38 GROWTH OF CHICAGO. 



on a par with it. And this vast territory is not only intersect- 

 ed by numerous lines of railroad, which give it direct access 

 to Montreal, New York, and Philadelphia, but on the north, 

 by means of the lakes and the St. Lawrence, and on the south 

 by the Mississippi Eiver, it possesses a continuous water com- 

 munication with the Atlantic. 



Nothing can illustrate more forcibly the vast natural abun- 

 dance and resources of this splendid country than the history 

 of the grain- trade of Chicago. An Indian village in 1820, 

 this place has become a great city with upwards of 120,000 

 people, with wharves and granaries for miles along the river 

 canal which opens into Lake Michigan, and with streets, pub- 

 lic buildings, churches, and private dwellings that may vie 

 with those of London itself. The stores on the principal 

 streets are equal in size and architectural elegance to the new 

 row of fine buildings which leads from Cannon Street into St. 

 Paul's Church Yard. There are numerous stands for hackney- 

 coaches, and various lines of omnibuses ply along the streets. 

 And Chicago is actually the centre of more miles of railway, 

 completed and in operation, than London. Yet it is only 

 twenty years since the first shipment of some forty bags of 

 wheat was made from it. In 1837 its exports amounted to 

 about 100 bushels of grain, in 1847 they had reached 2,243,- 

 000 bushels, and in 1857 upwards of 18,000,000 bushels. 

 Chicago and all its wealth are in fact a property created by 

 the profits arising in the mere transference from hand to hand 

 of the surplus produce of but a small part of this wonderful 

 country. Looking to Illinois alone, of which Chicaga is the 

 commercial capital and outlet, this surplus, great though it is, 

 is capable of being increased tenfold, as only one-tenth of the 

 fertile lands of this State are believed to be yet brought under 

 cultivation. 



But while no man who has seen the country can entertain 



