38 OCEAN TO OCEAN ^JY HORSEBACK, 



of the old edifices, the straightening of the thorough- 

 fares, the alterations without number which have 

 taken place, and which have resulted in the Boston 

 of to-day, one of the most beautiful, prosperous 

 and public-spirited cities in the world. The intel- 

 ligence and local loyalty, for which her citizens are 

 renowned, have been set to work to attain one object — - 

 the modest goal of perfection. Obstacles which 

 some cities might have contentedly accepted as un- 

 avoidable have been swept away; advantages with 

 which other cities might have been satisfied have 

 been still further extended and improved. The 783 

 acres originally purchased by the settlers of Boston 

 from William Blaxton for £30 has been increased 

 over thirty times, until the city limits comprise 

 23,661 acres ; this not by magic as it would seem, 

 but by annexation of adjoining boroughs — Roxbury, 

 Dorchester, Charlestown, and others — and by recla- 

 mation of the seemingly ho})eless marshy land to the 

 north and south of the city. Tlie " Back-Bay " district, 

 the very centre of Boston's wealth, fashion and re- 

 finement, the handsomest residence quarter in 

 America, is built upon this '^ made land," which it 

 cost the city about $1,750,000 to fill in and otherwise 

 render solid. 



All good Bostonians, like the rest of their country- 

 men, may wish to go to Paris when they die — that point 

 cannot be settled; but it is certain that they all wish to 

 go to the Back-Bay while they live. And who can 

 wonder? To drive at night down Commonwealth 

 avenue, the most aristocratic street in this aristocratic 

 quarter, is to view a scene from fairyland. ^' The 

 Avenue " itself is 250 feet wide from house to house 



