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FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 By "Yankee Girl. 
 
 Printed for private distribution. 
 
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 |it pitmorg of tljc i^^utbor. 
 
■ IlhMihatu. July 7, ISSS. 
 
 Dear Mifit< EdiKi : — 
 
 / have read ynnr Irttrrs In fhr Oxford Th-wnrrol will, carr, 
 wHIi a view, al >/n<'r rr,,,ifst, lo ryUlrhf Ihnn. Tins I wmdd 
 rn-UiUih, do w!lh urrat /ranh-nc^s, hnl I assure yov there Js 
 ne.rl In unlhUiu in then, In erliieise exeejitfavoraMy. 
 
 I ran certahrly P'uj no r/rrate,' eompliment to your writhv/. 
 II dn,-s ynu r,ry urmt en^dit. L, sneh rnmposithms there are 
 thi-e,' rtunlslh's: hiteresthvj sHhJ,-el n,atler, hiieri'slh,,/ Ireat- 
 n,rn1 of it. and a l^-i.iht, atlrarlir,^ styl,: Vnnrs have them 
 alt. Vnn harr rhosn, s„l,i,',-ls of dh;,-t intr,;:st, yonr treat- 
 na-nt is infeltiuent, til,-,' tl,r rnn,;;-sati„n ,</ nne „d,o ,;.nveys 
 inforn,ation andumnps ,renls and srmes and inri,l,mts in a 
 ,wtn,-at and tir,ly nmnnrr : and ynnr style is ,-t,;,r and ,in,n1. 
 It runs in an ,'asy ,n,y ; there is a .s/z/rr ofh„,nnr ; th,re is no 
 rxtrareuiaveenf fine wriliny ; yet alt is pi,-tnres,ine. 
 
 Very Truly, 
 
 JOHN D. LONG. 
 
WRITTEN FOR THE OXFORD DEMOCRAT. 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 The morning of the twenty-ninth of May, 1882, 
 dawned damp and forbidding; the rain of the pre- 
 vious night was debating the question of a longer 
 stay, while we, with our face set westward, deter- 
 mined to leave the clouds to their own devices, 
 so we but escaped their depressing influence. By 
 afternoon we were snugly settled in the drawing- 
 room of a "Pullman" and looking out upon the 
 varied scenery along the line of the Grand Trunk 
 Railway. The clouds were gathering up their skirts 
 and gliding silently away through the defiles of the 
 mountains, leaving beautiful rainbow visions, but 
 quite concealing the summits of Washington and 
 other noted heights, here and there upon whose 
 sides the winter's snow yet lingered, though wild 
 cherries were in blossom by the roadside. Before 
 nightfall we had made the acquaintance of other 
 New Englanders westward-bound, and felt less 
 alone in the world. 
 
 Up at daybreak the next morning, and on the 
 alert for sight-seeing, we need no guidebook to tell 
 us we have left the States. The dreary little Cana- 
 dian villages with their French sisus and their 
 
lo FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 stone churches, each surmounted by a cross, and 
 surrounded by a veritable cliurchyard, in which 
 many mounds are marked simply by a cross of wood 
 painted white or black, are evidence enough of 
 the change from Protestant New England, did not 
 the absence of our Httle district schoolhouses, and 
 the strong contrast between the houses of the 
 working classes and the aristocracy, emphasize the 
 same fact. 
 
 We enter Montreal in the early morning, by way 
 of the Victoria Bridge, which here spans the St. 
 Lawrence. This largest of all tubular bridges is 
 indeed a stupendous structure; over one mile and 
 three-quarters in length, it has twenty-four spans, 
 the largest three hundred and thirty feet long. 
 The tubes are said to contain nine thousand tons 
 of iron, having a total surface of thirty-two acres. 
 We catch such meager glimpses of the river that 
 it scarce seems like seeing it at all, and we prefer 
 to take our chances upon lattice-work bridges with 
 their unobstructed views. It is so tantalizing to 
 know that just outside the tube which incloses us, 
 the beautiful water is dancing in the morning sun, 
 or reflecting the budding trees and gras.sy banks of 
 the new sj^ringtime. 
 
 If you were ever in Montreal you will api)reciate 
 the shudder with which we recall the Grand Trunk 
 railway station in that city. The waiting-rooms are 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. t i 
 
 small anci dingy, and so crowded with emigrants 
 that the atmos])here is unfit for human lungs ; 
 sharp as is the outside air, we have not the cour- 
 age to spend hours, nor minutes even, indoors. 
 Such lack of proper accommodations on the line 
 of a great railroad, in one of the first commercial 
 cities of the continent, is an outrage upon the 
 traveling public. 
 
 To one fresh from the States, there is much of 
 interest in this chief city of the British Provinces. 
 We find it hard to realize its right to call itself 
 either English or American ; French names and 
 signs, and Catholic churches and convents are 
 numerous; and more than once in a two hours' 
 drive we pass shop windows in which gaily decked 
 images of the Savior and Virgin are exposed for 
 sale. Droi^ping in at the celebrated cathedral of 
 Notre Dame, said to be the finest church in Amer- 
 ica, we find ourselves at morning mass with some 
 hundreds of devout Catholics. The magnificence 
 of the interior, the i)rofusion of images and lighted 
 tapers, the gaily dressed priests and attendants, and 
 the worshipers, scattered about in the vast building, 
 bowing, crossing themselves, kneeling, rising again 
 and counting their beads, in what appears such a 
 confused and meaningless manner, give us more 
 the impression of idol service in a heathen temple 
 than of anything Christian. With heavy heart we 
 
12 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 turn away, but only to visit another, smaller, yet 
 elegant church where the crowd is so great we can 
 only stand in the door of the vestibule and listen 
 to strains of beautiful music, and ponder upon the 
 superstition which, even in this nineteenth century, 
 gives the Catholic church such a hold upon its 
 devotees — for all of this was before seven o'clock 
 of a working-day morning. We pass the Post- 
 office with its massive granite columns, and other 
 fine public buildings, and the Victoria and Nelson 
 monuments in two of the city squares, and drive 
 toward Sherbrooke Street, the home of the aris- 
 tocracy. On the way wc meet a procession of 
 nearly one hundred young ladies, walking two and 
 two along the sidewalk ; all wear black dresses, 
 with large veils of white lace thrown corner-wise 
 over their heads, and held in place by wreaths of 
 white flowers. With bowed heads, and prayer-books 
 in their white-gloved hands, they are on their way 
 to morning mass from a convent school near by. 
 The long line is led by a i)riest and a teacher, and 
 our driver tells us in broken English that they go 
 in that way every morning. Sherbrooke Street, 
 miles in length, contains many fine mansions with 
 elaborate grounds, and we return to our dismal 
 depot with the conviction that Montreal, in the 
 bracing air and bright sunshine of a May morning, 
 is a very pleasant city. 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 13 
 
 Once more on our way, we notice with interest 
 the exquisitely cared for <j;ardens, which surround 
 the very meanest huts in the Httle French hamlets. 
 Much of the country is barren and uninteresting ; 
 the horses, cattle and sheep have a half-starved 
 look, and even the trees have a discouraged air, 
 with their thin, leafless branches which appear to 
 have been mercilessly blown in one direction all 
 their lives. Occasionally the panorama changes, 
 and swift-moving pictures of fertile meadows, fine 
 farms and banks of trillium of a pure white or del- 
 icate pink like the inside of a shell, relieve the 
 monotony outside our car windows ; while within, a 
 pretty little boy who lisps affords great amusement 
 for his fellow-travelers, and great perplexity to his 
 grandmother, by pouring forth a ))erfect torrent of 
 questions. We thougiit we had seen inquisitive 
 children, but here was a living, breathing interro- 
 gation point, which no amount of wheedling could 
 divert. 
 
 Evening soon closes around us, but a full moon 
 makes the landscape quite as attractive as did the 
 glare of the sunlight. Here and there a gilded 
 church spire flashes out from the surrounding gloom. 
 Ere long we reach the shores of Ontario, and with 
 warm wraps, betake ourselves to the rear platform 
 of our sleeper, and for an hour enjoy the exhilarating 
 influence of the rapidly rushing train, which is 
 
14 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 sixty minutes behind time, tiie frosty night air and 
 the bright moonlight, reflected on the rippHng 
 surface of the lake. Toronto, on the lake shore, 
 is admiringly described to us by a native as the 
 most charming of Canadian cities and the only 
 one laid out in squares. It has made rapid growth 
 and now has a population of one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand. 
 
 Morning finds us at Port .Sarnia ; and in the 
 midst of a drizzling rain the cars are run on the 
 boat and we move quietly across the bright green 
 waters of the St. Clair River, and are once more in 
 the United States, where our own postals are mail- 
 able. One of those little missives given to our 
 gentlemanly conductor for mailing, discloses to us 
 that he too is from O.xford County, and was formerly 
 a student in Hebron Academy, and no little gossip 
 over mutual friends follows. 
 
 From Port Huron our way lies along the track of 
 the terrible forest fires of the previous year. Large 
 trees fallen across each other at every angle raise 
 their great roots high in the air, like grim, fantastic 
 specters. Many tall trees arc still standing with 
 charred and blackened trunks and branches nearly 
 gone. Here and there, as if to make the loneliness 
 of the scene more real, a little log house stands 
 bare and cold amid the ruin and the rain. After a 
 little we emerge from this nightmare of desolation 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 15 
 
 into fields of waving grain, young orchards in full 
 bloom and banks of lovely wild flowers, many of 
 which are new to eastern eyes. 
 
 Escaped from the barren level of the Canadian 
 landscape, the undulating, well wooded lands of 
 Michigan are pleasant to behold, and the rich black 
 soil explains the thrift everywhere apparent. The 
 season is somewhat in advance of Maine — lilacs arc 
 in bloom and corn and potatoes are up. 
 
 Now we enter the region of magnificent maples, 
 scattered over the fields, lining the fences, or 
 massed in beautiful groves. Again our track lies 
 beside long stretches of swampy land, now entirely 
 submerged, and the tangled growth of trees and 
 vines interlacing in every direction above the clear 
 water gives quite a tropical air to the scene. Pass- 
 ing Lansing, we have a fine view of the State 
 House of which Michigan people are pardonably 
 proud. 
 
 The farther west we go the more do we who hail 
 from New England feel the kinship of our common 
 birth, which birth our eastern dialect reveals to 
 those about us as their western origin is manifest 
 to us by the same token. Crossing the northwest- 
 ern corner of Indiana, we find South Bend a beau- 
 tiful city, even as seen from car windows. 
 
 At last we are out upon the prairies, and new 
 and strange they seem, stretching for miles an 
 
1 6 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 unbroken level, scarcely a tree, never a fence, only 
 the distant background of forest, and in the fore- 
 ground waving grain or grass, or acres of newly 
 cultivated soil, and such soil — black and fine and 
 smooth as any floor — every foot of it apparently fit 
 for the reception of the finest flower seed. Across 
 this vast expanse we have a gorgeous sunset, very 
 different from ours among tiie hills. 
 
 With the darkness come the lights and bustle of 
 far-famed Chicago. Here we rest for a night, and 
 are ready for a fresh start in the morning. Nearly 
 all day we are still trending westward, past num- 
 berless prairie villages, past thatched-roofed houses, 
 past long lines of young shade trees, where are the 
 embryo streets of towns yet unbuilt, for wherever 
 the country is not naturally well wooded, hundreds 
 of trees have been planted. 
 
 Illinois is yet in advance of Michigan, for al- 
 though they call the season late, the apple blossoms 
 have disappeared, and snowballs and peonies are in 
 bloom. The miles of hedge and the omnipresent 
 windmill give a finishing touch of strangeness to 
 to the scenery, and we begin to realize that we are 
 in the "Great West." 
 
 At Elgin we pass the State Insane Asylum, a 
 large, handsome, stone building, finely located a 
 little way from the city. Our track also lies close 
 by the famous Elgin Watch Eactory. 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 17 
 
 Afternt)on brings us to the banks of the "Father 
 of Waters, " and with a run of thirty miles down 
 the eastern shore, we reach the little town of 
 Albany, where kind friends and a warm welcome 
 await us. Of this town and the river we will tell 
 you in our next. 
 
1 8 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 NOTES FROM THE MISSISSIPPI SHORE. 
 
 Northwestern Illinois is somewhat hilly. These 
 hills are mostly low, as we count hills, beint;' the 
 beginning of the blufifs which, with ever increasing 
 height, stretch northward for hundreds of miles 
 along the Mississippi. 
 
