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Contents
(Supplied by Transcriber)

[1]

Foreword

In furtherance of giving the utmost service to the public, the New York Central Lines asked the editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica to prepare this booklet descriptive of and vivifying the historical development of what has been termed "The Greatest Highway in the World."

It is presented to you in the hope that it may prove a pleasant companion on a journey over our Lines. The information will afford a new appreciation of the historical significance and industrial importance of the cities, towns and country which the New York Central Lines serve.

The New York Central Lines enter twelve states and serve territory containing 51,530,784 inhabitants or 50.3 per cent of the nation's population. This rich and busy territory produces 64 per cent of the country's manufactured products and mines a similar proportion of its coal.

This system does approximately 10 per cent of the railroad transportation business of the United States, although its main-track mileage is only 6 per cent. In other words the business it handles exceeds that of the average railroad, mile for mile, by nearly 100 per cent. The New York Central carries 52 per cent of all through passengers between New York and Chicago, the remaining 48 per cent being divided among five other lines. The freight traffic of the New York Central Lines in 1920 was greater than that carried by all the railroads of France and England combined.

The scenes that stretch before the eyes of passengers on these Lines are rich with historic interest. Few persons know that the second settlement in the United States was at Albany and that it antedated Plymouth by several years. Probably fewer persons know that the first United States flag was carried in battle at Fort Stanwix, now the city of Rome, N.Y. We hope that the reader will discover in the following pages more than one historic shrine which he will wish to visit.

It has been said that the history of a country's civilization is the history of its highways. Certainly the development of a great system such as the New York Central is an important element in the progress and prosperity of the country which it serves. This railroad is, in fact, a public institution, and it will prosper to the extent that it gives service to the public.

The New York Central Lines have the initial advantage that they follow the great natural routes along which the first trails were blazed by the red men, and are almost free from grades, sharp curves and other hindrances to comfortable and efficient transportation. Thus the road owes its superiority primarily to the fact that it lends itself to a maximum degree of efficiency.

But service as it is conceived by the New York Central, involves many aspects. One is the careful provision for the comfort and convenience of passengers; another is adequate and efficient facilities for serving the interests of shippers. In other words, New York Central service means not only fast and luxurious passenger trains, but also the rapid handling of freight. To give such service requires the highest class of equipment—the best rails, the finest cars, the most powerful locomotives, etc.—but it also requires an operating force of loyal, highly trained employees. In both respects the New York Central Lines excel.

The inspiring record of the system's growth through public approval and patronage is fundamentally a tribute to the service rendered, constantly advanced and developed in pace with public requirements. The accompanying booklet is in one sense an expression of past achievement, but it is also an earnest of greater accomplishment to come.

[3]

New York to Albany

Fifty years ago when Commodore Vanderbilt began the first Grand Central Station—depot, they called it, in the language of the day—he made one error of judgment. His choice of a site proved to be magnificently right, though he selected a spot that was practically open country, then technically known as 42nd St. The story goes—it is a typically American story—that his friends laughed at him, remarking that a person might as well walk to Boston or Albany as go away up to 42nd St. to take a train for those cities. But the people did come, and they admired the commodore's new station, which is perhaps not surprising, since the commodore had set himself to build the greatest terminal in the world. Many Americans considered the new "depot" as only second to the capitol at Washington, and it served as an excellent show place when visitors came to town. Europe might have its cathedrals, but it had no Grand Central Station!

The commodore's one mistake lay in thinking that his fine new station would last a century. Within ten years an addition had to be built; in 1898 it had to be entirely remodeled and enlarged, and fifteen years later it was entirely demolished to make way for the present building which would be adequate for handling the city's ever-increasing millions.

There seems to be little doubt that the city of N.Y. and its environs has become within the last decade larger even than London. The population of greater London (including all the separate [4]administrative entities within the Metropolitan Police District) is estimated at 7,435,379. Jersey City, Hoboken, and the other N.J. cities on the west, as well as Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, etc., on the north, although politically detached, are included in the "city" of N.Y. in the larger sense, their political detachment being in a certain sense accidental. Including these, the population of N.Y. area corresponding to the Metropolitan London area is 7,583,607. The population of N.Y. City proper is 5,261,151. The London area comparable with this, viz., the part of London governed by the London County Council has a population of 5,028,974. Comparing the areas of the two—N.Y.C. with 327 sq. miles and London with 692 sq. miles, it is hard to understand how the respective populations should approximate each other so nearly until it is remembered that New York grows perpendicularly instead of horizontally, that it usurps more air rather than more land. In some of the downtown business streets, such as Wall or Rector, the buildings tower so high above the narrow thoroughfare that they form a kind of deep canyon along which the wind is drawn as through a tunnel.

In the colonial period Philadelphia was the most important city, commercially, politically and socially, while just before the War of Independence, Boston, with a population of 20,000 was the most flourishing town in all the colonies. During the Revolutionary War, N.Y.C. had fallen to a population of 10,000 and in 1790 it had barely gained a position of leadership with 33,131, but by 1840 N.Y.C. had grown to be a city of 313,000 while Philadelphia had 95,000 and Boston 93,000.

Today one of the most remarkable features of New York is the Grand Central Terminal. The exterior finish is granite and Indiana lime-stone; the style somewhat Doric, modified by the French Renaissance. Over the entrance to the main [5]building is a great arch surmounted by a statuary group wherein Mercury, symbolizing the glory of commerce, is supported by Minerva and Hercules who represent mental and moral force.

Within, the main concourse of the station proper is an immense room with a floor space of 37,625 sq. ft. where the New York City Hall might be set and yet leave room to spare. It is covered with a vaulted ceiling 125 ft. high, painted a soft cloudy blue and starred over with the constellations of heaven. Great dome-shaped windows, three each at the east and west ends, furnish light.

The entire site of the Grand Central Terminal comprises 30 blocks and 80 acres which above the surface are covered with a great variety of buildings, making almost a city in itself. Moreover, there is direct subway entrance to three large hotels, capable of housing as many as 10,000 persons, and to all these conveniences is added that of comfortable temperature throughout the terminal, no matter how cold the weather.

[6]

[7] As distinctively "New York" as the sky-scrapers, are the hotels and apartment houses. Of the latter, there are more than in any other city in the world, and the number of persons who are giving up their houses and adopting this manner of life is steadily increasing. The first thing, in fact, that impresses a visitor on his arrival is the seemingly endless amount of buildings adopted for transients. A few of the largest hotels have space for several thousand persons at one time.

The old station in 1903-'12 was torn down, brick by brick, while at the same time the new building was being erected—and all without disturbing the traffic or hindering the 75,000 to 125,000 people that passed through the station each day. This was an extraordinary engineering feat, for not only were 3,000,000 yards of earth and rock taken out to provide for the underground development, but hundreds of tons of dynamite were used for blasting. Among the improvements introduced in the new station are ramps instead of stairways, the division of out-going from in-going traffic [8]and the elimination of the cold trainshed. The substitution of electricity for steam as a motive power in the metropolitan area made possible the reclamation of Park Avenue and the cross streets from 45th St. to 46th St.—about 20 blocks in all—by depressing and covering the tracks.

At 56th St. the tracks begin to rise from the long tunnel and pass through the tenement district of the upper East Side. The side streets seem filled with nothing but children and vegetable carts, while along the pavements shrill women with shawls over their heads are bargaining for food with street-vendors. As the railroad tracks rise higher still, we run on the level with the upper-story windows out of which the tenants lean and gossip with one another.

Old Harlem was "Nieuw Haerlem," a settlement established in 1658 by Gov. Peter Stuyvesant in the northeastern part of Manhattan Island. It existed for 200 years but is now lost under modern Harlem, which centers about 125th St. In this neighborhood to the west occurred [9]the battle of Harlem Heights—a lively skirmish fought Sept. 16, 1776, opposite the west front of the present Columbia University, and resulting in a victory for the forces of Gen. Washington, who up to that time had suffered a number of reverses on Long Island and elsewhere. The battle was directed by Washington from the Jumel mansion*, 160th St. and Amsterdam Ave., the most famous house, historically, on the island of Manhattan. It is still standing.

Leaving Manhattan, that extraordinary island which Peter Minuit, director-general of New Netherlands, bought in 1626 from the Indians for sixty guilders' worth of goods (about $24), we cross the Harlem River to the Borough of the Bronx, named for Jonas Bronck, the first white settler, who made his home in 1639 near the Bronx Kills (where the Harlem River flows into Long Island Sound).

The Hudson River Division of the New York Central turns to the left and follows the course of the Harlem River, 7 M. long, which separates Manhattan Island from the mainland and connects the Hudson with the East River. On the south bank of the Harlem are Washington Heights, with the Speedway on the immediate bank, and Fort George (near 193d Street) named from a Revolutionary redoubt. The Speedway was built at a cost of $3,000,000 for the special use of drivers of fast horses. On the right, after passing the High Bridge, which carries the old Croton aqueduct, one of the feeders of the city water supply, and the Washington Bridge, are University Heights and (farther to the west) the township of Fordham, where the cottage in which Edgar Allen Poe lived from 1844 to 1849 and wrote Ulalume and Annabel Lee, is still preserved.

Spuyten Duyvil is situated on Spuyten Duyvil Creek, celebrated by Washington Irving, which connects the Harlem and Hudson Rivers. In recent years the creek has been enlarged into a ship canal.

Across the Hudson, along which our route now lies for nearly 150 M., can be seen the Palisades, an extraordinary ridge of basaltic rock rising picturesquely to a height of between 300 and 500 ft. and extending along the west bank of the Hudson about 12 M. from a point north of Ft. Lee, N.J., to Palisades, N.Y.

To the right, just north of Spuyten Duyvil, is a high promontory, upon which stands a lofty monument to Henry Hudson, who had his first skirmish here with the Indians after entering N.Y. Bay in Sept. 1609. With an excellent harbour at its mouth, and navigable waters leading 150 M. into a fertile interior, the Hudson River began to attract explorers and settlers soon after the discovery of America. Verrazano, the Florentine navigator, sent out by the French king, Francis I, ventured a short distance up the Hudson in 1524, almost 100 years before the Pilgrim Fathers, and in 1609 Henry Hudson sailing in the "Half Moon" nearly up to the [12]site of Albany demonstrated the extent and importance of the river that bears his name.

[13]

The lower Hudson is really a fiord—a river valley into which ocean water has been admitted by the sinking of the land, transforming a large part of the valley into an inlet, and thus opening it to commerce as far as Troy (about 150 M.), up to which point the river is tidal and, therefore, partly salt. The Hudson extends above Troy for 150 M. farther, but navigation is interrupted by shallows and swift currents. Below Troy the fall is only five feet in a distance of 145 M. This lower, navigable portion of the Hudson was the only feasible route through the Atlantic highlands, and in consequence it has been one of the most significant factors in the development of the United States. New York City likewise owes its phenomenal development largely to this great highway of commerce.

The invention and successful operation of the steamboat, the first line of which was established on the Hudson by Fulton in 1807, gave early impetus to the importance of N.Y.C., and the building of the Hudson River R.R., one of the first successful railways, now a part of the New York Central Lines, and the opening of the Erie Canal (1825) connecting the Hudson with the Great Lakes and the far interior, were among other contributory factors in the city's growth.

When the Dutch founded New Netherlands, the present site of Yonkers was occupied by an Indian village, known [14]as Nappeckamack, or "town of the rapid water," and a great rock near the mouth of the Nepperhan creek (to the north of the station) was long a place of Indian Worship.

The land where Yonkers now stands was part of an estate granted in 1646 by the Dutch government to Adrian Van Der Donck, the first lawyer and historian of New Netherlands. The settlement was called the "De Jonkheer's land" or "De Yonkeer's"—meaning the estate of the young lord—- and afterwards Yonkers. Subsequently the tract passed into the hands of Frederick Philipse, the "Dutch millionaire," as the English called him, some of whom alleged that he owed a large part of his fortune to piratical and contraband ventures. The suspicion was strong enough to force Philipse out of the governing council of the colony, and he returned to his manor where he died (1702) at the age of 76.

The Philipse manor house*, one of the best examples of Dutch colonial architecture in America, erected in 1682 and enlarged in 1745, was the second residence built by the Philipses (the other is at Tarrytown) and is now maintained as a museum for colonial and Revolutionary relics. It was confiscated by the legislature in 1779 in reprisal for the [15]suspected "Toryism" of the third Frederick Philipse, the great grandson of the first lord of the manor and his second successor. Before being converted into a museum it served for many years as the City Hall of Yonkers.

Yonkers has some important manufactures with an annual production of $75,000,000 and 15,000 wage earners; its output includes passenger and freight elevators, foundry and machine shop products, refined sugar, carpets, rugs and hats. It has one of the largest carpet factories in the world.

The country round Yonkers is dotted with fine estates. Conspicuous to the right, 2 M. north of the station, is the battlemented tower of "Greystone," once the home of Samuel J. Tilden and now owned by Samuel Untermyer, the N.Y. lawyer.

Across the Hudson River from Hastings (19 M.) can be seen Indian Head, the highest point on the Palisades, near which (about ½ M. farther north) is the boundary between N.J. and N.Y.; from this point northward both shores belong to N.Y.

About the time of the Revolutionary War, a Swede named Jeremiah Dobbs, established a ferry here connecting with the northern end of the Palisades (visible on the left across the river). Originally only a dugout or skiff, it was the first ferry north of Manhattan, and was kept up by the Dobbs family for a century. In times past the residents have often tried to change the name of the town to something more "distinguished," but the old name could not be displaced.

