia dwelling and the other his office. One was some time a^o removed to Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, where it is kept as a relic the other remains, somewhat dilapidated, but still surviving ita renowned occupant, 22 years later. To the east ward of tho bluff is the little town of City Point, a place of some trade, with scattered houses along fche shore and upon the bluff, and a railway coming out from Petersburg to the landing. The wharves, where once an enormous business was done at landing army supplies, are now mostly ruined, having been burnt at the close of tho war, and their present restricted traffic oppor tunities not warranting much repair. In front arc anchored a licet of monitor ironclads, laid up by the American navy in fresh water and a sheltered location., slowly rusting out oj 264 A VISIT TO THE STATES. ence, for the advances in naval architecture nave superseded them. The listless life led by the officers in charge must induce them to pray for better things. The James river flows to tie eastward from City Point, a steadily-broadening stream, and for miles Ifce sloping shores of the northern bank were the location 01 M Clellan s camps at Harrison s Land ing, where he rested his troops after the "Seven Days," having retreated there upon the close of the final contest at Malvern-hill. The Unionist camps occupied the plantations of Berkeley and Westover. the former having been the birthplace of General Harrison, who was President of the. United States in Ib41 for a brief period, dying ia joffice. In this pleasant spot, with ample epace on shore for bivouacs, and plenty of water front and anchorage for transports, the Union army rested after the unfortunate summer campaign of 1862, remaining there until taken away by vessels and removed to the front oi "Washington a few weeks later. The Berkeley- bouse stands on what is now a bare tract with extensive fields behind it. Broad verandahs tencloee it, and the yellow outbuildings give the mansion and its surroundings a comfortable look, though it lacks shade, having lost its trees by the fortunes of war, the projecting boat landing having also fallen into ruin. This tract, like many others of the old Virginia plantations, has since the Civil \Var passed into the possession of new owners. A short distance further down is a quaint old mansion of red brick, architecturally of the reign of Queen Anne, with one wing only standing, the corresponding wing on the eastern side having been burnt during the war. Thia Ftmcture, with its pointed roof surmounted by talj .chimneys, standing $t , tkfc. .top pi. VOYAGING DOWN JAMES EIVEB. 265 sloping bank, is Westover-house, the mcsb famous of the old mansions on the James river. It was the colonial home of the Byrds grandfather, father, and son noted in the early history ol Virginia, whose arms are emblazoned on its iron gates and who sleep in the little graveyard along side it. The second of these was of greatest renown, the " Honourable William Byrd of West- over, Esquire," who was ;the founder of both Petersburg and Richmond. He was a man of high character and imposing personal appearance, and his full-length portrait in flowing periwig and lace ruffles, after Vandyck, is yet preserved at Lower Brandon, further down the James. He inherited an immense landed estate and ample fortune, and was sent to England for his education, living in Europe for many years. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Templo, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. The inscription on his West- over tomb tells us he was also the friend of the learned Earl of Orrery. He held many high offices in Virginia, being Receiver-General of its revenues and President of the Colonial Council. He possessed the largest private library then owned in America. In connexion with one Peter Jones, this distinguished Virginian in 1733 laid out both Petersburg and Richmond on lands owned by himself, establishing them respectively at the head of ship navigation on the Appomattox and the James. He left profuse journals, which have been published as the " Wostover Manuscripts," and they announce that Petersburg was gratefully named in honour of his companion-founder, Peter Jones, and that Rich mono: got its name from Byrd s vivid recollections of Richmond s outlook on the Thames, which he found reproduced in the soft hills and far-stretching meadows adjoining the rapids of tho James, .with tke curYJne swee.D 266 A VISIT TO THE STATES. of the river as it flowed away and wag finally lent to view behind the glimmering woods. He died in 1744, and his estates have passed away from hia descendants. Westover-houoe, which waa M Clellan s headquarters when hio armies en camped there, is now occupied by Major Drowiy, who owned Drowry s Bluff bnlow Richmond. Ho has restored all the buildings, effaced as far aa possible the ruin wrought by the war, and has inade Westovor one of the loveliest spots on tho river. It was in those noble mansions, surrounded by regiments of negro servants, that the courtly Virginians of tho olden times dispensed a princely hospitality which was limited only by their means. The stranger was always welcome at the bountiful board and the slave children grow up amid plenty, hardly knowing what work was, the difficulty usually being not so much to find somebody to perform the task as to provide enough work for every one to do. Now, how ever, the upheaval of tho war has made a vast change. The Virginian continues to be as open- hearted and hospitable, but his moans are much, less. To all he has the guest is welcome, but it: is always with a tinge of regret that he recalls the- good old time when ho might have done more. The negro is changed too. Ho now has to largely look out for himself, for the master is no longer the provider, come what may. He has his liberty and his vote, and he labours for wages, but ho hardly seems to get on as he did then. Most of the negroes who attempt to till their own small tracts of land seem unable to earn an existence excepting in the most stinted and often precarious Way .They dislike working alone,f or they always want company, and when they get any money it appears fcp cause .them uneasiness until it is spent, and VOYAGING DOWN JAMES &IVER. 267 the travelling circus gets some of it and the cross* roads country storekeeper more, the investments! being largely in sweets and whisky. Their chief- desire is to enjoy a crowd and thus get company,, and tho prominent social delight ia the " church, mooting." It is here they mingle politics- with; religion, and the parson becomes the loader of his, (lock in their social and political an well ao their religious duties. The shrewd race of modern poll-* ticiaiis in Virginia have found out that the way! to capture the votes of tho negroea is to get tho good will of their preachers, and hence in art Exciting election campaign these influential leaders are much sought after. The political orator in addressing meetings of the voters in this region opens with " Fellow citizens and brethren." While " citizens " may do for tho white man, tho word a brethren " is always the most captivating title for the coloured brother. These negroes, too, are an imitative race. They fol]ow closely after the ways and methods of the whites, and on the steamboats and railways, to thoroughly imitate the white folks, they insist on taking first-class places and cheerfully pay the first-class faros. Their funerals are usually great displays, with largo crowds, a long procession, and a feast which costs all the ready money possessed by the family* Many of them are recklessly improvident, working until they accumulate a little wages, then drawing their money and idling their time until every penny is spent and sheer necessity forces them to work again. On the James river plantations the negro is generally regarded as a costly labourer for the planter, as they are given without charge their cabins, pigs, fowls, all their rations, and ample fagots for fuel, and are paid about 2s. per day wages besides. They burn much more fuel fchan the whites, as they are always sensitive ta 268 , A VISIT TO THE STATES. the cold, and require large fires to warm them, usually sleeping on the floor without bedclothing and with their feet almost thrust into the flames. This, with the uncertainty about their steadiness at labour, makes them costlier than white labour at higher wages, though the latter can rarely be obtained for plantation work. Suchis the diagnosis given me by a prominent Virginian planter of the present condition of the newly-enfranchised raco on the James. Coggins Point projects opposite Westover, and round it the river bends sharply to the south. Noted plantations and mansions line the banks, nd like those above, all these, with the counties and villages, bear well-known English names. This was the region of earliest English settlement in (America, and from each old house on the bank Song landings project out over the shallow water jto the steamboat channel. At the point is the ruined Fort Powhatan, a relic of the war with England in 1812-15, its almost demolished walla eine down by the shore, while above on the blufl are the remains of modern earthworks, this having (been a Unionist outpost. Cypress trees elevate their conical knees and roots in the water on the borders of the neighbouring lowland swamps. Sturgeon Point is passed, a region of prolific sturgeon fishery, this favourite food of the locality being popularly known as " Charles City bacon." The Chickahominy river having become a broad .watercourse flows in below here between low phores, and the James is a very wide estuary. In this part of the river, upon a low yellow bluff on the northern shore, the first English colony was planted in 1607 at Jamestown. Captain John Smith, of Willoughby, in Lincolnshire, is the hero of this settlement, though the expedition commanded, by Christopher Newjport. VOYAGING DOWN JAMES RIVER. 269 It is 32 miles from the mouth of Jameff river, and the bluff by the action of the water has been made an island, and the situation was probably selected because this furnished protection from Indian attacks. The encroachments of the river have swept away part of the site of the early settlement, and a portion of the old church tower and some tombstones are now the only relics of the ancient town. On top of the bluff can be seen the ruins of the tower, almost over grown with moss and vines. It has a background of trees, and a couple of little cabins a short distance from it are the only present signs of; settlement. Here the colonists landed, and here they quarrelled, were stricken with pestilence, and were massacred by the Indians. To the ola church Pocahontas came to be baptized and married, and afterwards she made the voyage toj England, where she died. Her descendants are/ to-day among the proudest of the Virginians. 1 Behind the ruined tower is the red wall of the graveyard where the first settlers were buried. At some distance below on the river shore is the present mansion of the Jamestown plantation, 1 where our steamboat halted a moment to take its mistress aboard. To the southward the planta- feion is very low, with bordering lagoons and f marshes, and the river bends round the island, behind which its water can be seen across the neck of land. The James river forests are being steadily cut off, and this furnishes a brisk timber trade, mainly t in railway ties, planks, and faggots for northern shipment. The wharves have to be built out long distances, for as the estuary broadens the water" adjoining the low shores becomes very shallow. In the bays there are large surfaces devoted to oyster culture, where the seed ^oysters are planted] 270 A VISIT TO THE STATES." which are gathered by fleets of small vessels for transplanting into salt-water bods. As wo cross the vast expanse of waters the long protruding point of Newport s NOWB, near the mouth of the river, appears far away in front with a huge corn elevator on its outer end. Here came Christopher [Newport to get his news from England, and it has "been " Newport s News " ever since, and is now a flourishing town and terminal for the Chesa peake and Ohio Railvyay. We steadily approach and touch at the great piers the railway has built to conduct its through trade between the Missis sippi Valley and Europe, and also for the ship ment of coals. Last year nearly 900,000 tons of freight were shipped from these piers. It was to a point almost opposite hero, in the spring of 1862, that the Confederate ram Merrimac came out from Norfolk and sunk or disabled the American wooden naval vessels in Hampton Roads, the next day, however, being encountered by the ironclad Monitor, which had opportunely arrived from New York, and being herself disabled. This timely appearance on the scene of " the little Yankee cheese-box on a raft " made a sudden and most unexpected revolution in the naval methods and architecture of the world. Round the point of Newport s News the broad bay opens into one of the finest harbours of the Atlantic coast Hampton Roads at the mouth of the James, named from the village of Hampton on the northern shore, which is now the site of a veteran soldiers 7 home and a negro and Indian school. Across the roads is the wide expanse oi Chesapeake Lay, the great inland sea loading up to Baltimore, which is the theatre of many ex citing but- happily bloodless " o;vott;r wars " between the rival Mar; land ami Virginia fisher- inen.and ie a region for the culture of delicious tor- THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. 271 rapin and canvas-back ducks and for good shooting. The predatory oysterrnan who stealthily ventures upon forbidden preserves is driven off or captured by the armed cruisers of the " oyster navy," and these recurring conflicts occupy much space in the newspapers and in local politics. Hundreds of vessels, chiefly the large American coasting schooners, are anchored in the roadstead as we cross it. The low shore to the northAvard is adorned by the huge public buildings of Hampton, and this land to the right tapers off to Fortress Monroe, and there terminates in one of the chief watering places of this coast Old Point Comfort where the landing closes our interesting iournnv down the historic James river. XXI. THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. The Chesapeake is the largest inland sea on the Atlantic coast of the United States. It stretches for two hundred miles up into the land between the low shores of Maryland and Virginia^ giving both States valuable navigation advantages. Its bays and arms are the resting-place for the oysters which its people send all over the worldj and the sportsman seeks its shores for unrivalled fishing and shooting,while it abounds with populai Bummer resorts. The Susquehanna river, coming down through New York and Pennsylvania, forma the head-waters of this great bay, and it also receives other large rivers from the Alleghany mountains the Potomac, dividing Maryland an d Virginia, the James in Virginia, and smaller streams, such an the Rappahannock, York, Patuxent, Patapsco, Choptank, and Elizabeth 27 i VISIT TO THE STATES. rivers. Noted cities are upon its shores, including Baltimore, Annapolis, and Norfolk. Extensive! lines of profitable commerce seek transport over it. Canals connect it with other interior waters; both north and south, and three or four railways lead to the far West, besides others along the sea board. Hampton Roads, just inside the entrance, is its unrivalled harbour. The little peninsula of Old Point Comfort, which juts out beyond Hamp ton and thus makes the northern boundary of the mouth of James river ; has upon it the largest and most elaborate fortification possessed by tho Americans. After the British invasion of 1814, when they sailed up Chesapeake Bay and burnt the Government buildings at Washington, it waa quickly determined that no foreign foe should bo asain permitted to do such a thing,as the invasion was a menace not only to the national capital but also to the chief navy yard of the States at Nor folk. Bernard, one of Napoleon s noted engineers, had offered his services to the Americans after the downfall of the French Emperor, and he was given charge of the construction of a defensive work at the mouth of James river which would command the channel into that river and to Norfolk, and at the same time be a base for operations against any fleet attempting to enter Chesapeake Bay and menace the roadstead. Bernard built an elaborate fortress, with broad moat and outlying water battery, enclosing about 80 acres, the ramparts being some three miles in circumference. It was called Fortress Monroe, after the then President, James Monroe, of Virginia, who now; rests in Hollywood at Richmond. Out upon an artificial island known as the Rip-raps, two miles off shore, in the harbour entrance, the smaller works of Fort Wool were subsequently construc ted, and the two are now the defences _of tha THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. 273 entrance to Chesapeake Bay. During the 70 years the fortress has existed it has not Had occasion to fire a gun at an enemy, but its location and strength proved invaluable to the North, who held it during the Civil War. The fortress is the seat of the artillery school of the United States Army, to which the young officers are sent from their regi ments for instruction. Upon the water side of the fortress, to the outhward, Old Point Comfort is occupied by an extensive sea-side hotel. Here the ladies coma to flirt with the young army officers, and the usual fashionable frivolities reign supreme. The place is very popular, and a thousand people are at times packed into the hotel, and endeavour to kill time as they best can. The invalid from the North in the severer seasons seeks a balmier air at Old Point, while in summer the Southron comes ia search of cooler weather. It is a sort of small Riviera in the winter, while the ocean tempers ita summer heats. The glass-enclosed piazzas, and the adjacent ramparts of the fortress, which in these piping times of peace are a common pro menade for the hotel guests and the artillerymen, give a fine outlook over the waters east and south. To the eastward is a boundless expanse of open Boa limited only by the horizon. To the south the view is across a gentle surf, rolling in upon a sandy beach, with a couple of boat-landings pushed out beyond it. A little way out in the harbour is the low-lying island of the Rip-raps, with its fort covering almost the entire surface, behind which is seen the distant line of land that makes the southern boundary of Chesapeake Bay, beyond this being the Elizabeth river and Norfolk. To the westward, Hampton Roads spreads across the scene, with Newport News and its railway, piers and elevator in the distance. The Jamoa 274 A VISIT TO THE STATES. river expands behind the elevator, looking like another open sea as one gazes Up its wide and. 1 apparently almost boundless estuary, for all these Chesapeake Bay rivers have enormously broad and usually shallow mouths. Is. the capacious roadstead, hundreds of vessels are at anchor, and many are moving in all directions, in or out from tho Jamos river, or from the Elizabeth rivor and Norfolk, or the upper bay and open sea. Porpoises gambol on the waters, and boats crews from tho riaval vessels at anchor skim over the surface^ It is a peaceful scene, yet with many warlike memories of a quarter of a century ago. It has a soothing effect upon the traveller who has been buffeted about in railway carriages or over the, roughly-paved streets of most American cities. There is no surprise, consequently, that this! charming marine panorama attracts so manyj visitors, who love to gaze at the changing lights and shadows and the vessels moving upon the waters. When they tire of this, a fine shell road a material making an admirable roadway lead to the adjacent settlement of Hampton, a quaint? old Virginia village, having a soldiers homo caring for about 800 veterans, housed in excellent buildings situated in a splendid park fronting the roadstead. Here also is the Normal Institute, devoted to the higher education of the negro racOjWhich, besides, provides for quite a number of Indian children brought from the far West. This school is designed especially to train the; coloured youth to bo teachers for their own* people, and has a large farm attached to it where* fehe pupils cultivate the land and get agricultural instruction. This institute is an offshoot of the; famous " Freedmen s Bureau," established after, fche War to look after the welfare of the negroes. Hampton also lias another relic of tho war in its- THE CHESAPEAKE BAT REGION. 275 cemetery, whore 5,000 Unionist soldiers have" found their last resting-place. To the spacious Government wharf at Old Point many steamers come, and hither all the neighbour ing farmers and gardeners send their early fruits and vegetables for Northern shipment. All kinds of .specimens of " darkeys " come with all sorts of vehicles and the queerest and most amusing rigs, bringing their peas and potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, "and berries to load upon the North bound steamboats. In fact, much of the available country about Chesapeake Bay and for a long distance southward is a vast market-garden for raising early produce for the Northern cities, and the steamers and railways thrive upon its trans portation. To this wharf also frequently comes the trim little United States steamer Dispatch, which is usually employed in taking Government officials on excursions, and is humorously pointed out by Americans as " what is left of tb.0 American navy." Better things, however, are hoped for that gallant navy when the fleet of new modern cruisers recently ordered by Congress ar<J put into commission. From this wharf wo take & steamboat, and, crossing the roadstead, sail up Elizabeth river to Norfolk. The portion of tli0 " Old Dominion " southward of James river is A tegion largely of worn-out lands, though th(5 Northern demand for fruits and vegetables had greatly stimulated its market-gardening in recent years. The back country eastward from Petersburg to the sea is a flat and uninteresting surface of pine forests, with occasional clearings, where tho pigs and negro " piccaninnies " appear to hold the rude cabins where they live in a sort of joint tenancy. A vicious farming system in ths past, combined with the present poverty of most of the landowners, has ruined much of the agri* 276 A VISIT TO THE STATES. cultural prospects of the region. Upon the winding paths through the woods the ox-team plods along, or a solitary horseman may bo seen in his butternut suit going home with supplies from the cross-roads grocery, not forgetting the whisky jug, usually hung from the sacldle-bow. This is the land where the " gouber " or " peanut " grows and is a staple food. It also produces rail way ties and firewood fagots in abundance for Northern export. As the ocean is approached, this section gradually changes into the lowland region of market-gardens and good lands surround ing Norfolk, to the southward of which is the great Dismal Swamp. Our huge steamboat bringing over the Penn- p-Hvania Railway train carefully enters tne Elizabeth river, which in reality is an ami of the sea, curving round from the south to the east, and has Norfolk on its northern bank find Portsmouth opposite. It is a flat and low country, the entrance to the inner harbour liaving on the left hand a fort and on the right a magnificent park of noble pine trees, within which is a large marine hospital. On the opposite side are the capacious wharves fronting Norfolk and also its finest residential section.- Far up the river are Gosport and its navy yard, the largest in the States. Many cotton bales, much timber, tobacco, and naval stores, and a vast amount of garden produce, not forgetting the " goubers," all await ing shipment, fill the Norfolk piers. This enter prising city has awakened since the civil war from a long period of semi-somnolency, and under the stimulus of Northern energy and capital has "become, next to Savannah, the Atlantic port of largest southern shipment. Although there are Ibarely GO,COO people in the various settlements s.djoininir_ the Elizabeth river, jet under its THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. 277 renewed impetus there was last year a trade valued at nearly 11 millions sterling. The cotton compresses do a lively business preparing the bales for ocean transport when the season is brisk, and under the powerful hydraulic pressure they squeeze the bale to barely one-fourth its former BJze, and bind it firmly with iron bands, to give the vessels increased stowage. The various rail ways from west and south centering at Norfolk, and the advantage of an excellent harbour almost at the edge of the Atlantic ocean, have greatly enhanced its trade. The Norfolk and Western Railroad, bringing the minerals from the A-lleghanies cut to the coast and traversing the entire State of Virginia, is its chief line, and through this medium Norfolk has become an extensive exporter of bituminous coal of thei highest quality throughout the Atlantic seaboard! and to the West Indies. The Seaboard and Koanoke Railroad and the Southern line bring in a large traffic from the south, and there are also many connecting steamer lines on the James river, Chesapeake Bay, and along the Atlantic coast. The New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk Railroad is the chief railway connexion with the Northern States, the trains being transported across Chesapeake Bay to the " Eastern Shore "j peninsula, between the bay and the ocean, and! going thence northward to the connexion with the Pennsylvania Railroad, leading to the great Northern cities. Tho most prominent feature in the trade of Norfolk is probably the export of; food supplies. In the spring the shipment of early fruits and vegetables is enormous, and vast! em-faces in the neighbourhood are devoted to their growth. Strawberry beds cover many acres.! and hundreds of pickers, gathered from all cuarters, will work in a giiifile field. _ 278 A. VISIT TO THE STATES, of this trade causes constant additions of new landa to the market gardens, and the express trains carrying the produce northward become something prodigious, besides the vast cargoes laden on steamers. The oyster is another Norfolk specialty, the packing for shipment coming in opportunely after the early fruit and vegetable season is over. The " gouber " crop comes into Norfolk fof cleansing and export by millions of bushels. The timber trade is immense, large saw mills converting the logs into merchantable timber, and an extensive section south and west being accessible to the axemen. It is about three centuries ago that certain adventurous Englishmen, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had landed upon Roaiioke, to the southward, in their wanderings found the Indian village of Chesapik, on what is now Elizabeth river. This village gave its name to the great bay on which Elizabeth river named after Raleigh s Sovereign debouches. There were unsuccessful attempts to plant a colony, and when, in the subsequent reign, Captain John Smith entered the " fair bay, " as he called thd Chesapeake, there were no signs of colonists on Elizabeth river, the Indians having driven them away. Norfolk begun about 1680, and was mado a borough in 1736. Portsmouth, on the south side of the river, was settled later, but the navy yard having been established over on that side it has had great impetus. This yard is an extensive enclosure, witn a large and costly dry dock, many storehouses and shops, but it does little work at present. The Portsmouth streets are all well constructed pholl roads, wide and ehnded. Jn a prominent position on the chief street is an elaborate monument to the Confederate dead, for Portsmouth in proportion to eize is said to havo THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. 279 sent more soldiers to tho southern armies and to have had more dead than any other city. The naval hospital and its splendid grove of trees front Portsmouth on tho northern side towards the harbour, over which there is a pleasing view from under their grateful shelter. The Norfolk streets are not so well paved as those of Portsmouth, but they show brisk business. The finest residential part of Norfolk is the " Point," where the Elizabeth river is joined by one of its branches at the lower end of the city. All the land thereabout is low-lying, and :much of it is ground reclaimed from the water. As the creeks and bayous seem to flow all about the neighbourhood, there are pretty views in almost every direction. The houses are surrounded by beautiful flower gardens, and these, with the ends of the streets, run down to the edge of the harbour, having fleets of shipping at anchor in front. While pleasant to look at, these moist sur roundings make it a prolific mosquito-producing region, and the residents say they still exhibit all the aggressive and energetic spirit formerly shown by the Southern people. The old St. Paul s church of Norfolk is its American revolutionary relic an ancient building with a yard of old graves, and having in its steeple the indentation made by ai cannon-shot when the British fleet in 1776 bombarded and burnt the infant yet patriotic- town. An old-fashioned round-shot rests in the indentation ; but it is not the original visitor put there by George III. s cannoneers. The eexton y with an eye to the fitness of things, manages when ever the cannon-ball is appropriated by a relio hunter to have another on hand to pop into the cavity, and thus is the reputation of the old church maintained. We. reluctantly took leave ..of this 280 A VISIT TO THE STATES. region of balmy fertility and whole-souled, hospi tality, and turned our faces northward. Tho renewal of the memories of the earliest English settlements in America, and the recalling of so many English names and of so much that had been of Anglo-Saxon origin, was intensely interesting. But our footsteps must not tarry, arid in the morn ing we boarded the great steamboat that carried the north-bound train across Chesapeake Bay to Charles City, to take the railway northward over the " Eastern Shore " peninsula. A brief and rapid sail over the sparkling waters brings us to the railway terminal, and the train speeds rapidly northward through Virginia, Maryland, and Dela ware over the line of the New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk Railroad. It passes through much forest over a level surface in a flat country, which has enabled the railway builders to lay a mathe matically straight line for nearly 90 miles said to be the longest tangent in the States. The recent construction of this line has just opened this country to a ready access to the northern markets, and has attracted market gardeners and fruit growers, who have made many new clearings. For miles the region is a perfectly level plain, with new settlements appearing and buildings going up wherever a station has been located. Quito a tendency has thus been developed to settle in this fertile southern section, which the railways havo brought close to the northern cities, where good sale of produce is assured, rather than to go to the Far West. The country is fast becoming a garden spot between the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, its climate tempered by both, and its soils adapted to the wants of the gardener and fruit grower. As the train speeds northward, it runs into the peach country, renowned through out America as the land where the " Delaware THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION. 281 peacn crop " is grown. This section extends through both Delaware and Maryland, and for miles the line is bordered by the extensive and thrifty peach orchards, and the stations are filled with the peach crates that carry the fruit to market. In the centre of this region Delmar is passed on the boundary line between the State of Delaware and Maryland, named by taking the first syllable from each a nourishing village of several hundred people, owing its prosperity and quick growth entirely to the railway. The sign on a pretentious building near the station tells of the prevailing business- " Fine farms for sale in the peach belt." The development of good agriculture is shown all about. The construction of this line has been a great thing for the northern dining table. It rushes the product of the Norfolk market gardens and of the peninsula truck fields and fruit orchards to the northern cities in a single night at express speed, and has almost cut out their own outlying market gardens, which are much later in production. It has provided extensive terminals at Norfolk for its trade, and vastly stimulated the raising of produce throughout the entire section which it serves, so that the aspect ol the whole country along its route is being changed. This spring there were cultivated near Cape Charles a hundred acres of strawberries in a single field which an army of pickers gathered! for shipment. The way in which a country can be revolution* iced in the States by opening a new transportation route has been shown by the changed methods of this "Eastern Shore." A few years ago it was sparsely peopled by a listless community whose primitive ways had come down from the last cen-j tury. Now the farms and forests are changing td 282 A VISIT TO THE STATES. fi table trade piles up the stations with their pro duce, for th(5y" are engaged in feeding populations numbering several millions, from 200 to 500 miles northward. The rapid trains for the quick deli very of this produce go as fr,r as Boston, and in eome cases to Canada. In 12 hours the fresh and tempting fruits and vegetables are delivered in Now York, in 20 hours in Boston, and in 30 hours in Montreal. In the height of the spring season the " Peninsula Strav.berry Express " is some thing wonderful to behold train after train taking the fruits to market, with cars going tq Scores of northern cities and towns, for ICO cars laden with strawberries will bo sent north in a single day, and 275 cars a day in the season for parly vegetables. The " Peach Express is another groat train,whenthat fruit is carried in midsummer land autumn, and all else stands aside to put the Eich trains through on a lightning schedule. 3 growth of the business I am told is so rapid t nearly six times as much stuff is being for- jsvarded tl^is season as last. To shew the charac- or of the traffic I obtained from Vice-President ppatton of this railway a statement of the produce gathered by his line and delivered to its northern connexions with the Pennsylvania system at Bolmar in 1886, and the aggregate is enormous. vFherc \\-oro sent north 125.000 barrels of Irish potatoes, 275,000 barrels of sweet potatoes, 50,000 boxes of green peas, 100,000 barrels of kail and .cabbage,. 100,COO barrels of < oysters, 6.000,000 quarts of strawberries packed in CO-quart crates, 60,000 sacks of pea-nuts, 10,OCO boxes of fish, and 12,000 baskets of peaches. I am told that this railway traffic represents about one-half the pro- jduce sent north from the Peninsula ai:d t]~;o region about Norfolk and tho mouth oi the Chesapeake, the, various steamboat lines carry ing as much THE GARDEN REGION OE PENNSYLVANIA. 