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"I haven't an idea." "Do you feel like lending money more than usual?"

"Not the least; but these dirty, greasy little notes for tuppence halfpenny each do give one rather a disgust of money. Perhaps it's the custom of the country for natives to get rid of them in this way. They are certainly more reckless of expense than any other people I have ever been amongst."

"Can't be a joke, eh? Now, what is the meaning of this?" he added, piteously, to the potentate, as he came up to us.

"Meaning-waal, I suppose it's-I suppose it's meant for a warning to poor green old John Bull and the rest to button up their pockets when they comes out West. But come along, there's no time to lose; we're two hours behind time, and shan't make connections unless we look sharp. There's the Champaign across the platform, with her steam up, and our President and Vice waiting for us."

"But breakfast-how about breakfast?" pleaded the optimist: "we've had nothing to speak of since Hamilton." "Oh, they'll have got something on board; come along."

And accordingly, within five minutes of our arrival, we were aboard the little special train which was to take us to the new line in northern Iowa. The bell of the Champaign began to toll, and we moved slowly out of the central depôt of the western city of Aladdin. Neither then, nor on my return to Chicago, could I get any further explanation of the mysterious notice.

There seems to be a general notion abroad amongst the travelling world that locomotion in the United States is a decidedly democratic, and, therefore, an uncomfortable, as well as a dangerous business. I don't personally agree with the position that all things democratic must be either dangerous or uncomfortable. But, be that as it ay, I recommend the most fastidious traveller that ever got into a carriage to try a trip on a special belonging to one of the great American companies,

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should he ever get the chance, if he wishes really to understand how going up and down on the face of the earth will be done in "the good time coming." Besides our spirited little locomotive, the Champaign-which every now and then during our voyage was SO evidently inclined to run away with us that our companion the Vicepresident had to go forward and restrain the zeal of the young engineer and stoker-we had two cars. That nearest the engine was our sittingroom by day and bedroom by night. At each end there was as comfortable a little chamber as man could wish for, or woman either. These were occupied by the optimist and the potentate, while the remaining four of us had each a separate compartment of the sittingroom, which the negro boy made up every night for us into a comfortable couch while we were at supper. yond the foremost bedroom was a dressing-room, with large washing accommodation, and water always turned on in some mysterious way. We stepped from the platform of this car across into our dining-room, which occupied the larger half of the second car, beyond which were the store-room and the servants' berths, for a second negro boy from a Chicago restaurant was told off to attend to this car and look after the commissariat. the commissariat. In this important department we were practically selfsupporting, though our chef never lost an opportunity of foraging for fresh provisions whenever we came to a halt. Our stores, chiefly of the potted and hermetically sealed order, comprised pickled oysters and salmon, sardines, and Yarmouth bloaters, cold roast beef and boiled tongue, with tomatoes and other preserved vegetables, potted duck, and pickles and sauces of various descriptions, including one which bore the title of "kalos geusis," to which the struggler objected strongly (the name, not the condiment) on grammatical grounds. These, with cheese and crackers, and an unfailing supply of peaches and grapes for dessert, left little to be desired, even when fresh prairie hen or

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chickens were not to be had. box of excellent Havannahs reposed in a corner of the dining-room. Our wine carte consisted of the single item of dry champagne, and our stock of ice never failed, while at any hour of the day a cup of black coffee, hot and strong, was forthcoming at a few minutes' notice.

Thus furnished, we started on our exploring voyage, and with three of the magnates of the railway world on board, we carried a three-sesame power, before which every kind of railway door flew open with the oiliest promptitude. The course to be taken, and the point to be reached each day, were settled, as we ran, in general conclave. Then telegrams were sent on ahead, one to order tea at the place selected for our night quarters, others (after we had left the lines controlled by the Illinois Central authority) to ask permission of various railway governments to take our special over their lines. This favour was of course always granted at once, and an official generally appeared in due course to escort us over each successive company's road, while an engineer of such company mounted the Champaign, to help our men with his local experience. The jealousy between rival lines which existed, and to a great extent I fancy still exists, at home, and would make such an arrangement difficult, has no place in the West. The competition is indeed keen enough, but is subordinated in this matter to the true interests of the companies and of the public; and as all the lines "make connections" wherever they come in contact, and the gauges are everywhere the same, you can go a round of thousands of miles without ever changing carriage, or being aware that you are on a different line from that on which you started.