The strategic position of Dobbs Ferry gave it importance during the War of Independence. It was the rendezvous of the British after the battle of White Plains in Nov. 1775 and a continental division under Gen. Lincoln was stationed here in Jan. 1777. The American army under Washington encamped near Dobbs Ferry on the 4th of July, 1781, and started in the following month for Yorktown, Va., where the final story of the war took place. Two years later (May 6, 1783) Washington and Sir Guy Carleton met at Dobbs Ferry to negotiate for the evacuation of all British troops, and to make [17]terms for the final settlement recognizing American Independence. Their meeting place was the old Van Brugh Livingston house.

"Sunnyside," a stone building "as full of angles and corners as a cocked hat"* and situated behind a screen of trees a little north of the station, was the home of Washington Irving, for whom the town was named. First erected by [18] Wolfert Acker in 1656, it was considerably enlarged by Irving in 1835.

[19]

The east end is covered with ivy said to be grown from a slip given to Irving when he visited Scott at Abbotsford. At Irvington we come to Tappan Zee (to be seen on the left), where the Hudson widens into a lake-like expanse, 10 M. long and 3 to 4 M. wide. It is a favorite cruising place for ghosts and goblins, according to popular legend.

Across the river from Irvington is Piermont, and 2 M. to the southwest of Piermont is the village of Tappan, where Maj. André was executed Oct. 2, 1780. Lyndehurst, with its lofty tower, the home of Helen Gould Sheppard, the philanthropist, a daughter of Jay Gould, is passed on the right just before reaching Tarrytown.

Situated on a sloping hill that rises to a considerable height above the Tappan Zee, historic Tarrytown stands on the site of an Indian village, Alipoonk (place of elms), burned by the Dutch in 1644. Irving explains that the housewives of the countryside gave the town its name because their [20]husbands were inclined to linger at the village tavern, but literal minded historians think it was more likely that the name came from Tarwen dorp or Tarwetown, "wheat town." There were perhaps a dozen Dutch families here in 1680 when Frederick Philipse acquired title to Philipse Manor, several thousand acres, in what is now Westchester county. Just above Tarrytown is the valley of the Pocantico creek, the mouth of which is marked by the projection of Kingsland Point.

Through this valley, we get a glimpse of the site where Philipse erected, partly of brick brought from Holland, a manor house,* a mill,* and a church,* all of which are still standing.

During the War of Independence, Tarrytown was the scene of numerous conflicts between the "cowboys" and "skinners," bands of unorganized partisans who carried on a kind of guerilla warfare, the former acting in the interest of the colonists, and the latter in that of the king. On the old post road on Sept. 24, 1780, Maj. André was captured by three Continentals, John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac van Wart. The spot where André was captured is now marked with a monument—a marble shaft surmounted by a statue of a Continental soldier.

Many of the stirring incidents of Fenimore Cooper's novel, The Spy, occurred in this neighborhood, and the town is particularly described in The Sketch Book of Washington Irving who was for many years the warden of the old church and is buried in the old Sleepy Hollow burying ground.

Among the literary residents of Tarrytown have been Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, well known to a previous generation for her romantic novels, John Kendrick Bangs, the humorist, and Hamilton Wright Mabie, editor and essayist. Carl Schurz (1829-1906) is buried here in the Sleepy Hollow churchyard. Tarrytown is the trading center of a prosperous agricultural region; it also has about 100 manufacturing establishments with a large output. Just north of Kingsland Point (seen at the left, on the east bank of the river), the seat of William Rockefeller comes into view on the right, and behind it, among the hills, is the estate of his brother, John D. Rockefeller.

Ossining was first settled in 1700, when it was part of Philipse Manor. It was originally called Sing Sing, taking its name from the Sin Sinck Indians, but in 1901 the name was changed to Ossining, on account of its association with the Sing Sing prison, which can be seen to the left near the water's edge. The prison is a low white-marble building, built in 1826. Ossining has a public library, several private schools, the Roman Catholic Foreign Missionary Seminary of America, and a soldiers' monument.

[25]Passing the Croton aqueduct (on the right), which is carried over a stone arch with an 80-foot span, the train crosses the mouth of the Croton River and intersects Croton Point. It was at the extremity of this peninsula that the British sloop-of-war "Vulture" anchored when she brought André to visit Benedict Arnold at West Point. Six miles up the Croton River is the Croton Reservoir, which supplies a large share of N.Y. City's water. Across the river is Haverstraw Bay.

At this point is the greatest width (4 M.) in the river's course. Shortly before reaching Peekskill we pass Verplanck's Point (on the left), near which the "Half Moon" dropped anchor, Sept. 14, 1609.

Peekskill means Peek's creek, and was named from the Dutch mariner, Jans Peek, who established a trading post here in 1760. It will be noticed that the Hudson turns abruptly to the left at this point, while the creek branches off to the right. According to tradition, the adventurous Jans, who had been voyaging up the Hudson, became confused and turned to the right, following the creek with the idea that it was the main river, until his boat ran aground. As a result of this accident he chose the spot to set up a trading post. During the latter part of the Revolutionary War Peekskill was an important post of the Continental Army; and in Sept. 1777, the village was sacked and burned by the British. To the north of Peekskill are Manito Mts., where the N.Y. National Guard has its summer encampment on a high cliff overlooking the river. The summer home of Henry Ward Beecher was in Peekskill, and ex-Senator Chauncey M. Depew was born here.

Peekskill on the east side of the Hudson, and Dunderberg Mt. (865 ft.) on the west, stand at the lower gate of the [26]Highlands, so named from the steeply rising hills which border both sides of the river for the next 16 M. At the foot of Dunderberg Mt. is Kidd's Point, one of the numerous places where the notorious pirate is supposed to have concealed treasure.

Our train passes too close to the hills on the east bank to give a perspective, but on the west, where the Highlands are visible across the Hudson, the outlook is very beautiful. This part of the Hudson, often compared to the Rhine, has always been a source of artistic and poetic inspiration.

Close to Dunderberg Mt. the river takes a sharp turn to the left, and just beyond the mountain can be seen Iona Island (near the west bank), now occupied by the U.S. Government as a naval arsenal and supply depot. Between the island and the eastern shore the river is so narrow that this stretch is spoken of by boatmen as "The Race." A short distance farther on the west bank is Bear Mt. Park, originally the gift of Mrs. E. H. Harriman, which has been set aside by the Interstate Palisade Park Commissioners as a vacation resort for the poor. Our train presently passes by tunnel under the mountain known as "Anthony's Nose" (900 ft.), so named, [27]according to Diedrich Knickerbocker, from the "refulgent nose" of Anthony van Corlear, Peter Stuyvesant's trumpeter. Across the river is visible the mouth of Poplopen creek, on the north side, Ft. Clinton.

Three M. farther (on the right) is Sugar Loaf Mt. (765 ft.), noteworthy as the place from which Benedict Arnold, whose headquarters were in the Beverley Robinson House, near the south base of the mountain, made his escape to the British man-of-war "Vulture" (1780) after receiving news of André's capture. On the west shore near Highland Falls stands the residence of the late J. Pierpont Morgan, standing somewhat back from the river and partly hidden by trees.

Buttermilk Falls (100 ft.) are visible on the west bank after a heavy rain; the buildings on the bluff above belong to Lady Cliff, a school for girls.

Across the river from Garrison, the imposing buildings of West Point, the "Gibraltar of the Hudson," come into view. The name "West Point" properly belongs to the village located here, but in ordinary usage it refers to the U.S. [28]Military Academy,* America's training school for officers, which at the present time has about 1,000 cadets.

[29]The academy occupies a commanding position on a plateau 150 ft. above the river. As we approach, the power house is in the foreground, with the riding school, a massive building just beyond, while the square tower of the Administration Building dominates the scene on the level of the parade ground above. West Point was first occupied as a military post during the Revolutionary War. In Jan. 1778, a huge chain, part of which is still preserved on the parade ground, was stretched across the river in the hope of blocking the progress of the British men-of-war, and a series of fortifications, planned by the great Polish soldier, Kosciusko, were erected on the site of the present academy.

Thaddeus Kosciusko (1746-1817) had a romantic and picturesque career.

At West Point were the fortifications that Benedict Arnold, their commander in 1780, agreed to betray into British hands.

Some time later Washington recommended West Point to Congress as a site for a military school, but it was not until 1802 that the academy was established. There are many notable memorials of early days and distinguished soldiers here.

Above the cliff and towards the north and east of the plain is Fort Clinton; on its east front stands a monument erected in 1828 by the Corps of Cadets to Kosciusko, while "Flirtation Walk," on the river side of the academy, leads to Kosciusko Garden, so named because it was much frequented by the Polish hero. On the parade ground is Victory Monument (78 ft. high), erected in 1874 as a Civil War memorial. The library—one of the finest military libraries in [32] existence—contains interesting memorials by Saint Gaudens to J. McNeil Whistler and Edgar Allan Poe, both of whom were cadets at the academy and both of whom were virtually expelled.

High above the academy on Mount Independence (490 ft.) still stands the ruins of old Ft. Putnam, one of the original fortifications, from which a magnificent view can be obtained of the academy, the river, and the surrounding country.

Our route now lies across a peninsula called Constitution Island, which is the site of a preparatory school for West Point.

We pass on the west bank Crow's Nest Mt. (1,396 ft.) associated with Joseph Rodman Drake's fanciful poem, The Culprit Fay. Two M. farther we leave the Highlands through the "Golden Gate," where Storm King Mt. rises to a height of 1,340 ft. on the west side of the Hudson, and Breakneck Mt. to a height of 1,365 ft. on the other. Near Storm King a tunnel of the great new Catskill aqueduct, carrying water to N.Y.C., passes under the Hudson at a depth of 1,100 ft.—a depth made necessary to reach solid rock at the bottom.

The river now widens and turns to the west; on the further bank is Cornwall, near which is the estate of E. P. Roe, the writer, and "Idlewild," the former home of N. P. Willis, likewise a writer of importance in his day. The home of Lyman Abbott, editor of the Outlook is also here. The proprietor of Bannerman's Island, which we now pass, is a dealer in obsolete war material; he has built on the island a number of castle-like store-houses of old paving stones taken from the streets of New York.

Beacon was incorporated in May, 1913, by merging the villages of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing, the latter of which lay closer to the west. The first settlement in the township was made in 1690. During the Revolutionary War it was an important military base for the Northern Continental Army. At Fishkill Landing on May 13, 1783, Gen. Knox organized the Society of the Cincinnati.

Back of Matteawan are seen Beacon Mts., their name recalling Revolutionary days when beacon fires were lighted as signals on their summits. The summit of the highest of the group, Beacon Hill* (1,635 ft.) can now be reached by means of a cable railway, making possible a very pleasant excursion. The Matteawan State Hospital for the Insane is at Beacon on the north side of Fishkill Creek. Beacon's products include hats, silks, woolens, rubber goods, engines, brick and tile; the total annual value of manufactures is about $4,500,000. Four miles to the northwest on Fishkill Creek is the village [35]of Fishkill, notable for two quaint old churches, both still standing, and interesting enough to repay a visit: the First Dutch Reformed (1731), in which the New York Provincial Congress met in Aug. and Sept., 1776, and Trinity (1769).

Across the river Newburgh is visible rising above the Hudson. From the Spring of 1782 to Aug. 1783 Washington made his headquarters in the Jonathan Hasbrouck house* (to the south of the city), built between 1750 and 1770. The house, a one story stone building with a timber roof, has been purchased by the State of N.Y. and is open to visitors. It contains many interesting Revolutionary weapons, documents and other relics. Here in May, 1782, Washington wrote his famous letter of rebuke to Lewis Nicola, who had written in behalf of a coterie of officers suggesting that he assume the title of king.

Newburgh was still his headquarters when Washington by the force of his influence secured the quiet disbandment of the Continental Army at the close of the war. Upon the occasion of the centennial celebration (1883) of this event, a monument called the Tower of Victory, 53 ft. high with a statue of Washington, was erected.

Newburgh is the center of a rich agricultural region, but it is a manufacturing center as well; its output comprises machine shop products, plaster, cotton, woolen and silk goods, felt hats, furniture, flour, lumber and cigars. Above Newburgh can be seen the lighthouse (on the west bank) called the Devil's Danskammer, or Devil's Dance Hall, recalling the time when Henry Hudson and his crew landed here to witness an Indian pow-wow. The Dutch, who were considerably startled by the affair, thought that it could be nothing less than a diabolical dance; hence the name.

Poughkeepsie was the Apokeepsing of the Indians—"the pleasant and safe harbour" made by the rocky bluffs projecting into the river, where canoes were sheltered from wind and wave. The city is built partly on terraces rising 200 ft. above the river, and partly on the level plateau above. Poughkeepsie was settled by the Dutch in 1698. The most momentous event in Poughkeepsie's history and one of the most important in that of the whole Union, was the convention held here in 1788 at which the state of N.Y. decided to ratify the federal constitution. The decision was carried by three votes.

Vassar College, the oldest women's college in America, and one of the most famous, occupies extensive grounds to the east of the city.

[37]

The Hudson near Poughkeepsie furnishes the course for the intercollegiate races in which American college crews, with the exception of Harvard and Yale (which row on the Thames at New London) have rowed practically every year since 1895. The river is spanned at this point by one of the largest cantilever bridges in the world. It is 2,260 ft. long and 200 ft. above the water, and is the only bridge over the Hudson south of Albany.

Poughkeepsie has more than 50 lines of manufacture, with products of a total annual value of $15,000,000, including mill supplies, clothing, cigars, candied fruit and preserves, cream separators, foundry products, knit goods, ivory buttons, and piano and organ players.