283 more, so that an idea may bo got of the enormous .task the " Eastern Shore " "has undertaken in iaiding to feed the great northern cities. From pelmar the railway leads up through the * Diamond State, 77 in a region of older agriculture in the heart of the peach country. It passes many flourishing villages, including Dover, the capital pf Delaware, and Newcastle, an aged town on the Delaware river, where the whipping-posts and the (stocks are still in active and popular operation aa a method of punishment, and are a terror to evil doers. The surface of the country is throughout a level plain, well watered by many small streams flowing into the Delaware river, and its thrifty farmers are accumulating wealth from their ship- rpents of peaches and produce northward. We are ultimately brought into the Pennsylvania Railroad, near the City of \Vilmington, through which we passed ten days before on our southern journey, and, leaving the land of orchards and market gardens, retrace the line to the Quaker City for a brief rest before starting on a western journey. XXII. THE GARDEN REGION OF PENN SYLVANIA. Tho portion of the Keystone State stretching eastward from the Alieghanies to the Delaware river is one cf the richest agricultural sections in the United States. It is mainly a series of lime stone valleys, with running streams and highly cultivated soils, prolific in crops and dairies, and famous throughout the Union for its line farms and valuable products. "Westward through this. attractive region is laid the main line of the 284 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Pennsylvania Railroad from the Delaware to tne Susquehanna. This noted highway of travel and traffic crosses the Keystone State from Philadel phia to Pittsburg, and this, the main line ol the company, is the nucleus around which has been gathered the greatest railway system in the world. The Pennsylvania lines traverse 12 of the American States, and carry the heaviest traffic in the Union, the vast railway octopus, with its arms spreading in every direction, being all designed to bring trade to this main line. The system joins the Mississippi Valley with the Atlantic seaboard, 1 and the great lakes of the Northern border with the Chesapeake and Potomac in the east and the Ohio river in the west. It unites the populous- coast cities with Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati^ Louisville, Cleveland, Erie ? Buffalo, and manyj other of the great municipalities of the West. The Pennsylvania undertaking includes no less than 7, GOO miles of railway, and employs an army of 70,000 men. Its share capital of about 21 millions sterling is largely owned in England, and its annual traffic receipts exceed 22 millions. Its lines from New York southward to Washington,! which have already been followed in this journey J were all acquired by purchase or lease ; and now] its original tine of railway will be taken for a westward tour through the Keystone State. In early times, after Philadelphia was the capital city! of the Federated Colonies and subsequently of the United Stateo, the capital of Pennsylvania was located at Lancaster, 68 miles westward, then the largest inland city of the Union. To conned? them a fine highway was constructed in the early, part of the present century, and this " Old Lan* oaster raacl . THE GARDEN 1 REGION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 285 to the West, who toiled along it with their wagon trains towards the frontier, then in Ohio. When railways came in vogue the Pennsylvania State Government built a line from the Delaware river to the Susquehanna, following substantially the route of this highway. This original railroad had a long inclined plane at each end to get down to the lower level of the rivers, and horses dragged the rail cars over it. This State railway, opened in 1834, was worked for over 20 years at a loss, and its leading engineers and builders became afterwards the projectors and managers of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which was chartered in 1846 to extend, as a private work, the State railway beyond the Susquehanna river and across the Alleghanies to the Ohio river at Pittsburg. When this extension was completed the chartered com pany finally bought the State railway in 1857, and then the continuous route from Philadelphia to Pittsburg became the Pennsylvania main line, which in 30 years has grown into such an enormous and complicated undertaking. The route in leaving Philadelphia at first skirts the Schaylkill river, and then, turning westward away from that pretty stream, steadily mounts a rather stiff gradient through the suburbs, and out into a very attractive country a land of villas with ornamental grounds, interspersed with bits of woodland, having pleasant brooks running through the green and yellow and brown fields. The line rises about 400 feet in eight miles, and four sets of rails are necessary for a long way out to carry the enormous traffic. The suburban stations are highly ornamental buildings sur rounded with lawns and flower gardens, for this railway mingles aesthetic tastes with its prosaic business. For miles the country adjacent to the line is a region of costly villas and pleasant 280 A VISIT TO THE STATES. lets, almost every eligible Bite being occupied by artistic structures that are the comi ortabie rural homes of many well-to-do people, the professional and business men of the Quaker city. Some of the buildings that flit past the car windows are great seats of learning. Haverford College is passed to the southward, in its extensive grounds, the buildings almost concealed in a stately grove ; this is the great "Quaker college of the country and is amply endowed. At Bryn Mawr, ten miles out, is another Quaker founda tion, the Women s College, a fine structure somo distance north of the railway, its tall tower standing up a landmark for the neighbourhood. The Roman Catholic Augnstinian College of Villa Nova is a short distance further on, its cross-sur mounted dome and twin church spires rising above the trees. About one mile southward from the railway at Bryn Mawr is the most noted rural residence along the line Wootton the seat of George W. Childs. A pleasant valley opening to the westward has a broad sloping plateau stretch ing down on its southern side, and here, well up on the hill, is a pretty English villa. Ample lawns front it, and behind is a bit of forest, while young evergreens are just starting all about. It is a comparatively new place, but when the trees have grown there will be none that are more attractive. Here is dispensed a splendid hospi tality, and here was given one of the special features of the recent celebration of the centenary of the American Constitution the garden party for the President s wife. Mrs. Cleveland drove herself to the door, skilfully holding the reins of a spirited four-in-hand, planted an oak troo in memory of the visit, and then held her reception. The garden scene, with the lady surrounded by a galaxy oi Cabinet Ministers, governors, THE GARDEN REGION OE PENNSYLVANIA. 287 and tho leading people of Philadelphia, will long bo romcmbtrocL Beyond Bryn Mawr tho railway passes frequent settlements, and finally upon a slopo to tho south ward is tho Devon Inn, a moderate hostelry much frequented as a summer refuge, its broad red brick front and capacious piazzas and steep roofa forming a fitting background for a wide-spreading lawn bordered by outlying cottages. In its steady westward course the Pennsylvania Railway crosses and recrosses the old Lancaster Road, showing how well tho original road-makers sought the easier gradients, and processions of passenger and goo da trains pass upon the east-bound lines, for this is a season of enormous traffic. About 20 miles out tho villa region is gradually transformed into a country of rich farms and dairies. The line steadily ascends tho slopo of one of tho long ridges that are tho southern outcroppinga of tha Alleghany ranges, and as tho old-fashioned farm houses appear we enter Chester county, and can get occasional glimpses, through brief depres* sions in the ridge to tho northward, over the famous Chester "Valley. Passing Paoli, a village named after the Corsican patriot, and the birth place of " Mad Anthony Wayne," one of tho heroes of the American Revolution, tho railway crosses the summit of the ridge at 650ft. eleva- fcion, and suddenly coming out of the hill eido there breaks upon tho delighted eye a glorioua riew over the great valley, the land of plenty and one of tho garden spots of America. About three miles northward is another parallel ridge, and this charming region lies between. Fields and farms are spread out for many miles on either hand, sloping down to tho pleasant streams meandering through the bottomland, and then far up OD tlie other side* where tjtie view i-a closed bi 10 288 A VISIT TO THE LTATES. tho hazy fringe of forest on the distant hills. To the eastward the streams flow out to the Scbuylkill at Valley Forge ; to the westward they make the headwaters of the Brandy wine, that goes off to the south-east to the Delaware river at Wilmington. This magnificent region, with its capacious barns and high cultivation, ia like a piece cut out of England. Within its picturesque borders is a varied expanse oi greenest grass and waving corn, with herds of countless cattle feeding, and little patches of woodland clustering about the farmhouses. It is a perfect Garden of Eden under the bright sun light, as the train runs swiftly along, near the summit of the ridge fully 300ft. above the flooi of this glorious valley. Here it is that the thrifty Quakers make the delicious butter they take to Philadelphia, and often sell for three and four shillings a pound, and many an old stocking is hidden away in the trim farm houses we look down upon which is filled with the hoarded gold that butter attracts. A brief halt at a junction, where branch lines start out both ways through this rich dairy region, gives a charming view, and then for miles the irain runs along the edge of the ridge, gradually ^descending into the valley. When a sufficient jdescent is made, the railway turns north-west to cross the bottom lands, running among the farms and pastures, and crossing tho east fork of the [Brandywine creek at Downingtown, 32 miles west of Philadelphia. Then for a long distance the line is laid up the valley, which gradually narrows between tho ridges and begins to vary limekilns and iron furnaces with its farms and cattle. The old highway is kept in close neighbourhood by the railway, and at Coatesvillo the west fork of the its attractive, filen areLcrosaed on ^ THE GARDEN REGION OP PENtfSYiVANlA. 289 high bridge, which passes almost over the chimneys of ahu^e iron mill. The towering ridge of Mine-hill, which is the north-western boundary of the Chester Valley, is steadily approached by the line, which now begins to ascend its slopes to cross over to the Pequea Valley on the northern side. Flourish ing villages are quickly passed, each with its church spire and graveyard, and the evidences of successful agriculture and thrifty rural home steads are on all sides, for the city suburbs and; villas have given place to big barns and market! hamlets and grist mills. After having run some 30 miles along and through this noted Chester Valley, the long ridge of Mine-hill is finally mounted, and seeking a convenient gap the rail way crosses the top at the highest elevation of the Pennsylvania line between the Delaware and the Susquehamia rivers, 560ft. Then opens another grand view over the Pequea Valley beyond, one of the richest parts of Lancaster county, its broad acres stretching for miles away in waving fields of corn and tobacco, and its huge barns showing that here is another land of plenty. The limestone quarries and frequent limekilns display the basis of its agricultural wealth. Lancaster county is a region where the best corn is grown, and these farms were the earliest to send American wheat across the Atlantic to feed Europe. In former days the Lancaster wheat ruled all the prices, but now the vast Western prairies have come in to undersell Pennsylvania, and Chicago controls the quotations. The train runs swiftly over the wide expanse of waving corn-helds, which in the early days of the American colonies was the land of the Conestcgas. These Indians were in their day a great and power ful people, and three centuries ago they hunted) ftlong the ISusquohanna and commanded thai 10 " 2 90 . A VISIT TO THE STATES. fealty and alliance of tho Indian tribes through out the Middle States. They were deadly foes of the whites, and their tribe being reduced by repeated wars they began to decline in the early days of Pennsylvania. The last remnant of them, having been hunted almost to death, took refuge in 1703 in the ancient gaol at Lancaster, and hero they were cruelly massacred by a guerilla organi sation called the " Paxton boys."^ The Conestoga week, a broad stream skirting Lancaster with its Attractive shores, preserves their name, and flows down to the Suequehanna. Crossing the creek, beyond it are stretched out the factories and other buildings of Lancaster, prominent among being the castellated brown sandstone tower of the tounfcy gaol, which almost reproduces one of the romantic castles of the lihine. In early days this inland city was known as " Hickory Town," but in the last century it loyally christened itself Lancaster, and named the two chief streets that Intersect at the Central Market-square King and Queen streets, with Duke-street parallel to tho tatter. These loyal names continue, and there has grown up a line specimen of the older stylo of agricultural market town of America, with B0,000 people, who have developed extensive milling and tobacco packing and large manu facturing industries and amassed considerable jvealth. In tho Central-square is a splendid monument to the soldiers of the county who fell In tho civil war, its shaft rising to a great height and finely sculptured guards representing each branch oi : the service standing on duty around tho base. Franklin and Marshall College has attractive buildings on tho outskirts of the city. Its gem, bowover, is Woodward-hill Cemetery. A bold bluff slopes steeply dowu towards tho Conestoga, thick throws 9ut* A graceful circle in its THE GARDEN REGION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 291 tortuous course to wash the base of the bluff. Upon the surface and sides the graves are terraced, while in front of them, and far below, the Conestoga flows placidly round a conical bill. Here rest the ancestors of the people who to-day control this attractive region. A primi tive rope ferry carries the passenger from the cemetery over to the opposite shore, where almost every foot of land is carefully cultivated. Lancaster has contributed much to American history. It was in this then frontier town of the colonies that in 1753 Braddock s unfortunate ex pedition to Pittsburg was organized and equipped E>y Benjamin Franklin. Here lived and died the only American President from Pennsylvania, James Buchanan, whose remains lie on Woodward- bill. Here Ilobert Fulton grew up and was educated, though his remains rest in Now York, thaddeua Stevens, who was one of the greatest Northern Parliamentary leaders in the civil war, belonged to Lancaster. To-day, a walk through its quiet streets and among its comfortable dwellings shows that the wealth and thrift of the region may bo great, but still have their drawbacks. Litiga tion must thrive, for the number of lawyers signs displayed upon doors and windows is legion : and the politicians thrive too. The Court-house and other places were liberally placarded with the announcements of candidates for office for a long list of offices are to be filled at the approaching election, and there are plenty of candidates for each. Their cards announce their claims, among them being " a crippled soldier," " a life-long Republican," * a one-legged soldier," " always a Republican," and similar statements. The Democrats do not seom to get much chance at the offices in Lancaster county. We leave the banks of the Conestoea, and start 292 A VISIT TO THE STATES. from Lancaster for Herrisburg, the Pennsylvania State capital. Another ridgo is crossed and, passing a fertile farming region, the grade descends to tho picturesque Conewago creek, which divides Lancaster from Dauphin county. The country becomes rough with huge boulders scattered about and wild woods growing over them. Here is a region haunted by artists, the striking scenery of the Conewago gorge being a veritable Swiss repro duction. The train moves slowly over the high bridge, and gives a grand view down the gorge, where the stream flows a torrent over its rocky bed and far away westward towards the Susquehanna. Through the doulos of tho South Mountain the railway winds along, and finally comes out on its western slope upon tho side of the wide valley of the Susquehanna, a river which vee have seen before in this journey both above and below this region. The broad channel, fully a mile wide, is tilled with little islands and protrud ing rocks, over which tho water foams, for this vast stream is nothing but an immense drain, being sown too thickly with rocks and shallows to permit navigation. The train descends tho slope to the river side and crosses the Swatara river, which not far above lias pierced the great Kittatinny range. Then vre run among a succession of enormous iron mills and steel works, with their outlying villages and almost endless stocks of iron and stoel and heaps of refuse. Thero are more farms with rich fields and big barns, and arnone them is the historic estate of ** Lochiel." Here lives in his old age tho chief of tho Cameron clan , which for years has ruledPeimsy Ivania .G eneral Simon Cameron, who came ft poor printer s boy to Harrisburg, rose to vast wealth and power, andirihis declining years has left hia son, Senator James Donald Cameron, as his successor. Their " clun A 3 * THE GARDEN REGION OF PENNSYLVANIA. 293 who rule the State, has in its combination politi cians, bankers, railway princes, and merchants, and it is said to be probably the most complete and successful specimen of the political machine the States can exhibit. . I I Harrisburg has grand surrounding scenery. Just above it the Susquehanna river breaks through, the Kittatinny at Dauphin Gap, giving a magnifi cent display of the rending asunder of the moun tain chain." Opposite are the forest-clad hills that border the counties of York and Cumberland. "Within the town are sundry eminences, upon one of which, known especially as " The Hill," stands the State Capitol building. The town IB rather dull when the Legislature is in recess,and the law makers bring it most of its business. Their daily walk when the session is on is from the " The Hill " down to the white painted brick hotel, with a mansard roof, in Market-street, which bears tho inscription " Lochiel," the watchword of the powerful clan. Hero is the centre of Penn sylvania statesmanship, and in its apartments the destiny of tho commonwealth is shaped. The Capitol is but a short distance off, standing in the centre of a park on top of " The Hill," a brick building. 180 feet long, with a circular columned portico and surmounting dome. The Capitol has a fountain and flower gardens around it, and State-street is opened from its front dowrt to the Susquehanna. In the centre of this street stands the Dauphin county soldiers monument, an enlarged representation of Cleopatra s Needle. The Front-street along the river bank is an attrac tive promenade 1 , bordered by tine residences. Here live tho Governor and Senator Cameron, with a beautiful outlook at tho landscape beyond. Be low is a largo island, where two bridges cross tha ons ^arjryingr .a railroad, jwxd. the jother a 294 A VISIT TO THE STATES. wagon-road. This latter old " camel s bridge," a mile long, with its shelving stono ice breakers jutting out towards you, stands now exactly the same as when Charles Dickens saw it nearly half-a-ccntury ago. Dickens then came into Horrisburg from York county by a stage coach through this bridge, and hia description of it at that time is good to-day. "We crossed the river," he wrote, u by a wooden bridge, roofed and covered on aU sides, and nearly a mile in length, It was profoundly dark, perplexed with great beams, crossing and recrossing it at every possi ble angle, and through the broad chinks and crevices in the- floor the rapid river gleamed far down below like a legion of eyes. We had no lamps, and as the horses stumbled and floundered through this place towards the distant speck of d} ing light it seemed interminable. I really could not per suade myself at first, as wo rumbled heavily on. filling the bridge with hollow noises and I held down my head to save it from the rafters but that I was in a painful dream, and that this could not bo reality." Harrisburg, like most of the interior Pennsylvanian towns, has its central market square, and the converging of a large num ber of the branches of the Pennsylvania Railroad system makes tho city a great railway junction. Otherwise, however, it has not much beyond its magnificent scenery to attract. The townfolk ere loyal to old John Harris, after whom it is named. They preserve with scrupulous care tho fitump of the tree at tho foot of which he is buried down on the river bank. It was to thia tree in 1718 that a drunken band of the Conestoga Indians tied him to bo tortured and burnt, when the timely interposition of a friendly tribe from the opposite shore saved him. This old stump of memory is enclosed by a railing in the THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 295 little " Harris Park." His son established Harris Ferry across the Susquehanna, and thus was founded before the Revolution the capital of *Pe nnsy 1 van ia . XXIIL THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD, A quick railway ride for about 50 miles south west of Harrisburg leads to the greatest battle field of the American Civil War the scene of the three days contest at Gettysburg, which many regard as having decided the struggle. Gettys burg is seven miles north of the Pennsylvania southern boundary the noted " Mason and Dixon s line," which marked the northern limit of slavery. The route is across the Susquehanna river and through the Cumberland Valley, a broad and fertile limestone region of thrifty farms and well- filled barns,spreading over an almost level surface between the two mountain walls of the Kittatinny on the north and the South Mountain. This ia another garden region of Pennsylvania, gradually curving around between the ranges from the west to the south-west, and it contains many nourishing towns. It was the vast agricultural wealth of this fertile region, which stretches down to and across the Potomac, whore it becomes the equally noted " Valley of Virginia," that tempted the Con federates to make their northern invasion over its rich farms in the summer of 1863 that closed with the great battle. The railway, after crossing the Susquehanna in full view of the splendid gap where the river breaks through the Kittatinny, and just below the (< Camol s-back-bridge," runa for 11 miles across the rich farm land to Carlisle, the chief town of the Cumberland Valley. Here 29dT A VISIT TO THE STATES. is located the Government Indian Training School^ where for eight years past the boys and girls have been brought from the far western tribes to be taught the arts and methods of civilization, and over a thousand have already been instructed. On the railway train several of these Indian children appeared with their straight hair, round ewarthy faces, and high cheek bones, dressed trimly, and showing the surprising effects of a civilized education in humanizing their features and modifying their nomad peculiarities. The rail- way then branches off southward over the Gettys* burg line, which goes through Mount Holly Gap, a wooded defile of groat natural beauties obligingly made in the South Mountain by a winding stream, and, after rising to a thousand feet elevation, it passes this range of broken and rounded timber-covered hills that run irregularly across the country and divide the Cumberland from the York or Susquehanna Valley to the southward. The railway has sharp curves, and crosses tall trestle bridges in the hilly region beyond the ridge, which makes picturesque scenery, and when the country is partly smoothed down into somewhat gentler slopes Gettysburg is ap proached upon a rolling plain,borclered by parallel ridges of hills. The railway runs into town over the first day s battlefield of the great contest, and the earliest warning of the historic ground ia given by the fine monument of the Massachusetts colour bearer," who stands upon a slope alongside the line holding aloft the flag of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment, marking the spot where he fell at the opening of the terrible fight. > The town is not of much pretensions, having 3,000 population living in roorny and comfortable, though generally plain, dwellings, on streets that cross at right angles with a centre square. The THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 297 town is the seat of two of the most prominent edu cational institutions of the Lutheran Church in America the Pennsylvania College and the Lutheran Theological Seminary ; but it has grown little since the great battle, which gave it unend ing fame. The battlefield is situated mainly to the southward of the town, and, topographically, it is the best representative field of the American war, being the plainest marked by the configura tion of the ground, and the most completely re stored to its original condition. The greatest pains aro taken to preserve this famous battle field, and the work is in charge of an organization known as the " Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, which has completely marked the lines of the contending armies, extending over a Burface of about 25 square miles, has acquired the ownership of the most important parts of the field, places and cares for monuments and cannon showing the position of each organization in both armies and the various batteries, and has opened avenues making all points accessible. Already over 100,000 has been expended by the general Government and the various States in work con nected with the preservation of this historical landmark, and as much more money is voted which is not yet expended. Fully a hundred monuments, many of them of great artistic merit, are now in position, and 80 more are being pre pared in different parts of the country. These are chiefly northern gifts, but there are some southern monuments, and the Confederates are showing a pood deal of interest in the work of preserving Gettysburg, which is now visited by a constant stream of tourists from all parts of tho world. The three days of combat at Gettysburg wero among the most hotly contested of tho war, and in the actual numbers engaged made the largest 298 A VISIT TO THE STATES. battle about 80,000 men being engaged on eacli side, while tho casualties reached 50,000. To get an idea of tho military campaign which culminated in this great battle, tho reader must recall tho configuration of tho ground in Central Pennsylvania, caused by tho long parallel curving ridges and tho deep intervening: valleys of tho Alleghany Mountain range. The Cumberland Valley in its prolongation beyond Carlisle to the Potomac river has two prominent towns Cham- bersburg, in Pennsylvania, and Hagerstown, in Maryland. To the southward of the South Mountain and eastward from Gettysburg is York. Die Potomac river flows just south of il Mason Mid Dixon s line " and not far from Hagerstown and Gettysburg. I have mentioned the parallel ridges of hills bordering the plain on which Gettys burg is situated. About a mile west of Gettys burg is the long " Seminary Hidge," stretching Crom north to south, with its western slopes washed by a stream known as Willoughby Run, The red-topped cupola of the Lutheran Seminary rising among tho trees on the elevation of this long ridge, just west of the town,gives the ridge ita name. Stretching irregularly south from the town is another long ridge, parallel to and about & mile east of the Seminary. The southern suburbs of Gettysburg are on the slopes that begin this ridge,and its northernmost eminence is a rounded hill with a flat top, on which is the graveyard for the town, and this named it the Cemetery Ridge. To the eastward is an outlying eminence known aa Culp s-hill, and Rock Creek flows at tho bottom of tho etcep eastern declivities of tho ridgo B,nd this hill. Those two formations make tho northern end of tho ridgo bend sharply around to tho eastward, in shape not unlike a fish hook. At tho bend of .the hook ia tho ceme-. THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 299 tery, at the barb is Culp s-liill, and down at the southern end of the long straight;; shank, with an intervening rocky gorge called .the Devil s Den, nearly three miles from the ceme tery, are tAVo rounded, elevated, tree-covered peaks formed of crags and boulders, called Little Bound Top and Big Round Top. These two ridges, with the country ad joining the two streams that wash their outer sides, made the battlo ground, the lighting being across the intervening valley of rolling farmland and around to the north and east of the cemetery and Culp s-hill. No where does the configuration of the ground display a battlefield to better advantage. In the elation throughout the South which followed the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville in May, 1803, was found the origin of the inva sion of Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding the severe loss caused by the death of Stonewall Jackson, the Southern army were in high spirits and bent upon an aggressive campaign. It is related that General Lee, in the latter part of Ma} 7 ", made a requisition for rations upon the chief of the Bureau of Subsistence at Richmond, and the reply was, " If the General wants provisions, let him go and look for them in Pennsylvania." This answer typified the Southern feeling, and Lee resolved upon a northern movement so as to take the Union army out of Virginia, and carry the war into the enemy s country. He gathered all his available forces about 100,000 men near Cul- pepper, in Virginia, eome distance from the Potomac, and early in June had there the largest and best organized and equipped army the Con federates placed in the field during the great con test. It included 10,000 cavalry/ under J. E. B. Stuart, and tho infantry and artillery wore formed into three corps under Longstreet, Ewell, and A. 300 A VISIT TO THE STATES. P. Hill. From Culpepper a slow and carofully- conceaiea movement oegan nortnwara towards tne PoLomac. General Hooker, who commanded tho Union army then encamped along the Rappa- hannock river, opposite Frodericksburg, heard of this after eome days, and also began moving northward, on a line parallel with, but eastward of, Leo, and having the Blue Ridge between them. by Lee s advance on June 15, while several subsequent cavalry raids developed a most defenceless condition across that river. Lee then crossed tho Potomac and made a rapid movement up the Cumberland Valley, his cavalry overrun ning all the adjacent country east of tho South Mountain, and doing much damage. The Potomac was crossed June 22 to 25, and the Confederates concentrated at Hagerstcwn. Hooker did not wholly cross until the 28th, and then a northward raxio began, with Lee considerably in advance, although moving in the outer circle of the gradually bending Cumberland Valley, while the Union troops moved on the shorter line cf iho inner circle. Hooker was mistrusted at Washing ton, where the Government was in some trepida tion, and he had previously asked that Harper s Ferry, on the Potomac, might be abandoned, and its garrison of 10,GGO men added to his army. This was positively refused, and Hookor beii g dis pleased resigned command of the forces, aLQ was eucceeded by General George G. Meacle, who thus on tho eve of the battle became Union commander at Gettysburg. When Mcado assumed command on June 28 ho was in the neighbourhood of the Potomac crossing, and Ewell, with Lee s advance, had marched up the Cumberland Valley to THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. $01 Carlisle, and was preparing to push on to Harrisburg, while Lcngstreet and Hill, with tho main body, were at Chambereburg. There was practically nobody to oppose them. These movements had carried Leo far from hia base into the enemy s country, when he learnt that the Union army was north of the Potomac and in pursuit. He became fearful that his rear might be attacked, and perceiving that the Northern invasion could not be carried further, until he had crippled his pursuers, he determined to concentrate his whole force in tho direction of the enemy. Fixing upon Gettysburg as the point of union. Ewcil was ordered to turn southward from Carlisle, and Lougstreet nr.d Hill eastward from Chambersburg and marching through the. various passes in the South Mountain to get into ; position for attack. The advance guards, which, had overrun the country beyond York to the Susquehanna, were all called back. The various towns had been levied for assessments, but! responded very meagrely, and Chambersburg was 1 burnt. When Meade, who had jnst assumed his new command, heard of Lee s changed tactics, his cavalry advance, under Buford, on June 30 had reached Gettysburg, and encamped west of the town, two brigades of cavalry, with their pickets, being thrown out across \Villoughby Run along the roads leading to the mountain passes through which the Confederates were coming. Meade s marching columns stretched southward 40 miles. Fearful of the risk of this extended formation, he determined to meet the new movement by with- drawir.g the advance and hurrying forward the rear, concentrating along a strong defensive posi tion upon the Pipe Creek hills in Maryland, about 15 miles south-east of Gettysburg. Lee did not know of Meade s position when he resolved to B02 A VISIT TO THE STATES. concentrate at Gettysburg, for Stnart with the cavalry had lost communication and went entirely around the Union army to the eastward. With the hostile armies each executing a movement for concentration the battle of Gettysburg began, thoro being three days of fighting. The opening day was July 1. Buford had extended a thin line skilfully around west and north of Gettysburg to make an apparently imposing array. Ew ell was coming on the road from Carlisle, and Hill on other roads from the north west and west. Reynolds, with the Union infantry advance, had readied Gettysburg. Tho cavalry began the action about two miles north west of the town, and Buford watched the move ments from the elevated cupola of the Seminary. Reynolds, who commanded Meade s right wing, hurried forward to support the cavalry, and almost at the opening of he battle was shot by a Con federate sharpshooter, and died instantly in the edge of a grove near Willoughby Kun. Mcado thus lost one of his best ccirinianders. Howard Bucceedcd Reynolds, and each side hurried forward troops. ( At first the Union forces were superior, and for a long time they checked thq enemy s advance, capturing many prisoners. But tho Confederates wcro the most speedy of move ment, and soon Hill and Ewell got 30,COO men into action, overpowering Howard, who had less than half that nimibor, and ho was driven back in confusion through Gettysburg, losing a largo part of his force. With leases numbering 10,000 the remnants of tho Union advance abandoned tho town, and retreated southward to the cemetery. Here had already been hastily fortified a strong position on the Cemetery and Culp s-hill, manned by fresh troops who had been brought up. The advancing Confederates captured the town, and THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. S03 their loft wing under Ewoll extended far around to the eastward, and from that direction confronted the new Union position on CulpVhill. Meade, who was 15 miles away at Pipe Crcok,\vherehe had intended to concentrate, hearing of the lighting &nd of Reynolds s death, sent General Hancock forward to Gettysburg to take command there. Jiancock, on arriving, saw at once that iho Cemetery Ridge \vas the place to give battle, and tJie suggestion being adopted by the commander, orders were given to move forward all the troops. Lee, after the Union retreat and the capture of the town, had suspended most of the active opera tions until he could get his army up, and tho afternoon and night of the 1st were mainly spent lii hurrying forward the forces on both sides. Meade had got his troops into position by early next morning, excepting his rear under Sedgwick, which, after a forced march of 85 miles, was got up by afternoon. The second day was July 2, and early in the morning the bulk of the two armies confronted oach other in lino of battle. The Union army was posted along the whole line of Cemetery Ridge, their bivouac stretching around the curve of tho fishhook, and being three miles long from Big Round Top, on the southern end, up to the ceme tery at the bend, and around to Culp s-hill at the barb. Leo s army was stretched for over two miles along Seminary Ridge to the westward, with most of it concealed behind a fringe of woods crowning the brow of the long ridge. The Con federates also occupied Gettysburg, north of the cemetery, and Ewell s corps was around to tho eastward and stretched along the foot of Gulp s* bill two miles away. The armies were nearly equally matched. In the long intervening valley between the tidges, and on the raviu.es ana slopes 304 >, A VISIT TO THE STATES. of Cemetery Ridge and Culp s-hill, the subsequent actions were fought. Lee evidently under-esti mated Meade s force, not believing that his army had been all brought up, and ho determined upon an attack. Longstreet was to assail the Union left at the Round Tops and northward, and when the noise of the battle gave notice that the conflict had begun Ewell was to attack Culp s-hill, the extreme Union right. The Confederates were quick in movement, and endeavoured to capture the two Round Tops, particularly the Little Round Top, whence they could have enfiladed the Union line. The struggle for this was bloody, but the Unionists held it. General Sickles, who com manded the line northward of Little Round Top, where the ridge fell off into the valley, thought he could improve his position by advancing to the Emmetsburg road, about half a mile towards Seminary Ridge. This made a broken Union line with a portion thrust out in a dangerous manner, which the enemy quickly discovered. They fell upon Sickles in front and flank, and almost over whelmed his lino in the " peach orchard," driving it back to the adjacent " wheat field." The conflict was hot, reinforcements were poured in, and the orchard and wheat field became slaughter- pens, in which thousands wore killed. The Con federates drove Sickles out of the " peach orchard," he being dangerously wounded, and hie corps was almost cut to pieces, losing fully halj its numbers. Ewell was dilatory in niovement, the adverse winds carrying the noise of the battle away from him, but he finally attacked Culp s-hill and effected a lodgment, the number of its de fenders being weakened by those drawn off