At

night we were switched away into some siding, as remote as possible from the main track, that we might get quiet sleep without annoyance from the rumble and bell tolling of passing freight trains, and as a rule on awakening we found that we had made a start at day break, and had run some sixty or seventy miles already on our route.

As we ran out of the central depôt we all stood on the platform looking curiously at the huge corn elevators, and the high square blocks of warehouses, as handsome as any in Cannon Street, and the rectangular streets and avenues, broader than any in London. I suppose that our evident wonder pleased our hosts, all Western men; and indeed after all that one has read in fifty books of travels about Chicago, I will defy any one not to be startled when first brought face to face with the reality.

We were certainly not destined to pass out of the town precincts without a shock to our Old-World notions. As we steamed slowly along through the suburbs, tolling our great bell, we came upon one of the broad avenues lined with trees, which form such a delightful feature in all American towns.

At

the crossing, in the very middle of the avenue, a good-sized house was standing

-a house with five windows, and a door on the side which was turned towards us. You might hire such an one for from forty pounds to fifty pounds a-year in Clerkenwell or Hammersmith, except that the framework of this tenement was wooden, only the foundations and chimney-stacks being of brick. For a moment one fancied that it was stationary, and couldn't conceive how even the laxest municipal democracy could have allowed a citizen of eccentric habits to build right in the middle of an important thoroughfare. A second glance, however, showed us that the house was upon rollers, and was only, in fact, waiting until we had passed, (as a market-cart might do in Eng-; land), to cross the track, and pursue its journey. I looked interrogatively at the struggler, who was standing next me, and he at me, with the kind of expression (I should fancy) of Bill Nye, when he detected the heathen Chinee playing the best bower which William had already dealt to his own partner. He was evidently suspicious of some elaborate hoax, such as have been so often played by our saturnine cou-ins on credulous Britishers. The potentate, however, stood by with a perfectly innocent

face, and seemed almost surprised when our young friend broke out

"What has that wretched house been doing? Are they taking it to the police court for being drunk and disorderly?"

"Likely enough," answered the imperturbable potentate; "those old wooden houses don't bear the best of characters."

"But, seriously, now, what is the meaning of it?"

"Well, just this. Building is mighty dear in Chicago, I tell you; but if it cost twice as much, every block in the city has got to be as tall and handsome as the best of those you saw. So every man that owns a lot is in a hurry to get rid of the old houses which served well enough a year or two back. Then, there are a lot of young fellows, clerks and the like, who will go and marry, -we are a marrying people, you know. What did that dreadful old Scotchman say about it?”

"Carlyle, you mean? Why, that the most notable fact about you was, that you had begotten with hitherto-unheardof rapidity twenty millions of the greatest bores under the sun. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes, that's it; the old cynic! But we don't mind him; we are a goodnatured people as well as a marrying people."

"That was said before your war, remember."

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"Ay, but the American war in a nutshell' and the 'fire in a dirty chimney' came out in our sorest pinch. However, we've forgiven him."

"So have we all; and he has said much worse things about England. Besides, you won: you put out the fire, and cleansed the chimney."

"Yes, that's true; so we can afford to laugh. Well then, these young fellows must have a house, and can't afford to build, or live, in the town; so they just go and buy one of the old wooden ones, get a lot in the suburbs and build foundations, and then just cut away the house, clap it on rollers, and tote it out of town as you saw."

"Well, that's a wrinkle in the economic line. I'm glad I've seen it with my own eyes, or I'll be hanged if I could have swallowed the story."