Two miles beyond Poughkeepsie the red brick buildings of the Hudson River State Hospital are passed on the right, and presently our route skirts Hyde Park (79 M.) near which, to the north, can be seen the estate of Frederick W. Vanderbilt. There are many beautiful country-places in the district. A little beyond Hyde Park on the west bank of the river is "Slabsides," the cabin home of John Burroughs, the poet, philosopher, and widely known writer on natural history.

Esopus Island is now passed, on the high left bank of which, near the water, stands the home of Alton B. Parker, Democratic candidate for the presidency against Roosevelt [38]in 1904. We now pass the estates of D. Ogden Mills and W.B. Dinsmore, former president of the Adams Express Company (on the right). Esopus Lighthouse is on the west bank where the river curves sharply to the left. On the high ground on the east bank is the country home of the late Levi P. Morton.

Across the river from Rhinecliff is Kingston (Pop. 26,688), most of which lies on a plateau 150 ft. above the river. Rondout, once a separate town, is now a part of the city of Kingston, the center of which lies 3 M. inland. To the northwest is the noble scenery of the Catskills, to the southwest are the Shawangunk Mts. and Lake Mohonk, and in the distance on our right (that is, on the Rhinecliff side) are the Berkshire Hills.

Kingston is one of the oldest towns in the state. In 1658 a stockade was built here by order of Gov. Peter Stuyvesant, and although the Dutch had built a fort here as early as 1614, it is from this event that the founding of the city is generally dated. The town suffered a number of murderous Indian attacks before it was taken over by the British in 1664.

The early history of Kingston reached a climax during the Revolution, when the British under Sir John Vaughan sacked the town and burned the buildings Oct. 17, 1777. The "Senate House"* erected in 1676, was the meeting-place of the first State Senate during the early months of 1777. At the time of the British occupation the interior was burnt but the walls were left standing. The building is now the property [39]of the state and is used as a colonial museum. The present Court House, built in 1818, stands on the site of the old Court House, where New York's first governor, George Clinton, was inaugurated, and in which Chief Justice John Jay held the first term of the N.Y. Supreme Court in Sept. 1777.

Less than a mile beyond Rhinecliff we pass "Ferncliff," the beautiful country-place of Vincent Astor, son of the late John Jacob Astor III, who lost his life in the "Titanic" disaster. The large white building on a hill nearby is the Astor squash court.

Six miles above Rhinecliff we pass Anandale on the right, the former home of Gen. Richard Montgomery (b. 1736), who was killed Dec. 31, 1775, while conducting the American attack on Quebec.

[41]

Just north of Tivoli (98 M.) is the site of the Manor House of the Livingston family, "Clermont," after which Robert Fulton named his first steamboat.

From Greendale a very fine view is obtained of the noble scenery of the Catskill Mountains. The village of Catskill (Pop. 4,461) across the river, was at one time the only point of entrance for visitors to the mountains—now reached chiefly by railway from Kingston. Catskill Station, however, is still a point of departure for this favorite summer resort. In clear weather it is possible to get a glimpse of the deep gorge of the Kaaterskill Cove (about one mile west of Catskill village) where Rip Winkle strayed into the mountains, discovered Hendrick Hudson playing at skittles, and, bewitched by the wine supplied by the ghostly sportsmen, slept for 20 years. On the high crest back of the station (about 10 M. from the river) the Mountain House (Alt. 2,225 ft.) and Kaaterskill House, famous old hotels, can be seen in clear weather.

Hudson, picturesquely situated on the slope of a hill and commanding a fine view of the river and the Catskill Mts., [43]was originally known as Claverack Landing, and for many years it was nothing more than a landing with two rude wharfs and two small storehouses, to which the farmers in the neighborhood brought their produce for shipment on the river. Late in 1783, the place was settled by an association of merchants and fishermen, mostly Quakers, from Rhode Island, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. These enterprising people had been engaged in whaling and other marine ventures, but when these industries were crippled by British cruisers during the War of Independence, they came to Hudson to find a more secluded haven. They were methodical and industrious; they even brought their houses, framed and ready for immediate erection, on their brig, the "Comet." The settlers opened clay pits, burned bricks and built a first class wharf. In 1785 the port was the second in the state in the extent of its shipping. Two shipyards were established and a large ship, the "Hudson" was launched. Toward the end of the 18th century it was the third city in the state, and had one of the three banks then existing in N.Y. State.

The War of 1812 caused a decline, but modern industry has revived the town, and its manufactures include Portland cement (one of the largest manufactories of that product in the United States is here), knit goods, foundry and machine shop products, ice machinery, brick and furniture.

Four miles above Hudson we pass the estuary of Stockport, on the north bank of which, at Kinderhook, once lived Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the U.S.

Schodack was the Dutch rendering of the Indian word "Esquatack," meaning "the fireplace of the nation." The island opposite the station was the site of the first council fire of the Mohican Indians, who were grouped about their "fire place" in 40 villages. They inhabited the Hudson Valley and their domain extended into Mass.

In the early days Douw's Point on the right bank, a few miles below Albany, was the head of steamboat navigation. Passengers for Albany used to transfer at this point to the stage. It was here that the "Half Moon" reached its farthest point on its northward trip up the Hudson.

In modern days the channel has been enlarged, deepened and protected by concrete dykes, which are seen at intervals along the upper river, so that the Hudson is now utilized for navigation as far as Troy. On the left bank just above Parr's Island is the estuary of the Normans Kill, which flows through the valley of Tawasentha, where, according to Indian tradition, once lived the "mighty Hiawatha."

Rensselaer, originally called Greenbush, lies directly across from Albany. It was first settled in 1631 and the site formed part of a large tract of land bought from the Indians by agents of Killiaen Van Rensselaer. On the lower edge of the town Ft. Cralo,* built in 1642 for protection against the Indians, still stands; the fort has a special interest in being connected with the origin of Yankee Doodle.

[46]

Albany to Syracuse

Across the river from Rensselaer on sharply mounting hills is the city of Albany. We cross the river by a suspension bridge, passing over Rensselaer Island and seeing ahead of us the handsome new freight houses of the D. & H.R.R., and to right and left the boats of the Hudson River Steamship lines lying against the wharves. Once over the bridge the tracks swerve to the right, and soon lead into the Union Station.

Almost under the shadow of the present Capitol, on a meadow to the north, Ft. Orange was built in 1624, when 18 families of Dutch Walloons selected this site for a permanent settlement in the New World. The history of Albany, however is usually dated from ten years earlier when Dutch traders built Ft. Nassau on Castle Island, the present Rensselaer Island.

During the early days Albany held high rank among American settlements. As a center of trade and civilization it rivalled Jamestown, Manhattan and Quebec. In 1618 the Dutch negotiated here the first treaty with the Iroquois, which tended to preserve friendly relations with the Indians for more than a century to come.

In 1629 the Dutch government granted to Killiaen van Rensselaer, an Amsterdam diamond merchant, a tract of land, [48]24 Sq. M., centering at Ft. Orange, over which he was given the feudal powers of a patroon.

This was the first manorial grant in New Netherlands and was destined to endure the longest. The colonists sent to this country by van Rensselaer were industrious and the town prospered, although in 1644, it was described by Father Jogues, a Jesuit priest, as "a miserable little fort called Fort Orange, built of logs, with four or five pieces of Breteuil cannon and as many swivels; and some 25 or 30 houses built of boards, and having thatched roofs." On account of its favorable commercial and strategic position at the head of navigation on the Hudson and at the gateway of the Iroquois country and the far west, it maintained its importance among colonial settlements for a century and a half. Its early name, Beverwyck, was changed to Albany—one of the titles of the Duke of York, afterwards James II.—when New Netherlands was transferred to the English (1644). Albany was granted a charter in 1686, and the first mayor (appointed by Gov. Dongan) was Peter Schuyler, who was likewise chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners.

Representatives of Mass., R.I., N.H., Conn., N.Y., Pa., and Md., met in Albany in June, 1754, for the purpose of confirming and establishing a close league of friendship with the Iroquois and of arranging for a permanent union of the colonies. This was the first important effort to bring about a Colonial confederation.

At about this time a Swedish naturalist, Peter Kalm, visiting Albany, reported that "there is not a place in all the British colonies, the Hudson Bay settlement excepted, where such quantities of furs and skins are bought of the Indians as at Albany." Most of the houses at this time were built of brick and stood with gable ends to the street; each house had a garden and a stoep, where the family were accustomed to sit summer evenings, the burgher with his pipe and his "vrouw" with her knitting. Well-to-do families owned slaves, but according to Mrs. Anne Grant, an English writer of the day who spent part of her childhood in Albany, "it was slavery softened into a smile."

It was here that the English from all the colonies, before and during the French and Indian wars met to consult with the Indians and make treaties with them. It was the gathering [50]place of armies where troops from all the colonies assembled and the objective of hostile French forces and their Indian allies on several occasions, yet was never taken by an enemy and never saw an armed foe. Even during the Revolutionary War, when its strategic importance was fully recognized by both armies, it remained immune, though at one time the objective against which Burgoyne's unsuccessful expedition was directed.

In 1797 Albany became the permanent state capital. The election of Martin Van Buren as governor in 1828 marked the beginning of the long ascendancy in the state of the "Albany Regency," a political coterie of Democrats in which Van Buren, W.L. Marcy, Benjamin Franklin Butler and Silas Wright were among the leaders.

The anti-rent war, precipitated by the death of Stephen van Rensselaer (1764-1839), the "last of the patroons," centered about Albany. The final settlement of this outbreak, which began with rioting and murder, and ended with the election of a governor favorable to the tenants (1846), disposed of feudal privilege in New York State which had flourished here until well into the 19th century, though it had disappeared elsewhere.

Comparatively few ancient landmarks remain in Albany, though there are some fine specimens of the Dutch and later colonial architecture still standing. Of these the best known is the Schuyler mansion,* built by Gen. Philip Schuyler, in 1760, which, after serving for many years as an orphan asylum, was recently purchased by the state and converted into a museum.

The Van Rensselaer manor-house, built in 1765, was pulled down in 1893 and reconstructed on the campus of Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., where it forms the Sigma Phi fraternity house. In the Albany Academy, built in 1813 by Philip Hooker, architect of the old State Capitol, Prof. Joseph Henry demonstrated (1831) the theory of the magnetic telegraph by ringing an electric bell at the end of a mile of wire strung around the room. Bret Harte, the writer, was born in 1839 in Albany, where his father was teacher of Greek in the Albany College, a small seminary.

Modern buildings of interest include the City Hall,* a beautiful French Gothic building; the State Educational Building, with its valuable library; the Albany Institute, with its art galleries; the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built of brownstone, with spires 210 ft. high; the Cathedral of All Saints, a fine specimen of Gothic architecture, said to be the first regularly organized Protestant Episcopal cathedral erected in the United States (1883), St. Peter's Church, and, most important, the State Capitol.*

The city has 11 parks, comprising 402 acres; the most notable is Washington Park, which contains two well known statues—one of Robert Burns, by Charles Caverley, and the bronze and rock fountain, "Moses at the Rock of Horeb," by J. Massey Rhind. The city's filtration system is of special interest to engineers; it occupies 20 acres, has eight filter beds, and filters 15,000,000 gallons of water daily.

Albany's key position with respect to New York, Boston and Buffalo ensured its commercial development. The first passenger railroad in America was operated between Albany and Schenectady.

The first steamboat in the United States made its initial trips between N.Y. and Albany, and the first canal connected Albany with Buffalo.

Within 35 years Albany has increased fivefold in size, and is today the intersecting point of the principal water routes of the Eastern States, for besides being near the head of navigation for large steamers on the Hudson, it is virtually the terminus of the N.Y. State barge canal. It is also the key point in the transportation system of the state, for here the B. & A. and the D. & H. railroads meet the New York Central, so that one can take train for Buffalo and Chicago, the Thousand Islands, the Adirondacks, Saratoga, Lakes George and Champlain, Montreal, Vermont and the Green Mts., the Berkshires, and Boston. It is the second largest express and third largest mail transfer point in the United States. The forests of the Adirondacks and of Canada have made it a great lumber post. Its manufactures have an annual value of $30,000,000 or more; they include iron goods, stoves, wood and brass products, carriages and wagons, brick and tile, shirts, collars and cuffs, clothing and knit goods, shoes, flour, tobacco, cigars, billiard balls, dominoes and checkers.

Leaving Albany, we follow closely the path of the old Iroquois Trail, which was in early days, as now, the chief highway to the Great Lakes.

At this point we first enter the historic Mohawk Valley, and on this site, according to tradition, once stood the chief village of the Mohawk Indians.

The first settlement at Schenectady was made in 1642 by Arendt Van Corlear and a band of immigrants who had become dissatisfied with conditions on the Manor of Rennselaerwyck where Corlear was manager of the estates of his cousin, Killiaen van Rennselaer.

To each of the 15 original proprietors, except Van Corlear who was to receive a double portion, was assigned a village lot of 200 sq. ft., a tract of bottom land for farming purposes, a strip of woodland, and common pasture rights. Many of the early settlers were well-to-do and brought their slaves with them, and for many years the settlement, originally known as Dorp, was reputed the richest in the colony.

Schenectady was spelled in a great variety of ways in the early records. Its Indian equivalent signified "Back Door" of the Long House—the territory occupied by the Six Nations.

In 1690 the young village received a setback which very nearly brought its early history to an end; on Feb. 9 of that year, the French and Indians surprised and burned the village, massacred 60 of the inhabitants and carried 30 into captivity.

Schenectady was rebuilt in the following years, but an outlying settlement was again the scene of a murderous [58]French and Indian attack in 1748. In the land along the river, the old part of the town, Indian skulls and arrow heads are still found.