t< reinforce Sickles. The union guns on Littli Round Top ultimately cleared the wheat field, anc wh,en night came the combatants rested after fierc< THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 305 fighting, which had decided nothing, but had inflicted over 10,000 losses upon Meade s army, Lee was inspirited by his partial successes, am determined to renew the assault next day, stil under-estimating the strength of his foe, an< placing great reliance upon the fact that only hal: his own troops had been engaged. Upon the third day, July 3, Meado began an offensive movement early in the morning which 3rove Ewell off Culp s-hill, and this advantage, which Lee did not hear of, proved of great im portance. Lee had an idea that the Union centre w&s weakened, and he formed a plan for an attack in front, aided by a cavalry movement around the Union right flank to attack the rear, and follow up the supposed advantage Ewell held on Culp s- hill. To give time for J. E. B. Stuart with the cavalry to get around the flank, the attack in front was not to be made until afternoon. Meade got all his troops well in hand,ready to concentrate on any threatened point, and both sides spent the morning in preparation, which consisted mainly of getting cannon into position. Lee placed 120 guns along the crest of Seminary Ridge, but Meade could not get as many into position, as much of Cemetery Ridge was too rugged to permit of the movement of cannon. He confronted Lee with 80 guns, in the cemetery and southward along a low and irregular stone pile which formed a sort of rude wall alongside the Taneytown road, leading southward from Gettysburg. Meade had three times as many cannon, but could not get more into effective position. The battle began about 1 o clock, when the Confederates opened fire, and tho most terrific ait il lory duel of the war followed. The Confederate fire was murderous, dismounting many of the Union guns, and was so rapid that six guns were discharged every second. The infantry 306 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. lay low, however, behind the crest of the rid<?e> and tliua suffered only slightly. This tiro was intended as a preparation for the assault, and after two hours of deafening cannonade, General Hunt, the Union Chief of Artillery, gradually suspended fire, desiring to let his guns cool,and also to seo what Lee was going to do. About this time the sharp observers on the left of the Union line detected the formation of a charging column opposite the centre, and word was quickly trans mitted, so that Moade made preparations to resist it. Lee, supposing the Union batteries had ceased reply because they were silenced, and that their ipfantry must be demoralized, then ordered the grand attack of the day. This was Pickett s cele brated charge, a force of 14,000 men, with brigade front, advancing across the intervening valley from Seminary Ridge toasaaultthe Union position on the Cemetery Ridge. They had a mile to go and moved swiftly, but before they got half way across all the Union cannon, from Little Round Top up to the cemetery, along the entire line, had opened upon them. They directed their attack for an umbrella-shaped clump of trees at a low point in the ridge, where the stone walls made an angle with its point towards them, and in marching exposed their flank, which subjected them to an enfilading fire. The result was terrible. The grape and canister ploughed great furrows through their ranks, which were quickly closed up. Hancock commanded the portion of the Union line where the attack was delivered, and when the column came within 300 yards musketry fire was opened. Fettigrew s brigade streamed bnck in disorder, but Pickett 8 advai^e pressed steadily forward, although thousands had fallen. This advance was led by General Armistcad on foot, who with about 100 followers leaped over the THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 307 stone piles at tho angle to capture the Union guns. Lieutenant Gushing, mortally wounded in both thighs, ran his last serviceable gun towards the wall, and shouted to his commander, " Webb, i will give them one more shot." Ho iired his piece and died. Armistoad put his hand on the cannon, and waving his sword, called out " Give them the cold steel, boys," and, pierced by balls, he fell dead alongside Gushing. Both lay near the clump of trees about 30 yards inside the wall, and their corpses marked the furthest point to which Pickett s advance penetrated tho line. A hand-to- hand conflict ensued, the Confederates were over powered, and their decimated ranks retreated in disorder. The slaughter had been dreadful, and hundreds held up their hands in token of sur render. ISTot one-fourth of that gallant charging column, composed of tho flower of the Virginia troops, escaped. All the others were killed, wounded, or captured. Stuart s cavalry failed to co-operate, because they unexpectedly met the Union cavalry under Gregg about four miles east of Gettysburg, and a battle ensued which pre vented Stuart s turning the flank. Meade, wnen the attacking column of Pickett had been routed, ordered a general advance, which drove back the enemy, and thus tho contest closed. The Con federates lost 16,000 and the Unionists 3,000 in this third day s battle. Lee fully expected that Meade would follow up his advantage with an attack, and awaited it during the night. Meade rested on tho field, and upon the morning of July 4 held a council of war, which decided to remain quiet for a day and await the development of the enemy s plan. But Leo had already decided upon retreat, and was semarig his trains and wounded south-weat through tho mountain passes towards Hagerstown. Before nisht. as is usually the case SOS A VISIT TO THE STATJC3. after great battles, a heavy rainstorm began, under cover of which Leu made a swiit retreat, leaving a etrong rear guard to defend the mountain passes. Meade did not discover this until later, and then followed. Although the rains had swollen tho Potomac, and Lee was compelled to intrench hia position while awaiting the subsidence of the flood before ho could cross, Meade felt that his force was too weak for an attack, and Lee finally escaped over the river. This retreat from Gettysburg by Leo began on tho same day that Vicksburg waa surrendered to Grant, and they aro the two joint events marking the beginning of the downfall of the Confederacy, which was afterwards able to do little more than conduct a defensive campaign. This great battlefield of Gettysburg is now a vast expanse of hill and vale, with alternating forest, corn and grass fields, dotted over with monuments and marking posts designating the positions of the two armies. Nearly a quarter oi a century after the contest I made a survey of the field as it exists now with time and care softening tho asperities of war. Going southward from Gettysburg to Cemetery-hill, " Jenny Wade 8 house " is on the roadside, She was the only woman killed in the battle, and was accidentally Bhot by the Confederates while baking bread, it was said for tho Union troops. Mounting the Cemetery -hi 11 beyond, its strength as a defensive position is at once recognized, the declivities falling off abruptly on almost every side. Here guns were placed protected by hastily-constructed lunettes, and guns and lunettes are now there in the identical positions, with monuments recalling the locations and achievements of the regiments holding tho place. This rounded hill stands as a prominent landmark overlooking the town and surrounding country. The cemetery, was then a THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 309* little village graveyard, ito chief tomb being that of James Getty s, after whom the town was named. The greater part of the hill outside the graveyard then was rough and rocky, but the Government took a tract of 17 acres and made a national cemetery for the interment of the dead soldiers who fell on the field. Here lie 3,512 bodies, ol whom nearly 1,000 are the unknown dead. A magnificent monument stands beside this mass ol graves, which are arranged in a semi-circle. The figures of War, History, Peace, and Plenty sit at the base of the shaft, which is surmounted by a statue of Liberty. The greensward has the finest shade trees, chiefly evergreens, scattered over it, and the rough hill which was the centre of the Union line of battle has been converted into a most charming place. This cemetery was consecrated during the year following the battle, and in the services [President Lincoln made his famous " twenty-line address," of which the Westminster Review -said " This oration has but one equal, in that pronounced upon those who fell during the first year of the Peloponnesian War ; and in one respect it is superior to that great speech. It ia not only natural, fuller of feeling, more touching and pathetic, but we know with absolute certainty that it was really delivered. Nature here really takes precedence of art, even though it be the art of Thucydides." The formal oration in conse crating the cemetery was delivered by Edward Everitt. The President was requested to say a few words by way of dedication. It is related that he drew from his pocket a crumpled piece of paper on which he had written some notes, and then he spoke with almost inspiration : Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers broughl forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that till men are created equal, l^pvf we are engaged in a great civil war. testina 310 A VISIT TO THE STATES. whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. "VVe are met on n great battle field of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place of tho>e who hi re gave their lives thai that nation nai^ht live. It is altogether fitting and propel that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, v/e cannot hallow thij ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our power to add 01 iktract. The world will little note nor long remembei \vhat we say here, but it can. never i orset what they did Here. It is lor ui-,, tiie living, luther to be dedicated hre to the uniinished vork that they have ^hus far go iiobrjp carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honoured dead we take incretiEed devotion to the cause for which they here gave the last full measure oi devotion that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain that the cation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by tho people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. From the cemetery is seen the red-topped cupola of the Lutheran Seminary, over a mile away across the intervening valley, the most conspicuous landmark of the Confederate line. To the north east is Barlow s knoll, now a grain field,. whoro the wounded Barlow fell into the enemy s hands, and the Confederate General Gordon, in the nuJst of the battle, succoured him and sent a flag of truce through the lines to bring his wife to nurse him, thus saving his life. Tvventy years later, Gordon; and Barlow accidentally mot, and recalled this great service which cemented their friendship. The " Grand Army of the Republic " has its annual encampment every July on the Cemetery- hill. Off to trie south-east, covered with timber, is Culp s-hill, protruding eastward beyond the ridge. It is strewn with boulders, and its trees to this day show marks of the fierce cp;hting. It was from this hill that the terriiic cannonade was poured into the." Louisiana Tigers " which broke THE GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 311 nr> their attack upon the cemetery. The 2d Maryland (Confederate) Begirnent hnvo their monument and marking stone on Culp o-hill, showing tho point to which they advanced, when On the second day they got possession of part of this natural stronghold. Out of tho south-eastern elope of tho hill new Spanglor s Springs, where it is said that on tho morning of that second day, when both linos of battle wore formed and this was neutral ground between them, the soldiers from both mingled peacefully to get water. Southward, the Emmottsburg road leads right over tho valley that was the hotly-contested second and third days battle ground between the ridges. It gradually diverges from tho Union lines, and croEses the level fields over which camo Pickett s famous charge. Monuments, some being of greats merit, lino this road. At the right hand of General Sickles s line, which was so vehemently attacked, is the monument of the First Massachusetts Regi ment, the finest on tho field. It represents tho landscape view of tho enemy s lino as seen from the advanced position on which these troops stood. This ia most exquisitely carved in tho granite, and a soldier stands, rifle in hand, keenly looking for the foe. This splendid picture is cut upon a block weighing many tons. That war-liko landscape is a quiet pastoral scene to-day, with cattle feeding and birds singing. The front of Sickles s advanced lino was composed largely of Massachusetts troops, and that State has liberally scattered its beautiful monuments along this road, which was the U nion lino most of the distance to the " peach orchard." In the fierce fighting of this peach orchard Sickles lost a leg. The line bends sharply back around tho orchard, and here tho attack was made <m both sides. The greatest care has been taken 312 A VISIT TO THE STATES. to replant peach trees as the old ones fall, ana here are monuments of exquisite finish, represent ing riflemen ready to fire and other appropriate emblems of active warfare. Massachusetts was almost the first State to begin the work of mark? ing the positions held by the troops, and nearly every regiment and battery has a fine monument. The other States, however, are emulating the example. Alongside the peach orchard is the " wheat-field, " now a grassy meadow, hardly to be realized as a scene of such fierce fighting and terrible slaughter. We then go down among the crags and boulders into the " Devil s Den," a ravine through which flows a stream coming from the orchard and wheat-field, and separating them from the vast rocky eminences of the Round Tops that tower beyond it. The faces of the rocks bear many bullet marks, for they flew about numer ously on the eventful second day in the contest to carry Little Round Top, which is a pile of beetling sandstone crags reared high above the ravine/ The Devil s Den is now devoted to the peaceful pursuit of photography, and the bullet- marked crags form an excellent background. The sloping fields stretching up the stream above the Den are known as the "Valley of Death," and were literally bathed in blood. Among these rocks some of the monuments are appropriately made of the boulders that are so numerous. Mounting Big Bound Top by a toilsome path among the rocks, an elegant view is given from an observatory over the surrounding country for many miles. The hill has tall timber growing, which is preserved as it was in the battle. Gettysburg is seen more than three miles northward, behind the cemetery and its monument and waving flag. AH the way between the lines held bv the con tenting armies san Jje _traoe.&i and we look down, THE GETTYSBtmG BATTLEFIELD. 313 from above into the fatal peach orchard, wheat- field, and Devil s Pen, where Sickles s men were slaughtered. The southern view stretches far over Maryland and Virginia, the entire country being now a broad expanse of cultivated fields, with patches of forest interspersed. Coming down again and crossing an intervening ravine, wo climb the less elevated heights of Little Round Top, which were the scene of stubborn charge and counter-charge and much bitter fighting. Among the crags on the summit stand cannon to repre sent the battery that was dragged up there to hold the place, and the monument of the ISinety- first Pennsylvania Regiment which supported the funs. The steep declivity in front goes sharply down to the Valley of Death, which spreads off to the Devil s Den on the left. The peach orchard and wheat-field now the greenest grass are beyond. To the westward is tho long fringe of timber marking the Confederate position on Seminary Kidge, and far off to the north waves the flag over the cemetery which was the centre of the Union line. From this spot, which waa the left of the Union line, is given a charming view of almost the entire field of Gettysburg etretching at our feet. The steep side of Little Pound Top has carefully preserved upon it the long piles of boulders which the soldiers hastily built for breastworks, and all about are monu ments marking the different positions. ; A park has been formed by the railway along- eide of Little Kound Top, and it is a popular resort for excursion parties, who have only to mount tho hill to get a place to see tho great battlefield. Many thousands come here during the spring and summer, and tho town frequently has to take care of crowds numbering three or four times its population. Nearly everybody climbs 814 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the Round Tops, and then they return north along the avenue opened upon the TJnicn lino of tattle, which is bordered with monuments. The lines of breastworks tiro preserved, and they finally bring us to the point upon lower groundwhere the stone walls angle so that a gore in the line, as it were, is thrust out towards the enemy just beyond a little grove of trees whose foliage expands much in the form of an open umbrella. Here the Twentieth Massachusetts Kegiment (whose colonel, Paul lievere, was killed) have brought a huge boulder of conglomerate, weighing 19 tons, from their New England home, and set it up as their monument. This rounded, pudding-shaped etone, upon which many of them had played in early youth,marks the most important spot on the battle- Held. The umbrella-shaped grove of trees along side was the object towards which the march of Pickett s men was directed in the famous though terribly destructive charge. The an^le of the wall not far away is where Armiotead and his handful of supporters got over the linos and had their short and desperate contest closing the battle. This was the lowest ground on the line, the ridgo being higher and more readily defended both north and south ; and hence it was selected as the point of attack, upon which for two hours the greater part of the terrific cannonade w r as directed from Seminary Kidge. The fields in front are level and open, and across them came the marching column of Confederates, receiving a galling lire in front and flanks. There was nothing to shield them, and the gallantry of the movement has never been exceeded, although its expediency, in the face of such risks, has always been criticized. The charge might, however, have succeeded had the flunking cavalry movement been success ful, upon, which Lee depended to attack the THE BLUE JUNIATA. 815 Unionist rear. The cavalry battle nearly toui miles east of Gettysburg, which stopped this move ment, is also marked by a monument erected at the centre of the tight, now a potato Held. But the tablet that is regarded with most interest at Gettysburg is upon the scene of the first day s battle, a short distance north-west of the town. Just inside the edge of a grove of trees, which is carefully preserved, istands a plain granite block on the spot where General Reynolds fell. He was the chief Unionist commander next to Meade, and is regarded from his untimely death as the aero ul Llio battle 011 tlio IN ortiieni side, as Armistead is on the Southern. Each died in action, Reynolds hurrying forward troops, and Armistead leading a gallant but hopeless charge. The^ former was a Pennsylvanian and the latter a Virginian. Yet the animosities of that exciting time have been BO far healed th.nt Pickctt s sur viving Virginians visited Gettyol-urg this summer as the guests of the Pennsylvania soldiers who, repulsed their famous attack. XXIV. THE LLUE JUNIATA. Beyond Harrisbuig the originally-constructed line of the Pennsylvania Railroad secures its westward route from the Susquehanna river to tho main range of tho Alleghany Mountains by going up the beautiful valley of tho Juniata river. Originally tho journey was made in a combination of rail-cars, stages , and canal barges. Fifty-ono years ago David Stephenson came over here, and in 1836 ho wrote that he travelled tho entire distance from Philadelphia across the Alleghany Mountains to Pittaburg, then 395 miles by the route of tho State works, in 91 hours, at a cost of 316 A VISIT TO THE STATES. 3, or about 2d. per mile ; and that 118 miles of the journey, which he calls " extraordinary/* were performed on railroads, and 277 miles on canals. This line over the mountains was ope rated nearly 20 years, and was a main route of travel between the seaboard arid the West. The railroad from the Delaware river to the Susque- hanna was the first stage ; then a canal was used along the Juniata to Hollidaysburg, at the eastern base of the mountain ; a portage railroad, made up of inclined planes, carried the route over the Alleghany Mountain from Hollidaysburg to Johns town ; and another canal led from Johnstown down the Conemaugh and Alleghany rivers to Pittsburg. The method of goods transport was by making canal barges in sections, which were run upon railway trucks on the land, and joined together to make boats for the canals. The port age railroad was an ingenious device, which, crossed the mountain at Blair s Gap, 2.326ft above the sea level, and was 36 miles long. It had ten inclined planes, five on each side of the moun tain, each making a rise, varying by the nature of the surface, from 13(>ft. in the smallest to 307ft. in the largest. The steepest face of the mountain ia towards the east, and the railway from Hollidays burg to the summit, though only ton miles long, rose 1,398ft., while on the western slope the de scent iri 20 miles w r as but 1,17-^ft. The gradients varied from one in ten to one in 14, and each piano was worked by a 30-horse power engine ; a de scending and an ascending train being attached to the cable at the same time, and three loaded wagons, each carrying three tons,being considered enough for a single draft. Twenty-four wagons, 1 carrying 72 tons, could go over a plane in an hour, 1 and this was ample, as the traffic was not over 300 tons per day, Mr. Stephonsgn wrote that ha THE BLUE JUNIATA. 31? started from Hollidaysburg at 9 in the morning to go over the portage, reached the summit at noon, stopped thoro an hour, and arrived at Johnstown at 5 p.m., seven hours being occupied in going 36 miles. The portage was abandoned in 1854, when the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed over the mountain. Remains of the old canals and of the portage, which in its day was regarded as a most marvellous work, are seen all along the route from the Juniata westward. They cost the State of Pennsylvania nearly 4,000,000. The Pennsylvania Railway upon leaving Harris-" burg runs northward along the bank of the Susque- h anna river for a few miles, and passes extensive railway j ards north of the town, with their aggre-i gations of cars laden with goods of all kinds, where, the Pennsylvania system assorts its traffic for the; main routes east and west or the branch lines north and south along the Susquehanna, or leading in different directions into the interior. Soon the line approaches the great wall of the Kittatinny mountain range, standing up in front, through which the river breaks at Dauphin Gap, where tno range is notched down magnificently for the stream to make its passage, with the distant blue ranges; of the AllQghariies seenthrough the opening beyond. 1 They are long ridges of rounded-topped and. tree-clad peaks stretching far across country. The- railway curves grandly around to the westward at: Rockville, just below the gap, and crosses the! Susquehanna upon a bridge two-thirds of a mile| long. The water is full of rocks arid shallows,! and hfts little orasa-covered islands scattered about, and the pebbly bottom can be plainly seen as the current swiftly bubbles over it. Splendid views arc given from this bridge both up and down the river ; and, reaching the western bank, the railway, frurus northward again, runs through. tiiejjap, 318 A VISIT TO THE STATES. past ridge after ridge auxiliary to the Kittatinny, which have been broken down by the river to make its passage. The Northern Central Railway comes up from Baltimore, keeps company for a short distance, and then crosses the river upon a bridge above the gap for its long northern journey into New York State. A broad cove makes the Penn sylvania line sweep around to the westward, and it thus begins the mountain passage taking it through 200 miles distance among and across the various Alle^hany ranges, displaying some of the most magnificent scenery on the American Continent. This ride opens a region of historical interest, where in the colonial days there were frequent Indian frontier wars and sturdy battling with the savages by the early settlers, who were usually of the hard, Scotch-Irish race, who make such good pioneers in a new country. The railway runs through Perry County, lying between the Kittatinny range and the next western ridge, tha Tuscarora Mountain. We pass Duncannon and its iron mills,and then, leaving the Susquehanna,start up the " beautiful blue Juniata," which has been the theme of more song and romance than almost any other American river. For 100 miles this river of magnificent scenerl flows from the eastern face of the main range of the AlleghanieSjbreaking through ridge after ridge, and presenting a superb series of landscapes and mountain views. Its route is a succession of bends^ now running for miles north-east along the base of a towering ridge, and then turning east of Boutn-east to go through it by a romantic pass* The Pennsylvania line follows the winding riveU closely, and its glens and mountains and ever* changing views are an almost endless panorama* Massivoness, softness of outline, and variety ard the peculiar it iea of the Juniata scenecy. Thq THE BLUE JtmATA, $19 river is a small one, not carrying a great volume of water in ordinary seasons, and it seems to havd made its various mountain passages and overcome the obstacles in its path as much by strategy as by power. At times it dashes boldly against the wall and rends it asunder, and then it winds around the obstruction or creeps warily through Bocludod glens. At various places the mountain ranges appear to have retired from the stream, leaving only isolated hills near it. But the rendeq mountains, towering tree-covered slopes and sentinel-like hills have all been moulded into rounded forms by the action of the elementsj leaving few naked rocks or abrupt precipices tc startle or to mar the regularities of the natural beauties of the scenery, everywhere clad in the green foliage of nature. The valleys and much ol the slopes are cultivated, the parti-coloured field* running up to the fringe of forest trees crowning the summits of the ridges. Every change of eun^ shine or shadow and the steady progress of the seasons give new tints to these glens and moun tains. In the deeper valley of the river almost every tree has its creeping vine, and these are often festooned in garlands over several. Evorj tint of green is given by the varying foliage. The railway at some places crosses broad and well* cultivated valleys, while at others the ravine is sc narrow that the route has to be carved out of th< overhanging recks, or a tunnel pierces the mountain spur that blocks the way. The river is so tortuous in some cases that the roadway has tc cross and recross upon bridge after bridge, so thai every moment presents a now scene to the swift* moving train. This renowned river, in its couref among those mountain ranges, passes through anc displays nearly the whole of the geological for*, jnation of Pennsylvania. The primary- rogks ar 11 320 A VISIT TO THE STATES. to the eastward of the Susquehanna, and the bituminous coalfields begin on the westerr Alleghany slope ? so that the river cuts througt a rock stratification something like six miles ir thickness. As we glide along upon a sweltering day, a summer thunderstorm comes up with littli warning and deluges the train. The locomotive however, rushes through the torrent, with th< sharp thunder-claps reverberating among the hills and quickly the shower passes, and bright sun> ehine follows, with the vegetation green anc pleasing and the atmosphere freshened by tin fitorm. Ahead of us appears the Tuscarora Gap where the mountain seems to open just enough t< let the river pass through, and, entering the gorge the huge tree-clad hills stand up on either hand giving, as the fleecy clouds left by the storn enwrap their summits, the bluish-purple tingi that is the distinguishing feature of the rive: scenery, and is often seen among the hills of Scot lahd. We rush by more iron furnaces, with thei outlying stacks of pis iron and slar heaps. an< pass the little town of Newport, the place of Earliest settlement in this region, standing on tho picturesque Buffalo Creek, where, at the beginning of the present century, the entire place consisted of four small log cabins. This was the land of the Tuscarora Indians, one of the tribes of the " Six Nations, " and the rail way and canal, both hugging the river bank, enter Juniata County, which is enclosed between the Tuscarora range and the next western ridge, the Turkey Mountain, which rises on the northern bank of the river. This noted and beautiful Tuscarora valley was a region of terrible Indian conflicts and massacres in the early days. The first fort built there by the whites was burnt by the savages, and every settler, either killed or carried off into THE ELITE JUNIA.TA. 321 captivity. Here also occurred the war " between the Tuscaroras and JJelaww-es; These rival tribes had villages on opposite banks of the river, and one day the children got into a dispute about some grasshoppers. The women espoused their cause, and this drew in the men, a bloody battle following. Passing the town of Mifflin, another mountain range stretches across our path the great ridge formed by the Shade and the Blue Mountains. The river flows for miles through a long and narrow gorge between; them, and its course as we ascend is bent around towards the south-west. These are the famous " Lewistown Narrows " the railway running upon one river bank ana the canal upon the other; as they pass through this deep and romantic canyon. At intervals a glance is momentarily got at a beautiful vista view as we quickly pass some pretty glen, while the cloud shadows slowly move over the dark green mountain sides. Broken, slaty stones cover much of the slopes of the hills, and as we emerge from the gorge into the broader valley above, the thriving borough of Lewistown nestles. at the base of another great mountain, with its steeples rising above the red brick houses. Thia is a beautiful place, where the Juniata crosses the, outlet of the charming Kishicoquillas valley,! coming down from among the hills to the nortnJ ward. Here lived the famous Logan in the last century, the chief of the Mingps and Cayugas, the most renowned Indian of Pennsylvania, whose* fame is on a par with Powhatan and King Philip, and whose speeches, preserved by Thomas Jefferson, are declaimed by the American school boy in probably much better English than Logan ever knew. He was stalwart, of giant mould and nearly 7ft. high. He lived at Logan s Spring, in, t&P valley^ and was the . friend pl.the white manj 11-2 322 A VISIT TO THE STATES When this frontier, however. Locarno too well settled for him to longer find the deer upon which he subsisted, selling their skins to the traders, Jjogan moved westward to the Ohio river, near Wheeling. Here his family was, without provoca tion, most cruelly massacred, and this turned Logan s lovo for the white man to an intense hatred. He became an implacable foe, andwreaked terrible and almost indiscriminate vengeance until he was killed in the Shawnee wars beyond the Ohio, having joined that hostile tribe. Tho " . Lewistown ^Narrows " is the finest mountain pass of the Juniata, the peaks rising precipitously over 1,000ft. above the river, and the ranges stretching more than eight miles, their densely- wooded slopes giving the gorge an appearance of deepest gloom. Tho site of Lewistown, at tho western entrance to the canyon, is one of the most picturesque among the Alleghanies. The receding hills above Lewistown make a broad valley, enclosed by distant mountain ranges, in which the crooked river meanders with wayward course, the railway crossing and re- crossing it.Asweglideoverthe stretch of farmland, the passengers in the buifet-coach avail themselves of the opportunity of having their little tables set alongside the car windows, and upon them a lunch is spread. The children run about the coach, look briefly oufcof the windows, and have a good time, the air having boon freshened by the summer storm that just passed over us. Thon comes along that modern fiend of American railway invention tho " train boy/ who makes steady perambulations through the coaches at ten-minute intervals to Boll fruits, candy, pop-corn, travelling hate, fans, tho latest novels, newspapers , photographs, and what nofc ; thus making, as it were, a peripatetic phop, kindly provided by the railway to beguila TIIS BLUE JTTXIATA. 823 the tedium of the journey. The persistence of this youth is one of the traits of the country, and whatever happens he is sure to inarch through the coach every few minutes offering something new for sale, crying his wares in stentorian tones. The broad valley we are crossing has fine farms, and die-plays much good agriculture, and as we traverse it the dark outline of Jack s Mountain gradually rises in front of us, this being the next western range the Juniata pierces in its outflow. Crossing tho winding stream twice to avoid its gyrations into double loops, we go through the village of Mount "Union and, turning westward, pass into another gorge. Hero, in the early colonial days, John Anderson, an Indian trader, penetrated, ana with his companions was murdered by the savages.. Hence tho name of " Jack Anderson s Mountain * WAS given the range, and similarly to the ravino ; but time is too limited among these enterprising people to permit of such elaborate titles, and therefore they have been shortened into " Jack s Mountain " and " Jack s Narrows." Tho pass is even narrower than that at Lewistown, and the profusion of broken stones and shingle covering tho hillsides is almost appalling. Tho river con tracts as it is ascended, and the limestone strata seem to stand almost upright, and give an excel lent opportunity for geological study. This gorge transfers us from Mifllin to Huntingdon County, and off to the southward is the Eroad Top Moun tain, a region with vnst deposits of semi-bitu minous coals, to reach which branch lines go out from the main stem, both at Mount Union and at Huntingdon, which wo are approaching. Upon the latter lino are located the noted Bedford Springs, the chief Pennsylvania-!! resort for invalids. Huntingdon, 97 miles west of Karrisburg, is fche oldest and largest town oa the Juniata. Jfc 324 A VISIT TO THE STATES. was the ancient " Standing Stone " where tta Indians came for centuries to hold their grand councils, and the pioneer white men arrived hero in 1754. The town is built of brick, and has a thrifty and business air, and it is the present ter mination of the usefulness of the canal which has BO long kept us company, but which has been, abandoned and has fallen into ruin above. Tho " Standing Stone " of Huntingdon was a granite column, erected by the Indians, about 14ft. high, and 6in. square, covered with their hieroglyphics. When the whites came, the Indians, who treasured the stone almost as an idol, carried it away to the westward. This " Standing Stone " is engraved on the city corporation seal, being surrounded by mountains and making an appropriate symbol. Its Indian equivalent of " Oneida " is preserved in the name of a township across the river. Selina, who was the Countess of Huntingdon in 1767 or thereabouts, has the honour of being immortalized in the name of this beautifully-located chief city of the blue Juniata, she having been a benefactor of the University of Penns3dvania, whose provost at that time, Dr. William Smith, afterwards became the proprietor of this town site, and thus remembered her generosity. The whole of thia region, and in fact almost the entire Juniata valley, is a producer of iron ores, and furnaces are consequently frequent along the line. Crossing and recrossing the stream, now called the Little Juniata, the railway hews its way among the cliffa and ridges above Huntingdon, through a rough country that gives very little chance for agricul ture. Quarries abound, each with its outlying village of comfortable operatives dwellings, getting out the limestone for the iron furnaces, Bridge after bridge carries the route across the wayward stream, and splendid amphitheatres of THE BLTTK JUNIATA. 