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I guess you'll have to swallow bigger things before you get back. But here's the boy to call us to breakfast."

And the summons was, indeed, a welcome one; with the exception of a cup of tea, with some immaterial kind of breadcake and baked apple accompaniment, we had been fasting since the famous joint at Hamilton. So we trooped after the President into our second carriage with alacrity. The misgivings which undoubtedly had troubled at least one of us, when we were hurried away, unfed, from the central depôt at Chicago, disappeared at once. Our table was spread with haste as well as profusion. In the centre a solid pile of peaches and grapes. The side dishes contained pickled salmon and oysters, with beef-tongue and chicken to fall back upon, and a large reservoir of tomatoes, sliced, and served with oil and vinegar. (This last dish, a delicious. cool salad when carefully prepared, is almost universal in the States, and after a dusty journey of a hundred miles or so in the cars, with the thermometer at 80°, is one of those culinary sensations which hang fondly on the memory.) Un the side table were rolls, crackers, cheese, sauces, and an array of coffeecups, while underneath stood a pail of ice, with the heads of champagne bottles protruding. One of the black boys was opening a bottle as we entered, while the other, napkin in hand, marshalled us to the table. I thought I remarked a benignant and gratified twinkle in the eye of the President as he watched the effect of his preparations on his halffamished guests. Let me draw a decent veil over the next half-hour, during which the Champaign sped on her way through one of the most prosperous sections of the sovereign State of Illinois. Though prosperous, I am happy to believe, on the assurance of the President, one of the most veracious of men, that it offers no features of picturesque or other special interest to strangers. At the end of that time a cup of su oking

black coffee stood before each of us, and the first fragrant bouquet of the President's Havannahs was stealing through the car. The struggler was still lingering over a third peach; and, as he tenderly skinned it, remarked to the Vice-president, his next neighbour:

"There is certainly something I like very much in your peaches. They haven't, of course, the delicate texture and flavour of hothouse fruit, or of the best wall-fruit. But then, they are not wall-grown, I take it?"

"No, indeed; we don't get many walls in Southern Illinois. It'll be all standard fruit that you get in these parts."

"So I thought," said the struggler, taking a patronizing bite out of the sunny side of his now skinned peach. "But they are a more cut-and-comeagain kind of fruit than ours-a democratic version of Old-World peaches. You feel as if you might eat any quantity of them without depriving any body else of their chance. I dare say you have them in large quantities here, these yellow standard peaches?"

'Yes, there is a large district of Southern Illinois which is celebrated for them," said the Vice-president. "We run a fruit train every day through the season," put in the President, who never missed hearing any remark which bore on the traffic of his

darling lines. "It has grown to be a big business these last few years."

"When you say a fruit train, you mean, I suppose, that one of your morning trains brings in the fruit? Ours comes into London mostly on large light waggons adapted exclusively for fruitcarrying."

"No; I guess our train only brings fruit. It has got to average seventeen cars now. One morning this summer, I remember it brought in thirty-six tons of strawberries; and I think that's the biggest lot we've carried yet."

The struggler paused in the act of carrying to his mouth the last morsel of his peach. "Thirty-six tons! tons' weight of strawberries in one day! You are joking. Why, who eats them?"

"Waal, I reckon the Chicago folk. I don't think many get out of the town."

The struggler gravely swallowed his last mouthful, and held out his hand for a cigar, with a look of confidence injured. He was beginning to think that there was some deliberate plot to mystify us, and I believe would have prefaced every question he put with "bar sell," if he had thought that that polite Anglicanism would have been understood by our Western friends.

I must own that the thirty-six tons was even to me a somewhat large order. "A friend of mine, an English sherry importer," I said, "has a large peach orchard at Port St. Mary's, and he feeds his pigs with the fruit, after he has preserved all he cares for."

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Why don't he tote it into Cadiz and sell it?" said the potentate. Britishers are so cussed wasteful."