 The little town of Albany, where it was my good 
 fortune to spend nearly six months, is charmingly 
 located upon a group of these bluffs which rise 
 from the water's edge, one above another, quite 
 like terraces. The view of the river, with its 
 well-wooded islands and rolling Iowa shore, is 
 unsurpassed. The site is at once picturesque and 
 healthful. Groves of oak line the hillsides and give 
 a rich coloring to the landscape in autumn, and one 
 involuntarily wonders that with so fine a location 
 the town is no prettier. Like many western 
 villages and some eastern ones as well, it has a 
 straggling, disordered air. 
 
 The C. M. & St. P. Railroad, passing through the 
 place, and the numerous steamboats on the river 
 make markets easily accessible. 
 
 The principal products of the surrounding coun- 
 try arc hogs and corn. Speaking of hogs, it was 
 with a feeling akin to terror that w^e first encoun- 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 19 
 
 tered these animals in our daily walks. They run 
 at large through that section, and it takes a New 
 England woman some time to learn there is no 
 necessity for crossing the street if she happen to 
 meet a few of the dirty black creatures. They 
 are as plentiful as hens, and since "familiarity 
 breeds contempt, " we came at last to notice them 
 as little as we would their feathered neighbors. 
 
 In spite of the drawbacks we have mentioned, 
 and what town but has its drawbacks, Albany is 
 fraught with pleasant memories. The people are 
 kind and cordial, and the river and country are 
 interesting. A drive in almost any direction reveals 
 fine farms whose beauty is enhanced by the deep 
 green of the osage orange hedges which line the 
 roadsides and divide the fields. Hedges are cer- 
 tainly more pleasing to the eye than are stone walls 
 or rail fences. We remember a meadow around 
 which willows had been planted thickly enough to 
 form a hedge, and now they were become tall trees, 
 and the effect of the graceful limbs and finely-cut 
 foliage of delicate tint was beautiful. The rapid 
 growth of trees in this rich soil is surprising, and 
 the variety and abundance of the wild flowers is 
 equally a wonder and a delight. We gathered 
 great handfuls of some kinds that are only to be 
 found in gardens at home, and of many others that 
 were well worth cultivation. 
 
20 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 While this is indeed a land of flowers, we sadly 
 missed the graceful ferns which nestle in every 
 nook and corner of New England but are quite 
 rare here. 
 
 We also missed many familiar trees, notably our 
 evergreens. We noticed but one native evergreen 
 and that, though very pretty, was a stranger to us. 
 There are no beeches and not as many elms as with 
 us, and we do not remember to have seen birches. 
 Oak and hickory abound, and the black walnut is 
 cultivated to some extent. Small fruits are profit- 
 ably grown for market, and since Clinton, Iowa, a 
 very pretty city of ten thousand inhabitants, is but 
 five miles distant and Chicago may be reached in a 
 day, while the three cities of Moline, Rock Island 
 and Davenport are scarcely more than thirty miles 
 away, there is an ever-ready market for anything 
 that may be raised. We tasted peaches of fine 
 flavor grown here and home-grown sweet potatoes 
 were to be had at the groceries. One enthusiastic 
 cultivator showed us fig-trees in bearing, a banana- 
 tree and a cotton plant. The tropical plants are 
 taken up in the fall with a ball of earth upon their 
 roots and kept in the cellar until spring. 
 
 George Eliot tells us that " it never rains roses, " 
 but George Eliot was never in Albany, where ev- 
 ery dooryard was a wilderness of roses, and every 
 neighbor "remembered the stranger within her 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 2 i 
 
 gates," and sent her each morning roses red and 
 roses yellow, roses white and roses pink, until she 
 wished that June might last forever. 
 
 The soil of the country being very fine, and 
 lacking in gravel, the roads are seldom good. When 
 wet they are badly cut up, and then the sun comes 
 out and bakes them until every unevenness seems 
 petrified. If they become dusty, they are little 
 better, for the dust is as fine as flour and often 
 several inches in depth. 
 
 Despite bad roads, however, the drives up and 
 down the river bank are charming. A mile or two 
 below town is the mouth of the Meredocia River, 
 and here is the "happy hunting-ground" where 
 wild ducks are plenty, and fish may be had for the 
 angling, provided always that one offer tempting 
 bait. This "'Docia" as it is familiarly called, may 
 yet prove of value to the town, for of all the routes 
 surveyed by government for a ship canal from the 
 Mississippi to Chicago, the one entering the mouth 
 of this river is pronounced most feasible. 
 
 Running parallel with the Mississippi, a mile 
 below town, is a high ridge of land surmounted by 
 a line of Indian mounds, from which many relics 
 have been taken. 
 
 No account of Albany would be complete witli- 
 out mention of her prolonged twilights and of her 
 beautiful sunsets, which travelers tell us rival those 
 
22 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 of Italy. Be that as it may, certain it is that one 
 may sit upon the hillside and drink in the glories of 
 sky and water until they lose all thought of time 
 and space, and seem to stand at the very gates of 
 Heaven, only waking to realize that 
 
 That city's shining towers we may not see 
 With our dim earthly vision. 
 For Death, the silent warder, holds the key 
 That opes those fields Elysian. 
 
 But sometimes when adown the western sky 
 The fiery sunset lingers, 
 Those golden gates swing inward noiselessly. 
 Unlocked by angel fingers; 
 
 And while they stand a moment half ajar. 
 Gleams from the inner glory 
 Stream brightly through the azure vault afar, 
 And half reveal the story. 
 
 Even while we gaze at the magnificent coloring, 
 it fades and only dark cloud banks remain, and we 
 remember with a shudder the tales they tell us of 
 a terrible tornado that crossed the river just here, 
 one June day twenty years ago, and in a few brief 
 moments wrought such devastation that we cannot 
 wonder that an ominous cloud still sends a thrill of 
 terror through the stoutest heart. 
 
 Just opposite the town, hidden from sight among 
 the islands, are the "Lakes," five in number. 
 Rowing across of a windy afternoon when the 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 23 
 
 whitecaps are running on the river, we enter these 
 lakes and find them almost without a ripple. 
 
 Once within the encircling islands there is no 
 apparent way of escape. On all sides are autumn- 
 tinted leaves reflected in the clear water. The sun 
 shines with true October glory, and the only sounds 
 that break the stillness are the tinkling of the 
 distant cow bells, the occasional whir and splash 
 of a wild duck, the dip of the oars and now and 
 then a merry laugh from our boating party. It 
 would be a delight to float and dream for hours in 
 such a place. But it was on practical purpose 
 bent that we started, and so our boat is drawn 
 ashore and we wander about in search of hickory 
 nuts and bright leaves. While hickory-trees abound 
 some earlier comer has robbed us of their fruit, and 
 with empty baskets, but arms well filled with bril- 
 liant maple boughs and dresses as full of "beggar 
 ticks" as ever a porcupine was of quills, we set out 
 for home, sure that nothing will ever again tempt 
 us to land upon an island while "ticks" are in 
 season. 
 
 Returning we cross in the wake of a passing 
 steamer, and our little skiff rises and falls in the 
 heavy swell until we can almost fancy ourselves at 
 sea. 
 
 One more reminiscence and we will have done for 
 the present. How many of your readers ever saw 
 
24 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 the witches on 1 Fallow l^en ? We did not see but 
 most certainly heard them at their pranks, on the 
 night of October 31, i(S<S2, and were told that in 
 Albany they always hold high carnival on this 
 their anniversary night, and many are the tricks 
 they play with all things portable. Nor that alone, 
 startling revelations of the future were granted 
 at the solemn midnight hour to certain inquiring 
 maidens — revelations that on the following day 
 were but half confided to our ears by the blushing 
 girls, but we trust to time to tell the rest. 
 
 A cool July day finds us en route from Albany, 
 Illinois, to Moline, some thirty miles or more to 
 the south. As our train moves rapidly down the 
 Mississippi shore, we have fine views of the river 
 and the Iowa towns and farms, as well as of those 
 on the Illinois side. Broad acres of winter wheat 
 are ripened and ready for the — reaper's sickle, we 
 had thought to say — but remember that the sickle 
 is a thing of the past, and a reaper is no longer a 
 man but a machine. Several pretty villages lie 
 along our path, and one, how shall we describe it 
 — the streets, the houses, the men and even the 
 children are so begrimed that we scarce need to 
 be told that the mining of soft coal is the sole 
 industry of the place. 
 
 Moline, mainly built on the narrow level between 
 the river and the bluffs, is a pleasant little city of 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 25 
 
 eleven thousand inhabitants. Many shade trees 
 and gardens give the town a rural air. The view 
 from the bluffs, on which are some of the finest 
 residences, is wide and beautiful, embracing Moline, 
 Rock Island, both town and island of that name, 
 and Daveni)ort on the opposite shore. 
 
 The place has a good public library, one room in 
 which is used as a museum, numerous churches, 
 including a Swedish Lutheran which is claimed to 
 be the finest church edifice west of Chicago, and a 
 very fine public school building. A dam, reaching 
 from the shore to an island in the river, furnishes a 
 water-power said to be equal to the combined water- 
 power of New England, and a large number of 
 factories are constantly in operation manufactuing 
 steam-engines, pumps, plows and many other arti- 
 cles. The city of Rock Island, three miles away, 
 may be reached by horse-cars. On the way we 
 pass a college maintained by Swedish Lutherans, 
 who also have a theological school near. 
 
 Rock Island, the county-seat of Rock Island 
 County, is a great railroad center, and is largely 
 engaged in manufactures. A bridge here crosses 
 the Mississippi, but we go over by ferry to Daven- 
 port whicli claimes to be the largest and we would 
 venture is the most finely situated of Iowa cities. 
 Built on the top and slope of a steep bluff and 
 commandinsf an extensive view of Rock Island and 
 
26 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 the river, and surrounded by a fine agricultural 
 region, there is little left to be desired in the way 
 of location. In a loni^ ride past fine residences 
 and beautiful grounds, Davenport seemed to us a 
 very desirable place of residence. There are many 
 handsome churches and other public buildings, and 
 the manufactures are considerable. 
 
 "What's in a name!" we exclaim with a sigh, 
 as, passing along one of the city streets, our eye 
 falls upon a sign which reads, "George Washing- 
 ton, Whitener, Wall-colorcr, Kalsominer & House- 
 cleaner. " 
 
 Out in the country two or three miles, stands 
 the Iowa Orphans' Home, an institution originally 
 designed for soldiers' orphans, but now admitting 
 others. The superintendent and matron, the latter 
 of whom, by the way, is a Maine woman, were 
 absent in Colorado at the time of our visit, but Miss 
 Pickard, the lady temporarily in charge, very kindly 
 showed us over the building. The " Headquarters " 
 is a long, low wooden structure, surrounded by a 
 veranda, and containing the offices, sleeping and 
 dining-rooms of the officers, a sewing-room for 
 the girls, where are sewing macliines and cutting 
 tables, and where the girls are taught to cut and 
 make their own and the boys' clothing, a good 
 library from which books are issued to the children 
 every Saturday, and a reception-room with an organ 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 27 
 
 and piano, on the latter of which one of the girls 
 was practicing as we entered. Great piles of stere- 
 oscopic views on the table in this room bore marks 
 of much handling by little fingers, and a large kalei- 
 doscope, various curiosities, and the pretty pictures 
 on the walls make the place seem very home-like. 
 This headquarters building is by no means ade- 
 quate to the needs of the Home, and is soon to be 
 replaced by a large brick edifice, the plans for 
 which are already drawn. 
 
 All the other buildings are of brick, and include 
 a handsome schoolhouse, a dining-hall, where are 
 also the kitchen and pantries, a laundry, bakery, 
 and the cottages, ten in number, which are the 
 homes of the little ones. More cottages are in 
 process of erection, and a fine chapel and nursery 
 are projected. Crossing the grounds where some 
 of the boys are weeding flower-beds, we enter the 
 pleasant dining-hall just in time to see one hun- 
 dred and eighty-five boys and girls from three to 
 fifteen years of age, file in by twos and take their 
 places at the table. They sit upon stools, and the 
 gingham sun-bonnets of the girls, and the straw 
 hats of the boys lie under the stools of their 
 respective owners during the meal. Each table is 
 occupied by the children from one cottage, and 
 presided over by the lady who has charge of that 
 cottage. The children seat themselves sideways at 
 
28 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPTI. 
 
 the table, facini; the superintendent, but at a touch 
 of the bell they turn with the precision of soldiers, 
 and each little head is bowed upon the hand while 
 the blessing is asked. Another touch of the bell 
 and one hundred and eiirlity-five little tin cups that 
 had been turned down upon the plates are removed, 
 and the plates turned right side up with a quick, 
 sharp clatter. Each plate is soon filled with steam- 
 ing soup and the nicest of white bread, and each 
 cup with cold water, and the real business of the 
 occasion begins. The soup is followed by string - 
 beans and abundance of bread and syrup. Their 
 diet list, which we saw, includes different food for 
 each day in the week ; and their healthy, happy 
 faces told a story of kindness and plenty to which 
 they would be strangers but for this merciful pro- 
 vision of the State. 
 