English settlers arrived in considerable numbers about 1700. About 1774 a number of Shaker settlements were made in the lower Mohawk valley.

Schenectady was chartered as a borough in 1765 and as a city in 1798, and from that period date many quaint examples of colonial architecture. In Scotia, a suburb to the northwest of the city, still stands the Glen-Sanders mansion (built 1713) described as "a veritable museum of antiquity, furnished from cellar to garret with strongly built, elegant furniture, two centuries old." Descendants of the original owners are still living there. A fine specimen of Dutch architecture is the so-called Abraham Yates house (1710) at No. 109 Union Street. The Christopher Yates house at No. 26 Front Street was the birth place of Joseph C. Yates, first mayor of Utica (1788) and governor of the state in 1823. Governor Yates afterwards lived, until his death, in the large colonial house at No. 17 Front Street. The old "depot" of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, the first steam passenger railway in America now incorporated with the New York Central, is still standing in Crane Street.

Schenectady is the seat of Union College, which grew out of the Schenectady Academy (established in 1784) and many of the buildings dating back to the early 19th century are still in excellent preservation. They were designed by a French architect, Jacques Ramé, and the original plans are still in the Louvre, in Paris. At one of the entrances to the college on Union Street is the Payne Gate, built as a [59]memorial to John Howard Payne (1791-1852), author of "Home, Sweet Home," who was at one time a student at Union College The college comprises the academic and engineering departments of Union University. The other departments of the university—medicine, law, and pharmacy, as well as the Dudley observatory—are at Albany.

Up to the time of the building of the Erie Canal, Schenectady had been an important depot of the Mohawk River boat trade to the westward, but after the completion of the canal it suffered a decline. The modern manufacturing era, beginning about 1880, brought Schenectady growth and prosperity. To-day the city can boast that its products "light and haul the world." As we enter the town we pass on the left the main establishment of the General Electric Co., the largest electrical manufacturing plant in the world, with 200 buildings and 26,000 employees.

The American Locomotive Co., which likewise has a factory here, with 5,000 employees, turns out some of the largest and fastest locomotives produced in America or abroad. During the last 35 years Schenectady has become one of the greatest industrial centers in the United States; its total annual output has a value of nearly $100,000,000, the output of the General Electric Co, alone being about $75,000,000.

We now cross the Mohawk River, and Erie Canal, and our route ascends the valley of the Mohawk as far as Rome. To the south the Catskill Mts. are visible in the distance, and the outline of the Adirondack Mts. can be faintly seen to the north.

[61]

[62]Amsterdam was settled about 1775 and was called Veedersburg until 1804 when its present name was adopted. It was for some time the home of Elisha Arnold, father of Benedict Arnold, but the latter was born in Norwich, Conn. (Jan. 14, 1741.) The so-called Guy Park Mansion built in 1763, by Guy Johnson, nephew of Sir William Johnson is still used as a private residence. Today Amsterdam ranks as the first city in the United States in the manufacture of carpets and second in the manufacturing of hosiery and knit goods. It has one of the largest pearl button factories in the country; other products are brushes, brooms, silk gloves, paper boxes, electrical supplies, dyeing machines, cigars, wagon and automobile springs; the total value of the output being about $30,000,000 annually.

This village is named for the house* and fort erected here in 1742, by Sir William Johnson, one of the most remarkable of the early pioneers.

[63]

[64]After 1763 the fort was occupied by his son Sir John, who, during the War of Independence organized a loyalist regiment known as the "Queen's Royal Greens," which he led at the battle of Oriskany, and in raids on Cherry Valley (1778-1780) and on the Mohawk Valley. The house, once used as a fort, is described by an early writer thus: "Col. Johnson's mansion is situated on the border of the north bank of the River Moack. It is three stories high (two with an attic) built of stone, with port-holes and a parapet, and flanked with four bastions on which are some small guns. In the yard, on both sides of the mansion, are two small houses; that on the right of the entrance is a store, and that on the left is designed for workmen, negroes and other domestics. The yard gate is a heavy swing-gate, well ironed; it is on the Moack River side; from this gate to the river is about two hundred paces of level ground. The high road passes there." The place, now somewhat remodeled, is owned by the Montgomery County Historical Society and many curious historic relics are on exhibition here. It is open to the public daily.

Tribes Hill received its name from the fact that it was an old meeting place of the Indians. Across the river, in the estuary at the junction of Schoharie Creek with the Mohawk, once stood Ft. Hunter, which was the lower Mohawk castle, the upper castle being at Canajoharie.

About two miles farther at the little village of Auriesville on the left side of the Mohawk, where the river is joined by Auries Creek, there is a shrine (visible on the left from the train) marking the spot where Father Jogues, a Jesuit Priest, was killed in 1646.

The town of Fonda was named for Jelles Fonda, said to have been the first merchant west of Schenectady. Fonda established a prosperous store here about 1760, and his old accounts (still preserved) disclose that he had among his customers "Young Baron of the Hill," "Wide Mouth Jacob," "Young Moses," "Snuffers David," and the "Squinty Cayuga."

Following is a bill from Jelles Fonda's accounts:

Six miles north of Fonda is Johnstown (Pop. 10,908) where Sir William Johnson built his second residence (1762) now in the custody of the Johnstown Historical Society. It is a fine old baronial mansion.

Sir William also built the Fulton County Court House with its jail (1772), used during the Revolutionary War as a [66]civil and military prison. A free school, probably the first in N.Y. State, was established at Johnstown by Sir William Johnson in 1764 in his residence. In 1766 he organized a Masonic Lodge, one of the oldest in the U.S. In 1781, during the War of Independence, Col. Marinus Willett defeated here a force of British and Indians. The city is one of the principal glove making centers in the U.S. The total products are valued at about $3,000,000 annually. The manufacture of gloves in commercial quantities was introduced into the U.S. at Johnstown in 1809 by Talmadge Edwards, who was buried here in the Colonial Cemetery.

Passing the villages of Yosts and Sprakers we arrive in the town of Canajoharie, which in early days was the site of the upper Mohawk castle.

In 1749 a fortified dwelling was built here known as Ft. Rensselaer, which was utilized as a place of defence during the Revolutionary War. Canajoharie was the home of the famous Indian leader, Joseph Brant.

On the left, a little beyond Palatine Bridge, can be seen the red brick Herkimer mansion, near which a monument has been erected to Nicholas Herkimer, who died in 1777 from wounds received at Oriskany. We pass the village of Ft. Plain, St. Johnsville and East Creek.

Our route here lies through a ravine cut by the Mohawk River through a spur of the Adirondack Mts. The town is picturesquely situated on the sides of the gorge overlooking the rapids and falls. The Mohawk here descends 45 ft. in ½ M.

In the gorge, there are crystalline rocks which are of interest as belonging to the Laurentian formation, the oldest rock formation on the face of the globe.

Little Falls dates from about 1750. In 1782 there was an influx of German settlers into the village, and almost immediately thereafter the town was destroyed by Indians and "Tories.". It was resettled in 1790. Two and a half miles east of the town was the boyhood home of Gen. Nicholas Herkimer.

It is planned to establish an Historical Museum at the old Herkimer homestead. Near the city is the grave of Gen. Herkimer, to whom a monument was erected in 1896.

[68]The water power derived from the falls has stimulated manufacturing in the city; its output includes cotton yarns, hosiery, knit goods, leather, etc., valued at $15,000,000 annually. The city is one of the largest cheese markets in the U.S.

Herkimer was settled about 1725 by Palatine Germans, who bought from the Mohawk Indians a large tract of land, including the present site of the village. They established several settlements which became known collectively as "German Flats."

In 1756 a stone house (built in 1740 by John Jost Herkimer), a stone church, and other buildings, standing within what is now Herkimer Village, were enclosed in a stockade [69]by Sir William Johnson. This post, at first known as Ft. Kouari (the Indian name), was subsequently called Ft. Herkimer. Another fort (Ft. Dayton) was built within the limits of the present village in 1776 by Col. Elias Dayton (1737-1807), who later became a brigadier-general and served in Congress in 1787-1788. During the French and Indian War the settlement was attacked (Nov. 12, 1757) and practically destroyed, many of the settlers being killed or taken prisoners; and it was again attacked on April 30, 1758. In the War of Independence, Gen. Herkimer assembled here the force which on Aug. 6th, 1777, was ambushed near Oriskany on its march from Ft. Dayton to the relief of Ft. Schuyler. The settlement was again attacked by Indians and "Tories" in Sept. 1778, and still again in June, 1782. The township of Herkimer was organized in 1788, and in 1807 the village was incorporated. Herkimer is situated in a rich dairying region and has manufactures with an output of $4,000,000 annually.

This village, the main part of which is situated on the south bank of the Mohawk, owed its origin to a settlement made here in 1725 by Palatine Germans, but the village as such really dates from the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. In 1828 Eliphalet Remington (1793-1861) established here a small factory for the manufacture of rifles. He invented, and with the assistance of his sons, Philo, Samuel and Eliphalet, improved the famous Remington rifle.

In 1856 the company added to its business the manufacture of farming tools, in 1870 of sewing machines and in 1874 of typewriters. The last-named industry was sold to another company in 1886, and soon afterwards, on the failure of the original Remington company, the fire arms factory was bought by a N.Y.C. firm, though the Remington name was retained. The spot where Eliphalet had his primitive forge on the Ilion gorge road, just south of the town, is marked by a tablet placed there by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The principal manufactures today are typewriters, fire-arms, cartridges, and filing cabinets and office furniture. The annual output is valued at about $10,000,000.

[70]

The territory on which Utica is built was originally part of the 22,000 acre tract granted in 1734 by George II. to William Cosby (1695-1736), colonial governor of New York in 1732-36, and his associates. It was then known as Cosby's Manor.

During the Seven Years' War a palisaded fort was erected on the south bank of the Mohawk at the ford where Utica later sprang up. It was named Ft. Schuyler in honor of Col. Peter Schuyler, an uncle of Gen. Philip Schuyler of the Continental Army.

The main trail of the Iroquois which became later the most used route to the western country, crossed the Mohawk here and continued to Ft. Stanwix, now Rome. A branch trail turned slightly to the southwest, then more directly west [71]to Oneida Castle. Cosby's Manor was sold at a sheriff's sale for arrears of rent in 1792 and was bid in by Gen. Philip Schuyler, Gen. John Bradstreet, John Morin Scott and others for £1387 (about 15 cents an acre). The first bridge across the Mohawk at Utica was built in 1792. Soon after the close of the War of Independence, a large number of new settlers arrived, most of them Germans from the lower Mohawk Valley. About 1788 there was an influx of New Englanders, among whom was Peter Smith (1768-1837), later a partner of John Jacob Astor, and father of Gerrit Smith, a political and religious radical, who was born here in 1797.

Utica is situated on ground rising gradually from the river. There are many fine business and public buildings, especially on Genesee St., the principal thoroughfare, and the city is known for the number of its institutions, public and private. It has some fine parks. In the Forest Hill Cemetery are the graves of Horatio Seymour and Roscoe Conkling.

Here also is the famous Oneida stone of the Oneida Indians on which the warriors used to have their ears slit to prepare them for battle, and on which, too, they used to place the scalps of their enemies. The stone was brought here from Oneida Castle.

Utica has varied and extensive manufactures (17,000 employees), with a total annual output of about $60,000,000. Among its products are hosiery and knit goods, cotton goods, men's clothing, foundry products, plumbing and heating apparatus lumber products, food preparation, boots and shoes, and brick, tile and pottery, as well as a number of others. Utica is the shipping point for a rich agricultural region, from which are shipped dairy products (especially cheese), nursery products, flowers (especially roses), small fruits and vegetables, honey and hops.

We pass on the right, a short distance north of the river, the picturesque Deerfield Hills, a beginning of the scenic highlands which stretch away towards the Adirondack Mts. Fifteen miles north of Utica on West Canada Creek, are Trenton Falls,* which descend 312 feet in two miles through a sandstone chasm, in a series of cataracts, some of them having an 80-foot fall. The falls are reached on the branch line of the New York Central leading from Utica to the Adirondacks.

The battle of Oriskany, an important minor engagement of the Revolutionary War, was fought in a little ravine about 2 M. west of Oriskany, Aug. 6, 1777. Two days before, Gen. Nicholas Herkimer had gathered about 800 militiamen at Ft. Dayton (on the site of the present city of Herkimer) for the relief of Ft. Schuyler which was being besieged by British and Indians under Col. Barry St. Leger and Joseph Brant. [73]On the 6th, Herkimer's force, on its march to Ft. Schuyler, was ambushed by a force of 650 British under Sir John Johnson and 800 Indians under Joseph Brant, in the ravine west of the village. The rear portion of Herkimer's troops escaped from the trap, but were pursued by the Indians, and many of them were overtaken and killed. Between the remainder and the British and Indians there was a desperate hand-to-hand conflict, interrupted by a violent thunderstorm, with no quarter shown by either side. About this time a sortie was made from Ft. Schuyler and the British withdrew, after about 200 Americans had been killed and as many taken prisoner. The loss of the British was about the same. Gen. Herkimer, though his leg had been broken by a shot at the beginning of the action, continued to direct the fighting on [74]the American side, but died on Aug. 16 as a result of the clumsy amputation of his leg.

The battle, though indecisive, had an important influence in preventing St. Leger from effecting a junction with Gen. Burgoyne, which would have materially assisted the latter's intention to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. An obelisk on the hill to the left marks the spot where the battle took place.