325 forest covered hills are presented by the sweeping bends of the constantly-curving rivulet. This la the region of the " Sinking Spring," a remarkable watercourse, which originally appears in a cave, where it comes out of an arched opening with enough water to turn a large mill. Below thia mill it disappears underground, and its concealed current can be heard through fissures, bubbling hundreds of feet below. Further on the stream comes again to the surface, flows some distance, and then enters another cave. It passes undei Cave Mountain, reappears, and finally flows into the Juniata, probably as remarkable a stream UD its mutations as this country can produce. We have gene steadily up the romantic rivei until it has dwindled to a small creek. Its route has brought us through range after range, and nnally to the eastern base of the main range of thi Alleghany Mountains. Here the lino turni sharply to the south-west to run along the base ol the mountain ridge, and thus it leaves the Little Juniata, the source of which is not far away. A< this turning point, where three valleys come to gether and in a most picturesaue situation, ij Tyrone, the outlet to the greatest bituminous coal- producing region in America, the Clearfield coal measures. Those lie on the slopes of the Allo- ghanies. to the northward, and branch railways bring down to Tyrone the rich and exhaustless product of these prolific coal pits, and give enor mous traffic to the Pennsylvania lines. Tyrone is a railway creation, not yet 40 years old, standing in a romantic situation at the entrance to the Bald Eagle valley, 112 miles west of Harrisburg. Its growth is a type of the rapidly-expanding American railway junction, where swelling traffic attracts a constantly-increasing population. Its three tributary valleys stretch iu opposite direc- 526 A VISIT TO THE STATES. tions the Bald Eagle Valley going off north-east, the Juniata valley south-east, and the Tuckah oo valley along the base of the Allcghany Mountain towards tho south-west. {Several branch lines come in at Tyrone, including tho Bald Eagle Valley, the Tyrone and deal-field, and the Lovvis- burg Centre railway a, each bringing its tribute of coals and timber. The Pennsylvania main line continues south-west along the" base of the moun tain in tho Tuckahoo valley to the point selected for its ascent to cross the top of the ridge. Wo have now come into Blair County, and the lino passes more ore mines and blast furnaces, and is laid along the bottom of the valley, between the Alleghany Mountain and the Brush Mountain off to the south-east. The valley broadens into good farmland, and appears to be comparatively well cultivated, although it is so closely shadowed by high mountains. Soon we run into Altoona, which is the model Pennsylvania railway town, with its vast collections of railway shops and cars, 131 miles west of Harrisburg. Halting at tho station, we end the romantic ride along the Juniata, with a pause before croesins tho main Alleghany mountain range. XXV. CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. The town of Altoona, standing at tho eastern base of the Alleghany Mountain range, is probably the most completely representative railway town of America, where so many thriving municipalitiea owe their origin and growth to the railway system. The men of Altoona are almost all railway servants ; its work and its sensations are all of the railway etvle : and the city itself io entirely CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 327 n. recent creation of the Pennsylvania Railroad. That groat company originally selected the site, then in the wilderness, for construction and repaii shops, and, in one way or another, the entire population of 25,000 are dependent upon the rail way for a living. All day and night the trains rolj steadily through in almost unbroken procession, Carrying the enormous traffic between the Atlantic seaboard and the Mississippi Valley. The hiss o! steam and snort of the locomotive, the clanging bell and rumble of the cars, are alike the enter tainment and solace of the population, the mono tony of this being at intervals diversified by the halt of the through passenger trains to permit the travellers to rush into the railway hotel for a hasty meal while on the wing. The east-bound goods cars, after coming down the mountain, are one after another rolled over the long weigh-scale in front of the hotel porch, the down grade enabling them to move by their own gravity. Two and often more ponderous locomotives are harnessed together to haul the trains up tho grade that has to be climbed to the summit of the Alleghany range. From three to four thousand cars will pass through Altoona in a day, and on busy days recently the number has sometimes gone up to .500. Over 5,000 men live in Altoona who work for the railway, and there are very few in the place who do not. The chops of the Pennsylvania Company, v/hich embrace in separate groups tho largest locomotive building establishment and tho most extensive car-construction works in America, cover 123 acres, and besides conducting the repairs for the equipment of tho entire railway, they last year built 124 new locomotives and4,7CO new cars. These repairs amount to work upon 3.000 cars DC* S28 A VISIT TO THE STATES. month. The extensive plant necessary may be imagined when it is known that the Pennsylvania Company has 2,600 locomotives and 95,000 passenger and goods cars in constant use ; and that if its wheeled equipment of all kinds, numbering 101,000, were stretched out upon a ingle line of railway, they would cover a space of o05 miles, or a distance from New York on the Pennsylvania Jine across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and half-way over the State of Ohio. Less than 40 years ago this region was almost without inhabitants, when the railway projectors came along and bought an old man s farm for 2,000 at the foot of the mountain as a site for their establishment. The town is now spread over a long and comparatively narrow strip of ground upon the bottom and sloping sides of the valley, with the railway and its yards and shops along the centre. To the southward, the dark green ridge of Brush Mountain encloses the view, excepting where a notch in it, called the " Kettle," opens a distant prospect of gray mountain ridges behind. To the northward the much higher range of tho Allegheny Mountain stretches across the horizon, and extends far away to the south-west, with its eries of flat-topped ridges apparently blocking the onward progress of the railway. The sound of bell And whistle and the long line of smokes, seen far down the valley to the eastward, disclose the railway route that brought this settlement into the wilderness. The town itself has a hilly set of streets, with mostly wooden sidewalks, and not very well paved. Where the hills get too Bteep for ordinary methods of horizontal locomotion, ome of :these streets do not hesitate to climb tairwavs. and many of the wooden houses are perched tar above the highways leading past CROSSING THE ALLEGHAJTT MOTTNTADTS. 329 them. Beyond its great railway establishment, however, Altoona has little to show the visitor. American railroading, in the close competition of the rival trunk lines, has become largely a problem relating to the swift and cheap transpor tation of heavy weights. The American locomotive and car grow larger and heavier every year, and more and more work is got out of them. Loco motives are built in the Pennsylvania Company s shops at Altoona weighing 60 tons, and goods cars that will cany a load of 30 tons, and, in fact, these are becoming the standard in the goods traffic. Some of the locomotives perform a vast amount of work. I was shown the mileage record of passenger engine " No. 998," which in, 1886 ran 103,981 miles, and the records of several others exceeded 70,000 miles. Of the goods engines, the best record for the year was 61,430 miles, ceveral exceeding 60,000 miles. The 42 acres of locomotive shops and the 76 acres of car shops at Altoona are marvels of industry, neatness, and thoroughness of work. The Americans are wonder* ful in the ingenuity of their wood-working machinery, and in the car shops hundreds ol Diachines are almost automatically preparing the different pieces of timber used in the construction and repairs of the cars, and are using up vast pile* of planks and boards in the processes, cutting ovei^ three millions of feet in a month. All the sawdust; and shavings made by these machines are immediately carried off through galvanized iroqj flues by powerful air currents, and are thus le<J out into bins alongside the boiler-houses, where; this refuse furnishes all the fuel used in steamj generation. Every piece entering into the con<*i etruction of a car is made according to standard^ patterns, thus facilitating both the original Btrueticm and repairs. Tho locomotive akoDS 330 A VISIT TO THE STATES. contain many elaborate and ingenious machines for working in iron and steel, and the skilled engineers who direct the establishment are constantly improving upon the classes of work turned out. There are extensive wheel shops, Binith shops, and forges ; laboratories and test machines for testing all kinds of supplies, and the great aggregation of buildings is lianked at either end by enormous round-houses for stabling the locomotives when not out at work on the line. The army of employes are well-cared for and well paid, and I am told that most of them own their dwellings, which are comfortable houses, it being the ambition of each head of a family in Altoona to bo his own landlord. They, and in fact all of the servants of the Pennsylvania Railway, have a * l Relief- Association," to which each man, and also the company, contributes, providing for tho payment of stipulated benelits in cases of sickness, accidents, or deaths. This system has been in operation over a year, and has already provided for more than 10,000 cases, the payments amounting to from 4,000 to 6,000 monthly. It is noteworthy that the deaths aro few, and tho sickness cases are usually two or three times the number of accidents. For a complete and concentrated exhibition of American railway activity Altoona certainly takes the lead. This railway town under the shadow of the Allcghany Mountains is about 1,100ft. elevation above the soa, and from it the railway starts upon a gradient of 90ft. to tho mile, to climb to the summit. The lino is laid south-\vet along tlm edge of tho ridge, and gradually ascends its olopo, winding over high banks and through deep cuttings among the peaks, with the dark Brush Mountain Been afar off across the intervening valley, which gradually sinks as the gradient rises. There are CROSSING THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS. 531 some attempts at farming in the bottom of the valley, and its head seems to run far up into the side of the ridge. To secure tho necessary distance to overcome the elevation, the engineers have carried the line up one side of this indented valley to its head, where it divides into two smaller glens, with an immense crag standing between them, Little streams flow through each, and below the crag they are dammed to form a pretty lake used as a water reservoir. Having ascended one side of tho valley, the railway at this place, by a bend crossing each of the smaller glens by curved embankments, is made to double" upon itself, and to mount still higher by running out upon the opposite slope of the valley. This sweeping curve is the famous Pennsylvania " Horseshoe /* and the huge jutting crag between the smaller glens, in tho face of which the railway curve is partly hewn, is Kittannmg Point. Juot here is the heaviest gradient of the ascent, 97ft. to the mile, and the exciting scene can be imagined as the train moves along one side of the valley, and the passenger can gee the line, with its moving trains over on the other side, and a yawning chasm between. At Kittanning Point is a signal station a littlo Swiss chalet, with lawn and flowers, a rniniatura oasis in this desert of rocks and stunted firs en the rough mountain side. ~" Tins point was the line of the ancient Indian trail across the Alleghany Mountain, in their laborious portage between the Ohio and Juniata Valleys, and thus closely haa the modern railway engineer followed the route of the original road-maker among the red nion. The railway, after climbing the southern slope of the indented valley, cornea out upon the edge of the mountain again to round it and enter another and higher gorge pierced into the ridge. It is laid alona the edges of the cuuls. and imally comes tQ a 332 A VISIT TO THE STATES. place of superb outlook Allegrippus where the S-ailway is carried by stupendous work along the face of the precipice, while looking backward towards Altoona there is a noble view over the dark green and gray mountain ranges for miles away. Ridge after ridge stretches across the scene far to the eastward, with the hasy horizon closing the picture behind Altoona, whose distant mokes seem far beneath us. The line winds along the side of this second gorge, the mountains apparently sinking as we approach their tops, and patches of timber obstructing the view. The pottom of the gorge is almost hidden among the trees below, and over on its opposite side can be traced the route of the original portage railway. iA. few rude cabins and an occasional clearing vary the monotony of forest and rocks, while an iron furnace is located almost at the top of the moun tain, where coals are mined and coke ovens burning. Thus we come to the summit, and suddenly rush into a long tunnel,2,161ft. elevation, above the sea, pierced through the ridge, which is here about 2,400ft. high, and has colliers ; cabins on its very top. We run through the tunnel from Blair into* Cambria county, and halt briefly at Gallitzin, the most elevated station on the Pennsylvania line. Vhis is a mining village of considerable size, named in memory of the prelate-prince Demetrius Gallitzin, of Russia, who came to this frontier in 1799, and laboured for 40 years as a missionary priest among the hardy : pioneers, many of whom he induced to come out here from his own land. Cambria county is an elevated table-land between the top of the Alleghanv Mountain and the next ridge to the westward, known as Laurel-hill, also including the latter. The eastern ascent of the lAJleghany is abrupt and rwc^ed. but the western; CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 333 slope Is comparatively gentle. Almost upon emerging from the summit tunnel, a diminutive rivulet appears,whose waters go down through the Conemaugh River to the Ohio, and thence through the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico. The Pennsylvania Kailroad seeks its route down the western side of the mountain and out of tho Alleghanies by closely following this Conemaugh Valley. It was at Loretto, five miles from tne present railway route, that one Michael M Guire came to live in 1790, the first settler of Cambria county, his nearest neighbour- being Thomas Blair, who lived on the top of the Alleghany Mountain, at Blair s Gap, 12 miles away. These two pioneers about equally divided their time 1 between fighting Indians and wild beasts, and they had gathereda few companionswhen Gallitzin. came as a missionary among them and built a rude log chapel. He spent his fortune in his life-work of building up the town of Loretto, where ha attracted a population of 3,000, chiefly Germans and Irish. He died in Ib40, and his remains lie- in front of the Koman Catholic Church. Thift settlement was the first nucleus of population in, this elevated region, but subsequently the coat and iron deposits attracted the Welsh, and that thrifty and industrious race, coming in numbers, gave their familiar name of Cambria to the county f and founded its flourishing town of Ebensburg, to which a branch railway runs north from Cresson Springs, about three miles from the summit ot the mountain. : V Cresson Springs, at an elevation of 3,000ft., are a popular summer resort, the attractions boinff the cool, pure atmosphere and the medicinal waters. The railway has built a fine hotel the Mountain Hcrase alongside the line, whera hundreds jrf visitors ^rQwd,Jn_ July 334 A VISIT TO THE STATES. its conical-topped towers rising above the trees at the back of a. pleasant, upward-sloping lawn. Beyond this hostelry the train glides steadily down hill, but upon a gradient not so steep, and in scenery that is much tamer than on the eastern side of the mountain. Coals :undcrlie the whole country, and the stations are chiefly the villages adjacent to coalpits and coke ovens, where Jong lines of laden cars await transport to market. The line skirts the upper waters of the Conemangh, which steadily grows into a broader stream. Through wild gorges, around sweeping bends, over high embankments, and into deep rock excavations, the gradually descending railway winds along, ancl the whole neighbouring region seems to be an almost perpetual coal measure, with outlets from the pits in many hillsides. The line crosses and recrosses the crooked stream bubbling over its rocky bed. At intervals long inclined planes, are laid down the mountains to get the coals out, end the colliers cabins cluster about thorn, while frequent long coal-laden trains pass upon the east- bound line. As we get further down the broaden ing and deepening Conemaugh Valley, tho scenery becomes more attractive. The hills grow higher, lovely vistas open, and the gorges are deeper. Then we come to the town of Ccnemaugh, with its iron furnaces and villages on both sidea of the river, which finally develop into the larger borough of Johnstown. A little space of flat land at the junction of Stoney Creek with the Conemaugh was in early times an Indian settlement, known as Kickena- pawling. A hardy German pioneer, named Joseph Jahns, built a cabin here in 1791, and from him the cluster of little houses on the river bank at tho head of the canal leading down to the Ohio became Xheu the CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 33o ironworkers came along, and they soon changed \bo name to Johnstown. JNuture carved out this iluco to enrich these metul workers, and it is not iirprising therefore that their mines and nacee should have grown info tho great works the Cambria Iron Company, tho moot extensive and steel corporation in America. Tho Cmicmaugh Valley here is narrow and enclosed bvfegh hills. Another deep valley with tho visW.ou3 r.tream of Stoney Creek comes up from the BOuViward, and there are other glens and gorges, GO tint the region is practically a series of deeply carvfrl, elongated,, narrow, radiating depressions cut <\pwn in the table-land. Within and about them \re clustered a population of oO.OGO, all of them (^pendent in one way or another upon tho ffpn CGtab] iahment, which employs some 8,000 m?n in ita various operations, No better seat for this voot industry could have been selected, tor in th<\ hill to the westward are tho coalpits whoso output makes excellent coke, while across the river, \n. the hill to the southward, are coals, iron ores, and limestone. Climbing to tho hilltop north of the river we overlook the enormous works which stretch for a mile along the narrow valley and on both sides of the river, with its aggregation of furnaces, chops, and foundries cluster] rig closely together, with many hundreds of operatives* dwellings spreading far along tho valley, and thus making the town, winch extends through tho narrow winding gorge shut in at tho west by Laurel Mountain. Smokes rise and steam jeta puff in abundance, with the swift-flowing river eparkling between and beyond ; and just where tlio opposite hillside riseo abruptly" the Penn eylvania Railroad forms a border with its passing trains. This great establishment consumes in a jear 425.000 ton* .of iron ores. 775,000 teas oJ 336 A VISIT TO THE STATES. coals And coko, and 150,000 tons of limestone jTheae 1,350,000 tons of materials are converted *into Bessemer rails and merchant steel of varioifl ;]cinds. In its various processes, there are mate |400,000 tons of coke and 325, COO tons of pig-irca, ithe latter being converted into 240,000 tons of steel ingots, which in turn are made into 125,<00 Sons of Bessemer rails, 36,000 tons of wires, md 60,000 tons of merchant steel of various shapes, an outpxit far beyond any other works in the country. This gives the railways a goods traffic making Johnstown the most important station on ;the line between Harrisburg ana Pitteburg. This vast Cambria undertaking is the outgrowth of a few small charcoal furnaces, built half a <eenttrry ago in the neighbourhood of Johnstown, ["When tho Cambria Iron Company was chartered 85 years ago the Pennsylvania line had just beet "built and the town had 2,000 people. Tie shrewd (Welsh metal workers foresaw, however, that thii Would become a chief seat of the iron industry, lowing to the proximity of the ores and fuel anc the railway leading to market. At first bank iruptcy and destructive fires burning the mills gavi .the enterprise a set-back, but the protective systen adopted by the Americans during the Civil War and the adaptation of the Bessemer and otho; .improved processes, gave the Cambria Company i great impetus. It now nas 11 Diaet mrnaces, most of them of the latest patterns and largest capacity, with its own railways and full equipment. Bessemer mills, open hearth and merchant steel wo.rks, rolling raills,and iron factories. The steam generating and puddling are entirely done by the use of natural gas, which costs less than coals, and is economical of labour. This gas. which comes out of the earth in various parts of Western Pennsylvania, through wells at high pressure, is CROSSING THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 337 one of the modern appliances that have vastly ihoapened manufacturing processes west of the .Allt ghanies. It is led in pipes to the consumers^ ahd is fed under the boilers at Johnstown at a pyeesure of a few ounces to the square inch. The e^ensive use of this gas as a steam generator has almost revolutionized manufacturing, beside* ridding the atmosphere of much of the clouds of coat-smoke it uned to carry. This natural gaa comes to Johnstown, through 10-inch pipes, laid underground, from the wells about 40 miles west ward j the pressure as it progresses gradually diminishing until it is about 201b. to the inch at the Cambria Works. . ; The daily output of Bessemer steel ingots at Johnstown has reached as high as 725 tons, and all grades of steel are also made. The company builds all its own boilers and machinery in its Bhops, and carefully tests all its own products, and grades them for varying uses according ito quality. It owns over 51,000 acres of mineral lands, and has also leased 1,000 acres of the best coking lands in the Connellsville region of Penn sylvania, to the southward, where it has 500 coke ovens in operation. Their coal-mining surface near Johnstown covers 36 square miles. Their ore mine* in the neighbourhood yield 75,000 tons, and their Michigan mines 350,COO tons of Bessemer ore annually. Some of the plant is upon an enormous scale. To one row of four huge furnaces are attached 12 "Whitwell stoves, and another row of eight gigantic steam-pumps to make the blast, while in front is a battery of 40 boilers. Under these gas-jets burn to make the heat, and one maa supervises the whole arrangement, thus dispensing with all other labour. The unskilled workmen about the place are chiefly Hungarians and Poles, who have almost entirely supplanted the Irish aft 338 A VISIT TO THE STATES. heavy labouring work in the States. They get 5dL to Gd. per hour, and \vork 12 hours daily. Thess works, spreading a mile along the narrow valley, cover over 100 acres with their buildings, and ail kinds of labour-saving machinery aid in the varions processes. For the benefit of the army of employes there is a fine library and reading room in Joluis- town, which is liberally endowed, a drawing school, and also a relief association, supported jointly by the operatives and the company. This association distributes about 5,000 annually for benefits in cases of deaths, sickness, or accidents, upon a similar plan to the Pennsylvania Railroad system. This great company is a typo of the predominant industries of Western Pennsyl vania coal mining, coke burning, and the manu facture of iron and steel. It stands at the western base of the Alleghany Mountain, and as the ascent of this mountain began at the best representative railway town in America, so when the summit is passed the descent is closed by the greatest plant in America for making iron and steel. XXVI. THE BLACK COUNTRY OF PENN SYLVANIA. Western .Pennsylvania beyond the Alleghany mountains is a veritable " Black Country." The whole region is underlaid by coals. Coke ovens, coal pits, and furnaces aro scattered through the valleys, and the attention of almost the entire community is devoted to mining or smelting. From this region aro got the vast stores of coals that are sent by railway or water throughout the Mississippi valley and the gas coals shipped 6verv where for illuminating purposes. It is the THE BLACK COUNTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 339 f Pittaburg coal district," famed as a producer of coals and coke and of iron and stool; and the recent introduction of the natural gas has been of wonderful advantage to its manufacturing indus tries in the way of cheapening fuel. From the Alleghany mountain top down the elope to Johns town we have seen continued evidences of the coals arid coke and of the development of the iron and Btccl manufacture ; and these are the constant exhibitions of the Pennsylvania Railroad west ward to Pittsburg. Beyond Johnstown the Cone- maugh river becomes a broad stream, winding with a deep valley among high, wooded, rounded hills, making most picturesque scenery, as tha gorge breaks through range after range. The rail way runs for miles along the southern bank, giving fine views along the- river reaches as the train swings around tho curves. The dense vege tation blooma into luxuriance on tho slopes, which urc crowned with forests ; while occasionally the valley broadens sufficiently to permit a little farm ing. Thus we run through the gorge which has broken a river passage in the Laurel mountain, and enter Westmoreland county, tho line turning south-west with the river. Passing smoking coke ovens and black coal pits, and crossing a, broadening valley, the Conemaugh turns westward and takes tho railway through the finest pass west of the Alleghany, the famous Packsaddle narrows a ravine displaying magnificent scenery, by which the river breaks through the Chestnut ridge, the tvcstern border of the mountain ranges. For 200 miles the line has gone through or over range after range, and this pass is tho exit, tho Chestnut ridjie rising 1,200ft. above the narrow gorge, 840 A VISIT TO THE STAT-KB. where railway and river are closely crowded in the bottom of the ravine, the railway gradually climbing the slope above the river. This point of exit from the mountains is kno^n as Blairsville intersection, where the main railway leaves the Conemaugh and a branch goes off to Blairsville, named in memory of the solitary pioneer of Blair s-gap. South-westward our line runs along the slope of Chestnut ridge, through a region that seems a vast coal mine in the bordering hills, while some farms appear to the westward. The Conemaugh flows away to the Alleghany .river, and we are making a snorter overland route to Pittsburg. All the little stations are colliers homes, and coals and coke abound, with many branch lines coming out from among the hills with the product of the mines. Thus we come to Derry, * station for making up coal trains, originally named in honour of the Irishmen who formerly did the work of the mines, but who are now uperseded generally by the cheaper labour of the Hungarians. Miles of coal cars border the line, ready for movement to market either east or west. The approach to the natural gas region is denoted by the flaring torch-like street lamps, where it is burnt, although a poor illuminator, that rather pales before the lurid glare of the numerous rows of coke ovens. Thus we pass Latrobe, on the Loyalhanna creek, in the Ligonier valley, and beyond it cross a thrifty farming region among the spurs of the hills, to Greens burg, the capital of Westmoreland county. This prosperous borough was in its early history known as Hannastoun, where were passed the patriotic resolutions of 1775, just after the initial battle of the American revo-* lution at Lexington which sounded the keynote for the Declaration of Independence in tho following year. Here first appeared during the THE BLACK COUNTRY OI PENNSYLVANIA. 341 revolution General Arthur St. Glair, an immigrant from Scotland, who lived in a humble house on Chestnut ridge. He had been the British com mander at Fort Ligonier, then on the frontier. Horrible Indian massacres were the chief features of the revolution in Westmoreland county, and in one of their raids in 1782 Hannastoun was burnt. St. Glair died in poverty, and his remains lie in a Greensburg churchyard, where they were interred under a monument that sharply rebukes the parsimony of his country. He died at the age of 84, in 1818, and the inscription says, " The earthly remains of Major-General Arthur St. Glair are deposited beneath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one du from his country." The natural gas torches are numerous at Greens^ t>urg and at all the stations westward, for the rail way skirts along the southern border of the chief natural gas-producing region, the " Munysville District," the leading wells being at Murrysville, about eight miles north of the line. The hills are high and the valleys deep, and these are the characteristics all the way to Pittsburg. The whole country is a development of coal pits and coke ovens, and we move swiftly over the region of the gas coals, their rich deposits extending westward to Pittsburg and southward to the Monongahela river. Mining shafts are seen on, all sides as we pass the pits of the great gas coal companies, the Penn, \Vestmoreland, Shafton, and others, which send millions of car loads to market for the manufacture of illuminating gas. Thus the line approaches Pittsburg, which is built directly over vast deposits of coal and reservoirs of gas, and reaching Turtle Croek,among the coala and coke, enters Alleghany county. The approach. is made through deep, valleys, enclosed. .by high 342 A VISIT TO THE STATES. hills that cover in the overhanging clouds and smoke. Ten miles i rorn Pittsburg tho railway crosses the field of Eraddock ; s memorable defeat and massacre, then a thick forest, but now a eceno of busy industry. Braddock came into this region from Virginia, marching across tho Monongahela river, and his object was the capture of Fort Du Qucsno, at tho confluence of the Mononp;ahela and Alleghany rivers, where thoy form the Ohio. IS"o event in American colonial history has been the subject of greater comment than this defeat. Braddock lost his life, being shot, it was said, by one of his own men, and in rallying the defeated forces Washington won his lirot military laurels. In this battle 850 French and Indians, by moans of an ambuscade and surprise, defeated 2,500 Britioh and American forces. Three years later the fort was abandoned by the French, and being occupied by the English became Fort Pitt, whence the name of Pittsburg. The great Edgar Thomson Steel Works, one of the largest Bessemer steel plants in the country, is now the busy industry alongside tho Monongahela at Braddock s, where a handsome monument recalls the battle. Pretty villas are perched on tho hills, and tho railway broadens into four seta of rails to accommodate the traffic of the terminals, and wo pass a region of market gardens underlaid with coaie, where tho black shafts come up almost among tho vegetable beds. The line loaves the neighbourhood of tho Monongahola, which it had approached at Brad- clock s, and goes through tho deeply-cut valleys that are fissured into tho high hills Vhich environ Pittsburr;. The littlo suburban stations are pretty structures, ornamented with flower beds, and at Liberty, just outside the city, aro tho extensive etcck yards and freight storage yards of the lino. 3?nufl we run into town, and halt a fa .the station. THE BLACK COUNTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 343 the shadow of an enormous hill, 354 mUea west of Philadelphia, where the main lino of tho Pennsylvania Railroad ends at Pittsburg. Hero the railway divides into two linos, the " Pan Handle route," for Cincinnati and St. Louis, on the left hand, and tho " Fort Wayne route," for Cleveland and Chicago, on the right hand, these being tho Pennsylvania lines westward to the Mississippi valley and tho lakes. The Monongahela river coining up from tho southward, and the Allegbany river, flowing down from the northward, each drain the western ranges of tho Alleghany chain. They unite at Pittsburg to form the Ohio river. Each stream flows through a deeply-cut canon, with a triangular piece of flat land at their confluence, upon which the town ia built. The names of all three rivers are of Indian origin. Moncngahela means the " river without islands." Ohio is a Seneca Indian word, pro nounced originally 0-hee-o, and meaning the " fair water," while Alleghany, in tho language of tho DolawaroB, has much the same signification, and by all the Indians these two were looked upon aa ono river, with the Monongahela as a tributary. 1 ne i< rencii are Baid to have been the iirst white men who explored this region, but in 1754 a small party of English began building a fort at the confluence of the rivers. The French drove them away, thus beginning the bitter war that raged for seven years, and immediately erecting the famous Fort Du QUCEXIG. After the period of wars and massacres, business began to develop, at first vessel building and then smelting and coal mining and the manufacture of glass. The earliest rolling mill was started in 1812, and two years later a cannon foundry, out of which has grown the Fort Pitt Iron Works, ono of the largest establishments in the city. Then Pittsburg expanded vastly with 344 A VISIT TO THE STATES. the introduction of steam, and became an extensive builder of steamboats for the western waters, it had set-backs from tires, but the opening of the railway gave it a wonderful impetus, and it is rio^ unrivalled as the " Birmingham of America," with a half-million people at or near the confluence of the rivers, who are supported by its thousands of factories, and conduct its enormous trade across the mountains and with the Mississippi valley and the Far West. The introduction of natural gas as fuel, as may be supposed, has been a great addition to the prosperity of this busy hive oi industry. There are few American views more striking than that given from the high hills over looking Pittsburg. On the southern bank of the Monongahela river, rising steeply almost from the water s edge, is Mount Washington, 350ft. high. Up the face of the declivity, which rises at nn angle of 45deg., there are inclined plane rail ways, upon which the double system of ascending ana descending carriages is moved by cables worked by a steam engine at the top. These not , only carry foot passengers but also horses and wagons, and furnish a quick and easy method ol going up or down the hill. The scene from this elevated perch is euperb. The Alleghany river comes from the north-east and the Monongahela from the south-east, through deep and winding canons cut into the rolling table-lands, and they unite to form the Ohio, which passes away to the north-west, also through a deep gorge, though the ridges of hills bordering it are more widely separated. Pittsburg stands upon the flat surface of the peninsula, above the junction of tho rivers, which has some high and elongated ridgy hilla stretching eastward through its centre. Its situa tion and appearance has been not inaptly com pared to a flat iron, the point being at the head THE BLACK COUNTKY OF PENNSYLVANIA.. 