 From the dining-hall we go through the kitchen 
 and pantries, inspecting closets and drawers, and 
 find every thing as convenient as possible and the 
 pattern of neatness. The shelves of the bread 
 pantry are filled with the lightest and whitest of 
 loaves, of which they use more than one hundred 
 per day. After dinner we visit some of the 
 cottages, each of which will accommodate twenty 
 children. Entering the home of the youngest 
 girls we find ourselves in a pleasant sitting-room 
 with a carpet, couch, little rocking-chairs, and a 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 29 
 
 generous share of playthings. Off this room are 
 the sleeping apartment of the lady in charge, and 
 two closets, one containing the every-day clothing 
 of the children, and the other their Sunday suits. 
 Back of these are the bath-room and the dormitory, 
 the latter a long room with ten little French bed- 
 steads with their white spreads and pillows, all 
 scrupulously clean. The boys' cottages are the 
 exact counterpart of those for girls. About the 
 grounds are swings and other attractions, and 
 merry shouts are to be heard in all directions. 
 
 The Home now shelters two hundred children. 
 When first founded, the institution contained four 
 or five hundred soldiers' orphans. So many in but 
 one State who must otherwise have been unpro- 
 vided for ! How far beyond human conception is 
 the whole terrible cost of the Rebellion ! The 
 children are allowed to remain in the Home until 
 sixteen years of age, when they are expected to 
 care for themselves. Meanwhile they have been 
 taught to work, the girls by taking their respective 
 turns at table and chamber work, sweeping, dust- 
 ing, etc., and the boys in other ways ; and doubtless 
 some of them are better fitted for life than if reared 
 by their parents. 
 
 Rock Island, from which the city takes its name, 
 is a heavily timbered island of about one thousand 
 acres, belonging to the United States. It was 
 
30 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 purchased by Government during the civil war as 
 a place of confinement for rebel prisoners, sixteen 
 thousand of whom were at one time upon the island. 
 The magnificent roads traversing the island in 
 every direction, as well as the breastwork around 
 the eastern end, are the work of these prisoners. 
 
 In a small inclosure which we passed we were 
 told there lay three thousand rebel dead, most of 
 whom were swept away by small-pox, and were 
 buried in trenches. There is a national cemetery 
 upon the island, pleasantly located, and in yet 
 another spot sleeps Colonel Rodman, the first 
 commandant of the island. A handsome monu- 
 ment marks his last resting-place, which is guarded 
 by two Rodman guns of which he was the inventor. 
 
 The islantl is now used as the central armory 
 of the United States, and contains an arsenal, 
 barracks for soldiers stationed there, a hospital, 
 the handsome residences of the officers, and nearly 
 a dozen immense workshops, built of the cream- 
 colored stone which abounds along the Mississippi. 
 These shops, some of which are already in oper- 
 ation, are run by the Moline water-power, and are 
 intended for the manufacture of everything needed 
 for army use. Two large gun yards contain hun- 
 dreds of dismounted guns carefully laid upon long 
 lines of support, and the whole surrounded by a 
 low line of cannon balls, piled with mathematical 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 3 1 
 
 precision. Many of these guns are trophies of war, 
 others were manufactured upon the island. Just 
 outside one of the yards was a large number of old 
 rebel gun carriages. The houses occupied by the 
 officers and their families are built of limestone, 
 like the workshojjs, but it has become gray by 
 exposure, and in many places is covered to the 
 very eaves with a luxuriant growth of woodbine. 
 
 The many shade trees and the labyrinth of lovely 
 drives in every direction, makes the place almost 
 an earthly Paradise, could one forget that war past, 
 or war possible in the future, was the occasion of 
 it all. Wild flowers nod in the tall grass, and gray 
 squirrels are as plenty as robins in spring-time, 
 and as fearless, for no one is allowed to molest 
 them. 
 
 On a meadow in a distant part of the island, 
 soldiers are making hay, and but for the guns that 
 guard the western shore and an occasional sentry- 
 box, one might drive for miles around the out- 
 skirts without a hint of the belligerent character 
 of the place. 
 
 Regulations are very strict — visitors are not 
 allowed to speak to the workmen, to step on the 
 grass, or to pick up a pebble or a flower — and it was 
 only by the kindness of friends that we obtained a 
 pass which admitted us to the island. 
 
 The railroad bridge connecting the cities of Rock 
 
32 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 Island and Davenport crosses one corner of this 
 island. 
 
 The first frame building erected in this part of 
 the country was put up upon Rock Island in i8i6. 
 It is still standing, a two-storied, weather-beaten 
 structure, now carefully preserved by Government. 
 It was first used as a dwelling, but the inmates, 
 driven away by Black Hawk, fled to the mainland, 
 and there built the first hut upon the present site 
 of Moline. The island house was afterwards recap- 
 tured from the Indians and used as a garrison, and 
 at the close of hostilities was converted into a mill 
 to which the French and Indians used to bring 
 their corn for grinding. 
 
 Not far from the old mill stands a tiny white 
 house, also of historic interest, as the home of 
 Davenport, the founder of the city which bears 
 his name. Left alone here for a night, in his old 
 age, he was cruelly murdered for his money. It is 
 some satisfaction to know that the three men who 
 committed the crime were afterwards brought to 
 justice. 
 
 It was with abundant food for thought that we 
 left Rock Island, in whose history there have been 
 so many and strange vicissitudes, but whose latter 
 days bid fair to be her best. 
 
 With only the river as a dividing line between 
 Illinois and Iowa, anything that agitates the public 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 33 
 
 mind upon one shore is very naturally felt to a 
 greater or less degree upon the other. Therefore 
 it was not strange that the temperance question, 
 which during the spring and early summer was the 
 all-absorbing theme in the latter State, should be 
 somewhat discussed upon the borders of the former. 
 It was with bated breath that temperance men and 
 women in other western states looked forward to the 
 result of the Iowa election, when the prohibitory 
 amendment should be submitted to the people. 
 Iowa became for the time a pivotal State. The 
 friends of temperance in Wisconsin, Indiana, Mich- 
 igan, and Nebraska but waited the triumph of their 
 cause here to sound the battle cry of prohibition in 
 their own States. While the true and tried ones 
 in Illinois, were looking still farther into the future, 
 to the time when, with prohibition all around her, 
 Illinois would at last wheel nobly into line, and 
 the whole Northwest should become as Maine is 
 to-day, the most temperate country on earth, for 
 it is useless for the enemies of prohibition to claim 
 that it amounts to nothing. Living even under 
 the stringent license law of Illinois for a few 
 months, would convince them of the superiority of 
 prohibition. No Illinois town so small, but it has 
 at least one licensed saloon, which renders drinking 
 respectable and paints a red nose for many a young 
 man. It is a fact patent to any observer, that 
 S 
 
34 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 there is much less drunkenness here than there. 
 People sometimes tell us of the vast amount of 
 drunkenness in some of our Maine cities. Do 
 those people su})p()se for a moment that the condi- 
 tion of things would not be infinitely worse, if, as 
 in the little city of Moline, Illinois, with a pop- 
 ulation of eleven thousand, there were forty-two 
 licensed saloons ? ChicaL;"o boasts of thirty -five 
 hundred liquor saloons, which are thought to be 
 profitable to the city because, forsooth, they pay an 
 annual license of two hundred thousand dollars ; 
 but in the same time they extract from the pockets 
 of the people, without adequate return, the enor- 
 mous sum of twelve million dollars. Pay the 
 people one dollar, and rob them of sixty ! All 
 of this under a license law ! Should it be a 
 matter for surprise that Iowa sought some more 
 effectual method } The only wonder is, that with 
 her immense German population, her five millions 
 of dollars invested in distilleries, saloons, etc., and 
 her annual liquor trafific of twenty million dollars — 
 just four times the amount of her school taxes of all 
 kinds — it was possible to carry such an amendment 
 at all. And now that by a flaw, intentional or 
 otherwise, in the letter of the law, the whole thing 
 becomes as though it had never been, it is small 
 wonder if those by whose tireless efforts the right 
 was triumphant at the polls, and those in other states 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 35 
 
 who looked forward to a speedy consummation of 
 their own hopes, should almost lose heart. But, 
 though the contest be long, and the enemy pow- 
 erful, 
 
 Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again; 
 
 The eternal years of God are hers; 
 But Krror, wounded, writhes in pain, 
 
 And dies among his worshipers. 
 
 A panic seized distillers, brewers, and liquor 
 sellers in Iowa as the possible triumph of prohi- 
 bition became apparent, and those upon the border 
 began to make arrangements for moving their bus- 
 iness across the river to Illinois. God grant the 
 time may come when their nefarious traffic shall 
 have been crowded, not out of a single State, but 
 out of the entire country, and the waters of our 
 oceans, east and west, shall have washed our shores 
 clean from all stain of intemperance ! 
 
36 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 TEN DAYS ON A RAFT-BOAT. 
 
 Though our title may sound strange to many 
 eastern ears, we beg no one to fancy for a moment 
 that a raft-boat is some floating monstrosity, half- 
 raft, half something else. The raft-boat of the 
 Mississippi is simply a steamer ; how it comes by 
 the other name will soon appear. The lumber 
 business of the " Father of Waters," like the river 
 itself, is gigantic. Hundreds of steam-mills, and 
 acres of fragrant lumber ]nles towering skyward, 
 lie along the banks. The logs which feed these 
 myriad mills are cut in the far-away forests of 
 northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, and are floated 
 down the various tributaries toward the Mississippi. 
 Ere they enter the latter they must be made into 
 immense rafts, in which form they finish their 
 journey. These rafts were formerly floated down 
 with the current, being steered by great oars affixed 
 to each end. This was a very slow and laborious 
 process, which of late years has been almost entirely 
 suspended by the use of steamboats, which guide 
 them much more rapidly to their destination. 
 
 Thirty years ago, the mere suggestion that a 
 steamboat could be made to propel a raft safely 
 through the intricate maze of islands and sandbars 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 37 
 
 upon the river, would have been sufficient to brand 
 a man as a hinatic. Now, no day passes while the 
 upper Mississippi is open to navi<;ation, when great 
 rafts of logs may not be seen gliding down the 
 river, backed by steamers, which thus have gained 
 the name of raft-boats. The first raft-boats were 
 small, and destitute of proper accommodations, but 
 these have gradually been supplanted by larger and 
 better boats, until the 7ie plus ultra of comfort and 
 convenience seems now attained. 
 
 By the kindness of those in authority it became 
 our privilege to enjoy, for ten ever memorable 
 September days, the hospitality of one of the fastest, 
 daintiest, and every way finest, of these boats : the 
 Lady Grace. This steamer is one of four owned 
 by a large luml^er firm of Clinton, Iowa. She was 
 built in 188 1, is one hundred and thirty-five feet 
 long by twenty-eight wide, and has accommoda- 
 tions for twenty-four cabin passengers. Like all 
 the river boats, she is flat bottomed, and like most 
 of the raft-boats, is a stern wheeler. Her cabin is 
 dainty and cozy as can be. Painted white, with 
 touches of pale pink and gold, Brussels carpet of 
 cjuiet design, raw silk draperies, rattan furniture of 
 handsome pattern, long mirror supported by marble 
 slab, walnut tables, and cheerful coal fire on cool 
 mornings and evenings, such is the ladies' cabin 
 which, with only two ladies on board, seems almost 
 
38 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 like private property. Under the hurricane roof of 
 the aft recess hangs a hammock where we swing 
 through lazy hours, dreamily watching the beautiful 
 islands or the glorious sunset lights that bathe the 
 bright trees in new brightness and tint the waters 
 till they seem of molten gold. 
 