The portage at this place, between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek (to the northwest), which are about a mile apart, gave the site its Indian name, De-i-wain-sta, "place where canoes are carried from one stream to another," and its earliest English name, "The Great (or Oneida) Carrying Place." Its location made it of strategic value as a key between the Mohawk Valley and Lake Ontario. Wood Creek flows into Oneida Lake, and thus formed part of a nearly continuous waterway from the Hudson to the Great Lakes. Two primitive forts were built in 1725 to protect the carrying place, but these were superseded by Ft. Stanwix, erected about 1760 by Gen. John Stanwix, at an expense of £60,000. The first permanent settlement dates from this time. In Oct. and Nov. of 1768, Sir William Johnson and representatives of Virginia and Pennsylvania met 3,200 Indians of the Six Nations here and made a treaty with them, under which, for £10,460 in money and provisions, they surrendered to the crown their claims to what is now Kentucky, West Virginia and the western part of Pennsylvania.

The fort was immediately dismantled, but was repaired by the Continentals after 1776 and renamed Ft. Schuyler, in honor of Gen. Philip Schuyler and so is sometimes confused with Old Ft. Schuyler at Utica. The 3rd Regiment of New York line troops under Col. Peter Gansevoort, occupied the fort in 1777. The first U.S. flag made according to the law of June 14, 1777, was raised over Ft. Schuyler on Aug. 3rd of that same year, one month before the official announcement by Congress of the design of the flag, and was almost immediately used in action. The first fight under the colors was the battle of Oriskany in which the soldiers of the fort became involved.

After the War of Independence, three commissioners for the U.S. made a new treaty with the chiefs of the Six Nations at Ft. Schuyler (1784). In 1796 a canal was built across the old portage between Wood Creek and the Mohawk. In the same year the township of Rome was formed, receiving its name, says Schoolcraft, "from the heroic defence of the republic made here." The country surrounding Rome is devoted largely to farming, especially vegetables, gardening and to dairying. Among the manufactures are brass and copper products, wire for electrical uses, foundry and machine-shop products, locomotives, knit goods, tin cans and canned goods (especially vegetables).

The city of Oneida is comparatively modern, but the [76]village of Oneida Castle across the river to the south dates back to the time when this was the chief settlement of the Oneida Indians, who moved here about 1600 from the site of what is now Stockbridge in the same county.

The history of the modern city of Oneida goes back to 1829, when the present site was purchased by Sands Higinbotham, who is regarded as the founder of the town and in [77]honor of whom one of the municipal parks is named. In the southeastern part of the city is the headquarters of the Oneida Community, originally a communistic society but now a business corporation, which controls important industries here, at Niagara Falls and elsewhere.

Among the manufactures of Oneida are furniture, silver-plated ware, engines and machinery, pulley, steel vaults and hosiery. About 6 M. to the northwest is Oneida Lake, a small lake of considerable beauty, 18 M. long and 5 M. wide.

[78]

Syracuse to Buffalo

The Syracuse region first became known to Europeans through its salt deposits along the shore of Onondaga Lake which had been discovered and used by the Indians.

Although situated in a favorable trading location at the foot of the valley of Onondaga Creek where the latter joins Onondaga Lake, no settlement was made here until several years after the close of the War of Independence. The first white settler was Ephraim Webster, who built a trading post near the mouth of the creek in 1786. The village grew slowly. Between 1800 and 1805 a dozen families settled here, and the place received the name of Bogardus's Corners from the name of the proprietor of a local inn. In order to obtain money for the construction of a public road, the state government, which had assumed control of the salt fields, sold in 1809 some 250 acres embracing the district now occupied by Syracuse's business centre to Abraham Walton of Albany for $6,550—about $26.50 an acre. The town went under various names—Milan, South Saline, Cossitt's Corner, etc.—until 1824 when the present name was adopted. In 1818 Joshua Forman bought an interest in the Walton tract, had a village plotted and became the "founder" of the city.

Several political events of national importance have occurred in Syracuse. The Free Soil movement in N.Y. began at the Democratic State convention held here in 1847, when the split occurred between the "Barnburner" and "Hunker", factions of the Democratic party.

The famous "Jerry Rescue," manifesting the strong anti-slavery sentiment in Syracuse, took place in 1851, following the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850.

Present day Syracuse is built on high ground in an amphitheatre of hills surrounding Onondaga Lake—a beautiful body of clear water 5 M. long and 1½ M, wide at its broadest point. James St. in the northeastern part of the city is a fine residence street, and the principal business thoroughfare is Saline St. The most noteworthy parks in Syracuse are Barnet Park (100 acres) on high land in the western part of the city, and Lincoln Park, occupying a heavily wooded ridge to the east.

Syracuse University, with a campus of 100 acres, is situated on the highlands in the southeastern part of the city where it commands a fine view of Onondaga Lake. The university was opened in 1871, when the faculty and students of Genesee College (1850) removed from Lima, N.Y., to Syracuse; one year later the Geneva medical college likewise removed to Syracuse and became part of the university. The university has a number of excellent buildings and a fine athletic field. It is a co-educational institution under control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There are about 4,000 students. The N.Y. State Fair, a civic event of considerable importance, takes place yearly (in Sept.) in grounds situated on the western border of the city. The "plant" covers 100 acres and there is an excellent race track where famous horses are run.

Salt works were established in Syracuse as early as 1788 [81]and the production of salt and sodium derivatives still constitutes an important industry.

The salt deposits supplied the basis for the manufacture of soda-ash, and at the village of Solvay, adjoining Syracuse on the west, is one of the largest factories for this purpose in the world. Besides soda-ash it produces bicarbonate of soda, caustic soda and crystals, the total output being about 1,000 tons daily. Syracuse ranks among the leading cities of the state in the number and variety of its manufactures. There are 760 establishments employing 25,000 workers, with an annual output of the value of about $75,000,000. The manufacture of typewriters is an important industry (annual production $10,000,000). Other products include automobiles and accessories, tool steel, candles, farm implements, clothing, chinaware, cement, chemicals and mining machinery.

The town of Palmyra is intimately connected with the early history of the Mormons or "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder, lived a few miles south of Palmyra at the village of Manchester near which, in the "hill of Cumorah," he said he found the plates of gold upon which was inscribed the book of Mormon. Smith had the book printed in 1830 in Palmyra.

Rochester is built around the Falls of the Genesee River, about 7 M. above the place where the river empties into Lake Ontario.

The modern city, however, has spread north until it now embraces the large village of Charlotte on the western side of the mouth of the river. The region about Rochester was visited about 1650 by Jesuit missionaries who worked among the Seneca Indians in the neighborhood, and in 1687 the Marquis de Denonville fought a battle with the Iroquois near the Falls.

Although by 1710 the French had established a post on Irondequoit Bay not far from the mouth of the Genesee, it was not until Ebenezer Allan (called "Indian Allan") built a small saw and grist mill near the falls that a settlement began to grow up. In 1802 three Maryland proprietors, Charles Carroll, William Fitzhugh and Nathaniel Rochester acquired a large tract of land which included the site of the present city. Rochester, from whom the city took its name, established a settlement, largely of New Englanders, at the falls in 1810-12, but growth was slow, as it was not at that time on the direct road between Albany and Buffalo, and the region was malarial.

The completion of the Rochester and Lockport section of the Erie Canal gave Rochester the impetus which made it a city, and the building of the railroad a few years later placed it on the direct route between the Hudson and Lake Erie.

Rochester, between 1828 and 1830, was the centre of the anti-Masonic movement and here Thurlow Weed published his Anti-Masonic Enquirer.

Subsequently, Rochester became the centre of the Abolitionist movement in New York State and for many years before the Civil War it was a busy station on the "Underground railroad," by which fugitive slaves were assisted in escaping to Canada. The fervor of the movement gave prominence to Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), the mulatto orator and editor, who established a newspaper in Rochester in 1847, and to whom a monument has been erected near the approach of the New York Central Station. The city was a gathering place for suffragists from the time when Susan B. Anthony settled here in 1846.

[86]In Rochester also lived the famous Fox Sisters, Margaret (1836-1893) and Katharine, whose spiritualistic "demonstrations" became known in 1850 as the "Rochester Rappings." The city has been a centre for American spiritualists ever since.

[87]Rochester is an attractive city, with a park system comprising 1,649 acres. The largest parks are the Durand-Eastman, the Genesee Valley, Seneca, Maplewood and Highland. The Durand-Eastman Park occupies a beautiful tract of wooded ground on Lake Ontario.

The University of Rochester, founded 1851 as a Baptist institution, but now non-sectarian, occupies a tract of 24 acres on University Ave. in the eastern part of the city. Notable men who have been connected with the university include Henry Augustus Ward, professor of natural history from 1860 to 1875; Martin Brewer Anderson, president from 1854 to 1888, and David Jayne Hill, president from 1888 to 1896.

[88]Rochester Theological Seminary prepares students for the ministry of the Baptist Church, and has no organic connection with the university. The Mechanics' Institute, founded in 1885 by Henry Lomb of the Bausch-Lomb Optical Co., is an unusually successful school of trades and handicrafts. It occupies a large building, the gift of George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Co.

For many years Rochester was the most important flour milling centre in the country, owing to the valuable water furnished by the falls and the fertility of the wheat fields of the Genesee Valley. Flour milling is no longer so important an industry here—Minneapolis having taken first rank in this respect—but Rochester ranks high among the great manufacturing cities of the country. Its total output is valued at more than $250,000,000 annually. It leads the world in the manufacture of cameras, lenses, and photographic materials, and it is one of the principal cities of the country in the distribution of seeds, bulbs and plants, and in the manufacture of clothing and shoes. Other important products are machinery of various kinds, lubricating oil, candied fruits, syrups and confectionery clothing, tobacco and cigars, enameled tanks and filing devices.

Batavia, situated on Tonawanda Creek, was laid out in 1801 by Joseph Ellicott (1760-1826), the engineer who had been engaged in surveying the land known as the "Holland Purchase" of which Batavia was a part.

[89]Here lived William Morgan whose supposed murder in 1826 by Freemasons led to the organization of the Anti-Masonic party. Batavia was the home of Dean Richmond (1804-1866), a capitalist, successful shipper and wholesale dealer in farm produce, who became vice-president (1853-1864) and later president (1864-1866) of the New York Central Lines. He was likewise a prominent leader of the Democratic party in N.Y. State. In 1899 his widow, Mary E. Richmond, erected here in memory of a son a library which contains about 15,000 volumes.

Among the education institutions here are the N.Y. State School for the Blind and St. Joseph's Academy (Roman Catholic). The historical museum in the old Holland Land Office* contains a good collection of early state relics. The two old guns in front were cast in the N.Y. State Arsenal, which manufactured arms for use in the War of 1812.

Among the manufactures are harvesters, ploughs, threshers and other agricultural implements, firearms, rubber tires, shoes, shell goods, paper-boxes, and inside woodwork.

We now approach Buffalo, beyond which our route closely parallels Lake Erie. We thus get our first view of one of America's great inland seas in this part of the route, although at certain points between Syracuse and Buffalo (notably at Rochester) our train has passed only a few miles south of Lake Ontario.

Buffalo to Cleveland

French trappers and Jesuit missionaries were the first white men to visit the site of Buffalo, and near here, on the east bank of the Niagara River at the mouth of Cayuga Creek, La Salle in 1679 built the "Griffin," with which he sailed up the Great Lakes to Green Bay, Wis. He also built Ft. Conti at the mouth of the river, but this was burned in the following year. Seven years later the marquis of Denonville in behalf of the French built here another fort, the predecessor of the various fortifications in this locality which were subsequently called Ft. Niagara.

Although the neighborhood was the scene of various operations during the War of Independence, not a single white settler was living on the site of the present city when the federal constitution was adopted in 1787, and the town was [91]not laid out till after the second presidency of Washington. In 1801 Joseph Ellicott, sometimes called the "Father of Buffalo," plotted the site for a town, calling it New Amsterdam but the name of Buffalo Creek or Buffalo proved more popular. Ellicott was the agent of a group of Dutch capitalists called the Holland Land Co., who purchased a large tract of land for speculative purposes in the neighborhood of Buffalo (1792).

During the War of 1812 Buffalo was a frontier town, and, owing to its position on Lake Erie, very close to an important theater of operations. The first gun of the war is said to have been fired on Aug. 13, by a battery at Black Rock, then a rival, now a suburb of Buffalo, and shortly afterwards British soldiers from the Canadian garrison at Ft. Erie (directly across the Niagara River from Buffalo) made a raid into Buffalo harbour and captured the schooner "Connecticut." The Americans replied with a brilliant exploit in which Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott (1782-1845) crossed the river and captured the "Detroit" and the "Caledonia" under the guns of Ft. Erie.

In the following spring (1812) five of the gunboats used by Capt. Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie were fitted out in the harbour at Buffalo. Perry's victory, however, did not save the little settlement from an attack in Dec. of that year in which Gen. Sir Phineas Riall and a force of 1,200 British and Indians captured the town and almost completely destroyed it. After the war the town was rebuilt, and grew rapidly. In 1818, near where La Salle in 1679 built his little sailing vessel, the "Griffin," a group of N.Y. capitalists completed the "Walk-in-the-Water," the first steamboat on the Great Lakes. The completion of the Erie Canal, seven years later, with Buffalo as its western terminus, greatly increased the city's importance. At Buffalo in 1848 met the Free Soil convention that nominated Martin Van Buren for the presidency and Charles Francis Adams for the vice-presidency. [92]Grover Cleveland lived in Buffalo from 1855 until 1884, when he was elected president.

The Pan-American Exposition in celebration of the progress of the Western Hemisphere in the 19th century, was held here May 1-Nov. 2, 1901. It was during a reception in the Temple of Music on the Exposition grounds that President McKinley was assassinated on Sept. 6. He died at the home of John A. Milburn, the president of the exposition.

