Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-06-17
NOTES BY THE WAY.

Editorial Correspondence of The Stnr1
sTEAAING On THE ROAD-PENSED By STEAM.
mo. 49, CHICAGO. June 7. 1857
We entered this singular creation of the en-
terprise and specializing capacity of our coun-
trymen shortly before ii o'clock last night.
The moon was shining brightly, 50 that had
fair opportunity to overlook from the car win
dow, as We slowly proceeded for n mile through
its Outskirt to IT'S centre, its features which
make it the most striking city of considerable
size upon the continent. allude to its majority
Of one-stOry board shanties, digniied with the
appellation Of houses, and its vast lumber
yards; for our way lay through them. This
city OF Chicago is the centre of the immense
lumber trade of the great lakes and their tribu
taries. From this point, it is sent by vessels
and railroad for the entire supply of almost the
whole country for from one to five hundred
miles IN different directions-ac country wherein
twenty square feet of plank are Just now being
used, perhaps, for every square foot required
for the purposes of any other territory on the
face Of the globe of similar extent The painted
shanties laying scattered around by thousands
reminded me instantly Of the edifices built of
cards by children on the foor-hardly more
level than this prairie II will be recoIlected
that Chicago has risen to its present position of
city Of l25,e00 inhabitants, shipping off. be
sides the lumber mentioned more grain an
nually than left even the Odessa last wear. in
the short space Of seven years At its centre il
Is fast getting rid Of the shanties once there,
which are being torn down or run off back I'D
on the prairie, on wheels, by dozens. daily. In
their place are rising up princely stone and
oriek edlfces, and blocks equal in all respects
10 the finest and most substantial in any other
American city, or, indeed, of any city of any
cline and age
Its no less singular universal plank sidewalks,
too, are rapidly giving place to pavements of
split sandstone. laid down in tablets containing
from hfty TO seventy-fve square feet of top sur
faee The style Of ornamental finish as to mag
niheence, or To extent, grandeur and stability
In which 1t IL thus improving at its immediate
heart realizes to my mind even much more than
Inc fabulous accounts Of the uprisings OF San
francisco from its numerous confagrations The
building stone used here is nearly white. and
Yields with great facility to the chisel and
wedge Tits TO be hoped that Chicago will soon
crowd out Of her thoroughfares altogether. the
- conoustloie materials of which the civ was
entirely constructed, up TO perhaps three
years ago; as the ignition Of one on bluster;n,
night would necessarily lay perhaps thousand
Of them in ashes in two or three hours Tw..
scarcely less struck on entering the CITY las,
night with It's majority of q card houses bniIt
for the hour, than this morning ION sallying ont
to see what could, worth viewing) with the
sudden change that has come over the spirit Of
the city's architectural dream; leading Its prop
erty holders now to build apparently for time,
approximating rs nearly as possibly for human
ity, to eternity. The greatest railway passen-
ger depot in the country, by long odds, if not
IN the world, is here-covering an immense
space, and accommodating perhaps dozen
trains Mt the same time, soon TO radiate upon
more or less of the thirty or forty railroads
reaching all Northwestern creation, which come
into the city through four or five main arteries,
from which they branch ut convenient points
lts design, for effect Is as striking as that of
the Smithsonian Institution building, while il
occupies much more space go
Inns being dies non in the way Of business
shall nave no opportunity to obtain statistical
information concerning il " hich might a. work
up 20 rs to make an interesting chapter rela.
tive 10 IT. A freight depot the property of the
same (IiliLOis Central Railroad) companv /.
had by 1T; covering even more ground, though
constructed Of the same white sand stone with
much more modest exterior. The Michigan
Central Railroad Company have just finished