345 of the Ohio, and these ridgy hills making the handle. Its population has overflowed into ex tensive suburbs across both the bordering rivers, From the elevated hill-top all this scene is spread out at our feet, the houses of Pittsburg stretching from the rivers back eastward up the slopes of the hills that blend finally into the ^reen fields of the distant suburbs. Directty opposite, to the north ward, the Alleghany river comes down from among the distant hiils, and sweeps grandly around to the westward, beneath its seven bridges, all in full view, as it passes away to the left hand into the Ohio river. Almost beneath us is the Monongahela, flowing under its series of bridges, the narrow shores between the steep hills bearing a mixed maze of railways and factories. Countless steam jets and chimney smokes come up in all directions, and, in fact, the borders of all the rivers, as well as patches scattered through the city itself, are made up largely of this mass of curling steam and heavy palls of smoke from the myriads of factories. The steam jets puff and are quickly dissipated into little feathery clouds that speedily evaporate, but the smokes are much more persistent, going off before the westerly wind into a dark cloud to the eastward that obscures the region whence the Monongahela river comes. Though this obscuration is still great, yet I am told it is nothing like the pall that hung among these Pittsburg hills until a year or two ago, when the introduction of the natural gas as fuel began materially reducing coal consumption. Not long since, with its mass of steam and smoke, this elevated view down into Pittsburg was of a veritable Pandemonium, the terrific character of which can hardly be realized, though it has been not inaptly described by one who for the first time Jooked into the American " smoky city ." on a 346 A VISIT TO Tllfl STATES. lowering day, down in its desp basin among the high hills, as appearing like " Hell with the lid off." Plenty of railways assist in making up this Weird scene, and most of them are laid along the narrow river borders, and stretch off to the east, op the Monongahela, or else to tho westward, disappearing along the Ohio, which flows away between the hills in two channels around a broad island. Scores of odd-looking, ark-like, stnmpy- prowed little steamboats, built high above tho water, with a huge wheel at the back, fringe tho river banks, and have their noses thrust up to tho sloping levee, on which is piled tho cargoes , chic-fly of iron products, they are to carry away. The swift current turns their sterns down stream, so that they all lie diagonally to the shore. Fleets of flat and shallow coal barges aro moored in bunches, awaiting a sufficient freshet to give enough water to float them down the Ohio. They do not need much depth, for, in fact, all those western river craft are of such shallow draught that it is said they can get over the ground if it is only a little, damp. The outlook over this strange and animated scene, with ail sorts of busy noises rising from it the etoam hissing, forgos and trip-hammers pounding, flame jets rising from innumerable chimneys, rail- cars running, engines snorting and puffing, bcllo ringing, whistles screeching, and smokes of all colours blowing about gives a perfect idea of the great American " Iron City," which, is one of tho busiest hives of industry in tho States, and has gathered such an arm} of enterprising workers at tho junction of the rivers to carry on its diversified manufactures. It has all been collected within is, century, for then the only thing that was here in tlio unbroken forest was the old brick fort down near the point of the peninsula where the rivers join THE BLACK COUKTRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 34V Thin famous fort is still preserved. It is a small, one-story brick building, about 15ft. square, with pyramid roof. Originally a stockade surrounded it, enclosing some space, but this has disappeared, and the noted little structure is now crowded in among some squalid houses, among the- mills and stores about TOO yards from the head of the Ohio. It is a dwelling-house occi:r>ied by a labourer, and there seems to "be reason for profound regret that the city docs not take better care of such a relic. Pittsburg is getting fine now buildings. The United States Government!* leisurely constructing a large post-office, and Allcghany county has under \vay upon a hill adjoining Fifth-avenue, which gives a prominent site, a iino now Court-house, which will bo a fitting adjunct to the granite gaol of similar architecture which is already completed. Both are imposing structures, and connecting them is an arched stone-covered bridge, which is thrown across an intervening street for a passage-way, being modelled much like the Bridge of Sighs. The city has several attractive business streets, but its greater attraction is the multitude of factories, iron, steel, and glass boins predominant. Thce are at once the pride and the prosperity of Pittsburg. Its ironmasters, too, are supreme, and among its loading people who h.ivo carved out their fortunes in the varied industries of this remarkable placo the names of tvro men are always prominently mentioned. Andrew Car negie, who is the owner of several of the largest furnaces, roiling mill??, and Beseemer steel works, JB the leading ironmaster of the United States and the wealthiest citizen of the town, his Scotch origin indicating the source of the great business energy and fhrewdness he lins developed. George Westinghoiuio has combined with business tact the- genius of the inventor, and is known in Pitts- 348 JL VISIT TO THE STATES. burg in three capacities. He is the inventor of the automatic railway air-brake now in universal use, and has a large establishment for its manu facture and for constructing other railway appliances. He is also the head of an electric light company that has its illuminating system in general use in Pittsburg. But he is probably best known by being the leading spirit in the extensive adaptation of natural gas to the city a wants, and as the inventor of many ingenious contrivances that have been useful in the intro duction of this new fuel. It has been only in recent years that with advancing wealth the Pittsburg merchants and manufacturers have found opportunity for euburban adornments. Up on the hills to the eastward of the city, in Oakland and beyond in the East-end, is an attractive residential section, where pleasant villas and ornamental grounds are showing the taste in landscape and rural decora tion of which this beautiful region is capable. The suburban adornments are also spreading in other directions upon the high hills that enclose the rivers. In Alleghany there are many costly residences in commanding situations overlooking the rivers, for here has been a favourite location for the homes of Pittsburg business men. The Alleghany Park is in the centre of that suburban city, and it is an attractive place, covering about 100 acres. In one part it abruptly rises in a very Bt$ep hill almost at the edge of the Alleghany river, and on the crest of this eminence, where it can be seen from afar, stands the soldiers monument, a graceful column erected in memory of 4,000 noldiers of the county who fell in the Civil War. Its soldier statues on guard at the base look out upon the smokes and steam jets, and thousands . UD._ there, to., be., fanned by,, the summei THE BLACK COUNTRY OP PENNSYLVANIA. 849 "breezes blowing up the Ohio and enjoy the grand view. To the southwest of Pittsburg, out on a branch of what is known as the " Pan Handle Railway " is the town of Washington. It is a small town rambling over a hilly region in the south-westerc corner of Pennsylvania, and its neighbourhood if just now noted as the theatre of anothei demonstration of the bountiful gifts of Nature to the happy Americans. Two miles from this town are the greatest petroleum wells the world haa ever known. New wells have been drilled in this comparatively recent petroleum region and on* after another has astonished the trade with ltd big " strike." Here is the great McKeown . well known as the " Jumbo," which is such a " gusher " that in 60 days after the oil was struck it had poured out 140,000 barrels. It makea a steady outpour of almost white oil in a circulal stream about five inches in diameter that flows at the rate of 4,200 gallons an hour. Not far away is a later well that was " struck " about the middle of September, and it, in its freshness of infancy, is pouring out at the rate of 6,300 gallons an hour. Other wells are drilling, and still more wells have had their great day, and have subsided to about 1,500 gallons an hour outflow, while yet others have to be pumped and yield barely a hundred barrels in a day. This is the universal lesson of the oil fields, the " gushes " soon giving out, for there is only so much petroleum storfed in the sands beneath, and the more visits there are the sooner is the source curtailed. This district of Washington, however, is the latest of the new oil-fields, and it has had the honour of producing the two most prolific wells ever known, Thus oil and coal and gas, and iron, steel and glass, all combine to swell, with the.yast railway 350 A VISIT TO THE STATES. and river traffics, the prosperity ot the busy " Iron City." XXVII. THE PITTvSBURG NATURAL FUEL GAS. From the western base of tho Allegfcany Moun tain at Johnstown out to Pittsburg the most im pressive leason taught by this journey has been of the extent and effectiveness of the use of natural gas for fuel. During the past three years if has been made to almost entirely supersede coals and coke in generating steam and in tho manufac ture of iron, steel, and glass, and tho great saving in fuel cost thus secured has made Pittsburg the cheapest manufacturing centre in the States. This natural gas, as it is called, is by no means a recent discovery, although the extent and import ance of its present uses are of world-wide interest, It has been used in China, and for years in many parts of the world burning gas springs have been known. Sixty years ago at Frcdonia, New York, it was used for illuminating purposes, being pro cured from a well. Its origin is in the decomposi tion of forms of animal or vegetable life embedded in the rocks, and it is stored under pressure in porous or cavernous rocks overlaid by impervious strata. "When theee are pierced the gas is set free. The position at which the gas is found is variable, depending upon tho force of gravity and tho position of the porous sandstones in which it is aonfined. The region of the gas is the portion of Pennsylvania west of tho Alleghany Mountain extending into Now York, Ohio, and West Virginia, and it is also found to a limited extent in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Kansas. By THE PITTSBURG NATURAL FUEL GAS. 351 far the most important locality of its discovery, however, is in the neighbourhood of Pittsburgh There are six companies formed for supplying that; city with the gas, and they manage 107 wells, and 1 transport the gas through over 500 miles of pipes, of which 232 miles are within Pittsburgh They can deliver more than 250 millions of cubio feet in one day, and in practice frequently deliver. 200 millions. One great company does three-*, fourths of the whole business, the Philadelphia Company, which supplies more than 400 manufac turing establishments and 7,000 dwellings with all their fuel in the form of gas, and has some 1,600,000 invested in the plant necessary for the business. An interview with Mr. Charles Paine, the general manager of the Philadelphia Company at Pittsburg, gave mo an insight into this wonderful subject, which has alike revolutionized the manu^ facturing and domestic economy of Western Penn-J eylvania. The natural gas is a mixture of hydrogen, nitrogen, and marsh gas, with occasionally higher carbon compounds. It has about one-half the specific gravity of atmospheric air, varying, 1 according to locality, from 45 to 55, and also according to its composition, which is found to differ considerably in adjacent wells and even in the eame well at different times. The average composition of the Pittsburg natural gas is 67 parts in ICO of marsh gas, 22 of hydrogen, three of nitrogen, live of ethylic hydrate, one of olefient gas, and the remaining two of oxygen, carbonic acid, and carbonic oxide. The gas found at Findlay, Ohio, another prolific gas-field in the north-western portion of that State, analyzes thus marsh gas, 03 ; nitrogen, four ; hydrogen, two ; and the remainder small portions of the other erases ,bove mentioned. In 100 litres of Pittaburg, 12 f, 352 A VISIT TO THE STATES. gas, the heat units are calculated at 789,694 ; in Findlay gas, 878,082 ; and, for the sake of com parison, in the same quantity of Siemens s producer gas. at 113,000. In generating steam experiments under various boilers show 1,000ft. of gas to be equal in heating power to from 801b. to 1331b. of different kinds of coals. One pound of coals equals in value 7-^ft. of natural gas. The latter explodes violently when mixed with 9 to 14 parts of air. When burnt with pure oxygen, the flame temperature of the natural gas is estimated at 7,100deg. centi grade and of the Siemens s producer gas at 2,850deg. centigrade. When burnt with just enough air to secure perfect combination, the temperatures are estimated at 2,333deg. centigrade for natural gas and l,700deg. centigrade for Siemens s. The natural jas usually has but little odour, but it is often ound strongly scented with the fumesof petroleum or of sulphuretted hydrogen. While the absence of odour is a defect lessening the chances of discover ing leaks, yet the sense of suffocation caused by inhaling air charged with only a very small por tion of the gas is regarded as a warning of its presence quite as palpable as the odour. The gas is described as colourless, yet it may be seen to have a pale blue tint when blown into the air by high pressure from a well, looking not unlike a column of high-pressure dry steam from a boiler. The theories of its origin vary, the probabilities being that as petroleum and the g^as are always found in conjunction, they are derived from the same sources. They have remained imprisoned in certain open or porous rocks until discovered by the drill, or by issuing through crovicos leading to the surface. The natural gas, it is thought, may be found in any of the strata which have been deposited since the archsean rocks. In_North- Western Ohio it is THE PITTSBUEG NATURAL FUEL GA3. 853 found in the Trenton limestone in the second series of strata above those rocks, and more or less gas has been found in each of the subsequent strata up to the coal measures, and it even exists in the glacial drift. Starting at the oil region in 1 Upper Canada, and passing through New York State and to the south-west corner of Penn-j eylvania, the sedimentary rocks dip gently and eomewhat uniformly to the south-west, the lower rocks outcropping at the north-eastern end of the section, while the full series, extending to the upper barren coal measures, are found at the outh-western end. Upon this line it is remark- Alible that the oil or gas, in profitable quantity, isj ifound only in those strata of sandstone which happen to be at 500 to 2,000ft. below the surface. Deeper drilling in any place alongthis line has not (succeeded in finding a stratum which was at that place productive of either oil or gas in valuable quantity, although yielding both in abundance afc come other locality, where it is nearer the surface. 1 The reservoirs of gas and of oil seem to vary in dimensions, from the smallest pocket up to 30 or 40 square miles in extent and 1 100ft. or more in thickness. It is important to the finding of gas that the rocks above shall not have been violently disturbed or broken, because the gas would certainly have escaped through the crevices thus made. It is, therefore, regarded as useless to search for it in immediate proximity to mountain chains. It may be looked for in almost any; quarter, however, whore the strata have not been violently disturbed, between the upper carboni ferous and the archsean. Several contiguous strata may contain water, oil, and gas in intimate mix ture, or they may be separated by short intervals. The natural expectation that trie gas would ba found at the top, then the oil. and then the. water; 354 A VISIT TO THE STATES. is frequently reversed, and in some places the well* (irillers first pass through a stratum of salt water,- then a stratum yielding oil, and finally reach the gas in a lower stratum. There is manifestly no communication between the t-trata when this con dition of affairs exists. When first reached tho tension of the gas is very high, l,OG01b. per square inch being not unusual at the^first penetration of the (frill into the reservoir. It is not uncommon fof the drill, the rope, and even the well-casing pipe s^ to be blown out of the hole from 1,500ft. depth over the top of the derrick, like an arrow from a powerful bow gun. The highest accurately measured well-pressure of which there is know ledge is 7501b. to the square inch. Few who havo ; not seen a blowing gas well can imagine what this enormous pressure is. A plank thrown into tho gas current is instantly shivered into pieces by the terrific force* there not being time given it to get fairly into tlie jet before the enormous power has blown it to atoms. < The method of drilling gas wells is precisely ejunilar to that employed m drilling for petroleum. Ee derrick will bo set up at a cost of about 70; e driller furnishes engine, rope, and tools, and drills the hole required, if not over 2,000ft. deep,; at a price varying, with the territory, the hardness of the rock, and distance from the base of supplies^ from 4s. to 8s. per foot depth. The hole is usually eight inches in diameter, and is cased where water is encountered by pipe of 5in. interior diameter j the hole below the casing being 5^in. diameter. A remarkable feature of the well-sinking is the jndifference of the drillers to the loss of their tpqls^ which they carelessly allow to fall into a hole 1,000ft. deep because of the rope or derrick- Lead or something else wearing out or Breaking; They thsu have a " fishing job " on hand, as they THE PlUTSBUJRd NATURAL FU^L GAS. 35 term it, and have most ingenious contrivance s i& recover from what less sanguine people might regard as a hopeless calamity. In the majority of cases they manage- to pick up the tools and con-? tinuo the well. The apparatus for well-sinking is of rude and simple construction, yot so admirably adapted to the work that it would be difficult of improvement. The boring of .these gas wells goes on vigorously, for the search for natural gas 18 extensively conducted. There are .52 natural ga"3 companies already in operation in Western Penti- sylvania, bes ides others in the different Stated where gas reservoirs have been found. The studjf of the subject has developed that the amount ol gas in any reservoir is a limited quantity. While the processes of nature may even now be making it, nothing is known with certainty, excepting that many of the smaller reservoirs heretofore tapped have been nearly or quite exhausted, although many continued for a long while to supply tne limited demand made upon them. No one knows, therefore, but that as the oil pools have becrf exhausted of the larger portion of their contents^ so it may be expected to finally exhaust tha largest gas reservoir yet reached. But fortu nately the thickness of the porous strata and its great extent seem to promise a long continuance of the supply. . At Gambia, in linox county, in the central part of Ohio, is a gas well thn,t had been blowing for 20 years, and it has beefli systematically examined during the last 14 years, with no apparent diminution of the supply during all that time. This development, as instances of the kind are not infrequent, leads many to sup port the theory that the gas is steadily being distilled, so that the reservoirs are re-supplied. It is also stated that an. approach is already being made to the economy of tutrtira in the production 856 A VISIT TO THE STATES. of fuel gas in the United States, and, were the supplies exhausted, a gaseous fluid could still be made for a price quite within the purchasing power of manufacturers. The illuminating power of the natural gas is low, being reckoned at eight candles upon the usual Bcale. Its products besides heat and light are a Buperior lamp black, called diamond black. It also inakes, when improperly burnt, a carbon that furnishes superior pencils for the electric arc light. While the gas can be enriched to improve ita illuminating power, yet it evolves- such great heat that it can only be used in large or open spaces. The gas torches makeagood lightfor yards, streets, or rolling mills. It has not yet been successfully used in smelting iron ores, but with this exception may be used for all purposes for which heat is re quired, and is better than any other fuel. It is so perfectly subject to control as to quantity con sumed and distribution in furnace, kiln, or oven, is so free from sulphur and other objectionable ad mixtures, that all classes of manufacturers arc en thusiastic about it, as the best, most convenient, and the cheapest fuel. It is admirable in dwell ings, and nobody who has it wants to go back to "coals. In supplying, the charge is made to the fac tory at a price regulated by the ton of output, and this is about one-half the cost of coals, besides the enormous saving made in labour formerly required in handling the coals, stoking fires, and removing ashes. One man in a boiler room, who goes about watching gauges and adjusting the stopcocks regulating the gas supply, now replaces a score or more who formerly handled coals or toiled at the furnaces and ash-heaps. Where the gas has in a few cases been supplied by measure, the charge has generally been 4d. per 1,000 cubic feet. But |his method of charging is generally superseded by THE PITTSBURG NATURAL FUEL GAS 357 the other, which permits unlimited use of gas, and pives the manufacturer a fixed figure, regulated by his output. In a dwelling the gas is charged for by the size of the house and the number of fires. An ordinary dwelling will cost about 12 yearly, and the largest not over 25. In each case the cost is about one-half cheaper than coals. The use is unstinted, and it flows as freely as water or air. The great problem in the transportation of this gas under pressure from the wells to consumers was the prevention of explosions by making tight joints. George Westinghouse, whose name is most prominently known in connexion with the gas supply, has invented ingenious methods which have successfully accomplished results that pre vent explosions. The most violent gas well ever struck was bored upon his land, and this in terested him in the investigation of the subject for the purpose of providing safeguards against the dangers of leakage. He devised: the system of escape pipes used by the Philadelphia Company, of which ho is the president, for entrapping and carrying off the gas which would leak from the best joints it is possible to make. By a system of enclosed joints, he leadsthe escaped gas into a line of escape pipes, constructed parallel to and over the main gas pipes, and! at every 200ft. to 300ft. this escape pipe discharges into a lamp-post on tho sidewalk, which lets the gas out into the open air. In some cases these posts are lighted and illuminate the streets. The arrangement entirely prevents the leakage escaping into vaults or cellars, where it might be dangerous, and the street explosions, which were common in Pittsburg in the early history of the fuel gas, are now almost unknown. He has also provided ingenious valves and regulators for reducing pressures and supplying 858 A VISIT TO THE STATES. dwellings, where the pressure is not over four ounces. They work automatically, and serve also as automatic detectors of bad fittings in the house, or of neglect to close cocks in case of interruption to the supply. The Philadelphia Company, which supplies about three-fourths of the natural gas used in Pittsburg and its neighbourhood, gets its supply from three fields, averaging about 20 miles dis tance east of that city, in Westmoreland county, Jmown as Murrysville and Lyons Run, which are pouth of the ^lleghany River, in Westmoreland {county, and Tarentum, on the bank of that river, porth of Murrysville. The Tarentum field has 11 jyells in operation, and the other and larger fields 64. These wells haye all been " shut in, as it is called, by suspending to the casing of each a platform loaded with rocks and earth of sufficient j^eight to overcome the pressure in the wells, jfidiich averages about oOOlb. per square inch. The gas is thus no longer allowed to waste by blowing off into the air when not required by consumers, but is retained in the natural reservoir. In pro viding for this loading, it was found necessary to use tno most tenacious steel fittings at the tops of the wells, the ordinary cast-iron fittings not being gtrong enough to resist the strain. Thirteen separate lines of pipes are laid from the gas wells to the city of Pittsburg, belonging to the Philadelphia, Company, their lengths varying from 17 to 24 miles. These lines are connected by CBOSS lines at various places throughout their length, and they begin to ramify at the city limits, pending out large arteries to each portion of the city, and from these main arteries smaller pipes distribute the gas through all the streets of Pitts- faurg and Alleghany and their suburbs. The pipe connexions are so arranged in the producing districts ttiat. tUe Difiduct Q| an_y_ well m%y t& THE PITTSBtffcG NATURAL FtTEL GAS. 359 used to increase the pressure in any one of the several pipe lines, so that different wells may be shut off from any part of the system and their ; places supplied by others, thus securing any required pressure upon any line at all times. A telescopic arrangement is also adopted for tho main pipes, their diameter being increased at intervals on the routo to Pittsburg, fio as to bo able to deliver a fixed volume of gaa at a designated pressure. The gas is also carried around in many circuits and over different routes. Bo that any particular main v/ill have several sources of supply. This ia done to avoid interriip* tion in the flow to any consumer ; for if, through accident or repairs or changes, the gas cannot b& got to him from one direction, it will reach hini from the other. The main supply lines are pro? vided at their intersections with convenient stations, supplied with gauges, governing valves, and automatic safety valves, so that pressures may be regulated, and may not accumulate above $ certain tension. There are 21 of these stations, a$ which agents are in attendance night and day, alid control the pressures in each section of tho pipo4 according to directions given by telephone froni the central office. The variations in consumption on the different lines make changes necessary from hour to hour and oven more frequently* Automatic regulators for this purpose are no\fr being experimented upon and may ultimately b6 perfected. Tho pressure at which tlio gas starts from the wells in the piping system varies according to the temperature, being higher in winter than 1$ Bumirier, tho former being from 2801b. to 312!b.poj square inch, and the latter from 2201b. to 2401b. Those pressures arc gradually reduced by enlarging tho flow through dividing or enlarging the pipe or by regulating valves as the. city is 360 A VISIT TO THE STATES. until it gets down within, 301b.. and finally in the street-distributing pipes from 71 b. to 101 b. It is let into the dwellings by regulators under pressure from two to four ounces, and into manufacturing establishments according to capacity from 10 to $0 ounces. All these pressures are under complete control at tne 1 ittsburg central office, where tlia superintendent watches and regulates them the same as if he were moving the traffic of a railway. The business is a profitable one, for the Phila delphia Company makes regular dividends of 1 per cent, monthly, and does not divide much more than one-half its net earnings. The market price of its shares is in the neighbourhood of par (50), the public regarding the gas business as still being experimental. There are said to be some 4,000,000 of different gas companies shares issued in Pittsburg and its neighbourhood. The universality of the use of this natural luel as in factories and dwellings is the most surpris ing development of a visit to Pittsburg. It causes astonishment not only from its novelty, but also its cheapness, for it has given Pittsburg the advantage as a manufacturing centre over every ether town in the States. The scientific investiga tions of the fuel value of the natural gas show that in weight lib. of coals equals 25 cubic feet of gas, but in fuel value, as above stated, lib. of coals equals 7^ feet of gas. The absolute purity of the gas, too, makes a better quality of iron, teel, or glass than coals. It makes steam more regularly, because there is no opening or shutting of furnace doors, and when properly arranged the flow of gas regulates the steam pressure, leaving the engine-man nothing to do but watch tne steam gauge. The boilers last longer, and fewer explosions result from unequal expansion and contraction when cold air strikes hot plates. The THE riTTSEUEG NATURAL FUEL GAS. 361 various companies supplying Pittsburg in their reports show the expansion of pipe area itt transmission, which is plainly demonstrated by the statement that the total area of all the pipes leading from the wells at the wells is 1,346,608 square inches, while at the city line this area ia expanded to 2,337,083 square inches. The pipes vary in interior diameter from three to 30 inches, the greatest amount being Gin. and Sin. pipe. The Philadelphia Company has absorbed tne greater portion of the business and also of the gas terri* tory, owning the gas rights on about 54.000 acrea of lands advantageously placed around Pittsburg. It draws supplies from only half its wells, these being ample for the present consumption. Ite managers have thorough confidence in the per manency of the gas supply, and they regard this as one of the most valuable developments for the business advantage of the country that has ever been made. It certainly has the deepest interest for the visitor. It has not been long since at Findlay, in North-Western Ohio, elaborate festivities were conducted for three days to mark the anniversary of the discovery of natural gas in the town. Thirty-one gas wells had been bored in the neighbourhood, and they were pouring out 00 mill LOUS of cubic feet of gas every day. All these wells were piped into town to assist at the anniversary, and 30,000 enormous gas torches were blowing their nickering flames as an accom paniment to the oratory of John Sherman and the Governor of Ohio, which were also put on tap for the festal occasion. There were parades and tournaments by the military and firemen, and a multitude of brass bands endeavoured to drown the roar of the escaping gas, which in its way was as wonderful as Niagara. The country was lighted up for a distance of 20 miles around, and the. 362 A VISIT TO THE STATES. "Karg well," the greatest in the world, blazecl out with a roar that could be heard a mils away. JThe laying of corner-stones for churches and factories was a marked feature of the celebration, knd a groat future was predicted for the town. If tis wonderful fluid continues in permanent flow will coin untold wealth for its fortunate pos- ssprs, and add another to the many advantages America enjoys over less favoured nations. Thia Jiatur al fuel gas is certainly producing a man""* tacturers millennium. - XXVIII. THE CHICAGO LIMITED EXPRESS. In a country as extensive as the United States, tfhere the distances are so great and the chief cities so widely separated, the railway systems aro naturally expanded to a degree hardly realized in other parts of the world. The traveller often Bpends a week in a railway train, and it has become a common method of making an agreeable tour for a party to charter a special railway coach pr train, and live in it for days and weeks together while journeying about the county. The chief American railways leading out of New York make elaborate arrangements for long-distance travel ling, and George M. PuDman is noted throughout iho States, as well as in Europe, for his inventions, tthich secure comfort and luxury on these long American railway journeys. As the Englishman Of wealth and leisure may have his yacht, so tho American who is similarly blessed has his "special car," in which he enjoys tho pleasant THE CHICAGO UMJTED pastime of " yachting on wheels," for he Jias 150,000 miles of American and Canadian railways at command, with an endless variety of scenery and attractions. These, however, are private arrangements. For the use of the general public in long-distance travelling the " Chicago Limited Express " of the Pennsylvania Kail- road is regarded as the most completely-ap pointed passenger train that is run upon any American railway. It passes daily each way be tween New York and Chicago, a distance of nearly 1,000 miles, the journey being accomplished in 26 hours. The train leaves New York at 9 o clock in the morning, and arrives at Chicago at 9 the next morning, the local time there being one hour Jater than New York. The service is " limited " in tjie sense that the train is confined to four Pullman sleeping coaches, a dining coach, where an elegant restaurant furnishes excellent meals g, la carte for 4s., and a " composite car," thd latter having a compartment for luggage and tlld mail bags which are carried between the terminal pities, also sleeping apartments for the train-men, and a smoking and reading room for the pas sengers, furnished with easy chairs, a library, writing and card tables, bath room and barber shop, the latter being an indispensable adjunct to American life. The passenger may thus relieve he monotony of the journey by getting his hair cut or indulging in that vigorous hair-eleansi# process known as the shampoo for 2s. or 4 fehave for Is., or a bath at the rate of 40 miles art hour for 3s. He also has at hand an excellent selection of current literature and all the daily newspapers of the cluof American cities in the library. T.he coaches in this train are the latest "64 A VISIT TO THE STATES. productions of Pullman s Palace Car Com pany, and show the best skill of thej American railway-car builder. To fit up the three trains conducting the daily service each way, between the two leading American cities cost, without the motive power, about 60,000. The delicate and artistic decoration of the outside of these coaches shows the elaborate skill of railway- carriage ornamentation in America, and makes an! apt setting for the comfort and luxury found, within. The " platforms," as they are called,; which make the junction between the coaches are arranged with vestibules, a recent invention of Mr. Pullman. This is done by enclosing them all around with elastic steel frames, which may be described as a sort of continuous buffer. These, extending from floor to roof, join when the coaches are coupled and are kept in place by springs which force the frames tightly together, so that the two coaches become practically one, and there is thus obtained a wonderful steadiness of motion throughout the train, with sufficient flexibility to readily move around curves. Sheets of rubber and curtains cover the lines of junction, and the interiors of the vestibules are carpeted the same, as the coach, concealing any break in the conti- Duity of floor or sides. An American railway coach,; always has a long aisle down the middle, with eats on either hand, and this vestibule arrange^ ment prolongs the aisle into the next coach.) The passenger moves about at will, passes from coach to coach, and when the train is standing a plate-glass door in the side of fche vestibule provides exit or entrance at the sta tions. These Pullman coaches are furnished in the most elaborate manner, are lighted by elec tricity kept in r-torage batteries, and in honour of i^be " foreign relations " of America who do BO. THE CHICAGO LIMITED EXPRESS S65 much riding in them they are given foreign names, for every coach has to be named. Tho train upon which I rode had tho four coaches named " Russia " ; Spain/ 7 " Italy," and " Corinthia," and the dining coach was the " Ponce de Leon." Upon the other trains of the same service the coaches are named " England," " France," " Ger many," " Ireland," " Austria," &c. Each coach is a complete hotel, with sleeping accommodations for about 30 passengers. This train, which is arranged to make the quick est time between the metropolis of the Atlantic seaboard and the chief city of the West, secures its speed by having the fewest possible stops, the only halts made being at intervals cf 100 to 130 miles, when it is necessary to change the loco motives, there being seven relays provided and five minutes halt to make each change, during \vhich time a email regiment of train-men examine the wheels and all the running gear, and also fill up the water-tanks and ice-boxes in the coaches, for the train carries large supplies of both, a vast amount being used by the passengers, especially in the hot American summer weather. The train leaves New York every morning and Chicago every evening, this being arranged to give the charming scenery in crossing the Alleghany Moun tains each way by daylight. Tho nearest approach to absolute safety is secured by giving this limited train precedence over all others, and thus providing 5t free and unobstructed course over the line. It is literally a first-class American hotel on wheels ; you eat and sleep upon the train, write and post your letters and send your telegrams ; can smoke or lounge in the comfortable easy chairs provided in the forward coach ; can read the newspapers Mid current literature ; or can roam all over tho trail) at will, which is a great comfort to thepentr S66 A VISIT TO THE STATES. up passenger on a long journey. The toilet ac commodations are complete, and everything is kept in thorough cleanliness, while the coaches are carefully ventilated, and made warm in cold weather. The excellent construction of road-bed and coaches makes the movement of the train very steady. It runs at speeds from 30 to CO miles an hour, according to the grades. It rushes steadily along, over river and mountain, through the finest scenery of the Alleghaniea, past mine and mill, foundry and forge, over the farm and through the forest, and quickly into and out of village and town, where the people turn out in crowds to see the daily " whizzer " go by. It stops only to change locomotives (and then is oft again in short order), and, what .is of the greatest importance, it goes through " on time. * As the day was changing into night the novelty was had of eating dinner on the train, with the unique and appetizing seneatioii of flying onward at the rate of 50 or 60 miles an hour as we eat at the flower-decorated tables. Then games and social chat among the passengers whiled away the evening, and when the time came for turning in, the nimble negro " porters " donned their enow- white jackets, pulled down the sloping upper sides of the coach, and quickly made up the sleeping berths. The passengers promenaded about, going from one end of the sinuous train to the other, a distance of 600ft., and as the curves were suddenly rounded by the swift-moving coaches they amused the onlooker by their curious gyrations in trying to keep upright. One could see back through the entire train and watch it twist about like an elongated serpent. Finally, as night came on and the " Limited " loft the Ohio river valley for its long north-western journey across the rolling lands of Ohio . and the prairies THE CHICAGO LIMITED EXPRESS. 