Buffalo today has broad and spacious streets and a park system (1,229 acres) of unusual beauty. The largest park is Delaware Park (362 acres), on the north side of the city. This park is adjoined on the south by the Forest Lawn Cemetery which contains monuments to Millard Fillmore and the Indian chief "Red Jacket."

[93]

To the west of the park are the grounds of the Buffalo State Hospital for the Insane. Overlooking the lake on a cliff 60 ft. high, is the park known as "The Front," the site of Ft. Porter, which has a garrison of U.S. Soldiers.

The University of Buffalo, organized in 1845, has about 1,000 students and comprises schools of medicine, law, dentistry and pharmacy. Other educational institutions of Buffalo are the Canisius College, a Roman Catholic (Jesuit) institution for men, and the Martin Luther Seminary, a [94]Theological seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Buffalo has several fine public buildings, including the Albright Art Gallery (white marble), the Buffalo Historical Society Building (in Delaware Park), the Public Library (valued at $1,000,000), and the City Hall and County Building ($1,500,000). Since 1914 Buffalo has been under the commission form of government.

Almost equidistant from Chicago and N.Y.C., the city of Buffalo, by reason of its favorable location in respect to lake transportation and its position on the principal northern trade route between the East and the West, has become one of the important commercial and industrial centres in the Union. Originally, the harbour was only the shallow mouth of the Buffalo River, but it has been greatly enlarged and improved by extensive federal work. The Welland Canal, about 25 M. west of Buffalo, connects Lake Erie with the St. Lawrence River. The annual tonnage of the port of Buffalo is upwards of 20,000,000 tons. The total export trade is close to $100,000,000. Besides being the first port in the country in handling horses, sheep, cattle and hogs, it receives immense quantities of lumber, pig iron and ore and has more than a score of huge grain elevators with a capacity of about 30,000,000 bushels.

In the manufacturing field it has two great advantages: a supply of natural gas and almost unlimited electric power from Niagara Falls. Its total annual output is valued at approximately $400,000,000, and its manufactures include meat packing, foundry and machine shop products, flour, steel, linseed oil, railroad cars, clothing, chemicals, furniture, automobiles, jewelry, confectionery and tobacco.

Buffalo is connected with the Canadian shore by ferry and by the International Bridge, completed in 1873 at a cost of $1,500,000.

Niagara Falls, while it is not on the main route to Chicago is best reached from Buffalo, from which it is only 32 miles distant, and travellers so easily can stop over to make the little side trip that it is virtually a part of the journey westward.

Niagara Falls.

Of the seven natural wonders of the American world, which are given as Yellowstone Park, Garden of the Gods, Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, the Natural Bridge, Yosemite Valley, and the Giant Trees of California, by far the greatest spectacle is Niagara. The name means "thunder of the waters," and was given by the early Indians [95] who regarded the falls with a quite comprehensible religious awe. Today there are more than a million and a half visitors annually.

Probably the first white man to discover the Falls was Etienne Brulé, an associate and trusted comrade of Champlain; but the first chronicler and the man to whom honour of discovery is usually given, is Father Hennepin, founder of the monastery at Ft. Frontenac in Quebec, who in 1678 joined La Salle's Mississippi expedition, and pushing on a few days journey ahead of his commander, came upon the wonderful waters described in his Louisiane Nouvelle (1698). The French built some trading posts here and their influence prevailed until 1759, when the British, driving the French northward overthrew their fortifications and took possession of the land. When the Revolution broke out some years later, the Indians, terrible and unscrupulous wagers of guerilla warfare, fought on the British side.

The Niagara River, upon which the Falls are situated, 22 M. from its head in Lake Erie, and 14 M. from its mouth in Lake Ontario, forms the outlet of four of the five Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior). It descends about 330 ft. in its course of 36 M. About 15 M. from Lake Erie the river narrows and the rapids begin. In the last three quarters of a mile above the falls, the water descends 55 ft. and the velocity is enormous. The basin of the Falls has a depth of from 100 to 192 ft. During cold winters the spray covers the grass and trees in the park along the cliff with a delicate veneer of ice, while below the Falls it is tossed up and frozen into a solid arch. Adjoining the left (Canadian) bank is the greater division, Horseshoe Fall, 155 ft. high and curving to a breadth of 2,600 ft. The American Fall, adjoining the right bank, is 162 ft. high and about 1,400 ft. broad. In recognition of their æsthetic value the province of Ontario and the State of New York have reserved the adjacent land as public parks. In the midst of the Rapids lies a little group of islands, among them the famous Goat Island. Besides the wonderful view it affords, its western end gives a unique example of absolutely virgin forest.

The Niagara River runs half its length on an upper plain, then drops at the falls into a narrow gorge through which [96]it courses seven miles to the escarpment, the crest of which is a bed of limestone—60 ft. thick at the falls. The water plunges into a deep basin hollowed out of soft shale, which, as well as the escarpment, is being constantly worn away. The site of the cataract retreats upstream and the gorge is lengthened at a rate of about five ft. a year. It is evident that the whole gorge has been dug out by the river, and many attempts have been made to determine the time consumed in the work. The solution of the problem would aid in establishing a relation between the periods and ages of geologic time and the centuries of human chronology. The Horseshoe Fall wore its cliff back 335 ft. in about 63 years. Geologists have computed 25,000 years as a lower limit for plausible estimates of the river, but have been able to set no upper limit.

The Canadian and American shores are connected by three bridges, one of which a suspension carrying all classes of traffic, is 1,240 ft. long. The flow of water in the river averages 222,000 cubic ft. per second, though it sometimes falls as low as 176,000 cubic ft.

Thus the descent of this stream at the Falls and in the Rapids just above them gives in theory a water-power of nearly 4,000,000 lip., three-fourths of which is estimated as available.

There were before 1918 several companies with power-producing plants, the largest of which was the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company.

[97]In 1918, when added power was needed for the more rapid production of war materials, the various companies consolidated with the Niagara Falls Power Company. In May of that year the intake from the Niagara River and the hydraulic canal were deepened, and three hydro-electric units—the largest in the world today—were installed, with the result that an extension of 100,000 hp. was developed, making the total of the station 250,000 hp.

Dunkirk, settled about 1805, has a fine harbour and extensive lake trade, and lies, moreover, in fertile agricultural and grape-growing country. The property of the town, assessed at $10,000,000 is chiefly in factories producing locomotives, radiators and other steel and iron products, wagons, silk gloves, and concrete blocks. There are several pleasant parks, of which Gratiot and Washington are the largest. Brocton (519 M.) and Westfield (526 M.) are junctions for travellers bound for Chautauqua (about 20 M. south of Brocton on Chautauqua Lake), the principal seat of the Chautauqua educational movement.

Just beyond Ripley (534 M.) we cross the state line into Pennsylvania.

Erie stands on the site of the old French fort Presque Isle, built in 1753 and surrounded by a village of a few hundred inhabitants. Although Washington protested on behalf of the Governor of Va. against the French occupation of this territory, it remained in French hands until 1758 when an epidemic of small-pox broke out, making the fort untenable. Two years later the British seized it, and three years after the Indians, rising against their white rulers in the Conspiracy of Pontiac, took possession. In 1765 the British recaptured the fort and kept it until 1785, when it passed into the possession of the U.S. Gen. Anthony Wayne, who was given the task of occupying [98]the lake posts delivered up by the English, came here soon after to negotiate the famous treaty of Greenville with the Indians in 1795. He died in 1796 at Erie.

In spite of the necessary severity of the punishment meted out to the Indians by the new government through the agency of Wayne, no part of Washington's administration, domestic or foreign, was more original or more benign than the policy he constantly urged toward them. To save them from the frauds of traders a national system of trade was adopted, and a number of laws were passed to protect them from the aggressions of borderers, as well as to secure them in the rights allowed them in their treaties.

The battle of Lake Erie (1813) was closely associated with the city. Here were Perry's headquarters during the War of 1812, and here he built in less than six months many of the vessels with which he won his naval victory over the British.

Erie is now an important manufacturing centre, the products of which are valued at between $40,000,000 and $50,000,000. A large branch of the General Electric Co. is here, besides important factories for flour and grist mill products, paper and wood pulp, organs, petroleum, etc. The leading articles of shipment are lumber, coal, grain and iron ore. Over 1,400 ships a year enter and clear the broad, landlocked harbour. On a bluff overlooking lake and city, is the State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and nearby, a monument to Gen. Wayne. Between Springfield (577 M.) and Conneaut we cross the state line into Ohio.

The first permanent settlement was made here in 1799 though a preliminary surveying party composed of Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the city of Cleveland, and 50 associates, two of whom were women, had arrived in 1796 and found 20 or 30 cabins of the Massauga tribe.

After the whites had established themselves, the Indians were driven out for having murdered a settler. The country of Ashtabula in which Conneaut stands was not only the first settled on the Western Reserve, but the first in Northern Ohio, and the town is sometimes called the "Plymouth" of the Western Reserve.

Conneaut, which means in the Seneca language "many fish," is built at the mouth of Conneaut Creek in what is now a thriving agricultural and dairying region on Lake Erie. Besides being an excellent harbour to which coal and ore are shipped, the city has flour and planing mills, tanneries, canneries, and other factories.

Settlers were attracted to the site of the present town of Ashtabula (an Indian word said to mean "fish river") in 1801 by the excellent harbour here, formed by the mouth of the Ashtabula River. The city is built on the high bank of the river about 75 ft. above the lake and commands some fine views. There are large green-houses under glass from which forced fruit and vegetables are shipped to Pittsburgh and other large cities. It is the centre of a prosperous agricultural and dairying region which has been largely settled by Finns.

Ashtabula is one of the most important ports in America for the shipment of iron ore and coal. Iron ore especially, is brought here in enormous quantities by boat and trans-shipped to Pittsburgh. The shipyards and drydocks in the harbour, and the huge machines for loading coal and unloading [100]ore are of great interest. The city has large manufactories of leather, worsted goods, agricultural implements, foundry and machine shop products; and the total value of its output is close to $10,000,000 annually.

Geneva is built close to the site of the early Indian village Kanadasaga, burnt in 1779.

In addition to the lake, there are good mineral springs. According to Duncan Ingraham, a Massachusetts traveller who wrote an account of a journey in 1792, the town then consisted "of about 20 log houses, three or four frame buildings, and as many idle persons as can live in them." Some of these old houses along the main street are of pure Colonial type, and really beautiful. Hobart College, founded 1822, is situated here. Malt, tinware, flour, stoves, wall-paper, etc., are manufactured, and there are also extensive nurseries.

Painesville was founded in 1800 by settlers from Conn. and N.Y., the chief among whom was Gen. Edward Paine (1745-1841), an ex-officer of the Continental Army. It contains one of the early women's colleges of the country—Lake Erie College, founded in 1859 as the successor to Willoughby Seminary at Willoughby, Ohio, the buildings of which were burned in 1846.

The history of this part of the State includes early episodes of Mormonism. In Painesville was published a book by E.D. Howe purporting to show that "the historical p(art?) of the book of Mormon" was plagiarized from a romance called The Manuscript Found written by Solomon Spalding of Conneaut (about 1809). This claim has not been fully verified by later research.

Nine miles southwest of Painesville at Kirtland was (one?) of the early settlements made by Joseph Smith and his [101]Mormon followers. They built here a $40,000 temple (still standing), a teacher's seminary and a bank. The bank failed and Smith had to leave the state to avoid the sheriff. Most of his disciples followed him to Missouri. At Mentor (which we now pass 4 M. west of Painesville) lived Sidney Rigdon, who later became one of the Mormon leaders.

Near Mentor, also is Lawnfield, the former home of James A. Garfield.

[102]

Cleveland to Chicago

A trading post was established on the present site of Cleveland as early as 1785 and ten years later Capt. Moses Cleaveland, leader of a small band of pioneers and agent of the Connecticut Land Co., surveyed the ground and planted the nucleus of the present thriving city—now fifth in size in the country. Capt. Cleaveland, in travelling from Connecticut into the Northwest, followed closely the present route of the New York Central Lines, crossing N.Y. State to Buffalo and then from Buffalo along the shore of Lake Erie.

At that time the southern shore of Lake Erie was part of the famous Western Reserve territory, consisting of 3,250,000 acres of land, certain parts of which Connecticut ceded to her citizens as compensation for their losses from "fire and damage" at the hands of the British during the Revolutionary War. These lands were sometimes known as "Fire Lands."

It was for the purpose of surveying and developing these lands that Capt. Cleaveland undertook his expeditions into the Western Reserve. The first of these expeditions (1795) was composed of 50 men, women and children who arrived at Ft. Independence (now Conneaut) on Lake Erie, July 4, 1796. Pushing on further, they arrived at the present site of Cleveland, and in a few days the first log cabin was erected at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.

Capt. Cleaveland's plans for his new settlement were ambitious, and he built a number of substantial roads through the forests, usually following the old Indian trails, now the right of way of the New York Central and other lines. With the opening of the Ohio Canal to the Ohio River (1832), Cleveland became the natural outlet on Lake Erie for Ohio's [104]extensive agricultural and mineral products. The discovery and commercial exploitation (beginning about 1840) of large deposits of iron ore in the Lake Superior region placed Cleveland in a strategic position between these vast ore fields and the coal and oil resources of Ohio, Pa., and W. Va., and it is from this time that the city's great commercial importance really dates.

In 1836 Cleveland had been chartered as a city. The name, though chosen in honour of Capt. Cleaveland, had been abbreviated to its present form some years before. Tradition credits the changed form to a newspaper which left out the letter "a" in order to make the word fit a headline.

