subterranean tunnel two miles out under the bottom of the lake, Chicago
obtains her water. The work of constructing a railroad tunnel across the
Detroit river is already commenced, and the traveler will soon pass, in
his steam palace, under the bed of that river, while the immense
commerce of the lakes is floating upon its bosom over his head. Chicago
is the most extensive grain and lumber market in the world; and
Philadelphia and New York contain the largest and best furnished
printing establishments now in existence. The submarine cable, running
like a thread of light through the depths of the broad Atlantic from the
United States to England, a conception of American genius, is the
greatest achievement in the telegraphic line. The Pacific Railroad, that
iron highway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, stands at the head of all
monuments of engineering skill in modern times. Following the first
Atlantic cable, soon came a second almost as a matter of course; and
following the Central Pacific R.R., a northern line is now in process of
rapid construction. And what results are expected to flow from these
mighty enterprises? The _Scientific American_ of Oct. 6, 1866, says:--

"To exaggerate the importance of this transcontinental highway is
almost impossible. To a certain extent it will change the relative
positions of this country, Europe and Asia.... With the completion
of the Pacific Railroad, instead of receiving our goods from India,
China, Japan, and the 'isles of the sea,' by way of London and
Liverpool, we shall bring them direct by way of the Sandwich
Islands and the railroad, and become the carriers to a great extent
for Europe. But this is but a portion of the advantage of this
work. Our western mountains are almost literally mountains of gold
and silver. In them the Arabian fable of Aladdin is realized....
Let the road be completed, and the comforts as well as the
necessaries furnished by Asia, the manufactures of Europe, and the