CHAPTER XLV
Dorothy and I lingered in Havana until we were sure that spring had come
to Chicago. Then we took a boat to New Orleans; and once again I
ascended the Mississippi to St. Louis, and thence to Chicago by the
Illinois River and the canal.
It was still cool in Chicago, the air fresh and vital. Great spaces of
deep blue stood far back, cool and thrillingly serene; against these
spaces the white clouds coming over from the far west and disappearing
into havens over the lake and into Michigan. The lake was roaring to the
stiff breezes of the blustering spring.
Chicago was a thrilling spectacle. The Illinois Central railroad was
being built. The railroad mileage in the country had now risen to more
than ten thousand miles. The short roads with steamboat connections were
giving way to the trunk lines. Boston was now connected by rail with
Montreal. There were nine hundred miles of railroad in Ohio; six hundred
in Indiana; about four hundred in Illinois. The Michigan Central
connected Chicago with Detroit. The Michigan Southern was opened, and
the first train from the East had entered Chicago. A train had started
west from St. Louis on the first five miles of the Pacific railroad.
Telegraph lines stuck forth everywhere into the great spaces of the
country, like the new shoots of a tree.
Pages:
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317