The building of the railways during the decade 1850-1860, and the stimulus to industry during the Civil War, when Cleveland supplied large quantities of iron products and clothing to the government, gave impetus to the city's growth. With a population of only 1,076 in 1830 and 6,071 in 1840, Cleveland had become in 1870 a city of 92,829 (more than double its population in 1860). Thirty years later (1900) the population had grown to 381,768 and in 1920 it was 796,836, an increase of 42 per cent over 1910.

The later history of Cleveland has been distinguished for some notable experiments in city planning, popular education and municipal ownership (particularly with respect to street railways). The street railway situation had been a source of trouble ever since 1899, when a strike of serious proportions occurred. Mobs attacked the cars, some of which were blown up with dynamite. In 1901 Tom Johnson was first elected mayor, and, largely as a result of his advocacy, municipal ownership became a greater issue in Cleveland than in any other great city in the country.

Johnson and his followers demanded a 3-cent fare on the street railways and in 1906 it was actually put into effect. The private owners were compelled in 1908 to lease their property to a municipal holding company, but in 1910 (after Johnson's defeat for re-election in the preceding year), the street railway system was leased to a new corporation, the [105]rate of fare under the new arrangement to be based on an adequate return to the investors.

Cleveland was the home of Mark Hanna who became famous in national Republican politics.

The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce has done much in the betterment of local politics. It was also instrumental in 1902 in securing the adoption of the "Group Plan" by which some of the principal public buildings are arranged in a quadrangle on the bluff overlooking Lake Erie. Cleveland appropriated $25,000,000 to promote the plan. On one side of the quadrangle (nearest the lake) are the courthouse and city hall; on the opposite side and 2,000 ft. south are the post office and library ($2,500,000). There is to be a Mall 600 ft. wide, with public buildings on either side, connecting the court-house and city hall with the post office and library. The granite buildings forming this quadrangle were designed under the supervision of Arnold Brunner, John M. Carrere and D.H. Burnham.

In education the city has made an innovation known as the "Cleveland plan" which seeks to minimize school routine, red tape and frequent examinations. Great stress is put on domestic and manual training courses, and promotion in the grammar schools is made dependent on the general knowledge and development of the pupil as estimated by a teacher who is supposed to make a careful study of the individual. There are in Cleveland 120 public schools and 44 public libraries. The principal institutions of higher education are the Western Reserve University with 2,800 students, St. Ignatius College (Roman Catholic), and the Case School of Applied Science.

With its 12 M. of shore line on Lake Erie, a fine park system (1,500 acres), and wide residential streets, well shaded [106]by maples and elms, Cleveland possesses many aspects of unusual beauty. The city is situated on bluffs rising from 74 to 200 ft. above the water and commands pleasant views of Lake Erie, while the surface of the plateau upon which the town is built is deeply cut by the Cuyahoga River, which here pursues a meandering course through a valley half a mile wide. Other streams, notably Dean Brook on the east border, add to the picturesque character of the municipal setting. A chain of parks* connected by driveways follows the valley of the Dean Brook, at the mouth of which, on the lake front, is the beautiful Gordon Park, formerly the private estate of William J. Gordon, but given by him to the city in 1893; from this extends up the Dean Valley the large Rockefeller Park, given to the city in 1896 by John D. Rockefeller and others. It adjoins Wade Park, where are a zoological garden and a lake.

Of the several cemeteries in Cleveland, Lake View (300 acres), on an elevated site on the east border of the city is [107]the most noteworthy; here are buried President Garfield (the Garfield memorial is a sandstone tower 165 ft. high with a chapel and crypt at its base), Mark Hanna and John Hay.

Other notable monuments in Cleveland are a statue of Senator Hanna by Saint Gaudens (in University Circle), a marble statue of Commodore Perry in commemoration of the battle of Lake Erie (in Wade Park), a soldiers' and sailors' monument—a granite shaft rising from a memorial room to a height of 125 ft. (in the Public Square), and a bronze statue of Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the city (likewise in the Public Square). This latter monument is said to stand on the very spot selected by Cleaveland for the centre of his new settlement.

The Public Square, or Monumental Park, is in the business centre of the city, about ½ M. from the lake and the same distance east of the Cuyahoga River. From this park the principal thoroughfares radiate. Euclid Ave., once famous for its private residences, but now the chief retail street of the city, begins at the southeast corner of the square. Cleveland's newest residence district is on the heights in the eastern part of the city.

Cleveland sometimes has been called the "Sheffield of America." Its prosperity is founded chiefly on its accessibility to oil, coal and iron. It is the largest ore market in the world. Forty million tons of iron ore valued at $125,000,000 are received annually in the Cleveland district, and the ore docks where much of this ore is handled, are of great interest. Cleveland also has extensive docking facilities,* said to be the finest in the country, for handling its immense trade in coal and grain. Cleveland's oil refineries, among the largest [108]in the world, receive enormous quantities of crude oil by pipe line, rail and water.

The city has 2,500 manufacturing plants with 125,000 workers, producing annually goods worth about $375,000,000, of which $100,000,000 represents the products of its foundries and machine shops. Cleveland is the first city in America in the making of wire products and automobile parts, second in the manufacture of clothing and sewing machines and one of the leading cities in the production of complete automobiles. Shipbuilding (there are five large shipyards* here) is likewise an important industry, and Cleveland controls the larger share of the tonnage on the Great Lakes.

Elyria was founded about 1819 by Herman Ely in whose honour it was named. Ely came from West Springfield, Mass., built a cabin on the site of the present town, and later erected the [109]first frame house in the township. The city lies at the junction of the two forks of the Black River, each of which falls about 50 feet here, furnishing considerable water-power. There are sandstone quarries about the town. The chief manufactures of the city are automobile supplies, telephones, electric apparatus, flour, feed, canned goods, machine parts and iron pipe; the annual output is valued at about $10,000,000. Eight miles to the southwest is Oberlin (Pop. 5,000), the seat of Oberlin College.

English traders visited Sandusky Bay, upon which the city of Sandusky is situated, as early as 1748, and by 1763 a fort had been erected for protection against the French and Indians. On May 16th of that year, during the Pontiac rising, the Wyandot Indians burned the fort. A permanent settlement was established in 1817.

At the entrance to Sandusky Bay is Cedar Point, with a beach for bathing. This is an attractive summer resort. Outside Sandusky Bay are a number of islands, most of which belong to Ohio, but the largest, Point Pelee, is British. At the mouth of the harbour is Johnson's Island, where many Confederate prisoners were confined during the Civil War. There is a soldiers' and sailors' home here with accommodations for 1,600 persons. A few miles farther north are several fishing resorts, among them Lakeside and Put-in-Bay (South Bass Island), where the government maintains a fish hatchery. Out of this bay Oliver Hazard Perry and his fleet sailed on the morning of Sept. 10, 1813, for the battle of Lake Erie.

Sandusky had a spacious landlocked harbour, much improved by government works and its trade in coal, lumber, stone, cement, fish, ice, fruit and grape juice is extensive. Its manufactures include tools, iron and steel products, chemicals, paper, agricultural implements, lumber products, gasoline engines, dynamos, glass and cement, with a total value annually of some $20,000,000.

Toledo was built on the site of Ft. Industry, erected in 1800. It lies within an immense tract of land, constituting several reservations bought by the U.S. government from several Indian tribes in 1795. Upon that part of the tract farthest upstream the town of Port Lawrence was laid out in 1807. In 1832 a rival company laid out the town of Vistula immediately below and a year later the two united and were named Toledo.

This district was the storm-centre for the more or less ridiculous episodes of the "Toledo War" in 1835, a dispute over the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan. This boundary, named the "Harris Line" (1817) after its surveyor, left in dispute a strip of land from 5 to 8 M. wide, a rich agricultural region within which lay Toledo. Gov. Lucas of Ohio, by authority of the State Legislature (1835), sent three commissioners out to re-mark the Harris line so as to include the bone of contention. When Gov. Mason, appointed by President Jackson as administrator of the territory of Michigan heard about this, he dispatched a division of militia to occupy Toledo.

[111]Lucas responded by sending out the Ohio militia who occupied a post at Perrysburg, 10 M. to the south. No fighting took place in this most genteel of wars, although there were several arrests and much confusion.

President Jackson put an end to the dispute by requesting Michigan to stop interfering with the re-marking of the boundary line, but slight outbreaks continued until he presently [112] removed Gov. Mason from office, and until Congress in 1836 decided in favor of Ohio.

The city administration became famous for its efficient honesty after 1897, when Samuel Milton Jones (1846-1904) a manufacturer of oil machinery, was elected mayor by the Republican party. The Independent movement which he began was carried on by Brand Whitlock.

The park system includes about 1,000 acres, connected by a boulevard 18 M. long. Toledo University (2,100 students), which include Toledo Medical College, was founded in 1880.

The advantages of Toledo as a lake port have always been recognized, and its growth has been rapid. It is situated about 4 M. from Lake Erie, and is connected with it by a channel 400 ft. wide and 21 ft. deep—sufficient to admit the largest vessels from the lake to the 25 M. of docks. Toledo is a shipping point for the iron and copper ores and lumber of the Lake Superior and Michigan regions, and for petroleum, coal, fruit, grain and clover seed. There are factories for motor-cars, plate and cut-glass, tobacco, spices, and beverages, also lumber and planing-mills, flour and grist mills, etc., with products of an annual value of $200,000,000 or more. At Butler (367 M.) we enter Indiana.

Situated on the Elkhart River, Goshen was first settled about 1828 by pioneers from New England. It is the seat of Goshen College, the only Mennonite institution of higher education in the U.S. The college was founded as Elkhart Institute in Elkhart in 1895, and was removed to Goshen in 1903.

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There is a Carnegie library, a city hospital and a fine high school building in the town. Goshen is an important agricultural and lumber market. Its manufactures include flour, lumber goods, ladders, iron, wagons, steel tanks, underwear, machinery, furniture and farm implements.

Elkhart, originally "Elkheart" (the translation of an Indian word), is so named by the Indians from the shape of an island, near the centre of the city, formed by the junction of the two rivers, the St. Joe and the Elkhart, which make many turns and windings here. There are several parks, in one of which, McNaughton Park, a Chautauqua assembly is held annually.

[114]Elkhart is a city of factories. Band instruments, furniture, telephone supplies, drugs, carriages, and many other products are included among its manufactures, which have an annual value of more than $15,000,000. Two Mennonite papers are published here.

South Bend is situated on the St. Joseph River. Just north of the city is the portage between the St. Joseph and the Kankakee Rivers, by means of which Père Marquette in 1675 and La Salle in 1679 made their way into what is now the state of Illinois.

The earliest white settler was Pierre Navarre, one of the fraternity of the coureurs de bois—a wild, rascally, fearless crew of half-breeds and renegade whites, who were the first to invade this famous hunting country. The succession of sheltered prairies, rounded sand-hills, and reedy marches cut by sluggish streams widening into lakes, made a good haunt for all game, especially beaver. Now the water is [115]mostly drained away and the land reclaimed, but at one time much of the region could be passed over in canoes.

The University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, with 1,200 students, is the largest Catholic school for boys and young men in the country, and the American headquarters of the worldwide Order of the Holy Cross. Notre Dame was founded in 1842 by Father Sorin, a Frenchman, who accomplished his object under great difficulties.

The mural frescoes of the main university building are by Luigi Gregori, who was sent from the Vatican for this purpose, and who spent twenty years on this work and on the adjacent Church of the Sacred Heart. The latter is famous for its decoration, especially the beautiful altar. St. Mary's, a large girls' school conducted by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, has also fine buildings of more modern type than Notre Dame.

Schuyler Colfax at one time vice-president of the U.S. and for years an intimate and trusted friend of Lincoln's, lived here in his youth, as did the late James Whitcomb Riley. The soldier who, during the Great War, fired the first gun of the American army in France against the Germans was Alex Arch, a native of this city.

[117]Among the important manufactories of South Bend are plows, sewing-machines, underwear, and motor-cars. The annual value of the combined output is around $60,000,000.

The name La Porte, which in French means "door" or "gate," took its origin from a natural opening through the timber that here interrupted the wide stretch of prairie. The main street of the town is built on an old Indian trail between Detroit and points in Illinois. La Porte was first settled in 1830. It is situated in the heart of a region of beautiful lakes—Clear, Pine, Stone and others—which have given it a wide reputation as a summer resort. The lakes furnish a large supply of natural ice which is shipped to Chicago. The soil about La Porte consists of sandy "timber" loam and vegetable mold, especially adapted to growing potatoes, wheat and corn. Farm and orchard products were early sources of the town's prosperity. There are now numerous manufactures—woolen goods, agricultural engines and implements, lumber and furniture, foundry products, musical instruments, radiators, pianos, blankets, bicycles and flour.

The city of Gary was built to order. Fifteen years ago the site of the present town was nothing but a waste of sand-dunes and swamps intersected from east to west by the Grand Calumet and Little Calumet Rivers. In 1906 the United States Steel Corporation broke ground here for a series of enormous foundries and factories, first laying sewers, water mains, gas pipes and conduits for electric wires, as well as providing other improvements necessary for life of the city. The Steel Corporation had chosen this site partly because of its direct connection by water with the Lake Superior ore region, partly because of its proximity to Chicago, and partly because it was accessible to Virginia coal and Michigan limestone. The town was named Gary in honour of Elbert H. Gary (b. 1846), chairman of the Board of Directors of the Steel Corporation, and in succeeding years there came an influx of inhabitants which has made Gary the largest city in Northern Indiana. In 1906 the city was non-existent; in 1910 it had a population of 16,802; in 1916, 40,000; and the Federal census of 1920 showed that Gary now has more than 55,000 inhabitants.

