was paid, and friendly relations between
the two countries were fully restored.

[Illustration: MRS. JULIA DENT GRANT.]

Our rapid growth had long since made the building of a railroad from the
East to the Pacific a necessity that continually grew more urgent.
Construction was begun as early as 1863, but the Civil War caused the
work to lag, and at the end of two years only one hundred miles had been
graded and forty laid. The progress then became more vigorous.

The road consisted of two divisions. The first was from Omaha, Nebraska,
to Ogden, Utah, a distance of 1,032 miles, while the western division,
known as the Central Pacific, covered the distance of 885 miles between
Ogden and San Francisco. Steadily approaching each other, these long
lines of railway met on the 10th of May, 1869, when the last spike, made
of solid gold, was driven, and the two locomotives, standing with their
pilots almost touching, joined in a joyous screech of their whistles.
The important event was celebrated with much ceremony, for it was worthy
of being commemorated.

RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED.

The vexatious work of reconstruction was completed during the early
months of 1870. Virginia had held out against the terms prescribed by
Congress, but her senators and representatives were admitted to their
seats in the latter part of January; those of Mississippi in the
following month, and those of Texas in March, at which time the
secretary of State issued a proclamation declaring the adoption of the
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees negro
suffrage. For the first time in almost twenty years, all the States were
fully represented in Congress.

THE CHICAGO FIRE.

On the 8th of October, 1871, Chicago was visited by the greatest
conflagration of modern times, with the single exception of that of
Moscow. Like many events, fraught with momentous consequences, it had a
trifling cause. A cow kicked over a lamp in a stable on De Koven Street,
which set fire to the straw. A gale swiftly carried the flames into some
adjoining lumber yards and frame houses. All the conditions were
favorable for a tremendous conflagration. The fire swept over the south
branch of the Chicago River, and raged furiously in the business
portion of the city. The main channel of the river was leaped as if it
were a narrow alley, and there were anxious hours when thousands
believed the whole city was doomed. As it was, the fire-swept district
co