 Despite the attractions of cabin or deck our 
 favorite resort is the pilot-house, the highest point 
 of observation and open on all sides to sight-seeing. 
 Equipped with camp chairs from our staterooms, 
 we daily mount the stairs to the hurricane-deck 
 and thence to the pilot-house where, with books or 
 fancy work as pretext, we sit for hours and gaze at 
 the water with its varying lights and shades ; the 
 islands whose soft maples with their gay liveries 
 seem the advance guard of approaching autumn, 
 and the bluffs which grow higher day by day as we 
 push northward. 
 
 We had fancied we might describe some of 
 these grand and lovely views which are painted 
 in unfading colors upon memory's canvas, but our 
 hands are powerless to lift the veil and make them 
 real to one who has never beheld them. Many of 
 the bluffs when seen from a distance present an 
 almost unbroken level of horizon to the eye, and 
 are fertile table-lands stretching for a long distance 
 into the States. It was singular to see corn and 
 wheat fields, houses and hay stacks perched hun- 
 dreds of feet up in the air. 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 39 
 
 Under the shadow of some high cHff a little 
 village often nestles by the water's edge, and with 
 its houses clinging to the hillside and its general 
 straggling appearance, it is hard to believe that 
 one of the little Swiss hamlets, with whose pictures 
 we are all so familiar, has not suddenly dropped 
 down before us. This illusion is heightened often- 
 times by the fact that the inhabitants are of foreign 
 birth, and with hearts not fully weaned from the 
 land of their nativity, have built the new world 
 homes with a lingering touch of old world style. 
 
 We recall as an example the little Italian town 
 of Genoa, Wisconsin, backed by bluffs five hundred 
 feet high. Its only hotel, which might have been 
 the first house ever built in town, and which cer- 
 tainly looks as though it had long since ceased to 
 expect travelers, is a log house upon the shore, long 
 and low, and bearing across its weather beaten 
 sign, " Travelers' Home. " 
 
 The sun rises so late in the little towns below 
 the eastern bluffs and sets so early for those under 
 the western ones that we fancy their days, which 
 are brief at best, must in winter be the epitome of 
 shortness. So many of these little villages are 
 before us as we write, some one distinguishing 
 feature fixing them in our memory. There is Min- 
 neiska, Minnesota, whose weather-vane once seen 
 can never be forgotten — an immense wooden fish, 
 
40 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 evidently of home manufacture, mounted on a tall 
 staff which is planted on the bluff hundreds of 
 feet above the roofs of the houses. Trempealeau, 
 Wisconsin, has an artesian well whose waters rise 
 above the toj^s of the sunoundini;- trees. Another 
 town has the steeples of its three churches painted 
 blue. Landing one day at Victory, Wisconsin, we 
 find ourselves on historic ground. Here was won 
 the battle of Bad Axe, in the Black Hawk war. 
 The victory is commemorated by a flagstaff one 
 hundred feet in height, which was erected on the 
 high bluff behind the town in 1876. 
 
 The bluffs in large part are of limestone forma- 
 tion and are well wooded on their river side, though 
 often very precipitous. Down their steep sides we 
 frequently see a trail that looks like the track of 
 a land slide or of a detached boidder which has 
 swept everything before it; but we soon learn that 
 the wood which is cut near the summit is slid down 
 the face of the bluff to the water's edge for ship- 
 ping. In some places the rock far up the sides is 
 being quarried for government use. On one of 
 our Wisconsin bluffs a railroad is built from the 
 quarry to the shore, and so steep is its descent 
 that it seems impossible for a loaded car ever to 
 reach the foot in safety. The loaded car going 
 down draws the empty one back each time. An 
 Iowa bluff has a peculiar sand, hard and white, 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPT. 41 
 
 which is shipped to the Rock Island Glass Works, 
 being conveyed down the slope in a long wooden 
 trough. 
 
 On some of the Ijluffs the rocks are columnar 
 or castellated, and such, with their clinging verdure 
 of trees and shrubs, have quite the appearance 
 of ruined and ivy-mantled castles on inaccessible 
 heights. Chimney Rock on the Minnesota shore 
 is speciall)' beautiful in that way. Queen's Bluff 
 in the same State is the highest on the river, rising 
 seven hundred and twenty-five feet, the last hun- 
 dred feet or more a perpendicular wall of rock sur- 
 mounted by trees which, at so great a height, look 
 like mere shrubs. One high bluff bore on its level 
 top a line of large detached rocks stretching inland, 
 which so much resembled small houses that only by 
 the aid of a glass could we distinguish the differ- 
 ence. 
 
 Many little log cabins lie along the shore where 
 ever there is room for the clearing of a farm 
 between the hillside and the river; and one day we 
 pass an Indian in a canoe. The farmers along the 
 river ply a brisk trade with passing steamers, bring- 
 ing out in skiffs provisions of all sorts for sale. 
 
 We pass islands that are acres in extent and as 
 
 beautiful as any private park, with their untrodden 
 
 grass and great variety of trees many of which being 
 
 overgrown with wild grape vines, are of as compact 
 
 6 
 
42 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 and i)crfcct form as though pruned by the hand of 
 a careful gardener. These islands are not inhab- 
 itable, since they are submerged during high water, 
 but in summer they are largely used for pasturage. 
 We remember one niglit just at sunset to have 
 seen a herd of cows swimming home from one 
 of them. 
 
 On a pleasant afternoon as we pass near the 
 shore, our attention is called to a happy company 
 of mud turtles, twelve of them, large and small, 
 that are serenely sunning themselves on a log that 
 lies partly in the water. Although we pass so near 
 that the great waves from our wheel hisli their log, 
 and our noise must seem to them terrific, yet only 
 two jump into the water with undignified haste — 
 the remaining ten wink and blink as composedly 
 as though a steamboat were but a brother turtle 
 paddling by. 
 
 The crookedness of the channel is partly out- 
 lined at night by lights set on prominent points of 
 the shore or on islands. These lights are erected 
 and maintained by the United States government. 
 The little lamp-posts soon become a familiar sight, 
 and we see the lamp-lighter as he rows his skiff up 
 and down the river, night and morning, to care for 
 them. One man has charge of several which are 
 scattered for four miles or more along shore. 
 
 Below Prairie du Chien, our friend the pilot points 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 43 
 
 out to US in the distance, and but just discernible 
 through the trees, the fort from which Jeff. Davis, 
 then a young staff-officer, eloped with the daughter 
 of General Taylor the commandant. Stopping for 
 a few moments at La Crosse, the same friend tells 
 us of this, the f(M-mer home of the notorious 
 "Brick" Pomeroy, and his La Crosse Democrat. 
 The elegant Pomeroy Opera-house still perpetuates 
 his name and fame, while Pomeroy himself is in the 
 far west, and his divorced wife is happily married 
 to a noted Iowa photographer. La Crosse is an 
 enterprising city of twelve or fifteen thousand 
 inhabitants, and boasts electric lights in its prin- 
 cipal streets. 
 
 Calling at Winona for coal, we have time for a 
 half-hour's stroll about the city, which stands on 
 level ground, inclosed by high bluffs. The streets 
 are wide and regular, the shade trees handsome, 
 and many of the buildings fine, notably those of 
 the High School and State Normal School. The 
 shipments of grain from Winona are second only 
 to those of Chicago and Milwaukee, the shipments 
 of wheat averaging six million bushels yearly. 
 
 There are large flour mills here, and on our way 
 down the river we stop near that of the Winona 
 Mill Company, and although it is evening, decide to 
 see for ourselves the inside of a great western flour 
 mdl. The building is eight stories in height, and 
 
44 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 is lighted by electricity. Entering the engine 
 house, where two immense Corliss engines furnish 
 power, we watch with fear and trembling the swift 
 precision of the wonderful machinery, which seems 
 almost alive as its mighty throbs sound in our ears, 
 and the breath of the great fly-wheels fans our 
 faces. Contemplating the terrible possibilities of 
 these monster engines, and wondering if we shall 
 ever get out alive, suddenly the blackness of 
 darkness surrounds us, and our hearts stand still 
 with horror, as we feel that our worst fears are 
 about being realized. Before we can think twice, 
 the light has returned, and we learn that the 
 electricity was cut off by mischievous boys, bent 
 on giving us a scare. Witii a peep into the boiler- 
 room, which calls to mind the furnace of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, we are glad to escape to the open air. 
 Going next to the ground floor of the mill, we take 
 a look at the machinery which makes the " Patent 
 Process" flour, and then go up-stairs to see the 
 flour put up in barrels and sacks. By this time we 
 have had quite enough of the whir of machinery, 
 and conclude there are too many trap-doors to 
 make evening explorations wholly safe, so leave six 
 stories forever uninvestigated. 
 
 Three hundred miles above our starting point, 
 and twelve miles below the mouth of the Chip- 
 pewa river in Wisconsin, we enter Beef Slough 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 45 
 
 (prononnced slooj, which takes its name from 
 Beef river. The logs from the Chippewa are 
 driven mtu this slough through a "cut off" which 
 connects the head of the shx.gh with the river 
 Here are great rafting works where the loo-s are 
 made into brails, differing in size, but usually'about 
 forty feet wide, by five hundred long. Six of these 
 brails form a raft. The slough is narrow, and but 
 half a raft can be taken out at once. These half 
 rafts are tied to the shore on every hand, and a 
 dozen or more steamers are as busy as our own in 
 "droppmg out" their respective rafts. The rafts 
 are secured to the bow of the boat by a system of 
 lines which are regulated by a "nigger engine," by 
 which the raft is turned this way and that at will 
 The water of the river being very low at the 
 tmie of our trip, it was only possible durino- the 
 first few days to run half of our raft. So we'each 
 day go down as far as possible, tie the raft to the 
 shore in some sheltered spot and at night run back 
 to the other half This is called "double trippin<r " 
 and is tedious for the men in charge, hut fine "for 
 excursionists, as it gives us abundant time and 
 opportunity to see everything along shore, as every 
 mile of the way is sure to be passed by daylio-ht 
 
 Having left our first half, a day's journe/from 
 the slough, we were returning in the evening for 
 the other pieces; the night was foggy, and in low 
 
46 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 water, the islands, sandbars, and hidden reefs make 
 navio^ation difficult enough, without the added 
 hindrance of darkness and fog. Only a skillful 
 pilot could carry a boat safely through on such a 
 night, hut we find our boat making faster time than 
 usual, and learn that the engineers are crowding 
 her that she may keep good her record as the fastest 
 of the raft-boats, by overtaking the Eclipse, a new 
 boat just out for her second trip. We rememl^er the 
 collisions and explosions on this river of which we 
 have read in times past, as the result of such races. 
 Though our faithful pilot compels the engineers to 
 run slower than they wish, yet we are gaining upon 
 the Eclipse, and we cannot help wondering what 
 will be the result if we overtake her where the 
 channel is narrow. From our station in the pilot- 
 house we watch the contest with no little anxiety ; 
 now we are close upon her, a few moments more 
 and we have the start by two feet ; but as the 
 boats are full fifty feet apart, all danger seems past. 
 We have scarce time to heave a sigh of relief, 
 when the Eclipse, which is next the shore, turns, 
 and attempts to make the middle of the river by 
 cutting across our bow. We cry out in terror, the 
 pilot turns our boat as best lie may, and stops her, 
 and with an awful crash their broadsides come 
 together. Since this is our first experience of the 
 kind we may be pardoned if we are paralyzed witli 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 47 
 
 fear for a few moments. Finding we do not sink, 
 we soon regain composure sufficient to go down 
 stairs and inquire as to the extent of the damage. 
 The men are excited, and some of them seem 
 hardly less frightened than ourselves. Investiga- 
 tion shows only broken fenders and stanchions, 
 and we are soon on our way once more, hoping, for 
 our own part, that our first race may likewise prove 
 our last, as this is a feature of steamboating not 
 especially funny to a landsman. As we move 
 slowly down the river with our raft, idly happy, 
 drinking in the beauties of sunrise and sunset, and 
 of all that the intervening hours reveal, we pity 
 those unfortunate mortals who make their hundreds 
 of miles per day over the railroad which winds close 
 by the river's bank. With a screech and a rumble, 
 the trains come rushing around the point of some 
 bluff, clinging oftentimes to the very face of a 
 precipice with only the water below, and we wonder 
 if their passengers have any conception of the mag- 
 nificence of the scenery through which they are 
 hurled at such a rate, and that, too, with only half 
 of it visible at all from the car windows. As it 
 takes but a few hours at night to retrace the path 
 which we have been all day in making with our 
 clumsy raft, the last half of the night we are "laid 
 up," waiting for daylight to enable us to start our 
 next piece. 
 