[118]Gary lies 30 ft. above Lake Michigan on a deep layer of sand, once the bed of the lake, which in prehistoric time extended several miles farther inland. The city has a splendid harbour which has been extended by the use of the two rivers—the Grand and the Little Calumet—both of which have been dredged and enlarged. The heart of the town is at the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Ave., which are lined with handsome buildings, and it is said that within radius of 10 M. of this point, there is a population of 125,000 people, most of whom are engaged in the industries of the Calumet region surrounding Gary.

The early growth of the town was so rapid that facilities for taking care of the new population were inadequate. The congestion was extreme, and real estate speculators did thriving business. Today it is said that Gary has constructed public utilities and other improvements adequate for a city of a quarter of a million people, and there is little doubt that the population will reach that figure before many years have passed. The city has fine public schools (the Gary system has become famous throughout the United States), a Y.M.C.A. (costing $250,000), and an excellent library. The City Hall and the Union station are likewise notable for the scale on which they are built.

The plant of the United States Steel Corporation, located between the Grand Calumet River and the Lake, have [119]the most complete system of steel mills west of Pittsburgh. Within the first ten years after the founding of Gary the Steel Corporation had spent $85,000,000 in building furnaces, ovens, various foundries and shops, pumping stations, electric power plants, benzol plants, Portland cement works, and ore docks. Since that time the Steel Corporation's investment here has practically been doubled, and a number of subsidiary companies have built up great industries in Gary. The Universal Portland Cement here, for example, is said to be the largest plant of its kind in the world (daily capacity 30,000 barrels).

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The old Chicago portage was used by the Indians in travelling by canoe from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi and then to the Gulf of Mexico, long before any white man had visited the site of the present city on the shore of Lake Michigan. The portage connected the Chicago River, then flowing into Lake Michigan, with the Des Plaines River, flowing into the Illinois River, which in turn discharges into the Mississippi opposite a point not far from St. Louis. It is probable that the first white men to visit the city of Chicago were Father Marquette (1637-1675) and Louis Joliet, though La Salle may have used the portage at an earlier date in the course of one of his journeys of exploration. It is certain, however, that La Salle established a fort at Starved Rock, some miles south of the present city of Chicago, in 1682; and it is in the journal of one of La Salle's followers, Joutel, that we find the first explanation of the name "Chicago." Joutel says that Chicago took its name from the profusion of garlic growing in the surrounding woods.

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After the departure of Father Marquette several other mission settlements were attempted at Chicago, but these were all abandoned in 1700 and for almost a century Chicago ceased to be a place of residence for white men.

The strategic value of Chicago as a centre of control for the regions of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River had long been recognized, but it was not until after the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), that the government took active steps to establish a fort here. The treaty made by Gen. Wayne with the Indians after that battle provided for the cession to the American government of a tract of land at the southern end of Lake Michigan including the site of the present city. In 1803 Ft. Dearborn, a block-house and stockade, was constructed by the government on the southern bank of the Chicago River near the present site of the Michigan bridge.

In 1812, during the Indian War of Tecumseh, the Ft. Dearborn massacre occurred. The garrison, 93 persons in all, including several women and children, were attempting to escape to Ft. Wayne, when they were set upon by some 500 Indians about a mile and a half south of the fort (southern part of the present Grant Park). The Americans killed included 39 soldiers, 2 women and 12 children. The survivors were captured by the Indians and though some were tortured and put to death, the majority finally escaped to civilization A tablet now marks the site of the old fort and a monument has been erected near Grant Park commemorating the massacre. In 1816 the fort was rebuilt and a settlement rapidly grew up around it. By 1837 the Federal government had begun the improvement of the harbor and had started the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The lake trade grew to enormous proportions, and the building of the railways, especially the New York Central Lines connecting Chicago with the East, as well as other lines connecting it with the Northwest, and the South, gave the city an extraordinary impetus.

At the Republican convention held at Chicago in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was nominated for the presidency and during the Civil War, Camp Douglas, a large prison camp for Confederate prisoners, was maintained here.

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The great fire in 1871 was the most serious check to the city's constantly increasing prosperity, but recovery from this disaster was rapid. The solidity of this prosperity was demonstrated during the financial panic of 1873, when Chicago banks alone among those of the large cities of the country continued steadily to pay out current funds.

The later history has been marked on the one hand by serious labor troubles and on the other by the remarkable achievement of the World's Columbian Exposition (1893). The labor outbreaks included several strikes in the packing industry, the Haymarket Riot in 1886, and the Pullman Strike in 1894.

The exposition was an artistic and educational triumph, and its influence on the progress of the city cannot be overestimated The exposition gave Chicago an artistic conscience one of the direct results of which was the organization of the City Plan Commission, a body which is at work reshaping the city in the interests of greater beauty and utility.

Owing largely to its central position and to its excellent railroad facilities, Chicago has been a favorite city for national political conventions ever since the nomination of Lincoln Others nominated here have been Grant (1866 and 1872), Garfield (1880), Cleveland (1884 and 1892). Harrison (1888), Roosevelt (1904), Taft (1908) and Harding (1920); [124]and in addition a number of candidates who were unsuccessful including Blaine (1884), Harrison (1892), Bryan (1896), Taft (1912), Roosevelt (1912), and Hughes (1916).

To most foreign visitors and even to many Americans the growth of Chicago is its most impressive feature. Within a little more than 100 years Chicago has grown from a settlement of 14 houses, a frontier military post among the Indians to a great metropolis, the second city in America and fourth in size among the cities of the world. In 1829 what is now the business centre was fenced in as a pasture; in 1831 the Chicago mail was deposited in a dry goods box; the tax levy of 1834 was $48.90, and a well that constituted the city's water-system was sunk at a cost of $95.50. In 1843 hogs were by ordinance barred from the streets.

In 1830 with a population of less than 100, in 1840 with 4,479, the increase by percentages in succeeding decades was as follows: 507, 265, 174, 68, 119, 54, 29, and (1910 to 1920) 23. Approximately 75 per cent of Chicago's population is of foreign birth or parentage. This foreign population is made up principally of Germans, about 50 per cent, Irish 12, Austrian 13, Russian 10, Swedish 6, Italian 4, Canadian, including French Canadians, 4, and English 4.

It has been said that Chicago is "the second largest Bohemian city in the world, the third Swedish, the fourth Norwegian, the fifth Polish and the fifth German (New York being the fourth)." This ought not to be construed, however, as a reflection on the fundamental Americanism of Chicago's citizens.

The growth in area has kept pace with the growth in population. As originally plotted in 1830, the town had an area of a little less than half a square mile; today it covers an area of practically 200 Sq.M. Its greatest length (north and south) is 26 M., and the greatest width (east and west) is 9 M.

[125]The Chicago River with its three, branches divides the city into three sections—the North, South and West sides. Technically the downtown or "loop" district (so-called because of the elevated railway which encircles the central business section) belongs to the south side, though usually it is classified separately.

In no other great city is the business district so concentrated as is the case in Chicago. Within an area of a little more than 1 Sq. M. are located the principal office buildings, department stores, shops, hotels and theatres. Not far from the centre of this district is the new City Hall and County Building, an 11-story structure costing $5,000,000.

Chicago is generally credited with being the original home of the steel frame sky-scraper, though there are now many higher buildings in New York and elsewhere. The height of buildings in Chicago is limited by city ordinance to about 22 stories.

At La Salle St., where it is crossed by the southern arm of the elevated "loop" is the New York Central Station, an impressive building which stands closer to heart of Chicago's financial and business section than any other railway station in the city.

Michigan Ave., just to the east of the business centre, possesses a truly noble aspect, and the visitor could not select a better place to begin his tour of the city. Due to the monotonous regularity of the streets and the all-pervading soft coal smoke, Chicago presents on the whole a somewhat drab appearance, but the view from Grant Park or from the lake front (with Michigan Ave. in the foreground) is nearly, if not quite, as fine as anything N.Y. has to offer. In Michigan Ave. are the Public Library (with a beautiful interior), the Art Institute (with fine collections of pictures and one of the largest art schools in the country), Orchestra Hall (the home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), the "Blackstone" Hotel and a number of fine shops.

Michigan Ave., by way of Lake Shore Drive on the north, and by way of Midway Plaisance on the south, connects [126]with Chicago's fine park system. The principal parks are joined by beautiful boulevards encircling the entire city, and a delightful two hours' motor trip (45 M.) will enable the tourist to visit Lincoln Park on the north, Humboldt, Garfield and Douglas parks on the west, and Washington and Jackson parks on the south.

For reference a general summary of Chicago's "points of interest" exclusive of those already mentioned is here given.

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North Side

Lincoln Park: Academy of Sciences Museum; botanical conservatories and a zoological garden with a splendid Lion House. Also the fine Saint Gaudens Statue of Lincoln at the entrance and other monuments in the park.

Chicago Historical Society Library and Collection, Dearborn Ave. and Ontario St.; an interesting collection of historic relics and documents.

The Municipal pier, at the foot of Grand Ave., built by the city at a cost of $4,000,000; devoted to recreational activities as well as to commercial purposes. Excursion steamers may be taken here to various points on the lake.

The Newberry Library, a free reference library, Clark St. and Walton Place.

Northwestern University, in Evanston (at the extreme North of the city—actually outside the city limits). Northwestern University is a Methodist-Episcopal institution of about 5,000 students.

Ft. Sheridan. A U.S. military post north of Evanston.

Lake Forest, a fashionable suburb north of Ft. Sheridan.

South Side

Life Saving Station at the mouth of the Chicago River.

Tablet marking site of Ft. Dearborn, River St., opposite the old Rush St. Bridge.

Crerar Library, East Randolph St., a reference library devoted chiefly to scientific subjects; open to the public.

Board of Trade, La Salle and Jackson Sts.; visitors may obtain admission to gallery overlooking the famous wheat pit.

Auditorium hotel and theatre building, Michigan Ave. at Congress St.; view of city from tower.

The Coliseum building, 16th St. and Wabash Ave.; all the national Republican conventions of recent years have been held here.

Field Museum of Natural History (founded by Marshall Field), in Grant Park; a fine anthropological and historical collection. The Museum, originally housed in a temporary building in Jackson Park, was made possible by the gift of $1,000,000 by Marshall Field, who on his death (1906) bequeathed a further $8,000,000 of which $4,000,000 has been used for the new building.

Ft. Dearborn Massacre Monument, 18th St., near the lake.

[128]Armour Institute of Technology, founded by the Armour family, 3300 Federal St.

Douglas Monument, 35th St. near Lake Michigan; Stephen A. Douglas is buried here.

The Stockyards, Halsted and Root St. In area the yards exceed 400 acres; they have facilities for taking care of 50,000 cattle, 20,000 hogs, 30,000 sheep and 5,000 horses. The great packing plants are clustered around the stockyards.

The University of Chicago, Ellis Ave., south of 51st St. This university was established under Baptist auspices and opened in 1892. The words "founded by John D. Rockefeller" (whose donations to the institution form the largest part of its endowment) follow the title of the university on all its letter heads and official documents. Mr. Rockefeller's benefactions to the university have been very large. The grounds, however, were given in part by Marshall Field. The buildings are mostly of grey limestone, in Gothic style and grouped in quadrangles. With the exception of the divinity school, the institution is non-sectarian and has about 8,700 students of both sexes.

West Side

The "Ghetto" District on South Canal, Jefferson, and Maxwell Sts.; Fish Market on Jefferson St. from 12th St. to Maxwell.

Hull House, 800 South Halsted St. This famous settlement house was established in 1899 by Miss Jane Addams; who became head resident, and Miss Ellen Gates Starr. It includes a gymnasium, a crêche and a diet kitchen, and supports classes, lectures and concerts.

Haymarket Square, Randolph and Des Plaines Sts.; scene of the anarchist riots.

[129]Sears, Roebuck & Co., a great mail order house which does a business of over $250,000,000 a year retail. Guides are provided to show visitors around the establishment, which is easily reached on the elevated railway.

Western Electric Co., 22nd St. and Forty-eighth Ave. This company supplies the chief part of the equipment of the Bell telephone companies of the U.S. and has about 17,000 employees.

McCormick Harvester Works of the International Harvester Co. This is one of the 23 plants of the greatest manufacturers of agricultural machinery in the world.

Chicago's position at the head of the most southwestern of the Great Lakes was the primary factor in determining its remarkable growth and prosperity. But with the decline of water transportation the city has not suffered, for it stands at one of the natural cross roads of trade and travel. Today it is the chief railroad centre not only in the U.S. but in the world. Not counting subsidiary divisions there are 27 railroads entering Chicago, which is the western terminus of the great New York Central System.

Chicago is thus the focus of the activities of half a continent. It is the financial centre of the west and the metropolis of the richest agricultural section in the country. These circumstances have contributed to make it the greatest grain and live stock market in the world. But its accessibility to the raw materials of industrial development has also made it a great manufacturing city. Chicago has more than 10,000 factories and the output of its manufacturing zone is probably more than $3,000,000,000 annually. The principal industries and manufactures are meat packing, foundry and machine shop products, clothing, cars and railway construction, agricultural implements, furniture, and (formerly) malt liquors.

Facts About The New York Central Railroad Company

The New York Central Lines comprise 14,242 miles of track. As part of the track equipment, there are 40,000,000 wooden ties, worth about $1 each. On these ties are 1,727,000 tons of steel rail, worth $96,000,000. There [130]are 32 tunnels, costing $10,000,000, and 19,000 bridges and culverts, costing $60,000,000. In the principal cities the New York Central's terminals cover about 4,800 acres, assessed at more than $100,000,000. The deeds for right-of-way for the section east of Buffalo alone number more than 30,000.

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