sections and States.

Nor is this sectional ignorance confined, by any means, to the East.
People in the West are apt to form an entirely erroneous impression of
Eastern States. The word, "East," to them conveys an impression of dense
population, overcrowding, and manufacturing activity. That there are
thousands and thousands of acres of scenic grandeur, as well as farm
lands, in some of the most crowded States, is not realized, and that
this is the case will be news to many. Last year a party of Western
people were traveling to New York, and, on their way, ran through
Pennsylvania, around the picturesque Horse Shoe Curve in the
Alleghenies, and along the banks of the romantic and historic
Susquehanna. A member of the party was seen to be wrapped in thought for
a long time. He was finally asked what was worrying him.

"I was thinking," was his reply, "how singular it is that the Republican
party ran up a majority of something like a hundred thousand at the
election, and I was wondering where all the folks came from who did the
voting. I haven't seen a dozen houses in the last hour."

Our friend was only putting into expression the thought which was
indulged in pretty generally by the entire crowd. Those who were making
the transcontinental trip for the first time marveled at the expanse of
open country, and the exquisite scenery through which they passed; and
they were wondering how they ever came to think that the noise of the
hammer and the smoke of the factory chimney were part and parcel of the
East, where they knew the money, as well as the "wise men," came from.
The object of this book being to present some of the prominent features
of all sections of the United States, it is necessary to remove, as far
as possible, this false impression; and in order to do so, we propose to