48 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 These quiet nights are often put to good use by 
 the men, who like nothing better than to row away 
 in a skiff to some good fishing ground, set their 
 nets, and, moving off, beat the water till the lisli fly 
 in fear to a still spot, only to find themselves 
 entangled in the net. Morning brings the fishers 
 back, their skiff laden to its utmost capacity, and 
 we go down to the main deck to watch the engineer 
 who is a practical fisherman, sort and dress his 
 spoils. The fish are of all sizes, from the delicious 
 little sun-fish, to the great buffalo-fish, twenty 
 pounds or more in weight. There are black bass 
 and pickerel ; one of the latter full three feet long. 
 The large fish are dexterously skinned, antl the 
 thick flakes of white flesh cut from each side, the 
 rest tossed back into the river. Peeling some of 
 the scales from the largest buffalo, we find them an 
 inch and a quarter in diameter, but they are so 
 overlapped that but a small portion of each is 
 visible, and we wonder if spear or shot could ever 
 penetrate such a coat of mail. The buffalo-fish is 
 fine eating ; we prefer it to the pickerel. While 
 we are below it might not be amiss to look about 
 us a little. They are cleaning the fish in the boiler- 
 room, where are three steel boilers, twenty-four feet 
 long, forty-two inches in diameter. In this room 
 is the "nigger" which controls the movements of 
 the raft. Here are also the bunks of the "roosters" 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 49 
 
 or roust-abouts, a dozen or twenty of whom work 
 upon the raft. These men seem happy enough, 
 but their life appears to us a hard one oftentimes. 
 The engine-room, light and pleasant and scrupu- 
 lously clean, is gay with bright paints, wherever 
 paint is admissible on walls or machinery, and is 
 profusely decked with pictures, comic and other- 
 wise. We can hardly believe it is an engine-room 
 at all. There are two engines, a low and a high 
 pressure, with fifteen-inch cylinders and six feet 
 stroke. Here, too, is the "doctor" which supplies 
 the boilers with water. This "doctor" is getting 
 a bit wheezy or something of the sort, and pumps 
 about as much sand as water, which sand has daily 
 to be blown out of the boilers with a noise which 
 makes the boat quiver from stem to stern. 
 
 Beyond the engine-room is the dining-room of 
 the "roosters," hardly as pleasant as our own above 
 stairs, though the food served is the same, and is 
 always plentiful and of good variety. With a peep 
 into the cookhouse, where the fragrant pies are just 
 coming from the oven, we pass the furnace and 
 ascend to the cabin. 
 
 After a few days of " double tripping " the 
 channel becomes wide enough for our raft to be 
 coupled ; it is now two hundred and sixty-two feet 
 wide, by five hundred and fifty long, and contains 
 about ten thousand dollars' worth of logs. Not the 
 
50 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 least interesting part of our work is watching it 
 now, it is so immense, and the islands and bars 
 often render the channel so narrow and crooked, 
 that we become at times perfectly sure that one 
 corner of the raft must strike, but with a skill born 
 of years of experience, the pilot brings her safely 
 through. The pilots are commanders on the raft- 
 boats, and their responsibility is great, their work 
 often arduous ; but there is a fascination about the 
 river which even a stranger soon feels, and which 
 makes those who work u])on it, or even live along 
 its shore, loath to leave it. 
 
 At no time did we better appreciate the skill 
 necessary to run the raft, than in passing bridges. 
 The spans were only wide enough to admit half of 
 the raft, and the possibility always seemed imminent 
 that some trick of wind or current might swerve 
 the raft ever so little just as it were about to enter, 
 and cause it to hit the abutment and break. 
 Breathlessly would we watch, it was so long and 
 clumsy a thing to handle, as it wound its slow way 
 into the narrow space which it filled plump full. 
 Many a raft has broken in passing a bridge, and 
 the logs have been lost, but ours goes through 
 unharmed each time. Log rafts are not the only 
 kind upon the river ; sawed lumber is often made 
 up into this form for transportation. Occasionally 
 a raft which has been laid up for a year, may be 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 5 1 
 
 seen going down the river. Overgrown as such 
 are with grass and weeds several inches in height, 
 one might easily fancy some ambitious island, bent 
 on sight-seeing, to have broken loose and put itself 
 in charge of a steamer for that purpose. 
 
 Our homeward journey gives two new memories 
 of La Crosse : one in the evening, as we return for 
 our second piece of raft, the myriad colored lights 
 along the shore, on the numerous boats, and on the 
 bridge, suddenly become part of a wierd picture, 
 by the flashing of a strong electric light across the 
 water to enable steamers to pass the bridge safely. 
 The light seems blue and intense in the surrounding 
 darkness, as it strikes the water and the opposite 
 shore and brings out in bold relief the tall smoke- 
 stacks of our boat. It is just below the city, of 
 an afternoon, that we encounter a terrific thunder 
 shower. The rain and hail and the vivid flash of 
 the lightning are rendered more appalling by the 
 awful crashing of the thunder, which reverberates 
 from cliff to cliff across the river until the noise is 
 almost deafening. Though we have lived among 
 the mountains all our life, we now realize for the 
 first time, the force they can lend to a thunder 
 storm. 
 
 At Dubuque we are permitted an hour's stroll 
 while the bridge is passed. With a population of 
 thirty- two thousand, this is the second city in Iowa 
 
52 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 in size, and is the center of trade for the great 
 lead-mining region round about. It is built on a 
 terrace and on high bluffs which rise behind. 
 
 At McGregor, in the same State, is the only 
 pontoon upon our route, and we are interested in 
 watching it swing slowly around upon the water, 
 to give us passage. 
 
 Our ten days' journey ends at last, the lines are 
 taken from our raft and coiled for future use. and 
 the Lady Grace, name ever dear to us, is laid up 
 for repairs, having made her last trip for the season 
 of '82. 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 53 
 
 AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY. 
 
 Measured by the almanac, our holiday would 
 speedily be resolved into fourteen distinct days ; 
 but since in memory it will forever remain an 
 undivided whole, we shall persist in calling it a 
 holiday, even thouo;h the title seem almost a misno- 
 mer when we consider that the entire summer had 
 been a succession of " red-letter days." Yet this of 
 which we wish to write, was a charming change 
 in an every-way-delightful programme, — and what 
 constitutes a holiday after all, but pleasant change 
 for a period .^ A journey which must needs begin 
 before one o'clock in the morning, has little of a 
 holiday aspect, we allow, but as that is a necessary 
 preliminary, we accept it with all possible grace, 
 and renew our ever-increasing wonder, where and 
 why so many people travel at night ? Trains and 
 stations are always full ; and we ask ourselves if 
 the time may not come when the hurrying crowds 
 who find the day all too brief for their purpose, 
 will have contrived some magic method of bottling 
 surplus sunshine for night use .•• For nothing yet 
 invented in the way of artificial light, gives the air 
 of legitimacy to midnight work which sunshine 
 
54 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 would impart, could it once be kept in store by 
 some enterprising body who deems twenty-four 
 hours none too long for the duties of a day. 
 
 Before noon we are embarked on the steamer City 
 of Traverse, which is taking on cargo at her pier in 
 the Chicago river. Lumber-yards, immense grain 
 elevators, shipping of every description constantly 
 coming and going, give an air of business-never- 
 ceasing to our surroundings, which is enhanced by 
 the fussy flurry of tug-boats rushing noisily back 
 and forth. By three P. m. the last box and bale 
 are stored, and we move slowly down the narrow 
 river, towed by one of the frantic little tugs. Many 
 bridges must be passed, and it seems a long time 
 before the river mingles its muddy current with the 
 lake, and we are left to make our own way over the 
 dancing waters. We are certain Lake Michigan's 
 beautiful water cannot owe all its charm to the 
 contrast with the dirty river we have gladly left, 
 though that may have accented somewhat the 
 buoyant surprise and exhilaration with which we 
 first beheld its sparkling brilliancy. So delicately 
 green and perfectly transparent is it, that we cannot 
 wonder at the remark of a friend, that the first 
 sensation it gave her, was a desire to drink the 
 whole lake. 
 
 Our boat is a massively built propeller of one 
 thousand and fifty-three tons burden, drawing forty 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 55 
 
 feet of water when laden, and seeming well fitted 
 to withstand the gales which frequently sweep our 
 great lakes with such fury. Her cargo is chiefly 
 building-stone ; thus heavily loaded, her motion is 
 charming, she glides over the water almost without 
 noise or effort, and with only enough pitch to make 
 motion perceptible. Her interior appointments are 
 fine ; her staterooms can accommodate one hundred 
 passengers ; and during the summer months she 
 carries, we may safely say, thousands of tourists to 
 the far-famed resorts of Northern Michigan. 
 
 To-night, as the sun goes down, clouds cover 
 the sky and we begin to fear we are to lose our 
 anticipated view of the lake by moonlight. There 
 are rifts in the clouds however, and a few enthusi- 
 astic souls wrap themselves in overcoats and shawls 
 and wait patiently on deck for at least a glimpse of 
 fair Luna. It is a novel sensation, this, of being 
 for the first time surrounded by sky and water, no 
 land to be seen in the whole broad sweep of the 
 horizon. The lake is seventy or eighty miles in 
 width, and for twelve hours our course lies out of 
 sight of land. Long we sit and watch the foaming 
 track which stretches away into the darkness in the 
 wake of our steamer. There steals into our heart 
 new conceptions of the Infinite One who "holdeth 
 the waters in the hollow of His hand." That that 
 mighty hand is the hand of our loving Father, is 
 
56 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 a thought which fills the soul with restful, quiet 
 happiness, too soon to be disturbed by a lively 
 discussion which is carried on within earshot by an 
 atheist and a Christian, touching the vital truths of 
 religion. Appealed to for an opinion, we are 
 reluctantly drawn into the discussion and forced 
 to defend our faith, no difficult task, but seemingly 
 a waste of words on one so blind to all things 
 spiritual. Meanwhile, our vigil is rewarded by the 
 sight of a luminous pathway spanning the waters 
 to the very verge of heaven. We see in it a 
 beautiful emblem of the " Lighted Way " revealed 
 from above, and retire to our stateroom marveling 
 that any should choose to walk in darkness. The 
 next morning is bright and beautiful ; the shadows 
 have fled before a flood of sunlight, and we are 
 just wishing for a similar transformation in every 
 darkened heart, when word comes to us that our 
 atheistical friend is weakening, his last words of the 
 previous night being, " That young lady 's terribly 
 in earnest, isn't she .^ Perhaps she's right, after 
 all." Thank God there are some things His chil- 
 dren may know, even while in the body, without 
 need of guess-work. 
 
 All day long the weather is simply perfect, and 
 all on board give themselves up to its enjoyment. 
 Even the little birds which flutter about our decks 
 so fearlessly, twitter and chirp in the glorious 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 57 
 
 October sunshine as if they fully appreciated 
 Nature's smiles. Away on the eastern shore is a 
 life-saving station, which reminds us with a shudder, 
 that sky and air and water are not always the 
 ministers of pleasure they seem to-day, hut can, 
 upon occasion, become swift messengers of doom. 
 Later in the day we pass Sleeping Bear Point, a 
 singular formation of land. The barren looking 
 sand-hills along the shore fail in grandeur as well 
 as beauty, but the lake is sufficient unto itself; its 
 magnitude dwarfs all its surroundings. 
 
 On board we find pleasant companions and some 
 amusing ones as well; among the latter a rural 
 bride whose unique deportment, graphically de- 
 scribed by an observer, brings tears of fun to all 
 eyes. Is it indeed the unexpected which always 
 happens.? Sometimes we are prone to think so. 
 All summer we had enjoyed the hospitality of a 
 dear friend and often heard the name of another 
 friend of her youth, long lost to sight. That lost 
 friend is our fellow-passenger. We have held de- 
 lightful converse with her, all unconscious of her 
 identity, but in a rare moment the truth comes to 
 light, and a new and strong bond springs up between 
 us. Every one had reveled in the perfection of the 
 day; to two hearts it is now bathed in new and 
 fadeless beauty as we talk of one so dear to both. 
 We enter Grand Traverse Bay just at sunset, and 
 8 
 
58 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 are nearly three hundred miles north of our starting 
 point ; but there are yet thirty miles between us and 
 the friends who await our coming ; and it is too dark 
 to see aught save the lights of Traverse City when 
 we steam slowly into port, and end our journey 
 amid joyous greetings. 
 
