It Is A Wonderful Place, And Tells
More Forcibly Of The Astonishing Energy And Progress Of The Americans Than
Anything I Saw.
Forty years ago the whole ground on which the town stands
could have been bought for six hundred dollars; now, a person would give
ten thousand for the site of a single store.
It is built on a level
prairie, only slightly elevated above the lake surface. It lies on both
sides of the Chicago river, about a mile above its entrance into Lake
Michigan. By the construction of piers, a large artificial harbour has
been made at the mouth of this river.
The city has sprung up rapidly, and is supplied with all the accessories
of a high state of civilisation. Chicago, in everything that contributes
to real use and comfort, will compare favourably with any city in the
world. In 1830 it was a mere trading-post, situated in the theatre of the
Black Hawk war. In 1850 its population was only 28,000 people; it has now
not less than 60,000. [Footnote: By the last census, taken in June, 1855,
the population of Chicago was given at 87,000 souls, thus showing the
extraordinary increase of 27,000 within a year.] It had not a mile of
railway in 1850; now fourteen lines radiate from it, bringing to it the
trade of an area of country equalling 150,000 square miles. One hundred
heavy trains arrive and depart from it daily. It has a commerce
commensurate with its magnitude.
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