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"I like that," said the optimist. "Why, I never knew what a spendthrift nation was till I got here."

"Well, we caught it from you, anyhow," replied the potentate. "But is that why Spanish hams are so cracked up? Is it a peach flavour, or what?"

"Montauche's hams, you mean," I said. "No, I believe those remarkable porkers obtain their flavour from a diet of snakes and snow; or, I am bound to say, some travellers declare that it comes from chestnuts."

"After all," said the optimist, "when you come to think of it, thirty-six tons isn't so much for a big city. How many people in Chicago now?"

"Three hundred and fifty thousand." "All fruit eaters, I suppose. Well, that is a ton or so to 10,000. You were last from college, struggler; cipher us out how many pottles a head that would come to."

"But this is only from one source of supply," said the struggler.

"We bring in pretty near all the fruit, I guess," said the President. "Market gardening about the town hasn't begun yet. They haven't time for it, and the climate wouldn't suit so well."

"Suppose we go and have a look at

the country? Why, we must have run sixty or seventy miles by this time, I should think."

Thereabouts," said the President, and so we got up and sauntered into our drawing-room car, and ensconced ourselves at the windows, to make all such observations on the new country as the pace would permit. It was under corn almost exclusively as far as the eye could reach,-corn standing from four to six feet high over a slightly undulating country, crossed here and there by very passable tracks. The stations which we shot past were generally surrounded by detached cottages and farm homesteads; the inevitable large, square, brick-built school-house standing out as the principal building, though occasionally some enterprising citizen had run up a solid block of stores, with dwelling-houses above, in sure anticipation of the coming population and prosperity, which challenged comparison with it for size.

"What is your plan here, in Illinois, as to your schools?" asked the optimist. "I see everywhere the school standing up, the biggest and best building in the town. How do you pay for them and maintain them?"

"By reserved sections," said the potentate.

"Thank you, but you might as well say by conic sections for anything that the phrase means to me. What are reserved sections, pray ?" "The Vice will explain. He had a hand in the Government survey in these parts;" and the potentate betook himself to his cigar.

"Well, it's rather a long story to make it clear to you," said the Vicepresident. "Our State survey system wasn't applied to the thirteen colonies, but now whenever a territory applies to be admitted as a State, and often before that, it is regularly surveyed, and divided up into sections."

"I see. And some of these are reserved for the schools?"

"Just so. This is how it's done. A meridian line is drawn across north and south from some natural starting-point. Here in Illinois we took the junction of

the Ohio and Mississippi. Then a base line is drawn across the meridian line at right angles, of course from the same point. Then, by drawing cross lines parallel with these two initial ones, the country under survey is mapped out into blocks six miles square."

"What a monotonous rectangular business!" said the optimist; "and a six-mile block is a parish, I suppose?"

"We call 'em townships," said the Vice-president. "Then each township is divided again into numbered sections, each a mile square, or thirty-six sections to every township. Out of these, one section, generally the sixteenth, is reserved for school purposes."

"What-if there are no children?" "Well, that's generally the case at first. So the school section-640 acres, you see-lies there till school trustees are named, and then it is vested in them to deal with as they find best."

"But are there school trustees to every township?"

"Yes, to every political township; and the political ones generally coincide with the surveyed townships, though they are fixed by the State, and not by the Central Government."

"Well, but these 640 acres must be often nearly useless-like a white elephant, or the Vicar of Wakefield's big picture. They can't let, I suppose, at a rent in these parts? Heavy rents are a privilege of our Old World."

"No, and they don't need. The trustees nearly always want money to build the schools, and for initiatory expenses, so they sell the school lot for what it will bring."

"And what then? where does the school income come from? How are the teachers paid, and the buildings maintained? I understand your system to be absolutely free ?"

"Well, so it is; we get the income by just taxing all owners of land in the township."

"That's simple enough certainly, and an excellent plan. But now about the other thirty-five sections: how are they dealt with? First, who do they belong to, the Union or the State, or to squatters?"

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