 That the whole Grand Traverse region is one 
 immense summer resort, is little wonder to one 
 who has once breathed its pure air, sailed upon its 
 waters or feasted on its trout and venison. Accor- 
 ding to a well-known Michigan writer, " Grand 
 Traverse Bay is one of the finest sheets of water 
 in the world. Its shores are heavily fringed with 
 evergreens which are reflected in its clear water 
 with a witchery charming to behold. The water of 
 the bay and of all the streams that flow into it is 
 remarkably pure and cold. In the bay a piece of 
 crockery or any white substance can be distinctly 
 seen at a de])th of sixty feet or more. The head of 
 the bay at Traverse City is semicircular in form. 
 From this point northward, thirty miles distant or 
 as far as the eye can reach, there is presented an 
 ever-changing panorama of beauty. The highlands 
 skirting the bay and the islands resting upon its 
 bosom are clothed with the greenest of forests or, 
 under the care of industrious husbandmen or vine- 
 dressers, abound in well-tilled fields and flourishing 
 vineyards. The Grand Traverse region is wonder- 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 59 
 
 fully productive ; apples, peaches, pears, grapes and 
 other fruits are raised here in great abundance. " 
 
 The rapid development of this section is largely 
 due to Messrs Hannah, Lay & Co. of Traverse City. 
 Indeed, Hon. Perry Hannah, the senior member of 
 this firm, has been aptly styled " the father of the 
 Grand Traverse country," since " without his great 
 executive ability and acknowledged liberality, the 
 present beauty and wealth of the country would still 
 remain hidden." 
 
 Traverse City is a village of three thousand souls ; 
 and since the history of Hannah, Lay & Co. is so 
 closely identified with that of the town, the firm 
 demands more than a passing notice. Beginning 
 in a small way in the lumber business in 1S50, they 
 have gradually built up an immense trade, and now 
 run two large steam saw mills, a shingle mill, three 
 steamboats and a ninety thousand dollar flour mill, 
 besides their stores and Park Place Hotel, of which 
 more hereafter. The immense amount of lumber 
 which they manufacture is mostly taken to their 
 lumber-yards in Chicago by their largest steamer, 
 the City of Traverse. This boat if snugly packed 
 will carry one million feet of lumber — her usual 
 cargo is about seven hundred thousand feet. She 
 makes weekly trips to Chicago and return during 
 the navigable season. The other boats are run on 
 the Traverse City, Petosky & Mackinac daily line. 
 
6o FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 and carry crowds of pleasure seekers to those 
 famous resorts. 
 
 To meet the demands of increasing travel, 
 Hannah, Lay & Co. fitted up Park Place Hotel a 
 few years ago. The hotel consists of two large 
 buildings connected by a covered bridge. Under 
 the efficient management of Colonel and Mrs. J. D. 
 Billings, Maine people, by the way, it has gained 
 the reputation of being one of the best houses in 
 the State. 
 
 The stores in which we found the company's 
 mercantile business going on, were small wooden 
 buildings which had been erected from time to 
 time, as the business increased. Although all 
 available space in a large number of buildings was 
 used for storing their endless variety of goods, the 
 accommodations were far too small, and one year 
 ago they began the erection of a magnificent block, 
 two hundred and twelve by one hundred and twelve 
 feet in size, with three stories and basement, and 
 having, virtually, four fronts. It contains a bank 
 and six large stores. The entire building is of the 
 most thorough workmanship, and has every modern 
 convenience, even to electric lights. The outside, 
 which was finished at the time of our visit, is of 
 the finest pressed brick of a rich cream tint. The 
 brick was manufactured for this purpose in town. 
 The entire south front, first floor, is of French plate 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 6i 
 
 glass and iron, the plates being- from six by twelve 
 to nine by twelve feet in size. The building, now 
 complete, is claimed to be the finest brick block in 
 Michigan. The goods and men, nearly sixty of the 
 latter, have moved "out of the old house into the 
 new" where they hope to still further increase 
 their sales, which last year reached half a million 
 Could we look through the spacious and eleo-ant 
 rooms we should find Oxford County, and our own 
 town, (Buckfield) honorably represented in the 
 persons of Messrs. C. K. Buck, receiving cashier ; 
 C. B. Atwood, foreman in the boot and shoe store! 
 and H. Cushman, assistant in same. 
 
 "The Company," as they are commonly called, 
 own a large amount of real estate— acres of pine 
 lands, etc. Their weekly pay-roll now consumes 
 some eight thousand dollars-a sum equal to one 
 half of their original business capital. They enter 
 the new building as a corporate body. "The 
 Hannah & Lay Mercantile Company" havinc. a 
 cash capital of three hundred thousand dollars 
 They will now greatly extend their wholesale busi- 
 ness, which is already large. The banking and 
 lumbering are now separate interests, the latter 
 soon to be incorporated with a capital of one 
 million dollars. 
 
 Among the other leading business houses we were 
 pleased to notice the prosperous firm of Hamilton 
 
62 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 & Milliken, dry goods, etc. Both arc young men, 
 and from Maine. Mr. Hamilton kindly showed us 
 through their establishment, which is certainly a 
 credit to its proprietors, and through them to the 
 old Pine Tree State, whose sons, scattered through- 
 out the Union, are doing so much to build u]) our 
 common country. Traverse City has made rapid 
 strides, and has piospect of continued development 
 for years to come. The new asylum for the insane 
 is to be located here. The State has already ap- 
 propriated four hundred thousand dollars for its 
 erection ; a beautiful site has been purchased, and 
 preparations for building are going rapidly forward. 
 
 The older portion of the town seems very like 
 to a New England village embowered in trees, and 
 rejoices in the appellation of "Saints' Rest." 
 
 The newer parts have all the crudeness of new 
 towns the world over. A stroll through the woods 
 brought a delightful home feeling. Overhead waved 
 the beech and evergreens of Maine, while under foot 
 were the dear little arbutus leaves, partridge vines 
 and checkerberries, which had been the delight 
 of our eyes from childhood, but had never before 
 seemed quite so much like real friends — we had 
 missed them so in our woodland walks in Illinois. 
 
 Just a word for Traverse City roads : we were 
 told that their natural depravity was deep, but well 
 directed effort has brought them to the verge of 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 63 
 
 perfection. To appreciate the change which money 
 and labor liave wrought upon them, one need drive 
 only a mile or two out of town, and strike the 
 native sand — it would do credit to Sahara's self. 
 But as there are many very delightful drives within 
 the radius of the improvements it is no hardship to 
 confine one's self within that limit upon ordinary 
 occasions. 
 
 With hills on the one side (we climbed one of 
 those hills two hundred feet in height, and had a 
 magnificent view of the bay and town) and the 
 beautiful bay on the other ; with clear air and pure 
 water, and with society intelligent and refined, 
 Traverse would seem exceptionally desirable as a 
 place of abode. The bay is the pride of the town ; 
 the navies of the world might safely ride at anchor 
 within its encircling shores. Our most charming 
 experience in connection with it was an afternoon 
 in the yacht Nameless. With a pleasant company 
 on board, and professional sailors to man the boat, 
 we had nothing to fear, and everything to enjoy as 
 we sped before the wind with the motion of a bird ; 
 and now we see the town from the bay, and it gives 
 the finishing touch of beauty to the picture spread 
 before us. 
 
 Eighteen miles from Traverse City in a north- 
 easterly direction, lies the town of Elk Rapids, 
 insignificant enough in appearance, but stretching 
 
64 F/^O.V .VAIXE TO THE MISSISSIFFI. 
 
 unseen, yet powerful fingers across continents, 
 and controlling the markets of the world in wood 
 alcohol and acetic acid. Here, too, is located one 
 of the best charcoal iron furnaces in the world. 
 
 To the inquiring mind of a Yankee, novelties 
 like these present attractions great enough to 
 warrant the surmounting of some obstacles. There- 
 tore we yield unhesitatingly to the invitation of 
 friends to visit said furnace and chemical works, 
 even though assured that old clothes and a reckless 
 indifference to dirt, were essential factors to enjoy- 
 ment when there. The day chosen for the trip 
 proves fine, and it is a merry carriage load that 
 drives out of town that pleasant autumn morning. 
 Our road lies around East Bay. If we have not 
 mentioned the fact, we ought, that Grand Traverse 
 Bay is divided into east and west arms by a narrow 
 peninsula twenty-five miles in length. Traverse 
 City lies at the head of the west arm. On the 
 peninsula is raised some of the finest fruit in Mich- 
 igan, and it is our private opinion that the luscious 
 peaches and pears with which we were equipped 
 for this occasion, must have grown on this peninsula 
 — they were certainly of uncommon size and 
 richness. 
 
 East Bay is scarcely less beautiful than West ; 
 its waters show a charming variation of color, and 
 the fragrance of the pines along the shore renders 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 65 
 
 breathing a conscious pleasure. For much of the 
 way the country has an air of newness, but enter- 
 prise and thrift are everywhere apparent. 
 
 Some fine farm buildings have supplanted the 
 primitive log houses, but several of the latter may 
 yet be seen. Two of these we shall not soon forget. 
 The first, a little square box of a house, the sides and 
 roof of which were mantled with a heavy growth 
 of woodbine of a deep, dark red, brightened here 
 and there by patches of lighter red and green. 
 With the sunlight falling full upon it, it became a 
 glowing mass of color that would have delighted 
 the soul of a painter. A little farther on we passed 
 a well tilled farm whose log house has an air of per- 
 manent comfort. It is much larger than the other 
 house ; vines clamber to its roof, and in front is a 
 wilderness of tall dahlias of every sort, with other 
 brilliant autumn flowers, a perfect kaleidoscope of 
 gay colors, half concealing the house from view. 
 As we recall its look of contentment we weave for 
 it a little history, this pioneer home, where the 
 parents cleared their farm and reared their little 
 ones, endeared by a thousand hallowed memories. 
 Now that the rough work of life is over, and the 
 children have gone out into the world, the old 
 folks, for they are getting to be old folks, will not 
 build for themselves the new home which they 
 might, but cling fondly to the old, every fiber in 
 
 9 
 
66 FKOAf MAINE TO THE Af/SS/SS/PP/. 
 
 whose rough logs is eloquent to them of scenes 
 long gone. If the logs in many an early settler's 
 home could but voice the things they have seen 
 and heard, who would not stop and listen ? 
 
 Arrived at Elk Rapids, we find the hotel /^ar 
 excellence closed for the season, and have no other 
 alternative than to appease our appetites with a 
 late dinner at the only remaining public house, 
 inwardly hoping, meanwhile, that no unkind fate 
 may send us here again. This ordeal past, we 
 sally forth upon our tour of inspection, which leads 
 us first to the large store of Dexter & Noble, the 
 proprietors of the furnace and chemical works. 
 
 In the store we find a group of squaws of various 
 ages, and with them a toddling child who persists 
 in hiding her head in the skirts of her elders. It 
 is only by bribing her with a penn3\ begged for 
 that purpose, that we succeed in getting a peep 
 at her great, scared-looking eyes — eyes that are 
 so intensely black that the pupil is quite undis- 
 tinguishable. With her tawnv skin and stolid 
 expression, the little one proves less pretty than 
 we had fancied. Numbers more of our red-skinned 
 brothers and sisters we saw during the day. As 
 savages they were unsatisfactory ; a complexion of 
 a trifle darker shade, and the peculiar contour of 
 face characteristic of their race, were the only 
 marks that distinguished them from their white 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 67 
 
 associates. Had we been blessed with a glimpse 
 of them issuing from their native wigwams, in 
 traditional paint and feathers, we might have better 
 appreciated their personality. 
 
 From the store we proceed to the iron works. 
 Before entering here we encase ourselves in rubber 
 garments as a partial protection against smut and 
 dirt. We go first to the crushing-room. Here 
 immense piles of ore from the Lake Superior 
 mines await manufacture, and here we gaze won- 
 deringly at the ease with which the ponderous 
 machines crush the masses of ore that are con- 
 stantly poured into their open mouths. 
 
 A little to the left of us are the elevators by 
 which the crushed ore, the charcoal and lime, 
 each carefully weighed and rightly proportioned, 
 are carried up several stories high and poured down 
 into the great smelting furnace. 
 
