THREE DAYS AT CHICAGO. 371 



grain and lumber market in the world, and boasting a 

 population, at the time of my journey, of about five 

 hundred thousand. From the Atlantic to the Paci- 

 fic I rode into no city that made such an impresr 

 sion of grandeur, business power and wealth as this 

 youthful "Queen of the Lakes.'^ 



Chicago's baptism of fire seemed but to prove an in- 

 spiration, goading the city to more activity, to greater 

 success. 



The aggregate amount of business done in the city 

 the year after the fire — entirely excepting the building 

 trades — greatly exceeds that done the previous year, as 

 the following figures will show. During this one year 

 the wholesale merchandise trade increased fifteen per 

 cent. Receipts of grain increased 8,425,885 bushels ; 

 receipts of live-stock by 872,866 head. Deposits in 

 the city banks increased $1,910,000. 



So much for the splendid pluck of Chicago. 



The Pacific coast has Chicago for her smelting fur- 

 nace, four large silver mills being located here. 



From the Pacific coast also, she has a considerable 

 trade in the productions of the Orient. , In the first 

 half of 1873, Chicago received assignments of three- 

 million pounds of tea, two million pounds of coffee, 

 eight hundred thousand pounds of foreign wool, and 

 three hundred and nine thousand, seven hundred and 

 twenty four pounds of foreign silk. Cotton came to 

 her from the Pacific Isles, and nuts from South 

 America. 



Some idea of the commercial importance of Chica- 

 go's trade may be reached by the amount of some of 

 her exports by rail during 1872: namely, two hundred 

 and thirty-four million pounds of meat; eighty 



