, 1875-04-25

aQoW1nE any surplus lQat may Hcc1uos ~ u
applied to the extinguishment Of this float
ing debt, which has already assumed gigantic
proportions;
I CHICAGO AND ST. LOUIS. ID" ..
We publish elsewhere lengthy review in 6
leading Paris magazine Of what o celebrated
Frenchman, NJ S1Mox1N, saw in what he CALI
| ssthe two rivals of the West. Of America,
when he visited them few months ago.
The comparison he draws between Chicago
and St Louis il impartial and will probably
be accepted by both cities as substantially
correct, whatever errors Of detail it may COZ
tain. pig
Chicago, city of Is yenrs of age and 900,
COO souls, e1cites his Iveliest astonishment
and admiration. He says that it is thu
greatest market in the world for grain, cattle,
and packed meats, and that it is "the natu-
raj centre Of the interior of the vast region
| occupied BY the American Union" Our man-
ufactures, our stores, our vast magazines Of
food impress him. t'The whole Far West
even to the Pacific comes there to be fed. ?"
He predicts possible population Of 1000,
600 within ten years, and tells characteristic
story Of Chicagoan Of whom he asked the
present population and who replied: II do
not exactly know what to tell you I have
been away from Chicago for week"
H. s1MoNN complains Of the lack Of 8
polished and cultured society here, but speaks
with boundless admiration Of our energy.
'You will seek elsewhere in vain, +" he says,
''for SO many men Of hardihood and sang-
JToid." The streets aro full Of people hurry
ing along in 'sfeverish fashion" The great
majority Of our merchants, "by their loyalty,
their p7omptness, their fidelity to their word,
| honor American commerce" Our choice
stock of criminals appa11s N. SYNONYM, and
he refers to the inefhciency Of the Mayor and
Police-Superintendent, who shut up what he
calls the "pretty girls saloons, and then let
them open uudisturbed within two days.
Passing to pleasanter themes, he speaks OF
'tthe energy, the indomitab1e audacity" Of
Chicagoans. The 1ake tunnel serves him
as an instance Of our marvellous
command Of these qualities. So does
our success in raising miles Of pala6al
buildings above their miry beds and filing up
the whole surface Of the city with firm
ground. But the greatest wonder is our
recuperaion from the Great Fire. "Chi-
cago," says he, "rises from its ruins more
resplendent than ever; nowhere else in
America do you see moro beautiful edifces,
larger or better paved streets, more sumptu-
Gus residences, hotels more gigantic or more
ornamental" Ourposition is unequaled. Our
harbor receives more shipping than: that Of
any other 4 nerican city e1ceptNew York, Our
exports and imports for 1873 were one-third
those of all France. One-fourth of the whole
grain product Of the West is received here.
The amount of grain handled here every year
is 'double the quantity handled in the most
prosperous years OF Odessa and Marseilles,"
the two greatest grain-marts Of Europe.
This, and more, II. SrMoNM has to say Of Us.
And now for our rival The writer gives st.
Louis high praise, too. He puts its popula-
ton OF 5oo, ,000, and finds it, as whole, more
urbane than ours, but less energetic. Yet
the people are not idle. They Ill work.
They have manufactures, commerce, business
on q grand scale. St. Louis is ''the worthy
rival of Chicago" High praise, but, per-
haps, not undeserved. Our marvellous pros
perity has done public service by forcing St.
Louis into IN intuition Of our energy. II.
S1s1oE1N depicts the dangers Of steamboat
travel and draws some graphic pictures Of
the constant destruction Of the sort Of boats
which ply to and from. st. Louis. The ad-
n,irable position of the city, the advantages
it has gained by its bridge, and will gain by
the improvement Of the mouths of the Mis-
sissippi, and its railroad communications, are
mentioned in high terms The beau-
ty OF its situation, not of itself,
(who could praise St. Louis street
when he had just seen ours y received due
commentator Yet ID. SYNONYM admires the
city's beautiful squares, its statues, and,
above oil, its ts superb botanical garden; the
only one Of the sort in the United States
The rivalry between the two cities amnzes
this shrewd observer. he has never seen the
like before. He believes that both twill as
tonish the world" They occupy the two
natural centres OF population in the West.
If they continue their present rate Of in
crease, they will be, by 1905, the two largest
cities in the world Their chances are 80
great that II. SYNONYM declines to prophesy
superiority for either. Yet, speaking of the
fight over population, he says: =" Is not the
upezampld prosperity Of Chicago the best
proof Of the population it claims? St. Louis
counts more than century; Chicago has
only existed since 1890; with how much
rapidity has it developed!''
THE CONCORD 0RATI0N OF CuRTB.
Mr.: GEORGE WILLIAM CunT1s' Grafton at
Concord is in some respects disappoint- |
ment. Tt was trying time.. Concord cele- |
brations haye not been infraquent, and some
of the greatest names Of American history |
belong to orators who have told, again and |
again, the story Of " Concord fight" So Mr..
CURTIS had to soy very old things in very
new way. So for he did well. His linpid |
prose mirrors the story, and ut times the mar
ration rings with an epic grandeur. When,
however, he has brought us to the close Of !
the first century, aud seeks to pierce the veil |
II - ~