 One of our party, more adventurous than the 
 rest, proposes that we go up and look down into 
 that fiery vortex. We demur at first, but he is not 
 to be put off, and has gained the consent of the 
 man who tends the elevators to our going in the 
 charcoal elevator — the Other is considered unsafe. 
 Yielding to the wishes of our leader, we take our 
 stand upon what seems but a rickety old trap-door, 
 and, clinging close to each other, and to the car 
 of coal, are drawn up, up, through the darkness. 
 
68 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 expecting each moment the old rattle-trap will give 
 way and we be hurled unceremoniously back to our 
 starting-point. At last the light begins to reveal 
 our rough surroundings and we are soon at the top, 
 breathing out-door air and looking from a dizzy 
 height to the ground below. But it is not the 
 height that makes one dizzy, after all, it is the 
 terrific roar of that mighty furnace, which from 
 top to bottom is a seething mass of molten iron, 
 belching out flame and smoke. To look into it is 
 out of the question, the heat is too intense for that, 
 so we stand back and watch the man whose duty it 
 is to tend it, as he tilts tlie charcoal from our car 
 into the terrible abyss, where it is greeted with a 
 roar of delight, and a cloud of sparks mounting in 
 the air. We can easily imagine ourselves upon the 
 edge of a volcano, with an eruption every moment 
 imminent, and Mrs. B — suggests that this would 
 give an old-fashioned preacher a good illustration 
 of the bottomless pit. 
 
 At last the empty car is ready to return, and we 
 begin our perilous descent. To the question of 
 our leader, whether we are sorry we came up, we 
 defer the answer until we shall reach the bottom. 
 Once safely down, we are glad to have had the 
 adventure. 
 
 Out in the yards are a great number of charcoal 
 kilns, which are kept in constant operation to 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 69 
 
 supply the insatiable maw of the mighty furnace. 
 Of course so many kilns throw off a vast amount 
 of smoke, which until quite recently was considered 
 a waste product. A process, invented, we are told, 
 by Dr. Pierce of Bangor, Maine, now renders this 
 smoke very valuable. It passes from the kilns 
 through large pipes to a condenser, where it is 
 carried in small pipes through cold running water, 
 and is thus condensed to a liquid which runs into a 
 tank. This liquid contains several ingredients, the 
 heaviest of which, settling at once to the bottom 
 in the form of tar, is drawn out in barrels. Thus 
 twenty barrels of tar per day is the first thing obtain- 
 ed from this seemingly worthless smoke. Lime is 
 now added to the remaining liquid and the acetic 
 acid which it contains is thus precipitated, and from 
 eight to nine thousand pounds of acetate of lime 
 are shipped to different parts of the country and 
 converted into acetic acid. The residue is now 
 distilled and produces from six to eight barrels of 
 wood alcohol per dicui. This alcohol stands test 
 at ninety degrees, and is used for every purpose 
 for which alcohol can be used, except for medicine, 
 and lately it has even been re-distilled in New 
 York and used medicinally. We were told by a 
 friend that the only other factory in the world 
 where smoke is thus utilized is located at Bangor, 
 but it is on a much smaller scale. Having gone 
 
^0 FROM MAINE TO THE M/SS/SS/PPI. 
 
 through the chemical works, inhaling all sorts of 
 vapors and getting into all manner of precarious 
 places, we returned once more to the iron furnace 
 to see the blast run off. 
 
 Stationed near the foot of the long line of molds, 
 we watch the men as they make ready to open the 
 furnace and let out the molten iron. Soon we see 
 it coming, a river of fire running heavily toward us 
 through the channel prepared for it, and from which 
 the men deftly turn it aside, until row after row of 
 molds is filled. As it nears us we are glad to beat 
 a retreat from its scorching heat, wondering how 
 the men who work over it live. Great ladlefuls of 
 the red-hot liquid are dipped up from the main 
 channel and carried to the workshop for castings. 
 As soon as the iron in the molds begins to stiffen 
 sufficiently, it is covered with the same sand in 
 which it is run, and there remains until cold, when 
 it is taken out in the form of "pigs," ready for 
 foundry use. 
 
 Passing around the building, we see great streams 
 of "slag" which has run off from the furnace. It 
 is of various colors, and sometimes quite beautiful 
 in appearance. Most of it has the look of glass, 
 but we saw one large mass that seemed like nothing 
 else than petrified sea-foam. 
 
 Having "done" the works pretty thoroughly, we 
 start for home with faces and hands begrimed and 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 7 1 
 
 with a generous supply of specimens in the bottom 
 of the carriage. Our homeward drive proves very 
 enjoyable, as indeed the whole day had been. 
 
 Like all things, good or bad, our holiday draws 
 near its end, and with regret, but with a rich fund 
 of pleasant memories, we bid adieu to Traverse 
 and the kind friends who have done so much for 
 our enjoyment, and set sail once more on the good 
 steamer City of Traverse, this time in the midst of 
 cloudy weather which lasts throughout the entire 
 trip. The lake is very rough, and we notice at 
 each successive meal the number of passengers 
 who care to come to the table grows beautifully 
 less. Feeling nothing more alarming than a slight 
 dizziness on our own part, wc fully appreciate the 
 good things set before us, particularly the corn 
 cake for which the City of Traverse is especially 
 noted — such cake! nearly three inches in thick- 
 ness, yellow as gold, light as a feather, and yet so 
 short it would scarce bear handling. With the 
 curiosity natural to our sex, we longed and finally 
 determined to ascertain the magic, if magic it be, 
 by which such delicious stuff was compounded. 
 Armed with pencil and paper we invade the lower 
 regions, having been assured that the cook would 
 consider it a compliment to be inquired of, and 
 there found a very polite young man who furnished 
 us with the following directions, which we print for 
 
72 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 the benefit of adventuresome housekeepers: four 
 cups of Indian meal, two cups flour, seven eij;gs, 
 one and a half cups siit^ar, one and a half cups 
 lard, three cups water, four tablespoonfuls Royal 
 Baking Powder. Sift the meal, flour and powder 
 together. Bake in a large dripping-pan. 
 
 The rough weather keeps us within sight of the 
 shore. We are thus delayed five hours and reach 
 Chicago to find our train gone and a day of waiting 
 before us. 
 
 Everybody in the city, and out of it too, goes to 
 the Exposition, the Centennial in miniature, and so 
 we follow their example. The buildings are perma- 
 nent, and the Exposition is open during the autumn 
 months. It is located on Michigan Avenue nearly 
 opposite the Leland Hotel, which fronts the lake 
 and is but ten or fifteen minutes' walk from the 
 large retail store of Marshall, Field & Co., which 
 everyone knows is the store of Chicago. With our 
 headquarters at the Leland, we devoted the day to 
 the Exposition, only reserving time for a little 
 shopping at the store. Of all the things useful 
 and beautiful in the main building and in the art 
 gallery it would be impossible to write. Such 
 exhibitions have become so common witliin a few 
 years that one scarce need describe what is there 
 seen, since all the world may see for themselves. 
 
 Fated to another night by rail, we accept the 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 73 
 
 situation, and cross the threshold of our Albany 
 home, for such it seems, just as the comet is rising 
 above the eastern horizon. 
 
74 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 Alas ! how true the familiar adage, " Circumstan- 
 ces alter cases ! " In an Eastern village, in the 
 flush of early springtime, with high hopes and 
 bounding heart, we had bestowed our earthly effects 
 within a trunk, new and capacious, dreaming all the 
 while of golden days in store, and assuring our 
 heart, in the midst of farewells, that the parting 
 was but for a few short months — months that 
 should be too full of enjoyment to admit regretful 
 thoughts of friends and scenes behind. 
 
 Rapidly, so rapidly have those months come and 
 gone, each leaving fadeless pictures upon Memory's 
 walls, but bringing around no less surely the sad 
 November days and with them the necessity, no 
 longer postponable, of once more packing the self- 
 same effects into the selfsame trunk, this time in a 
 little Western town. The trunk is old and battered 
 now. It is surprising how soon a trunk takes on 
 an air of experience. Six months ago we had con- 
 fided in its youthful strength, now it carries scars 
 from many a rough encounter and has withal a 
 general air of decrepitude, and we eye it question- 
 ingly before entrusting to its care the well-worn 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 75 
 
 \\..rdrobe, which hhits so plainly that we have 
 prolonged our visit quite to the limit of its endur- 
 ance. The change in season, in trunk and in 
 wardrobe, is in a sense symbolical of the change 
 of feeling with which we once more take up the 
 task of packing. 
 
 The joy which the thought of home brings is so 
 counterbalanced by the sorrow of leaving for years 
 or forever the scenes and friends which have become 
 so dear, that the hands move more slowly than in 
 the springtime. With the heart attuned to a minor 
 key, the poet's description of these saddest days of 
 all the year floats ever and anon through the mind, 
 touching a responsive chord : — 
 
 Now the autumn's gold is turned to gray; 
 
 Earth puts on sackcloth; and from sobbing eaves 
 And bare tree-branches weeping all the day, 
 
 The raindrops fall upon the quivering leaves. 
 Anon a ray of sunshine streaks the gloom, 
 
 And the pale skies shed a faint, sickly smile 
 O'er the cold earth, as one smiles o'er a tomb 
 
 Who tries his will with God's to reconcile. 
 Yet feels that he would call the lost one back 
 
 Even from Paradise, were it but given 
 The power to follow in the spirit's track. 
 
 And hold it at the very gates of Heaven, — 
 So sad November blindly sits and grieves 
 O'er the lost beauty of her fallen leaves. 
 
 It seems fitting that our last good-byes should 
 be said at midnight and our journey, long and 
 
76 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 lonely, should begin in darkness. We are too far 
 from home to realize that we are tending toward it, 
 and the pangs of separation from the loved ones 
 we arc leaving are yet too fresh to give place to 
 other thoughts, as through tedious hours wc go to 
 meet the rising sun, which sheds its welcome light 
 around us as we enter Chicago. An hour or two 
 later we bid adieu to the elegant waiting-rooms of 
 the Union Passenger Station in that city, with 
 increased courage for a fresh start over an untried 
 route. Illinois is soon left behind us, and all day 
 long we are rushing across Indiana. All night, 
 sleeping or waking, we are borne relentlessly on- 
 ward over the fertile prairies and past the slumber- 
 ing towns of Ohio, land of statesmen, name forever 
 linked with that of the immortal Garfield. Small 
 wonder if visions of the White House are this night 
 dancing through the dreams of many an Ohio 
 urchin. It is morning again, but darkness still 
 covers the earth as we pass Alleghany City and 
 Pittsburgh. Surely no other town in Christian 
 America presents so wierd and uncanny an appear- 
 ance by night as does Pittsburgh with her myriad 
 foundries and blast furnaces grotesquely outlined 
 against the sky. With red lights gleaming from 
 every window and balls and forked tongues of flame 
 surmounting the tall chimneys, but little stretch of 
 the imagination becomes necessary to make the 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 77 
 
 scene infernal. Steaming out of Pittsburgh by day- 
 light, we are soon in the heart of the Alleghanies. 
 To one born among the mountains, a six months' 
 absence from them is quite enough to give zest to 
 the enjoyment of this day, even though its hours 
 be passed in a railroad car. On the whole we are 
 sincerely thankful for the triumph of engineering 
 skill which makes it possible at so little personal 
 inconvenience to enjoy so much. Not otherwise 
 could we have hoped ever to scale those lofty 
 heights and gaze far down into the valleys below 
 or across to other and nobler peaks ; or to have 
 followed through all its wayward wanderings the 
 far-famed Juniata which, while it may be disap- 
 pointing in color and in breadth, is often bewitch- 
 ingly beautiful, even when stripped of its summer 
 adornments — with them we can readily believe it 
 is the veriest coquette in all this mountain country. 
 
 But there are other things to be seen, indeed, to 
 quote from the railroad circular, ''It is no new thing 
 to say that the scenery on the line of the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad is beautiful and in many places 
 grand. Long sweeps of wooded hills, lofty moun- 
 tains, dark ravines, picturesque valleys opening into 
 each other, sparkling and placid waters, wide rolling 
 pastoral landscapes follow in rapid succession." 
 
 Among the notable things is the famous Horse 
 Shoe Curve, where the road compasses three sides 
 
78 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 of a valley which it could not cross. At Cresson 
 Springs we pass the beautiful hotel, a veritable 
 palace in the mountains. While the sun is shin- 
 ing brightly, the porter lights the lamps, and we 
 plunge into the darkness of Spruce Creek Tunnel 
 for a journey literally through the hills. At the 
 mountain city of Altoona we stop for dinner. Later 
 in the day our path winds through the very garden 
 of Pennsylvania, Lancaster and Chester counties, 
 whose farms are tempting to the eye even in 
 November. At sunset we are crossing the Sus- 
 quehanna at Harrisburg. Night has fallen again 
 when we reach Philadelphia and we have but 
 glimpses of moonlit vistas as we pass I'airmount 
 Park in leaving. 
 