367 of Indiana and Illinois to Lake Michigan, all hands went to bed, it is hoped to enjoy the sleep of the just. Tho Pennsylvania Railroad west of Pittsburg on the route to Chicago is known as " the Fort Wayne road, "or, to be more precise, the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad. After leaving Pittsburg, the line runs for about 20 miles north west, down the Ohio river, aluid the grand scenery of its bordering hills. It was the Ohio river and its tributaries that furnished the means of making the earliest prosperity of Pittsburg. This great river is the largest branch of the Mississippi from the eastward, and it drains a basin of over 2GO,OGC Square miles. It Hows almost a thousand miles in a generally south-western course to Cairo, at the southern extremity of Illinois, where it joins tho Mississippi. In its upper waters the Ohio is from. 1,000 to 1,200 feet wide, according to tho state of the current, the depth changing 50ft. to 60ft. be tween high and low water, and it flows at the hourly rate of one to three miles, It has drained a deeply carved valley in tho tableland, through a thriving agricultural region, and has many pro sperous cities on its banks. Our train speeds swiftly through Beaver county, at the western border of Pennsylvania, among the coal pits and forests, over an undulating surface, gradually climbing tho gradient out of the Ohio valley, and loaves that river as it abruptly bends to tho south west. We then pass up tho valley of the Beaver river, a considerable affluent, and after running a short distance turn west ward, and in 15 miles crocs the imaginary line that makes the boundary between Pennsyl vania arid Ohio. This is a leading State of tho Mississippi valley, wealthy and powerful, a land of good agriculture and much politico, varied byj 368 A VISIT TO THE STATES. mining and manufactures. In recent years Ohio Was the President maker for the Union, but since the unfortunate assassination of President Gar- fijeld that honour has teen transferred to New York. \Vo enter the State in Columhiana and Mahoning counties, a continuation of the region of coals and iron so generously displayed in Penn sylvania, this being known as the Mahoning Valley. The railroad runs for miles westward, still among iron and coals, over an undulating territory past the busy towns of Salem, Alliance, Canton, and Massillon, the latter being located in one of the most productive Ohio coalfields,andalso having valuable quarries of white sandstone for building. We have now come into the border of the extensive region in the Mississippi valley that was first opened to civilization by the early French explorers, and this pretty town on the bank of the Tuscarawes river preserves the memory of the noted French preacher, Jean Baptiste Maesillon. From the coals and iron the train then gradually moves into a rich agricultural region, and passes Mansfield, which bears the name of the great English jurist to show its worthy origin, and is the home of the lead ing political manager in Ohio, and its promi nent candidate for President, John Sherman one of the best known United States Senators. Its favourable location in such a fertile section natu rally makes the little town of Mansfield an exten sive manufacturer of agricultural machinery. As the railway goes over the rich farmland,the rolling surface gradually blends into the more level Stretches of prairie, heavily timbered whore not cleared for cultivation. We have gone entirely away from the region of the tributaries of the Ohio and cross into the valley of the Sandusky river, . flows jnorthward to Lake Erie. Here ia THE CHICAGO LIMITED EXPRESS. S69 Bucyrus in a prolific natural gas region ; and nofe far beyond the train crosses another imaginary lino that makes the boundary between Ohio and Indiana and halts briefly at Fort Wayne which gives its name to the railway. j Fort Wayne is a leading town of Northern Indiana, and has probably 40,000 people. It is not only located in a wealthy farming section, but is also a centre for both railways and manu factures. Being at the highest point of the eleva tion diverting the waters east and west, it is known as the " Summit City." Here two smaller streams unite to form the Maumee river, which flows off to the north-east, meandering over the almost flat surface, to form the head of Lake Erie.; The existence of a " summit " is thus almost imperceptible, for the land all about is a prairie, gently rolling, and without hills of any. prominence. Like all of them on these broad! prairies, the town is mainly built of wood. The site of Fort Wayne was visited two centuries ago by the French, who began a lucrative trade with tne Indians, and prior to 1719 they had erected a trading post, and afterwards built Fort Miami. In 17CO the place fell into English hands, who also built a fort, and when it subsequently came into possession of the United States, General Anthony! Wayne in 1794 erected a permanent Indiam frontier fort and gave it his name. The canal an<$ railways afterwards brought the trade that madd it grow in importance. This region was the home* of the Miami Indians, extending from the Maumee river westward to Lake Michigan, and southward along the valley of the Miami river to the Ohio; They wore a warlike and powerful tribe, first found by the French, but afterwards, in tho colonial wars,they espoused for a time tho English cause, then turned again to the French. and finally 370 A. VISIT TO THE STATJSS. came bacK once more to English allegiance, during the American revohition. This latter course pro- ycked almost constant hostilities between them and the colonists, then settling in large numbers beyond the Ohio river, in what at the time Avas designated as the " North- West Territory," out of which the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois" were carved. Under the skilful leader ship of their renowned chief ,Mjehelsohequah, or the " Little Turtle, 77 they defeated repeated expedi tions sent against them, some with heavy loss, but were finally beaten by Wayne in 1704. The Miamis after this overthrow declined in import ance, and through the inroads of dissipation and vice had finally dwindled to barely 20 persons when they were removed to a far Western reserva tion 40 years ago. Some distance beyond, at Warsaw, Indiana, we cross the Tippecanoe river, a stream about 200 miles long, flowing south-west to the Wabash, and thence to the Ohio river. It is noted for the later and even greater Indian de feat oh its banks in 1811, when General Harrison, afterwards President of the United States, repulsed a combined force of several tribes united under Tecumsehh brother,EIskwatawa,or the "Prophet." Theee two chieftains were Sbawnees, and they preached a crusade by which they united all the Western tribes into a concerted movement to f e- eist the encroachments of the white man. The brother, who was a "medicine man," set up as an inspired prophet in 18 05, denouncing the use oi liquors and of all food and manners and customs introduced by the whites, confidently predicting that they would be ultimately driven from the land. For years these men travelled over the country stirring up the Indians. General Har- rison,who was the Governor of thedistrict,advanced ggainstthe propbet ; town on the Tippecanpe, when THE CHICAGO LIMITED J5XPBESH. 371 jbho Indians suddenly attacked his camp, but were Signally defeated. After this, the late war be- tween England and the United States broke cut, when Teciimpch espoused the Royal cause, and, ap pearing in CanadaVith a number of his warriors, tho British made him a brigadier-general. Ho was killed in the battle of the Thair.es in Ontario. It js said ho had a premonition of death, and laying aside sword and uniform ho put on hio hunting dress and fought dcspe rat cjy until killed. Tecumseh was the most famous Indian chief of the West. While swiftly rojling over these broad and, in sections, densely-wooded prairies that form Korthern Indiana the dawn of day came upon us, and the gathering light gradually unfolded the wealth of agriculture that makes" these people so prosperous. Tho region of mines and coals and iron and of flaming gas torches had been left far behind, and the train had entered the purely agri cultural district, spreading thousands of miles Bouth and west of the great lakes a district tributary chiefly to Chicago. The little towns along the railway were frequent, having grown up from the village store and cross-roads! expanded by the businees of the railway and the facility and cheapness of construction of wooden houses. within brief periods from small hamlets to ambitious towns. This section not BO long ago was tho " West," but tho quick march of events in the new country and the expansion of popula tion have removed the * West " of to-day far beyond the Misofssfppi. The older State s of this region have for some time put on the maturer garb t)f tho Bo-date seaboard communities, and, having passed tho adolescent stage, are now liberal con tributors to tho great tide of migration which is filling up the far Western country still 1,600 miles beyond us. The .towns the railway passes 372 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. are all anxious to become great manufacturing centres, and some have already established largo and prosperous mills. They have the prevalent " natural gas craze " well developed, and the tall derricks erected over the boring wells on their borders show how they are delving into the depths of the earth, with the hope that the good luck of Pitteburg and Findlay, in Ohio, and some other places may strike them, and the bonanza of cheap natural gas fuel put tnem on the high road to wealth. The level country is well supplied with railways, which cross and recross each other s lines in all directions, and mostly at grade, for they ore almost all built upon the same level. We glide over the prairie in approaching Chicago, through a district which has been well described as having " a face but no features." It is easy railway "building upon this flat surface, for it seems only necessary to dig a shallow ditch on either side of the line, throw the earth in the centre, and lay the rails upon it. Nature has made this prairie as smooth as a lake, so that scarcely any grading is necessary, and after the patches of forest give place gradually to the, universal grass-covered plain that, borders Lake Michigan you can see far away in every direction, as if looking over the ocean. As Chicago is approached the converging of other railways vtowards the same goal shows how the great lake city is the universal Mecca of American railway managers. The train crossed a score of other Knes, and getting at last into a perfect maze of railroads and car-yards, it gave not only an impres sive lesson of the evil of grade crossings but also convincing proof of arrival at last at the greatest railway centre in America all the growth of the last half century. THE METROPOLIS Off THE/ LAKES, 373 XXIX. THE METROPOLIS OF THE LAKES. An overhanging pall of smoke ; streets filled with busy, quick-moving people ; a vast aggrega tion of railways, vessels, and traffic of all kinds j and a paramount devotion to the Almighty Dollar are the prominent characteristics of Chicago. The name of this wonderful city is of Indian origin, a probable corruption of " Cheecaqua," said to have been the title of a dynasty of Indian chiefs who ruled the country west and south of Lake Michigan. This was also a word applied in the Indian dialect to the wild onion that grew luxuriantly on the banks of the river ; and they also gave a similar name to the thunder, which they believed to be the voice of theGreat Spirit, and to the odoriferous animal that abounded in the neighbourhood which to the white man was known as the " polecat." These are seeming incongruities of use for the same word, but it has been suggested that all may be harmonized if Chicago be inter preted as meaning " strong." The Indians were usually not over supplied with words, and they generally selected the most prominent attribute in naming an object. All those various things in one way or another are undoubtedly " strong," and it is equally evident that a prodigious amount of strength exists in Chicago. The broad prairies bordering Lake Michigan wore the hunting grounds of various tribes of the Algonquin nation, and particularly of the "Illini," meaning the 374 A VISIT TO THE STATES. or superior men," from whom is derived the name> of the State of Illinois and of its chief river. Thei French as was the case throughout the north west were the earliest white explorers, Marquette, the Jesuit missionary, coming hero as early as 1673, and afterwards Hennepin, Joliet, and La Salle, whoso names are to this . day reproduced numerously in tho West. The French built here * Fort Chicagou," and hold it until England secured Canada. These adventurous Frenchmen had a keen eye for business, and sent out shrewd traders with their missionary expeditions, so that by opening lucrative barter with too Indians, as well as establishing the church and school, they acquired groat influence over tho children of the prairie, who were mainly hunters and fishermen, growing a little maize, but intensely warlike ana engaged in frequent conflicts. The Indians in tho immediate neighbourhood of Chicago river were known as the Pottawofctuinies when the earlier American settlors ventured to this frontier. They were hostile, and the Government in 1804 builti Fort Dearborn to control them, near tho mouth of the river. They joined Tecumseh s crusade, and in 1812 attacked and captured the fort. But it was afterwards re-established, and as civilisation ad/ancod the Indians succumbed, and were finally removed west of the Mississippi. It is supposeq that about this time the noted fr. induction in land took place on tho low-lying shore of Lake Michi gan, whereby, tradition sayo, a large portion of thb present site of Chicago was sold for a pair of boots. Most mundane tilings arise from humbla "beginnings. When the Chicago town site was originally surveyed 12 families lived here, besides the*garrison of Fort Dearborn. In 1833 the town government was organized, and it tliCMj cover e<$ THE METROPOLIS OF THE LAKES. 375 560 acres, there being 175 buildings, 550 inhabit ants, 29 voters, and aggregate property valued at 12,000. Five trustees ruled the town, and they collected 9 16s. for the first year s rates. It was in September of this year that the Pottawottamies agreed to migrate to the reservations set apart further west, and 7,000 of them assembled in grand council at Chicago, and sold to the United States Government 20,000,000 acres of their lands around Lake Michigan, in the States of Indiana, Illinois, arid Michigan, for 220,000. In 1837, when Chicago got a charter as a city, there wore only 4,170 population. Its rapid growth during the half-century since is unparalleled even in Ame rica. Yet it has had set-backs in its wonderful career, and some of the most awful kind, for in everything is Chicago entirely great. The fire ill October, 1871, the most gigantic of modern times, swept the city for three (lays, burned over nearly four square miles and until nothing remained to devour, destroyed 18,000 buildings, 200 lives, and Eroperty valued at 40 millions sterling, besides ankrupting many of the American underwriters. But vast as was the destruction, equally groat has been the recovery. The enterprising people, while the embers wore yet smoking, set to work with a will to rebuild their city, and tho whole world, who had been amazed spectators of the calamity, aided not only by words of encouragement but by substantial relief contributions reaching 1,400,000. The rehabilitated city has since pro gressed with an energy not before equalled. It is the advantageous position of Chicago at the south western extremity of Lake Michigan, with bordering prairies of tho greatest fertility stretching many hundreds of miles south and west, that makes it tho primary food gatherer of the United States, Rnd has expanded the 12 families scattered around 376 A VISIT TO THE STATES. Fort Dearborn in 1831 to a population approxi mating 800,000 now. Michigan, in the Indian dialect, moans the " great lake," and it is an enormous inland fresh water sea, 320 miles long and 70 broad, having an average depth of about 1,000ft., the surface being elevated 578ft. above the ocean level. Yet this vast lake on the Chicago side has . but a narrow watershed, the Illinois river, draining the region to the westward, being formed only 45 miles south-west of the lake by. the union of the Kankakee and Desplaines rivers. This narrow and very low watershed, together with the enormous capacity of the Illinois river valley, which is at a much lower level, and appears as if worn by a mighty current in former times, is regarded as evidence of the probability that the waters of Lake Michigan may then have found their way to that outlet, and flowed through the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. The diminutive bayou of the Chicago River, with its two short and tortuous branches, made Chicago the chief lake port, and thus brought its trade, so that the town early in the race out stripped all its western rivals. Every railway of any pretensions sought an outlet or a feeder at Chicago, and the American phrase of a " trunk line " was coined to moan a line of rails from Chicago to the seaboard. The surrounding prairie for miles is crossed in all directions by railways, and a largo portion of the city and its suburbs is made up of series of huge stations, car yards, elevators, cattle pens, and storehouses, that almost overwhelm the visitor with the prodigious scale of their elaborate}! perplexity. The profits of their traffic have piled up grand buildings on the broad streets in tl/e business section, and the long rows of dwelling-houses are running out for miles. over the prairie. _ Chicago is ..the world s THE METROPOLIS OP THE LAKES. 877 greatest corn, cattle, and timber market, and this energetic and enterprising city contains probably more of tho speculative, extravagant, shrewd, and reckless elements of American humanity than even New York. It has attracted people of all nationalities, and they flourish in native luxuriance. The Irish Fenian and the Continental .anarchist are in full development, but are under, control. Theatres and concert gardens are iii successful operation on Sunday, and the necessity of the over-strained people for constant artificial stimulation is probably the reason why Chicago Beems to contain a much more liberal supply of spirit and beer shops than almost any other com munity. Everything is allowed to go on without much hindrance, and thus the place growa unstinted. Chicago also has an advantage in com manding the entrance to the great North-West, nearly all the routes to that vast region of limitless future expansion leading through Chicago, and much of its financial and business interests being controlled by the Chicagoans. The people are very proud of their city s amazing pro gress, but are "generally so engrossed in pushing their business enterprises and in piling up for tunes that there is little time to think of much else. The ruins of the great fire have been obliterated by the new and magnificent city that has risen on tho shore of the lake, with better buildings, con structed of imperishable materials, replacing the original structures, largely wooden houses, which then fed the flames. Down by the lake side there now stands on guard the solid stone tower of tho waterworks, rising 160ft., at which to get tho proper head of water, and over tho top four enormous pumping engines force 75 millions oi gallons daily. _ Far out ,on the clear green surface 378 A VISIT TO THE STATES. of the lalte Is seen the " Crib," with Its sur mounting lighthouse, whence the water supply is drawn into the tunnel that teecls the pumps. Groins the top of this tall tower there is a grand view over lake and city, the former clear and beautiful as far as eye can see a strong easterly wind dashing its breaker.-:; against the fehp fe ; the latter largely, enshrouded by the enveloping pall of smoke and puffing steam jets that rise above the buildings, To the north,, on the edge of the lake, is the distant green foliage of the Lincoln-park. This is tho nearest of the extensive series of beautiful- parks, with connecting boulevards, which enclose the city; stretching completely around from tho shore above to the shore below. That somebody in Chicago has found time to design these parks and put such beneficent work into execution has been an admirable thing for the people. The broad expanse of prairie was low, level j and treeless originally, but art lias planted abundant foliage. with little lakes and miniature hills, ornamented by beautiful flower gardens and shrubbery, large sums being spent upon their care and steady development. The Droxel Boulevard, one of the. routes to the South-park. 2COft. wide, is the, finest of the connecting roadways, and is destined to bo among the celebrated avenues of America ; This broad parkway has" a magnificent drive on, either side of a central walk for pedestrians, the , latter, winding among picturesque gardens, and tho whole, well shaded, though the trees are jet ypun^. The finest residential street of the city is Michigan-avenue. This is a boulevard bordering* the lake, and fronted by a par]?: stretching down to/ the water, where it has an edge of railways, with ; their rushing trains ; like everything else here, further so.uth grand residences are upon both pidcs of this avenue, which is. the popular TILE METROPOLIS OF THE LAKES. 379 way. It is the " Rotten-row" of Chicago, where &1I tho elaborate turnouts go t cr an airing. The river of Chicago, like its railways, testifies to tho pressure of trade. A multitude of swinging bridges cross over it, and two tunnels are carried tinder, to accommodate tho traffic; The huge grain elevators are stationed along its banks, find vessels lie alongside, with streams of corn pouring in. A few weeks ago, when the elevators were all filled and more storage room was needed; another was built in a hurry, being completed rithin two weeks, and big enough to hold 400,000 bushels. The wide streets/ generally 80ft.; facilitate the enormous amount of moving traffic! in tho business section, though at times they aror almost uncomfortably crowded. While the level of the surface near the lake is but 14ft., and is in no case elsewhere higher than 30ft.., above the water, the drainage is tolerably well protected. The city has some fino suburban residential se.c^- tiona fronting the lake and adjacent to the parka and boulevards, and already many of the wealthy 1 townsfolk have built themselves palaces to live in\ It also has magnificent public buildings erected since the great fire for the purposes of the National and City Governments. Its grand busi ness structures soar skyward, as in ISTew York, and are filled to the topmost story with ofiices, where tho trade of tho town is transacted, and the hundreds of visitors and customers are swiftly car ried to the upper regions by the ever-moving lifts; This trrido of Chicago is something almost astonishing to contemplate. The great " Nortlf Woods " that cover Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and spread far Over the Cahadiatt border, get most of their outlet through Chicago^, and the timber yards are a considerable part of the city s surf ace, thero appearing to be enough board^ 380 A VISIT TO THE STATES. and planks piled up to supply a half-dozen States. Rio 25 elevators \Vill hold as many millions of bushels of corn, and vast quantities are rJso stored- in railway cars or aboard vessels. It is not in frequent that one-third of the entire t( visiblo supply " of wheat and maize in the United States 1 Is stored at one time in Chicago, while the exten- live western regions, which are tributary, will be ready when required to pour in as much more, these are the great American cereals, the last wheat crop having been 457 millions of bushelB,and the last maize or Indian corn crop 1,665 millions of bushels. The Indian corn is the chief food of khe animals on the farm, and only a moderate unount of it is marketed, but the wheat is sent tmt to feed the world.anda large part of it through Dhicago, 100 million bushels sometimes being ex ported to Europe in a single year. Vast as the breadstuffs movement may be, the trades lor which Chicago is equally noted are in hogs and sattle. The hog is regarded as the most compact form in which the Indian corn crop of the States san be transported to market. Hence the corn is fed to the nog on the farm, and ho is sent to Dhicago as a package provided by nature for itc Rtilization. A ride out among the rows of wooden buildings still existing by the square mile in the louthern suburbs, as if to temj^t another great Ire, leads to the " Union Stock Yard." The ex- iensive enclosure is entered through a modest gray tondstone, turreted gateway, surmounted by a earved bull s head, and the cattle pens stretch far iway on either hand. This stock yard is a town: f itself, with its own banks and hotel, " Board of trade," post-office, town-hall, and special fire de portment, the latter being a necessity, as it occa- uonally has very destructive fires. About; B400.000 has been invested in this undertaking. THE METROPOLIS OF j HE LAKES. 381 which covers nearly a square mile, a large part of it being cattle pens, through which lead eight niles of streets, and having sufficient capacity fco accommodate 200,000 animals at one time. The jcene in this place is most animated, the cattle nen riding ahout on horseback, driving their herds, tfhile adjacent are the immense " packing louses " that prepare the pork and beef for narket. During the past twelvemonth these esta blishments have killed and packed 4,426,000 liogs and 1,608,000 beeves, their product going to ill parts of the world. This represents a very large proportion of the whole number of these ani mals in the States wh:ch are fatted to kill, for at ;he opening of this Tear it was estimated there irere in the country, o^ hogs of all ages, 44 millions, ind f cattle, exclusive of milch cows, 33 millions. Hie products of the packing reach enormous SguiMS, being no less than 1,055 millions of pounds of pork and lard for tho year and 573 mil lions of pounds of dressed beef. A very large pro portion of the pork and lard, 810 millions of pounds, were exported beyond the States, and of this 90 per cent.went to the United Kingdom. The packers say their hog trade does not increase, but bheir beef trade grows at an extraordinary rate. The " Chicago dressed beef,": sent in "refrigerator cars "all over the country, is largely supplanting the butcher s services for tho dead meat markets of the States,and much of it,packed in refrigerator apartments 011 steamers, also goes abroad. The railways all have extensive terminals in connexion *-ith tnis great stock yard and the packing houses, Dringing in the livo animals by hundreds of car loads and taking away the pork and lard and the dressed beef in long linos of refrigerator cars, the in vention of ingenious methods for " cold storage" having been a fruitful subject of Yankee genius. 332 A VISIT TO THE STATES. In converting the hogs and cattle into pork and beef, the chief establishment is Armour s, which 3oes about .one-fourth of this business in Chicago. The works connected with the stock yard cover ibout 30 acres, and of this 20 acres are used for u chill-rooms and fitcrago,for all the fresh meats ire kept at a temperature of about 35dog.to40deg., Mid the pork is also cooled for about 48 hours after killing before being packed. In the various buildings there are 80 acres of finer space. An army of 5,CCO persons is employed in these works, which turn out all kinds of moats green, salted, pickled, spiced, smoked, and canned. During the twelvemonth the Armour establishment slaughtered 1,113,000 hogs, 380,000 beeves, and 80,000 sheep, and the sales of their products reached over 10 millions sterling, the goods, weigh ing about 331 millions of pounds, being eent to market in various parts of the world. The pro cesses of slaughtering arid dressing are reduced to the most expeditious and economic principles, and in many respects have become a fine art. To kill and prepare 12 to 15 hundred beeves and eight to ten thousand hogs in one day requires a complete system. The steers are driven into long pens, and an expert rifleman, walking upon a platform over them, discharges a rifle shot into the brain just behind the horns. The killing is instantaneous, the steer, without even a groan, falling like a log. The animal is then drawn for ward from the pen, the hide quickly removed, and the carcass prepared and cut up ready for storage in the " chill rooms " and subsequent shipment. Thesebeef-killingprocoseeo are speedily performed, "but the science most thoroughly developed is the hog-killing. These animals ~are driven up an in clined roadway into a pen in the upper part of the Men JieQ the procession THE METROPOLIS OF THE LAKES. 383 stantly moving, and when the hog arrives at the proper place, a chain is deftly fastened round his hind leg. The steam machinery jerks up tiio squealing hcg, so tnat no hangs neact downwards upon a sliding frame ; his throatf is cut, the blood-spouting carcass slides along the frame, and, in a moment, being drained of blood, it is dropped into a vat of boiling water. This scalds it, and being quickly lifted out it rolls over a table into a revolving machine that scrapes it clean oil bristles, Then the carcass is passed along a slid* ing table, washed, again hung up, beheaded, dis^ embowelled, split down the middle, and then sent upon a lengthened inclined railway to bo hung up^ to cool. An army of men standing alongside the machinery perform the various duties, as the car* casses transport themselves by gravity through the different processes, which succeed each other with such rapidity that in a few minutes the porker is finally disposed of. This is done by moving the car* cass to a broad block, where half-a-dozen butcher* standing around simultaneously attack it, and in a twinkling it is converted into harns, sides, and shoulders, and the various parts are sent off to their respective apartments. Every portion of the hog is utilized for meats, lard, sausages, or canned goods, and the blood and other offal are converted into ^ a fertilizer. Enormous sausage-making machines grind and cut the scraps, and scores oJ women are busily engaged in packing and labelling the tins. Theso wonderful processes attract many visitors, and the American rustic who has been ac customed to the fanner s Christmas frolic ol the " hog-killing," where elaborate preparations are made for the slaughter of probably half-a- dozen, looks with amazement upon this wholesale summary disposal of the animals in Chicago. Great as this wonderful city is in everything, it secnia 13 384 A VISIT TO THE STATES. that the first place among its strong points must be given to the celerity and comprehensiveness of the Chicago style of killing hcga. For her grain and provision trades, of which Chicago is very proud, she has recently erected a grand monument and abiding place at a cost of more than 200,000. At the head of La Salle- *treet,and making a fitting close to the view along that highway of imposing business structures, gtands the tall building with its surmounting clock and spire of the Chicago " Board of Trade." It is one of the elaborate archi tectural ornaments of the city ; and the ani- mated and, at times, most exciting business done within, marks the nervous beating of the pulse of this metropolis of corn and meat. The interior "is" a" magnificent hall, lighted by high- reaching windows and surmounted by a central Bkylight nearly ahundred feet above the floor. Grand columns adorn the sides, and the elaborate frescoes jabove are in keeping with the artistic decoration lof the place. Upon the broad floor,between 9 and 1 o clock each day, assemble the wheat and corn tend pork and lard and railway kings of the town, in a typical American life scene of concentrated and [boilingenergy,feedingthefurnacein which Chicago s |high-pressure enterprise glows and roars. These jgladiators have their respective " pits," or amphi theatres, upon the floor, so that they gather in three great groups,around which hundreds run and jostle, the scene from the overlooking gallery, as the crowds sway and squirm, and with their ^ calls and shouting make a deafening uproar, being a jveritable Bedlam. These "pits " deal respectively in wheat, Indian corn, and pork ; while in a [fourth space, with extensive enclosed desks, a regiment of telegraph operators work with nimble fingers to send instant reports. of the doings to the THE GREAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. 385 outer world. High upon the side of the grand hall, in lull view of all, are hung three huge dials,whos^ moving hands keep record of the momentary changes in prices made by the noisy and excited throngs in the " pits," thus giving notice of the ruling figures for tho next month s * options " for wheat, Indian corn, and " short ribs, "for these exciting transactions are largely speculative. A bordering fringe of tables for samples, or for writing, and an array of large blackboards, bear ing the figures of market quotations elsewhere, enclose this animated scene. This Chicago J< Board of Trade " has witnessed some of the wildest excitements of Americans its shouting and at times almost frenzied groups of speculative dealers in tho " pits " may make or break a " corner ;" and here in fitful fever beats the pulse of the great city whose exalted province it is to feed the world*. XXX. THE GREAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. There is a general belief among the people o! Chicago, which is shared by a large body oi thoughtful Americans, that the rapidly-growing city upon the bank of Lake Michigan is destined to become ultimately the largest and most im portant in the States. Its unrivalled advantages and unexampled expansion would seem to fore shadow this, for it pushes ahead with boundless energy, and is having :$n amazing accumulation of wealth and an astonishing development in all directions. Already a movement has been started for bringing under the Chicago municipal govern ment the various suburban towns, which will in-j 13-2 SS6 A VISIT TO THE STATES. crease the population beyond one million find make it probably the second American city. The amount of business done in Chicago is second only to that of New York. It steadily attracts the shrewdest men of the great West to take part in its vast and profitable enterprises, and it is in such a complete manner the depot and storehouse for the products and the supplier for the enormous prairie region around it, and for the great North- West and the country as far out as the Rockies and the Pacific, that other Western cities cannot dis place or even hope to rival it. Yet at the same time ?,o youthful is this municipal giant and so recent has been its marvellous growth that scarcely any of the leading spirits who are making it what it is were born hero. Almost all came to Chicago after attaining manhood, being attracted by its business advantages. The New England race end the New York Yankee, who is descended from Is ew England stock, have been the chief builders and developers of Chicago, and are to-day its most prominent men in public spirit, in trade, and in health. 1 have already referred to the Chicago trade in meats and provisions, and in this connexion described the extensive operations of the Armour packing houses. This vast establishment con ducts the largest annual business among the great houses of America. Philip I). Armour, the head of this enterprise of beef and pork, is in middle life, and was of New York origin, a bluff, hearty, and vigorous, hard-headed business man. Whether it be in meats or in wheat, or in railways, or in anything else, he io fully imbued with the expan sive and versatile trading spirit of Chicago, and is always ready for any operation, no matter hew extensive or intricate, that presents fair oppor tunity fpr profl t, Chicago also poegesees the THE GREAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. 