keepers, miners, policemen, druggists, shepherds, bricklayers, undertakers, merchants, and one artist, composed the motley gathering. The occasion was a memorable one, for it was the first on which the people of the Pacific had been brought into formal and fraternal contact with their brethren in other and remote parts of the Continent.

The way in which the streets are kept iş creditable to the city authorities. There is still room for improvement; yet, when the condition of those in New York is borne in mind, the streets of Chicago seem very good. Special and praiseworthy attention is shown to the safety of the foot passengers who cross over crowded thoroughfares. Policemen are stationed to see that the street is not monopolised by conveyances, to the danger and annoyance of pedestrians. These guardians of public order discharge their duty with an impartiality which merits praise. It is too often the custom, and in New York it is the rule, for policemen to be attentive to young and gaily dressed ladies, and to suffer all others to shift for themselves. To quacks selling nostrums the police are not a terror. These charlatans ply their trade on the footpath in complete security, and with a success which is only too great. Among the crowd of poor labourers surrounding them they find credulous listeners and an easy prey.

I saw one of these impostors doing an enormous business within a stone's throw of a leading hotel. His dress was that of a gentleman, and his manners and language were far superior to those of an itinerant vendor of the London streets. He had a pill which would annihilate every known malady, and an oil which would assuage every pain. As an inducement to buy the pills and the oil he presented the purchasers of either with an infallible cure for corns and bunions. This seemed to give satisfaction to his audience, for numbers exchanged their greenbacks for his rubbish. Another branch of imposture flourishes here in the evening. In one street large numbers of mock auctions are publicly held. The business of many auctioneers appeared to be the same, that is, to sell watches and tell lies. Their energy and boldness could hardly be surpassed. Some used phrases which sounded new and strange to my ears. One made a point of assuring his hearers that the particular watch he had to sell was 'Equal to anything on the top of God's Kingdom Come.' Another, whose appearance and accent proclaimed the Yankee, and who failed to attract persons into his room, assured the spectators at the door, that whate ver money he got after that hour he would distribute in charity. Dutch auctions were also

going on, but, as far as I could judge, with less success than the others. Many of the articles for which twenty dollars were asked had to be laid aside for lack of a bidder at four.

As the chief halting place between New York and San Francisco, the future of Chicago promises to be even more brilliant and extraordinary than its marvellous past. Its traders have already secured many new customers; its merchants have found new spheres in which to transact a lucrative business. To its markets additional supplies of valuable produce are now brought over the Pacific Railway. Thus the wealth of its citizens will increase with multiplied rapidity. Certainly, those who live here must have much money at their command if they would enjoy the ordinary comforts, to say nothing of the luxuries of life. House rent is very high; clothing is very expensive. A married couple, whose income is 1,000l., would hardly be numbered among the well-to-do citizens of this community. But, while the cost of living is great, the opportunities for growing rich are exceedingly None but the idle starve: none but the stupid die poor. The Garden City is the paradise of the modern man of business. Compared with the bustle of Chicago, the bustle of New York seems stagnation.

numerous.

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IV.

ACROSS THE PRAIRIE.

FROM CHICAGO, on Lake Michigan, to Omaha, on the Missouri River, the distance across the Prairie is about 500 miles. This journey has to be made in order to reach the Eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railway. The question which perplexes the traveller is which of the several routes shall he select?' He

has three lines of rail from which to choose. There is, first, the Chicago and North Western; second, the Chicago and Rock Island; and third, a composite route passing over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and other lines. In advertisements, it is said that the first is much more direct than the lower route, that the second is a hundred miles shorter than the lower route, thus leaving the third at the bottom of the list. Indeed, that anyone would voluntarily and knowingly travel by the third is absurd. A glance at the map suffices to show that it runs out of the direct course. However, the ticket agents often succeed in persuading the unwary passenger to buy a

E

ticket which answers their purpose rather than suits the passenger's convenience. I met more than one passenger who had been imposed upon in this respect. As a matter of fact the Chicago and North Western is the shortest line. Its rival, the Chicago and Rock Island, holds out the inducement that, this company build and run their own elegant sleeping coaches and palace day cars, and have no worn out rails to run over.' Moreover, the Chicago and Rock Island station in Chicago is one of the handsomest and most commodious buildings of the kind in the United States. I mention these things so that those who wish to form an opinion for themselves may do so. For my own part I preferred a seat in a Pullman's palace car on the North Western. I have already given a description of his hotel car. Before leaving this city, which is the headquarters of Pullman's Palace Car Company, a few additional particulars may appropriately be furnished.

About six years ago, Mr. Pullman first constructed one of the cars which have made his name famous throughout the Union. Before that time he had made experiments on a small scale, and of an imperfect character. Their success emboldened him to fresh efforts. Instead of confining himself,