IHE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD

in America. Paralleling the Merchants’ is the celebrated Eads
Bridge, which at the time of its construction in 1874 was considered
 a marvel of bridge engineering.
In 1764 St. Louis was a trading post on the very frontier
of civilization; now it is the fourth city of the United States,
with a population of 575.238. It is the commercial Capital of
the Mississippi Valley, and abounds in all the characteristics of
a great municipality. More tobacco is manufactured here than
anywhere else in the world, and its production of beer, boots
and shoes, drugs and chemicals, is enormous. The grain trade
is also large. The public buildings and the parks are notable
in extent and beauty. The principal park is now being pre
pared for the great World’s Exposition, to he held in 1003.

Tue Corn COUNTRY

Recrossing the Mississippi into the State of Illinois the
entire route northward to Chicago lies within that State. This
is one of the most productive sections of the United States,
and beside its tremendous yield of corn and other agricultural
products the land is exceptionally rich in coal and other minerals.
 The principal towns are East St. Louis, with 29,000
people, engaged in railroad work and manufacturing; Alton,
with 14,210, and Springfield, with 34.139. Springfield is the
Capital of Illinois, and is a handsome and prosperous town. It
is honored as the last resting place of the remains of Abraham
Lincoln. Bloomington, with 23.286 people, is a thriving city,
and Joliet, win 20,353, is the southern terminus of the great
ship canal designed ultimately to connect Lake Michigan with
the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Joliet is almost
a suburb of Chicago, which extends its municipal arms to emprace
 an entire county.
Chicago, the wonder city of the western world, is also the
second in size, numbering its inhabitants at 1,698.575. It is
the commercial, financial, and literary capital of the West.
Its park system, its boulevards, its water supply, and its lines
of transit are exceptionally fine. It is the greatest railroad
centre on this continent. and its greatest inland port. The