387 greatest merchant of America. It might be sup posed that Now York wonld bo the city most likely to have the largest purely mercantile esta blishment in the United States, and such was the case in the last generation, when Alexander T. Stewart was the leader of trade there. Bnt changed methods have come with newer people, and the western world of America is advancing. Chicago used to be in debt to New York and dependent for supplies. Now the Lake City is not only out of debt but is herself very rich and a cre ditor of the country further westward. Her mer chant princes long since cut themselves loose from New York intermediaries and are now buyers at first hands, while they have a boundless and rapidly-growing region to supply. The leading Chicago mercnant, whose house conducts the> largest purely mercantile business in the country* if not in the world, to-day, is Marshall Field, a modest man, of New England birth, who is also the wealthiest citizen of Chicago and of the entire State of Illinois, having a fortune estimated at 4,000,000, and being the head of a great dry- goods and miscellaneous establishment, with annual sales exceeding 6,000,000. His extensive retail mart is in State-street, and in another part of the city an entire block is occupied by the magnificent building wherein is conducted hia wholesale trade, extending to the remotest parta of the country. Marshall Field is regarded as the leading Chicago merchant of the present very active generation. There are scores of other great Chicago mer* chants whose stores are architecturally imposing piles that cover acres, and whose wealth and trade have also made them multi-millionaires. Promi nent among them are the Farwells, whose house is probably second only to that of Field. They aro : 388 A VISIT TO THE STATES. in the front rank of the builders and developers of the great city, and one of the brothers, Charles B. Harwell, is United States Senator from Illinois. Those huge store buildings are as impressive in Chicago as they are in New York. Many blocks are occupied by them in the business section through which runs the chief highway State- street. The visitor to Chicago is always impressed with this magnificent highway, 125 feet wide, lined with splendid buildings and crowded with busy people. This famous street owes much of its development to another Chicagoan, of New York birth Potter Palmer who originally bought ft frontage of one mile upon this street, extended and widened it, embellishing it with splendid structures that made it the leading street. Palmer, who was a great sufferer by the Chicago firo, ia best known to the public to-day on account of his hotel, the " Palmer House, " which is said to be the most profitable hotel property in the United States, the country of big hotels, and is a remark able type of the American caravanserai. Upon Mr. Palmer s splendid fireproof structure 500,000 has been expended in building and decoration. The word " hotel " in its broadest sense in the States includes much more than merely food and lodging. It means, in addition, a sort of public club. There are extensive parlours, reception, reading, writing, and smoking rooms, lifts con stantly running, electric call bells and lights, with complete attendance and messenger service ; billiards, pool room, ten-pin alley, most gorgeous bar and barber s shop, each having a fortune in vested in their decoration ; the eating rooms that keep going from before daylight till past midnight without interruption ; the restaurant, wine and coffee rooms ; an aggregation of all kinds of shops tthere everything needed can be bought without fcHE GREAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. 389 going out of doors ; news-stand, railway booking office, and luggage " checking " department ;! boots, coat and parcel rooms, hotel post-office, telegraph station, and general telephone. Then, there is the hotel " office," a most surprising bureau of odds and ends, where one cac get pens- ink, paper, and envelopes, cards, telegrams, and, letters, cigar lights, matches, and toothpicks, can consult directories, and ask all sorts of questions about all kinds of things, and have them intelli gently answered by that most omniscient being,; the "hotel clerk. Telegraphic stock and market " tickers" and general news bulletins are conve niently placed to report the latest news, and par ticularly the speculative market quotations, to gratify the thirst the guests have for such know ledge, while a broker s office and special stock and grain exchange are invitingly open, so that an immediate " flyer " in corn or pork or stocks may bo taken. The capacious hall in front of the office is a news exchange for the busy town, who bustle and talk, and give, in the swarming crowds who throng there, an active business air. Such is the generous aggregation given in a great hotel for * live dollars a day on the American plan." and the visitor surely gets his money s worth. The business activity of Chicago is such that its leading bank, the " First National," at times does a larger banking movement than any of the greatest banks in New York. Another of tho prominent men in moving the industries of Chi cago is L. J. Gage, the banker, who manages this bank in its largo building on Dearborn-street, and has a force of 150 clerks to keep the accounts. With 600,000 capital and 200,000 surplus this bank has sometimes nearly 5,000,000 deposits, and will have 12,000,000 clearings in a week, besides a vast exchange business with Now York 390 A VISIT TO THE STATES. mid London, based upon the immense eastward movement of corn and provisions on through bills of lading. It takes a clear head and resolute will, with groat banking ability, to manage the ex changes and credits of Bucli a place as Chicago ; but this bright-eyed banker inherits from his Yankee ancestry the skill that for 20 years has controlled the banking policy of the great city, and done very much to assist its marvellous growth. Probably the best known Chicago name through out America, as well aa abroad, is that of Pullman, which has become a word synonymous with all tho phrases that describe the completest comfort in railway travelling. George M. Pullman came from New York, and was originally a cabinetmaker, his first services to Chicago being in devising in genious methods for raising its buildings, some SO years ago, when it was decided to place the city upon a higher level in order to secure drainage. He raised <the buildings by putting hundreds of jackscro-V/a; under them, while trade went on with- but r lntercuption during tne process, in tnose days the appliances for securing the comfort of the.. railway traveller on long journeys were in thdic infancy, and the first rude attempts were being made to devise a sleeping coach. Mr. Pull man on one occasion went into a sleeping coach upon a night train and laid down upon the berth, but did not sleep. He was stretched out upon the vibrating couch for about two hours with eyes wide open, and in that time had struck upon a new idea. When he arose and left the train he had determined to develop from his brief expe rience of that inchoate sleeping berth a plan that was destined to expand into the completest and most comfortable coach for the traveller, either awake or sleeping a home upon wheels. During several years he revolved the project in hia THE GTIEAT CITY S LEADING SPlFwITH. 391 fertile brain, Mid his first experiment was made in 1859, wheB AO turned two ordinary pnsseriger coaches into deeping cars, and placed them upon the night trains of the Chicago and Alton Railway between Chicago and St. Louis, cno running each way. He charged 2s. for a berth, and 1);$ first night his receipts were 83. \Vhon Pullman settled in Chicago permanently and began this business, he thought himself well-to-do in the world with a capital all told of 1,000. The development of the sleeping-car project, which is the history of a bus} 7 life, fhowr, tho possi bilities of the Great West.both in the effect of the growth of a city and a business in tho expansion of a man. and the influence of a man in buildliifl a city. It was not until he had run his experi mental coachcE for about five years that Mr. Pullman felt able to carry out his plan S.B ho b<t evolved it in his brain, and he then built his ideal and it cost 3, COO, and in it he developed his idea of harmony, which combined comfort and luxury with attractiveness of decoration, and when finished it was regarded as a marvel far in advance of any railway coach construction of that day. This lirst coach is still doing daily and profitable duty upon the Pullman lines. But when it wac completed, although its fame travelled far, yet i\ was so heavy, so wide, and so high that no rail* way could undertake to run it, a. j it necessitated elevating bridges and cutting off station platforms. He had a famous white elephant on his hands, but he bided his time. Suddenly President Lincuh; t assassination profoundly shocked the country; and the funeral, with its escort of mourn ing men, was progressing from Washington to S92 A VISIT TO TnE STATES. on the way to the grave at Lincoln s home in Springfield, the capital of Illinois. The nation was watching its progress, and the railways trans porting the cortege were doing their best. The rail way between Chicago and Springfield asked for the use of the " Pioneer " in the funeral train. They sent out gangs of men, and cut off the station platforms, elevated the bridges, and took several days to prepare the line, BO that the coach could go over it, and Pullman s dream at last was realized. His coach of the future carried the dead President to hisgrave,and became known through out the world. A few weeks later General Grant, the conqueror of the rebellion, had a triumphal progress from the camp to his Illinois home. Five days were spent in clearing the railway between Detroit and Galena, where he lived, and the " Pioneer " carried the General over that line. , Mr. Pullman then had the future in his own hands. The public had seen his coach, and the most distinguished men had been riding in it. They would be satisfied with nothing inferior, and the railways began demanding the coaches. The lines leading out of Chicago used them, and before long they were put upon the Great Pacific and the Pennsylvania lines. The result is " Pullman s Palace Car Company," which to-day has invested in its works and coaches nearly six millions sterling, and is besides the greatest railway car- builder in America, furnishing all kinds of equipment to railways from Canada to Texas, and having 1,400 of its own palace coaches running, to carry the first-class passengers upon 80,000 miles of American railways, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Halifax and Quebec to San Francisco and the city of Mexico, as well as much more in Europe. These coaches yun into every city in the States, and cover nearly THE GREAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. 593 all the available mileage, the Wagner coaches upon the Vanderbilt lines being largely con structed after the Pullman style, and many of: them built at the Pullman shops. So prosperous is the company that it regularly makes 8 per cent., dividends, has a very large surplus, and a yearly income of about 1,200,000 from these coaches. Besides building equipment for railways amount* ing to 2,000,000 annually, and running ito own coaches, the Pullman Company also provides for excursion parties. It often happens that a congenial party will charter a coach or a train and go about the country sight-seeing for weeks and months. They have no anxiety or trouble about their home upon wheels, the Pullman people moving them and providing for all their wants. One of the prominent excursion agents of the States who cater for the best class of sight-seeing travellers Raymond and Whitcomb are this year paying the Pullman Company about 16,000 rental for the use of their coaches, the hiring being at the rate of 7 a piece per day. I have already described the "Chicago Limited Express." Mr. Pullman is now preparing to equip a trans continental train of similar character and appoint ments, which will be run between New York and San Francisco, a weekly train each way, reducing the time of transit across the Continent, now occupying six days, to within 100 hours. He is also preparing to place a train of the vestibule coaches upon the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway between London and Brighton. This vestibule buffer, which has already been described, is regarded as a sure preventive oi M telescoping " in cases of collision. Another Pullman enterprise will have great interest for English readers. The company so rapidly .expanded into enormous business that a 894 A. VISIT TO THE STATES. few years ago it became necessary to provide per- tnanent construction shops for its works near Chicago. The result has been the building of the model manufacturing town of Pullman, about 10 miles south of Chicago, and practically a suburb of the great city. It has been all made within seven years, upon a tract of land that had no inhabitants B.S late as 1880. Lake Calumet, an oval sheet of water, about three miles long, is situated a short distance inland from Lake Michigan, and the Illi nois Central Railway passes south from Chicago on its long journey to the Gulf of Mexico, a short dis tance to the westward. A tract of nearly 4,000 acres was acquired with this railway running down its centre, and stretching along the narrow strip between the lake and the railway is the town of Pullman, spreading for almost two miles, with its ghops and parks, its ornamental grounds and com fortable homes for the operatives. Riding down the line of the Illinois Central, over the flat land and among the succession of villages which havo grown up between Chicago and Pullman, the visitor alights at one of the best station buildings seen ou the line, and finds the new settlement in front of iim, spreading far on either hand. There is a fine hotel, which is a model of artistic design and worthy of the largest city ; and across the park, with its ornamental grounds and lake, are seen the extensive shops, with their clock spire and huge water tower rising high above. The Pullman town, like tho Pullman coach, is a model of neatness ana elegance. Flower becla and lawns front the shops, and the solid walls enclosing the grounds give them quite an English air. Stretching across tho town from the station to Lake Calumet is a wide boulevard, shaded by rows of elmo the One jiuiuired and Eleventh Street in continua tion of the mmucrical order of South Chicago THE GREAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. 395 and this divides the workshops from the residen tial portion. Five noble avenues stretch southward from it, each appropriately named after an in ventor closely idontilied with the varied industries of the place Stephenson, Watt, Fulton, Morse, and Pullman and upon these the cottages of the operatives are built. No place in the United States has attracted more attention or been more closely watched than Pullman. Like the sleeping coach, the town is the development of an idea, worked out to har monious and successful results by its inventor. It is the extension of the broadest philanthropy to the working man, based upon the strictest business principles. There has been 1,500,000 invested in carryinar out this idea, and every penny is at the same time made to return an income. The opera tives in the first instance are employed upon wages paid every fortnight, and their earnings are said to exceed those of any other community of work ing people in the United States, averaging pel capita (exclusive of the higher pay of the genera] niiiiittguiiie-iit) 1153 per annum. Tiiere are eome 4,GOO operatives, and the pay disbursed in money every fortnight is about 20,000. The company, in order to secure the best return, seeks to provide in the conipletest possible way for its people. Their workshops, covering about 83 acres, are con structed in the most airy and healthful manner, and upon these about 750,000 has been ex pended. An equal amount has been invested in building the residential portion of the town, the public edifices, and in the public works and deco ration of the place. Everything is constructed of bricks made upon the estate, out of clay taken from the bed of Lake Calumet. The first investment \vau in a complete sewerage system, the f-ewago being all pumped up and cent away by gravity to 396 A VISIT TO THE STATES. a large farm three miles off, where it is utilized, and this cost 60,000. Then a complete water works system was devised, the pure water from Lake Michigan being brought in and elevated to the top of a huge water tower and reservoir, from which an ample supply is led into eveiy house in the town, no matter how humble. Competent architects and landscape gardeners skilfully laid out the town and built the houses, so that it is a gem of artistic attractiveness, with lawns and shade trees upon its well-paved streets, all kept in the best order by the company. All the shops where purchases are made have been collected in an elaborate structure called the Arcade, whero the people do their shopping, fully protected from the weather, and a large covered market house is also provided, with a public hall in the upper por tion. Nothing is free, however, it being recognized as a lamentable fact that benefits got for nothing are not much prized. There are nearly 1,600 cottages and tenements for the operatives,and 133 new ones are building.There is no compulsion exercised about anything, and the people may live in the town or elsewhere as they see fit, so that in practice the town contains about 3,500 operatives who work for the company and about 1,000 who labour for other industries in the town or elsewhere, while Borne 600 of the company s operatives live outside. The dwellings are let upon a monthly rental, 1 being charged for a flat with two rooms, and 28s, to 36s. for flats with three or four rooms. The smallest separate house complete in itself contains four rooms, and this is let for 2 8s. monthly. The best cottages occupied by the working men fetch 5, and the tenant usually gets a large part of this back by sub-letting rooms to working men withoufe families .there being no restrictions in this respect.. THE GEEAT CITY S LEADING SPIRITS. 397 The highest-priced cottages, occupied usually by officials, are 9 to 10 monthly, and contain 10 toi 11 rooms, with bath, &c. Every house has both; Wfeter and gas. Compared with tenements of similar character and capacity in Chicago the* rentals of the latter are usually one-third to one- fifth higher, with less advantages, while the ex- pei;ses of living in Chicago are about 20 per cent.; higher. Pullman is surrounded by a wide ex panse of agricultural land, extensively devoted to market gardens, and this, with the entire -freedom givin the people to buy of whom and where they please, the company having no stores for the sale* of goods,makes a competition among sellers to get ths cash that is in hand to be spent by the people, which cheapens all supplies. The dress goods and similar articles are sold as low as in Chicago. The Arcade is fully rented, and the com-*, pany gets 6,000 annual return from itj One of the finest theatres in the West is; constructed in its upper portion, and all tho travelling companies appear here. It will hold ;i,000 people, and the admission prices are kept low. I attended a theatrical performance with an. audience of about 700, and the house yielded 70. The company has provided for additional amuse ments the best athletic grounds near Chicago, for ball playing, racing, and boating. The regattas and games often attract many thousands. There is a good library maintained for a small fee, and also a bank,and in its savings-fund department the operatives have deposits amounting to 45,000, There are no saloons in the town,for no one is per mitted to sell liquor, and as an additional protec tion sufficient land is controlled around the out skirts of the town to compel the man who must have spirits or beer to go nearly a mile over the border to get it. This carefulness^ combined with 398 A VISIT TO THE STATJSa. the excellent sanitary arrangements and the vigour of a working population largely composed of people in the prime of life, makes the town an ab normally healthy place. It has for its 10,OCO people only four physicians and one funeral pur veyor, and they eay that more could not earn a living, for the annual death-rate is only eight in 1,000 compared with 22 in Chicago. Yet births at the rate of 400 in a year, combined with the influx of new arrivals, show how the census will expaild, for new houses are built in accordance with fhe general comprehensive plan as the increase of population may require. The householder has no care for streets,water, gas, drainage, garbage, or ior the lawns and trees, as these are all loolced after by the company, which thus stands in place 4>f and does even more than the ordinary American town government, besides having its affairs in comparably better managed. There is throughout Pullman an air of artistic harmony and neatness that is very attractive ; while the operatives and their families appear in a far better condition^ and look as if they were of an improved class compared with those usually seen in factory towns. Schools and churches are provided, an el one church the Presbyterian is an exquisitely beautiful building that fits as a gem into the picture. The various secret and charitable societies that have so generally spread over the States, such as the Odd Fellows, Knights ol Pythias, and others, all flourish. If the content oi the working men can be secured by good treat ment and pleasant surroundings, then the inhabi tants of this model town ought to be supremely happy. The great Corliss steam engine, looking like two enormous Cornish pumps, which was BO much admired as it moved the vast aggregation ol at the Philadelphia Centennial JBs- THE LAKE SHOKE ROUTE. 399 position in 1876, has been transported to this place, and stands in the centre of the extensive workshops, furnishing the motivepowor which turns out 6,000 worth of completed work every day. The army of operatives who eorvo around it arc in no way restricted in thought or action outside the shops, either in politics or religion, in their habits or amusements, or as to where or how they expend their earnings, which (less their rent.) are always paid every fortnight in cash. When these wonderful industrial and philanthropic results, achieved upon the bank of Lake Calumoi by one of the leading men of Chicago, are con sidered, it seems almost a miracle that has been wrought, even in this rapidly developing Western country, in thus turning an uninhabited prairie into a populous, industrious, and attractive town the short space of seven years. XXXI. THE LAKE SHORE ROUTE. There are half-a-dozen ** trunk lines " of rail way leading from Chicago to the Atlantic sea* board, and competing for what is known as the " through traffic," Their managers are the mani pulators of " cut rates," arid the mysterious dealers in ft rebates," whose operations tell so markedly on the prices of railway shares at tho Stock Exchange. To check and control them the Inter-State Commerce Law was passed, but they have managed already in its brief existence since last April to elude most of its stringent pro visions. The main artery of the traffic eastward from Chicago is tho Vanderbilt railway system, whioh has several lines across the peninsula be- 400 A VISIT TO THE STATES. tween Lakes Michigan and Erie, and on both sides of the latter lake to the State of New York. The best known of these lines is the " Lake Shore route," or, to be precise, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, laid across the flat prairie land of Michigan and Indiana, and upon the southern shore of Lake Erie, through Ohio and Pennsylvania, 540 miles from Chicago to Buffalo. It is constructed upon almost straight lines over a rich agricultural region, but with scant scenic at tractions. For hundreds of miles the trains cross the monotonous prairies, varied only by the savan nahs and ravines of the streams, and the frequent villages of almost universal wooden houses. The surface at times is gently rolling, and there are patches of timber, usually of modern growth. The chief town of Northern Indiana South Bend is passed, getting its name from the sweeping southern bend of the St. Joseph River, on which it is built. This stream flows for about 250 miles, rising in Michigan, and, after making a grand cir cuit down into Indiana, going back again, and finally debouching into Lake Michigan. The town has busy factories, and is the seat of several flourishing Roman Catholic institutions, generally of French origin. Some distance to the southward is the Maumee River, which we have already met at Fort Wayne, and flowing eastward it broadens into a capacious bay at the head of Lake Erie. We cross into Ohio, and a few miles from the lake reach Toledo, a thriving port, built upon both sides of the Maumee River and Bay, which make a good harbour. This energetic modern reproduc tion of the ancient Spanish city has for its chief newspaper a sprightly sheet known as the Toledo Blade. There are extensive railway connexions and a large corn trade, apparently a dozen eleva- THE LAKE SHORE !ROtrr.B. 401 tors looming up in the haze overshadowing tKe borders of the harbour. The industries of Toledo have also had an impetus from the recent piping to the city of the natural gas from the gas wells oi North-Western Ohio, not far away. The Maumee River, like most of these earlier western outposts of colonization, can tell sad stories of Indian mas sacre, and upon the island at the entrance to the harbour now a pleasant park dark deeds were done in the colonial wars. Eastward from Toledo the railway soon reaches Lake Erie, and is laid upon its edge, almost at the water level, the breakers rolling in upon a narrow beach. Erie is the most southern of the five great lakes, and the smallest of the group above Niagara. It is elliptical in form, abou^ 240 miles long, and covers nearly 10,000 square miles, its surface being 565ft. above the ocean level, and 333ft. above Lake Ontario, this descent being made by the Niagara River. It is a very shallow lake, the depth rarely exceeding 120ft., excepting at the lower end, and this shallowness causes it to be easily dis turbed. Because of this and the scarcity of good harbours, it is the most dangerous of all the lakes to navigate. Long-continued storms, with the wind setting from one extremity of the lake to the other, pile up the waters, and have disastrous effects upon the land to leeward. From this cause the lower portions of Buffalo, at the foot of the lake, sometimes suffer serious damage. The bottom is a light clayey sediment, rapidly accumu lated from the wearing away of the shores, com posed largely of clay strata. The loosely aggregated products of the disintegrated strata are frequently seen along the coasts, forming high cliffs that extend back into elevated plateaus, through which the rivers cut deep channels, and the waters, taking up the earthy materials, are made turbid 402 A VISIT TO THE STATES. often for long distances from the land. Eastward from Toledo the surface of the plateau gradually rises, and a terrace, becoming steadily higher, is formed, that ultimately makes a bold bluff along the coast, which at Cleveland is 100ft. high. Through the precipitous cliffs thus bordering the lake the streams come rushing down in falls and torrents, and the Vermilion and some other small rivers pass through ravines of wild beauty. Toledo, Sandusky, Cleveland, Erie, and Dunkirk are harbours along the Lake Shore route, mostly made by the artificial improvement of the mouths of rivers. Yet the Maumee at Toledo is the largest stream flowing into the southern coast of the lake, for it receives no rivers of importance, and drains but a narrow margin of country. Lake Erie carries an enormous commerce of great value, more, in fact,than any of the others, yet it has no romances nor any pretensions to beauty. The railway, going aome distance inland, crosses the head of Sandusky Bay upon a long trestle bridge, giving a distant view of the entrance to the harbour, the spires and elevators of the town, and the shipping. The shores are low, and the line curves gradually around, and runs among the savannahs on the eastern bank down to a station on the edge of the city. This low-lying and liquid-looking region is without attractions of scenery, but they have not inaptly given one of the suburban stations among the waters and lagoons the name of Venice. Vineyards are planted on these flat and sunny shores, and it is one of the prolific grape-growing sections of the States, The grand bay, 20 miles long and in places six miles wide, attracts much commerce, especially with Canada, and Sandusky is a leading town in the manufacture of hard woods and the handling of timber. East of Sandueky the rail- THE LAKE SHORE KOUTI5. 405 way is laid upon the level and gradually rising plateau towards Cleveland, but without giving much opportunity to view the lake on account of the intervening groves of trees. One of the branches of the railway, about 35 miles west of Cleveland, passes the leading educational foundation of Northern Ohio Oberliri College named in memory of the noted French philan thropist, and founded in 1833 by the descendants of the Puritan settlers of this region to carry out their idea of thorough equality, It admits students without distinction of sex or colour, and occupies eight commodious buildings, having over 1,500 pupils, almost equally divided between the sexes. The train finally glides down grade into the ravine of a tributary of the Cuyahoga river, and out to the Cleveland station upon the lake shore in front of the city. This is the chief city of Northern Ohio, 620 miles west of New York, and the most attractive upon Lake Erie, its command ing situation upon a high bluff falling off precipi tously to the edge of the water making the site most charming. It is embowered in trees, in cluding many elms, and hence delights in the popular title of :the " Forest City." It is usually largely enveloped in black coal smoke, and ita streets and soils on slight provocation produce a cream-coloured, powdery dust unpleasant at tributes, but showing that the city has extensive manufacturing industries and a large street traffic. The crooked Cuyahoga river flows with wayward course down a deeply washed and winding ravine, and this, with the tributary ravines of some smaller streams, is packed with mills and foundries, whoso very live chimneys keep the business district constantly under a cloud of smoke, A dozen railwavs. with their spreading 404 A VISIT TO THE STATES. arms, run in all directions through these ravines, and their locomotives, also belching smoke, add to the din and dirt. High above all, the city has spanned the ravine with a grand stone viaduct nearly a mile long, and costing half-a-million sterling, and from it one can look down into the black hives bordering the river, where the grimy yet profitable business is conducted that has done so much towards making Cleveland progressive and wealthy. Further up are acres of timber yards, and here also are located the works of the Standard Oil Company, the powerful combina tion controlling the American petroleum trade, most of whose magnateshave their homes at Cleve land. They manage one of the greatest American monopolies, and the 53,000 oil wells of Pennsyl vania and elsewhere that have been and are now producing the fluid render them constant tribute. It was Moses Cleaveland, a shrewd yet unsatis fied Puritan of the town of "Windham, Connecti cut, who migrated to what was then known as the " Western Reserve " by a long and toilsome journey beyond the Alleghanies in 1790. His party came through New York State and embarked on Lake Erie, landing on the southern shore. They explored the coast, and, selecting the mouth of the Cuyahoga as a good place to locate, Moses sent word back that they had found a spot " on the bank of Lake Erie which was called by my name, and I believe the child is now born that may live to see that place as large as old Windham." " That place " has grown far boyond his wildest dream, for Cleveland now has 200,000 people, the canals and railways having done the work of ex pansion during the last half-century. One of the not very aged antiquaries of this yet youthful city has been delving into the records of the past to find out what was the immediate reason in- THE LAKE SHORE EOTJTE. 405 ducing several of the prominent townsmen to make their homes at Cleveland. He has discovered the following : tl One man on his way further west was laid up with the ague, and had to stop ; another ran out of money, and could get no further ; another had been to St Louis and wanted to get back home, but saw a chance to make money in ferrying people across the river ; another had $200 over and started a bank ;: while yet another thought he could make a living by manufacturing ox-yokes, and he stayed." He con tinues ; " A man with an agricultural eye would look at the soil and kick his toe into it, and then would shake his head and declare that it would not grow white beans but he knew not what this soil would bring forth. ; his hope and trust was in beans, he wanted to know them more, and wanted potatoes, corn, oats, and cabbage, and he knew not the future of Euclid-avenue." The centre of Cleveland is the Monumental Park, a pretty open space of 10 acres, laid out with fountains, monu ments, and gardens, and a little lake, and inter sected at right angles by two broad streets. One of these is Superior-street, the chief business high way of the city. The other leads down to the edge of the bluff on Lake Erie, where the steep slope is made into a pleasure ground, with fountains and flower-beds, and a fine outlook over the lake, marred, however, by the ever-present locomotives shunting their trains at the water s edge beneath one s feet, and sending up prodigious quantities of smoke and soot. Far out under the lake is bored the waterworks tunnel, as at Chicago. From a corner of the Monumental Park extends far away to the eastward the famous residential street of Cleveland, of which its people are so proud Euclid-avenue. They deservedly regard it as the handsomest street in America, for no other 406 A VISIT TO THE STATES. city can show anything like it in the combined magnificence of houses and grounds. It is a broad and level avenue of about 150ft. width, with a mode rately wide roadAvay and stone footwalks,bordered by lawns and shaded by grand rows of elms. On either hand a light railing marks the boundary be tween the highway and the private grounds. For almost two miles the street is bordered by stately residences, each surrounded by ample lawns and gardens, the stretch of grass and flowers and foliage extending back 100ft. to 400ft. from tho street to the houses. Embowered in foliage, and with every delight of garden and lawn, seen in all directions, this grand avenue makes a delightful driveway and promenade. Upon the northern side of this splendid street live the millionaires of Cleveland, who have expended not a little of the profits of their railways, mines, oil refineries, and mills for the adornment of their luxurious dwell ings and the ornamentation of their city. On the Southern side the houses are less pretentious. This street is in one, way a reproduction of the avenue of the Champs Elysdes, but with more at tractions in the architecture and surroundings of the bordering rows of palaces. Each resident Vies with his neighbours in keeping up the grandeur of the street, and here live the wealthy men who rival those of Chicago in controlling the commerce of the lakes. It requires plenty of room to give each man in tho heart of a city from two to 10 acres of Jawns and gardens around his house, but they have done it here with eminent success. In one of these Cleveland palaces, surrounded by a miniature park, grandly yet comfortably lives Senator Henry B. Payne, ft leading proprietor of the Standard Oil Company, and prominent Ohio Democrat, who is oaid to hold the costliest of tho high-prioed scats in the Upper Houoo of fcho Amo- THE LAKE SHOBE KOUTE. 