 We arc out in the country a few miles, not how- 
 ever beyond the city limits, they tell us, when we 
 are brought to a sudden standstill by red lights 
 ahead. A wrecked freight train blocks the way 
 and we are doomed to three long hours of waiting. 
 One never realizes more fully the exact amount of 
 latent patience in her composition than at such a 
 time as this. Nothing to do through all the long 
 hours but wait, hoping each moment it may be 
 the last, until "hope deferred" and the thought of 
 expectant and anxious friends, so near and yet so 
 far, if it docs not make " the heart sick," at least 
 disturbs the equanimity of the average woman. 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 79 
 
 We have left most of our passengers in the "City 
 of Brotherly Love," and the few who remain soon 
 exhaust their resources of entertainment and wisely 
 conclude to make themselves as comfortable as 
 circumstances will allow. There is a pretense of 
 napping, but we are sure it is only a pretense. 
 The longest three hours of all the year are ended 
 at last, and we are soon crossing New Jersey at a 
 fearful rate of speed. " The wee sma' hours " of a 
 new day are upon us when we reach Jersey City, 
 where ends not only the railroad, but for a time 
 our wanderings. 
 
 Could we fly to and from New York without the 
 prosaic necessity of horse cars and ferry, no more 
 charming suburban home could be asked for by 
 reasonable mortal than Jersey City Heights. The 
 air is so delightfully fresh and cool in summer that 
 there is no real need for a change to country or 
 seashore. Moreover, rents are reasonable, the one 
 gain growing out of the evil of long distances by 
 car or boat. In spite of these tedious rides, hun- 
 dreds of people find enough of compensation in 
 the breeziness and roominess of the heights to 
 induce them to build, buy or rent homes there. 
 The latter is at present quite the most sensible of 
 the three, since the city is overwhelmed with debt, 
 the result of an attempt, some years ago, to fill the 
 salt marshes in the lower part of the town. 
 
8o FROM ATA IN E TO THE MISS/SSIPPL 
 
 Of course one's first Sunday in or near New 
 York, must if possible compass a visit to Plymouth 
 Church. Upon the present occasion such a plan 
 promised more than usual interest, as it was un- 
 derstood that Mr. Bcecher would defend his new 
 position in theology. To appreciate the power of 
 the man, one needs to listen while he speaks ; his 
 inimitable manner makes his words doubly im- 
 pressive; his cutting sarcasms are infinitely more 
 cutting as they fall from his own lips than they 
 ever can be upon paper. The colossal egotism of 
 his reasons for the new departure is in a measure 
 overlooked as one listens. Nevertheless any orth- 
 odox person must carry away the impression that 
 the great preacher has voluntarily cut loose from 
 many of the moorings of Scripture, and that hence- 
 forth for himself or his hearers no other anchor is 
 necessary than that furnished by Mr. Beecher's 
 logic. Though the man be brilliant and his reason- 
 ing seem plausible, and though he be sincere and 
 good, still, the majority of thinking men and women 
 will [jrefer to build upon the solid rock of Divine 
 revelation, rather than on the shifting sand of finite 
 reason. 
 
 A sleigh ride seems quite indispensable to the 
 proper observance of Thanksgiving in New Eng- 
 land, but they tell us that last Thanksgiving-day 
 was the first for more than forty years when such 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 8i 
 
 a luxury has been attainable by New Yorkers, and 
 they made the most of their opportunity. Central 
 Park became a carnival of sleighs with jingling 
 bells and happy occupants. 
 
 Halting beneath the shadow of the obelisk on this 
 Thanksgiving morning, there falls upon us a spell 
 too deep for words. The fresh snow, the music 
 of the bells, the merry riders are all forgotten, and 
 we go back thousands of years to the time when 
 human hands fashioned this strange monument 
 from the unquarried stone, and wrought upon its 
 sides these curious symbols of a long-forgotten 
 tongue. Who may tell the unwritten history of 
 the centuries through which it has lived } We say 
 lived, for it seems almost a sentient being — some 
 priest or king of ancient Heliopolis, condemned to 
 live on in stone forever, an exile, alone and unknown 
 — yet not alone, for in the Metropolitan Museum 
 of Art, close at hand, are rare treasures of art from 
 its own and other lands over which, as a faithful 
 sentinel through summer's heat, and winter's snow 
 by day and by night, it keeps most loving guard. 
 
 The generous wisdom and foresight of the foun- 
 ders of the Art Museum can hardly be too highly 
 appreciated. Although the institution is yet in 
 its infancy, nowhere else in America can be found 
 so complete a representation of the arts of all ages 
 and all climes. Thrown open to the public gratu- 
 
82 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 itously upon four days in each week, this museum 
 must inevitably become a great educator. To derive 
 full advantage from it, one should be near enough 
 to make frequent visits possible. Two or three 
 hours at a time spent in studying some one depart- 
 ment by aid of its handbook, would enable one in 
 a few months to easily and pleasantly acquire a 
 vast deal of knowledge. With but one day to spare 
 for the whole wonderful collection, one seems at 
 its close to have lived years since morning. It is 
 too much to grasp at once, yet in our greed we are 
 prone to make the attempt. Our plan was to take 
 handbooks of the loan collection of paintings and 
 sculpture and the tapestries, and of the pictures 
 by the old masters and give careful inspection to 
 everything therein catalogued ; then to spend the 
 remainder of the day in looking, without the aid of 
 books, at the other collections. In this way it is 
 possible to see all and yet to have an intelligent 
 idea of much that is seen. The wonderful Cesnola 
 antiquities from Cyprus are here ; here too, are 
 Egyptian, Babylonian, Phoenician, Greek, Peruvian, 
 Mexican and Indian relics, besides wonders of 
 workmanship from China, Japan, Rome and many 
 other places. Of books there seems no end to the 
 antique and strange, and we realize the strides which 
 the printer's art has made within a few centuries. 
 "One Thousand Nights and a Night" is here to be 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 83 
 
 seen in the original. A small portion of the work 
 has been read almost the world over under the title 
 of "Arabian Night's Entertainments." Going back 
 of the time of book-making, we find ancient Baby- 
 lonian bank accounts baked upon bits of clay. In 
 the Cesnola collection is a sarcophagus of a king 
 of Cyprus, dating back to 600 b. c. There is also 
 the plaster cast of a monument set up by Sargon, 
 father of Senacherib, in Cyprus to commemorate 
 his victories there in the year 710 b. c. The mon- 
 ument bears the portrait of King Sargon. We never 
 see nor hear the name of Senacherib without an 
 amused recollection of a Western divine who claimed 
 the title of d. d., but who persisted in calling the 
 old Assyrian king "Senna-cherub." In one of 
 the basement rooms is a veritable " Diogenes' tub." 
 The cynical old philosopher, bound to mortify the 
 flesh and eschew all the comforts of life, certainly 
 chose his dwelling-place wisely, for one cannot con- 
 ceive of anything but discomfort in such a home, 
 even though these tubs were often large enough to 
 be used in lieu of cellars, or to serve as a hiding- 
 place for a whole family in an emergency. This 
 tub was an immense stone jar, bulging in the middle 
 and having an opening at the top to admit vegeta- 
 bles, children or philosophers as the case might 
 require. 
 
 All this and much more for the curiosity-seeker. 
 
84 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 The lover of the beautiful meanwhile finds ample 
 scope for observation am()n<( paintings, statuary, 
 Venetian and Roman glasses, exquisite specimens 
 of china and other wares, precious stones skillfully 
 engraved, wonderful carvings, laces so delicately 
 wrought that only with the aid of a magnifying 
 glass can their beauty be fully appreciated, the 
 Bryant Vase and other repousse work in silver — 
 indeed, time and words fail if we attempt to even 
 mention all that the museum already contains. If 
 the plan of its founders can be fully carried out, 
 the institution will be a blessing to all future gene- 
 rations. 
 
 How often we thought of the hundreds of little 
 people scattered among the Oxford hills, as we saw 
 the bewildering display of holiday goods in the 
 stores of New York. How their bright eyes would 
 have danced with delight could they have seen the 
 windows at R. H. Macy & Co.'s. In one window 
 were movable scenes from "Mother Goose," made 
 up of real dolls. There was " Peter, Peter, pumpkin 
 cater," whose wife was such a gad-about that he 
 put her in a pumpkin shell with her feet thrust 
 through the side like she was in the stocks. The 
 old lady sat there with her bonnet and shawl still 
 on ready for another start, but Peter kept guard 
 over her with the air of a triumphant husband. 
 Scarcely a well-known story from those old melo- 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 85 
 
 dies that was not here illustrated, while an audience 
 of fashionably dressed dolls within the window 
 looked on at the shifting scenes, and a dense crowd 
 of people, old and young, jostled each other upon 
 the sidewalks in their eagerness to get a good view. 
 Next came the fairy window where the crowd was 
 almost as great, and then the window which held the 
 great ocean steamer loaded with doll passengers "off 
 for Europe." Farther up town, at Ehrich's store, 
 one might see "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in miniature, 
 the principal events of the story being illustrated 
 by doll-pictures which were continually shifting. 
 "Tiffany's" by electric light at the holiday season, 
 is ablaze with jewels and one lingers over the 
 display of sparkling gems and costly settings, they 
 are so beautiful. 
 
 The elevated railroads may seem a nuisance to 
 the people along whose avenues they run, but the 
 question of time, which is the all-important one to 
 New Yorkers, aside, they are a decided improve- 
 ment upon horse-cars in cold weather. It is such 
 a comfort to find one's self in a warm car, where 
 cold blasts are not rushing savagely through and 
 chilling the very marrow in one's bones. 
 
 Some heroism is required to go from Jersey City 
 Heights to New York of a cold evening to attend 
 a lecture, nevertheless we went to Chickering Hall 
 and heard Miss Emily Faithfull, whose efforts in 
 
86 FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 behalf of the working women of England have 
 given her a reputation on both sides of the sea. 
 Colonel Fred, Conkling presided at the meeting, 
 while the bull-dog countenance of "Boss" Kelly, 
 "the man who made Garfield President," was con- 
 spicuous in the parquette. Miss Faithfull's subject 
 was "The Improved Condition of Woman in the 
 Nineteeth Century." We confess to a little dis- 
 appointment in the lecture, which she read in a 
 monotonous manner, and which contained nothing 
 with which her audience was not perfectly familiar, 
 unless it be an account of the attention which the 
 Queen had at various times graciously vouchsafed to 
 the lecturer and her work. A gentleman who had 
 not been present endeavored to console us with the 
 thought that "it's worth something to be able to 
 say you've heard Miss Emily Faith full." Perhaps 
 if he had taken the pains which we did to go, 
 he might have found the question "did it pay?" 
 evolving itself from his inner consciousness. 
 
 One can accomplish little in the way of sight- 
 seeing in three short weeks of wintry weather, 
 when the fireside seems more attractive than the 
 biting cold of the street car. So the time for fold- 
 ing our tent once more comes ere we are half 
 prepared for it, and it is not without regret at the 
 necessity of leaving so much unseen and of saying 
 our good-byes once again, that we embark on the 
 
FROM MAINE TO THE MISSISSIPPI. 8y 
 
 magnificent City of Worcester, realizing as we 
 steam down North River that at last we are truly 
 " homeward bound." 
 
 It is too cold on deck for a prolonged vigil there, 
 but we tarry till we round the Battery and glide 
 beneath the great Brooklyn bridge, and then" the 
 early dusk of the winter evening closes around us 
 and we flee to the light and warmth of the saloon. 
 They call it a rough night on the Sound, but at 
 midnight we reach New London, and after four 
 hours of waiting leave the boat for the cars. By 
 daylight we are in Worcester where another chano-e 
 IS necessary. All the forenoon the cars seem "o 
 creep slowly through a most uninteresting stretch 
 of country. It is not till we are on the Grand 
 Trunk Road that we begin to look for familiar 
 way-marks, and Oh! how the heart outruns the 
 swiftest railroad train as we draw nearer and ever 
 nearer to the dear old home! With what delight 
 we at length give up our last railroad ticket, Tnd 
 then — what then, but //ome/ 
 
/>'. Thurston t( Co., Printers. 
 
 C 310 88