407 rican Congress. Cleveland s pride is Euclid- avenue, and to get a home there is among the highest ambitions of her people. This noted street, several miles out, leads to the attractive Lake View Cemetery, where on the highest part of the elevated plateau are the grave and monument of James A. Garfield, the assassinated President. Eastward from Cleveland the Lake Shore route gradualiyrises above the Lake Erie level and passes A short distance inland from the coast. The southern shore of the lake is a broad terrace at an elevation of 80ft. to 100ft. above the water, while several miles inland there is another and somewhat higher plateau. Each sharp declivity appears to have been at one time the actual shore of the lake, when its surface was much higher than now. The outer plateau, having once been the bottom of the lake, is level, and has thus aided railway construc tion, for the line is laid many miles along it and at a considerable distance inland, the hazy blue of the freshwater ocean being occasionally visible through openings in the timber, or clown the ravines deeply cut into the tableland by the crooked yet attractive rivers over which the rail way passes upon airy bridges. After moving swiftly among the vineyards plentifully planted near Cleveland, the station of Mentor is passed, 23 miles from the city, where, in a modest house not far from the railway, President Gartield lived. A few miles beyond the Grand River runs through a deep and picturesque ravine, across which a high viaduct carries the line, and hero is the town of Painesville,recalling the memory of Thomas Paine. Numerous flourishing villages are passed, some showing evidence of manufacturing activity, and each having its railway leading from the coal fields to the southward, to bring cheap fuel. As the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania is ap- 408 A VISIT TO THE STATES. preached, the train halts a moment at Conncaut on the bank of a wide and deep ravine formed by a small river. Upon this little stream in 1796 landed from Lake Erie the earliest settlers from Connec ticut who came into Northern Ohio. It is called sometimes the " Plymouth of the Western Re serve/ but is only a moderate village, showing that the migratoiy spirit of the colonists led most of them to seek better locations elsewhere. The " Keystone State " has a projecting corner thrust out to the lake between Ohio and New York, giving it about 40 miles of coast line and a good harbour at the city of Erie, so that the railway soon crosses the border into Pennsylvania. The line has plenty of goods traffic, and the pungent odour of the passing oil tank cars shows the proximity of the petroleum fields which lie behind the hills that loom up towards the south-east and send out numerous railways to the lake ports. Erie county, in Pennsylvania, presents a view of broad farms and big barns upon its almost level surface near the lake, and we soon run into the city of Erie among the rows of wooden houses that make its outer edge, as they do the chief part of most of the towns bordering the lake. It is built upon the plateau extending back from the bluff fronting the water, and its proximity to the coal and oil fields, with the railway and water navigation facilities, have made it an important centre of manufactures and commerce. The Erie harbour is the best on the lake, being enclosed by the natural formation of Presque Isle, lying in front of the city and formerly a peninsula ; and it has been additionally protected by a breakwater, so that there is a natural basin a mile wide and nearly four miles long. There are large docks and elevators, and extensive arrangements for trans shipment between vessel and railway, and great THE LAKE SHOES EOTJTE. 409 quantities of timber, coals, corn, and ores pass through the town. The French were the early settlers here and built the Fort de la Presque Isle in 1749, and their industrious successors under American auspices now number 40,000. Through a region of orchards and vineyards the Lake Shore route passes quickly east of Erie, across the narrow strip of Pennsylvania, to the border line of New York, and enters Chatauqua county. This was the land of the " Chats," a warlike tribe of Indians, to whom the French gave that name because their region also abounded in wild cats. They were called in their own parlance the " Eries," or the tribe of the cat, and hence named the lake. Three centuries ago they were a most formidable tribe and could muster 2,000 ivarriors ; but frequent wars decimated them, and in 1656 the Iroquois attacked and almost annihilated them, the remnant being ultimately incorporated with the Senecas of New York. They inhabited the shores of the lake and the Niagara River. Across Chatauqua there is a high ridge, and the surface between" it andLake Erie is almost level and very fertile. Just south of the most elevated portion of this ridge is the noted Chatauqua Lake, a charming sheet of water 18 miles long and elevated 730ft. above Lake Erie. The narrowness of the watershed is shown by this elevated body of water draining away from Erie into the Alleghany River, which flows south ward to form the Ohio River at Pittsburg. These waterways make boat navigation possible from the Gulf of Mexico to within 10 miles of Lake Erie. This region is a popular summer resort, and the " Chatauqua Assembly " has established there a unique method of attracting crow-ds to a watering-place. They have opened the " Summer School of Philosophy," a college of the liberal 410 A VISIT TO THE STATES. arts, with a faculty gathered from the teachers of Borne of the leading American Universities. Upon this are engrafted schools of theology, music, and art, and regular series of lectures are given throughout the season. The Assembly enclosure has a line position fronting the lake, and besides the great hotel there arc 1,500 tents and cottages of all kinds, some being costly structures. There is an elaborate boat-landing, with a chime of bells in its tower, and a model of Palestine on the lake shore assists the theological student. A natural glen which runs up into the higher grounds back from the lake has at its upper end been roofed over, and this makes the great Assembly-hall, where 5,000 people can sit and listen to tho lectures. This is the Chatauquans if Liberty- hall," and not far away are the " Hall of Philosophy," a Grecian structure of wocd used for smaller meetings , tho " College of Arts," and other similar buildings. It is said that 50,000 people will attend during the season, and often 20,000 to 30,000 are there at one time, mainly gathered from the most intelligent elements in the American churches, with young people pre dominating. They vary instruction with amuse ment, and what is known as the " Chatauqua idea " has been imitated at several other places in the States. But none have selected a more charming location, although the varied Indian meanings of the word " Chatauqua " the " placo of easy death," and the " foggy placo " (from the mists arising from tho lake) are thought to have been premonitions of some of the abstrusenoss of the present race of philosophers. Tho hills surrounding Chatauqua loom up as we passthrough Dunkirk, another harbour on Lake Erie with a town of 5,000 people, which is a terminal of the Erie Railway. The monotonous level of the land THE LAKE SHORE KOUTE. 411 continues beyond, and the railway gradually turns northward arcund Lake Erie s eastern end, though descending nearer its level. The Canadian shore can be dimly seen across the water, as the lake narrows towards its narrow outlet into Niagara River, and we soon run over the meadows and water-courses and in among the elevators and factories and mass of railway terminals surround ing Buffalo. This great city of Western New York has had a career coeval with the present century, having been founded in 1801. In early histcrj* it was mainly a military post, and did not assume com mercial importance until after the opening of the Erie Canal. The growth afterwards was rapid, for its eligible position at the point where the lake commerce had to connect with the canal and the railways leading to the seaboard have given full scope to its enterprise and made Buffalo a large and wealthy city. The country immediately surrounding is gridironed by railroads and their yards, shops, freight-houses, timber piles, ele vators, cattle pens, and otherparaphernalia, spread along the water front and the sinuosities of Buffalo creek and over broad stretches of the level land behind. There are 250,000 people gathered in this industrious city, and the extensive commerce is varied by iron manufactures, brew ing, and other works, but the railroad and canal business seems to overshadow everything else. Buffalo has wide, tree-lined streets, and line public and private buildings, and the observer will soon recognize it as a handsome city. It has also an ambition beyond the mere money- making that results from trade, for the prominent people have got far enough ahead in their accumu lations of wealth to cultivate aesthetic tastes, and they are doing this with energy, having a series 412 A VISIT TO THE STATES. of attractive parks, connected by boulevards planted with rows of thrifty young elms. In the newer parts of the town the level surface is rilled with ornamental houses, some of them most expensively constructed and elaborately adorned. The residents in these houses, as is generally the case in American cities, like to show their build ings and grounds to the public, for the well-kept lawns and gardens are fully open to view, and many of them are entirely unenclosed. Delaware- avenue thus bordered is one of the finest streets. But probably the place most worth seeing in Buffalo is the little park out at the edge of Lake Erie, where it discharges into the Niagara River. The flat surface at the verge of the water is occu pied by the basins and harbour that make the beginning of the Erie Canal, and alongside is a railway, its swift trains contrasting with the deliberate movements of the canal barges that are starting on the long, plodding journey to carry their corn cargoes across New York State to the Hudson River. Alongside the railway a steep bluff rises about GOft., and this continues around along the bank of Niagara River, where it is crowned by an earthwork surrounding the remains of Old Fort Porter, a dilapidated stone relic of bygone times. A couple of superannuated field- pieces stand here, with their muzzles pointing across the river towards Canada, but otherwise the place looks peaceful. A company of troops are at this post, it is supposed to keep watch upon Fort Erie over on the Canadian side, a few hundred yards away, but they were engaged in the harmless pastime of playing football for the delectation of the nursemaids and children of the. neighbourhood. To keep watch upon this portion of the border is not a very laborious duty just now. for there has been no warfare here for three- THE LAKE SHORE ROUTE. 413 quarters of a century, and not even an emeutc, since, about 20 years ago, the restless Fenians conceived the Hibernian idea of achieving the independence of Ireland by making a foray upon Canada. Then the troops were numerous all about here the redcoats on the opposite shore and the bluecoats at Fort Porter. Both armies were, however, quiet spectators of the Fenian raid, for no sooner nad the invading force embarked on a vessel and got well out upon the lake than the American revenue steamer at this station swooped down upon them, and captured the whole party before they had made a landing on the other side. Upon the plateau adjacent to the fort extensive improvements in the way of building barracks are now being made, so that the post can, if necessary, accommodate a considerable body of men. From the edge of the bluff there is an admirable view, far away over Buffalo Harbour, with its pro tecting breakwater, and the broad expanse of Lake Erie beyond. To the right hand the Canadian shore is spread out at one s feet, and down the Niagara River thelighttrusses of the International Railway-bridge span the swift current and the Erie Canal alongside, its draw opening and closing for the passage of steamboats. Into the narrow river sweeps the entire drainage of the great lakes, an enormous volume of water, right in the centre of which the city has planted a crib to tap the current for its water supply. This vast mass of water flows northward with a speed of six or seven miles an hour to soon pour over Niagara Falls, 20 miles away. 414 A VISIT TO THE STATES, XXXII. THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. The original Americans the Red Indians who first looked upon the world s greatest cataract gave the best idea of it in the name, the " Thunder of Waters." Father Hennepin, the first white man who saw it, impressively said," The universe does not afford its parallel." Upon Charles Dickens the first and enduring effect, instant and lasting, of the tremendous spectacle was " Peace peace of mind, tranquillity, cairn recollections of the dead, great thoughts of eternal rest and happiness. 3 Upon Prof essorTyndall it had a sanative effect; for, " quickened by the emotions there aroused," ho says, " the blood sped exultingly through tho arteries, abolishing introspection, clearing the heart of all bitterness, and enabling one to think with tolerance, if not with tenderness, on the most relentless and unreasonable foe." It is a difficult task to describe the Falls of Niagara, and few attempt it without drawing upon romance and poetry, for in most men it inspires both. This vast " Thunder of Waters " is equally impressive both upon sight and hearing, and is one of the few great natural curiosities that are not disappointing at first sight. This view usually comes to most ob servers from the airy suspension bridge thrown across the chasm just below the American Fall, which gives an idea of the whole cataract at a THE PALLS OF NIAGARA. 415 glance. From this bridge, and from the Canada side, the whole scene is before you, and the im pression is quickly given that no description can exaggerate Niagara. No setting in the way of charms of natural scenery is provided for this jewel. The Niagara river flows northwards from Lake Erie through a flat plain,the shores being heavily timbered. The level of that lake is 564ft. above the sea, and the river, in its tortuous course of about 3G miles to Lake- Ontario, descends 333ft., leaving the level of the latter lake still 231ft. above the sea. More than half the fresh water on the entire globe the whole enormous volume from the vast lake region of North America pours through this narrow channel from Lake Erie, with swift current for a couple of miles, but afterwards having somewhat gentler speed as the channel broadens and is divided into two parts by Grand Island. Below this it reunites into a broad stream, sluggishly flowing westward, the surface covered with small, low, wooded islets. About 15 miles from Lake Erie, the river narrows and the rapids begin, their current descending with steadily increasing velocity. Above the Falls for almost a mile, these rapids flow with great speed, and in this distance descend 52ft., their channel being divided by Goat Island, just at the brink of the falls, whore the river makes a right- angled bend from the west back to north. This island separates the waters, although nine-tenths of the current probably goes over the Canadian fall, which the sharp bend in the river curves into horseshoe form. This fall is about 158ft. high, while the height of the American fall is 164ft. The two cataracts make a diagonal line across the river, ending in a curve on the western side, and spread out to a breadth of about 4,750ft., the steep wooded bank of Goat Island. which separates them, 04, 41(3 A VISIT TO THE STATES. occupying about one-fourth of the distance, so that the American fall is about 1,100ft. \vido and the Canadian fall twice that breadth, the actual line of the descending waters on the latter being much longer than the width of the river by reason of its curving form. Just below the cataract, the Niagara river is contracted to barely 1,000ft., winding to about 1,250ft. beneath the suspension bridge. On both sides the river banks rise per pendicularly to the level of the top of the falls, and for seven miles below,the gorge is thus carved out, becoming deeper and deeper as the lower rapids descend towards Lewiston, and in some places being contracted within very narrow limits. Two miles below the falls the river is barely 800ft. wide, and at the outlet of the Whirlpool, a mile further down, where another sharp right-angled bend is made, the enormous current is contracted within a space of less than 250ft. In the distance of seven miles, these Lower Rapids descend about 104ft., and then, assuming a gentler current, the Niagara river flows a few miles further northward to Lake Ontario. Ninety thousand millions of cubic feet of water are estimated as pouring over Niagara every hour, and this vast current, steadily wearing away the rocks over which it descends, has during past ages excavated the gorge through which the Lower Rapids flow. The surface of the land, which at Lake Erie is low and scarcely rises above the level of its waters, gradually becomes more elevated towards the north, till near Lewiston it is about 40ft. above Lake Erie. The general northern course of the Niagara river is thus in the direc tion of the ascent of this moderately-inclined plane. Beyond this the surface makes a sudden descent towards Lake Ontario of 250ft. down to a plateau, upon which stands Lewiston on the Arne- THE FALLS 0V NIAGARA 417 rican side of the river and the village of Queenston on the Canadian side. There is thus formed a bold terrace looking out upon Ontario, from which it is seven miles away, and from the foot of the terrace the surface descends gently 120ft. to the lake shore. The gorge through which the river flows is 366ft. deep at this terrace. During the brief time that observations have been made great fragments of rocks have been repeatedly carried down by the current, thus causing not only a recession of the cataract, but also decided changes in its appear ance. Table Rock, once a striking feature of the Canadian shore, has wholly disappeared, and last spring huge masses of rock fell down which caused a further recession on the Canadian bank. During 45 years past the New York State Geologists have been closely watching these changes, and the aver age rate of recession is about a foot annually. In the sketch made by Father Hennepin,when he saw the falls in 1678,there was a striking feature which has entirely disappeared, a third fall on the Cana dian side, facing the line of the main cataract, and caused by a large rock that turned the divided fall in this direction. This rock fell during the last century. The rate,however,at which changes occur is not uniform. For several years there may be no apparent change, and then the soft underlying strata being gradually worn away, great masses of the upper and harder formations fall down, causing noticeable changes in a brief period. At the present location of the cataract, sheets of hard limestone rock cover the surface of the country, and form the edge of the falls to about 80ft. or 90ft. depth. Under this are shaly layers extending to the foot of the cataract. All the strata slope gently downward against the river current at the rate of about 25ft. to a mile. In the rauida above the falls the limestone 418 A VISIT TO THE STATES. strata are piled one over the other, till about 50ft, more is added to the formation, when all disap pear under the outcropping edges of the next series above, composed of shales and marls. Through these piles of strata the river has worked its way back, receding probably most rapidly, where, as at present, the lower portion of the cutting was composed of soft beds, which, being hollowed out, let down the harder strata above. The effect of the continued recession must be to diminish the height of the falls, both by the rising of the river bed at their base, and by the slope of the surmounting limestone strata to a lower level. The geologists say that a recession of two miles further will cut away both the hard and the soft layers, and the cataract will then become almost stationary on the lower sandstone formation, with its height reduced to about 80ft. This prospec tive diminution in the attractions of Niagara might be startling were it not estimated that it cannot be accomplished for some 12,000 years. Till then the grand cataract will probably con tinue the chief American attraction for foreign visitors. But, grand as the falls are, Niagara s interest does not concentrate upon them alone. There are other spectacles the islands scattered among the rapids their swiftly-flowing foaming current rushing along the remarkable gorge below the cataract, a chasm through which the river cuts its way for miles, its torrent making the lower and grandest rapids running into the whirlpool basin with its terrific swirls and eddies. These join in making Niagara s colossal exhibition, and present specimens of scenery drawn from everywhere, over which come the rainbows, and the brilliant green and rose tints, as sun and cloud upon spray and give light and shadow. Added to all is THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 419 given the idea of the resistless powers of Nature and of the elements which ia sublimity itself. No place is better titted for geological study, and by day or night the picture presents constant changes of view, exerting the most powerful influence upon the human mind. Goat Island, between the two falls, is the most interesting place, covering with the adjacent islets about CO acres, and it was long a favourite Indian cemeteiy. Efforts have been made to romantically rebaptize it as Iris Island, but it nevertheless keeps the old name, given it from the goats kept there by the original white settlers.lt was from a ladder 100ft. high, elevated upon the lower bank of this island near the edge of the Canadian fall, that Sam Patch in 1829 suc cessfully jumped down the falls of Niagara. Not content with this exploit, he afterwards made a higher leap of 125ft. at the falls of the Gencseo river at Rochester, in New York State, was drowned, and his body never was recovered. From the American side a bridge leads to Goat Island, , which is carefully preserved to exhibit all the wonders of the falls. At its upper point is the bar extending up the river channel, dividing the American from the Canadian rapids. On the American side a footbridge leads to the pretty little Luna Island standing at the brink of the cataract and dividing the waters. The narrow channel between these two islands makes a minia ture waterfall, under which is the " Cave of the Winds." Here the visitor goes " under Niagara," for the space behind the waterfall is hollowed out, and amid the spray and the rushing winds an idea can be got of the effect produced by the greater cataracts. Here are seen the rainbows formed by the sunlight on the spray in complete circles ; and the cave, which is fully 100ft. hi^h, and is recessed as far into the wall of the cliff. 420 A VISIT TO THE STATES. gives an excellent example of the undermining process constantly re suit ing from the action of the waters. On the other side of Goat Island, at the edge of the Canadian fall, footbridges lead out over the honeycombed and water-worn rocks to the brink of the horseshoe. From this place, with rushing waters on either hand, and amid an almost deaf ening roar, can be got probably the best near view of the greater cataract. Here are the Terra pin Rocks and on them stood the Terrapin Tower, which was destroyed a few years ago. The fragments of table rock and the adjacent rocks which have fallen lie at the base of the chasm on the Cana dian side, with vast volumes of water beating upon them. On the Canadian side of Goat Island, in the midst of the rapids, are the pretty little is lands known as the " Three Sisters," and their diminutive " Little Brother," with miniature cascades pouring over the rocky ledges between them a charming sight that can be taken advan tage of by the footbridges thrown across. The steep descent of the rapids can here be realized, the foaming torrent plunging down from far above one s head, and quickly rushing beneath one s feet. This region has seen some terrible disasters and many hairbreadth escapes. The mass of water pouring over the cataract on the Canadian side is known to be fully 20ft. deep, and it tumbles from all around the deeply recessed horseshoe into an apparently bottomless pool, no one having yet been able to sound its deptns. In 1828 a con demned ship from Lake Erie was sent over this fall. She drew 18ft. of water, and passed clear. There were put among other things upon her deck a black bear and a statue of Andrew Jackson. The ship was smashed to pieces ; the bear was jkJUecl ; but the first thing seen after the terrible THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 421 plunge was Jackson s statue popping headforemost up through the waters, unharmed. It was con sidered a favourable omen, for that autumn he was elected President of the United States, and filled the office eight years. The surface of the Niagara river just below the cataract, curious as it may seem, is comparatively calm, and the tiny steamer Maid of the Mist makes a ferry, taking advantage of the eddies to take visitors across, passing almost under the overhanging mass of foaming, roaring, and de scending waters. Just below this is the Suspen sion-bridge, on a level with the top of the falls. Looking from it down the river, the deep and narrow gorge stretches far away, curving gradually to the left, with two ponderous railway bridges in the distance thrown across it. The water flows swiftly down, with occasional eddies, its colour under the sunlight a brilliant green, the gorge steadily deepening, the channel narrowing, and the river at the railway suspension-bridges be ginning its headlong course down the Lower Rapids leading to the whirlpool. With the speed of a railway train the current rushes under these bridges, which are elevated about 245ft. above the surface of the water, showing that the descent has already considerably deepened the gorge. It tosses, foams, and rolls in huge waves, buffeting the rocks, and thus continues to the whirlpool. The bridges give a magnificent outlook upon these rapids, and inclined plane railways, constructed upon the precipitous banks, let the visitor down to the water s edge, where it is almost painful to watch the torrent, its tempestuous speed and whirl usually making one giddy. The centre of the stream is elevated far above the sides, the waves in these rapids rising 30ft. at times, rush ing in all directions and coming together with 422 A VISIT TO THE STATES. tremendous force. The huge boulders that have fallen in earlier ages evidently underlie the tor rent. In these rapids several daring spirits, notably Captain Webb, have attempted unpro tected to swim the river,and have paid the penalty with their lives. More recently, however, the rapids have been safely passed in casks peculiarly construct ed, but the few who have done it got such rough usage that they are not anxious to repeat the novel voyage. The whirlpool at the end of the rapids is a most extraordinary forma tion.. The torrent runs into an oblong pool,broad- ened into an elliptical basin, the outlet being at the side through a narrow gorge not 250ft. wide, above which the rocky walls tower for 300ft. Into this basin the waters" rush from the rapids, their current pushing to its furthest edge, and then, re- buft ed by the walls of the cl.asm, they return in an eddy on either hand. Round and round these eddies steadily circle, and timbers that have come down the rapids sometimes swim there for days before they get to the outlet. The eddy on the left-hand side of the pool whirls about without obstruction, while that on the right-hand, where the outlet is, rebounds upon the incoming torrent and is thrown back in hugo waves of mixed green and foam, the water finally rushing out through the narrow gorge, and on down to Lake Ontario. It is a terrible place, and in its way as impressive as the cataract. Niagara in former times was as noted for its ex tortions as for anything else. All the shores had been seized upon by people who charged round prices for a view of cataract or rapids. " Excepting upon a portion of the Canada side the river banks were carefully enclosed by walls, fences, and foliage, so as to prevent a glimpse of the water without pay ing. This policy escited such tierce criticism that THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 423 the two nations united in a movement to make the strip of territory adjoining the falls and rapids on each side a public reservation, and the process of emparking the borders of this great natural curiosity, and removing the buildings and obstruc tions so as to give a tree view to all the world, is now going on. Lord Duiferin, who had his atten tion called to the subject by Mr. Church, the American artist, when he was Governor-General of Canada, first proposed this international park. The proposal resulted in a memorial, signed by many eminent Englishmen and Americans, au- dressed to the Canadian Governor-General and the Governor of New York, asking that they should " secure and hold for the world s good the lands adjacent to the Fails of Niagara." The necessary laws wore passed three years ago, and the plan now being carried out includes making a park on the American Ride about one mile long, and of varying width from 100ft. at the head of the upper rapids to BOOH, at the falls. Everything that obstructed the view of rapids or falls has been removed. A similar policy is being pursued on the Canadian bank, where the best view of the cataract is had. The work upon the American " Reservation," as it is called, has so far progressed that the New York Commission in charge expect to have all the pro jected improvements completed in time to for mally open the grounds next season. The work of improvement on the Canadian side only recently began, as they did not get possession of the pri vate property until this autumn. The road which has always existed at the edge of the bank on that side provided an excellent and unobstructed view. The projected Canadian improvement includes the removal of most of the buildings adjacent to the cataract, and the establishment of a park at the 424 A VISIT TO THE STATES. edge of the river, with a driveway further inland. Both Governments intend as nearly as possible to restore the locality to a state of nature, permitting nothing artificial to distract the attention. Until recently Niagara was practically "fenced in," and to get any view of cataract or rapids it was neces sary to pay fees. Two shillings was the universal charge, and it was multiplied at every point until the frequency of payment became not only a tax, but an annoyance. Now everything is free and open in the neighbourhood of the mighty cataract. Goat Island and Prospect-park have become the property of New York State, and the many magni ficent points of outlook from various parts of these grounds can bo reached without charge. The old shanties and mills that disfigured the islands in the American rapids, and got out of Niagara a small portion of the water power running to waste, are all removed. Stout walls and railings protect the visitor in dangerous places, and roads and paths have been opened, but otherwise the entire grand scene is as Nature made it. All about these places in romantic nooks are seen the newly-married couples, who start their life journey by taking the fashionable American wedding tour to Niagara ; arid it is gratifying to know that the joint action of the two Governments has cheapened its cost. But the work of possible improvement will not be finished until a good deal more is done for public protection. The mills, chiefly for paper- making, remain on the American side, perched on top of the bank below the airy suspension bridge, and their tail-races plunging down the perpen dicular face of the cliff present a series of minia ture cascades that are quite picturesque. This is a reminder that the greatest water power in the world thus runs almost idly away, and that vast projects are being thought upon for its utiliza- THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 425 tion. With those few exceptions, the millwrights, perhaps as a tribute to Nature s majesty and grandeur, have kept away from Niagara. The enterprising city ot Buffalo, however, wants in some way to turn this magnificent power into a path of usefulness, and her business men have recently joined in an offer of 20,000 for the dis covery of the best appliance to utilize the power of the Niagara river and falls so economically as to make it practically available for manufacturing in their city. No scheme of improvement should stand in the way of this, but there is still a field for further reform. The whirlpool rapids and the whirlpool itself are still fenced in, and good service could be done, especially on the Canada side, if the portions of the bauk were freed that are still held as private preserves. It continues to be a swindle to be taxed two shillings for a peep at these great curiosities, and for a ride down to tho water s edge upon an inclined plane railway which three pence would well pay for. Let the good work go on, and free the whirlpool, which with its out let is best seen from the Canadian shore. There is also a field for missionary work yet open at Niagara for the civilization of its hackmen, and the curtailment of the impertinence of its curiosity sellers and photographic touters. These people continue the same barbarians as of yore, but it is possible to avoid them. The New York authorities nave done good service in establishing a coach lino on that side of the river and around Goat Island at a moderate charge. Thankful for the good that has been done, I must record the decided advan tage it is, in these regenerate days for Niagara, to be able to go about the falls without continually tapping the pocket at the insatiate demands of an army of toll gatherers. To get the best view of Niagara requires a bright 426 A VISIT TO THE STATES. day, when the green tints are the most marked, and a wind which, while not blowing the spray too much away, will still dissipate it sufficiently to prevent serious obscuration. Under these con ditions the sublimest exhibition is from the Canadian shore near the suspension bridge. Here, from an elevation, the upper rapids can be seen flowing towards us to the brink of the cataract. In the distance the Canadian shore curves around from the westward fringed with trees. In front rise the dark and precipitous cliffs of Goat Island, surmounted by foliage which the spray keeps con stantly green. The Canadian rapids come towards the brink, an almost unbroken sheet of foaming waters, but the narrower rapids on the American eide are closer, and have a background of little islands with torrents foaming between. The currents passing over the American fall seem shallow, compared with the solid masses of bright green water pouring down the Canadian horseshoe. There, on cither hand, is an edge of foaming streams, looking like clusters of con stantly-descending frosted columns, with a broad and deeply-recessed bright green central cataract that ^ives the impressive idea of millions of tons of solid water pouring into an abyss, the bottom of which is obscured by fleecy and seething clouds of spray. On either side, dark brown water-worn rocks lie at the base, while the spray bursts out in mammoth explosions, like exaggerated puffs of white smoke suddenly darting from whole parks of cannon. The water appears to come over the brink comparatively slowly, then falls with constantly accelerated speed, the colours changing as the velocity increases and air gets into the torrent, until the original bright green becomes a foaming white, which is quickly lost behind the clouds of epray beneath. These clouds slowly rise in a thin THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. 427 transparent veil far above the cataract. From under the spray the river flows towards us, its eddying currents streaked with white, and looking not unlike the foam-lines left on the seashore by receding breakers. The little steamboat carries the venturesome passengers over the ferry in crooked coarse among the eddies. Closer to us, on the left hand, the American fall appears a rough and broken cataract, almost all foam, with green, tints showing through, andat intervals along its face, great masses of water spurting forward through the torrent, as a rocky obstruction may be met part way down the. cliff. The eye fascina tingly f ollow T s the steadily-increasing course of the waters as they fall from top to bottom upon the piles of boulders faintly sec-ii through the spray clouds. Adjoining this American cataract is the water-worn wall or the chasm, made of dark red stratified rocks, looking as if cut down perpen dicularly by a knife, and whitening towards the top, where the protruding limestone formation surmounts the lower sandstones. Upon the faces of these cliffs can be traced the manner in which the water in past a^es gradually carved out the gorge, while at their base the fallen fragments lie in heaps along the river s edge. Through the deep and narrow pass the greenish waters move away under the suspension bridge hanging lightly above. This is Niagara by bright daylight, the steadily falling, foaming, and roaring waters having an almost irresistible fascination. As night gradually falls, the view is dimmed, but the steady roar re mains, and as the clouds of spray increase and form a mantle over the fading scene, the power of the mighty cataract seems to multiply. Both by day and night, the lover of the sublime can watch and listen for hours at the pouring torrent, while the wind blows the refreshing spray gently A. VISIT TO THE STATES. upon the face, for the ever-changing views presented by this world s wonder make an im pression upon the mind unlike anvthimz else in Nature, END OF THE FIRST SERIES. LONDON PRINTED ASTU PUBLISHED BY GEORGE EDWARD WRIGHT, AT THE TIMES OFFICE, PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE. 1887. go si *** U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES C00557S21S 9129^0 M6 i/. I THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY