coach would; there is
generally a rough board put up here and there with the words, crudely
painted on them, "Look out for the cars!" We were due at Council Bluffs
the next morning (December 3rd) at 7.23, but we arrived some half-hour
late. Council Bluffs Station is four miles from Omaha Station, but the
towns adjoin. The former has a population of over 35,000, and the latter
of over 110,000. They are divided by the great Missouri River, which is
crossed by two bridges, one being 2,750 feet long, and the other 2,920
feet long. Having had breakfast at the station, I went up to the town by
the "motor," that is, the electrical tram-car. The motor cars, like the
railway cars, are heated. I noticed a large number of detached wooden
cottages, "standing in their own grounds," of about one-eighth of an
acre, and I learned that these are owned by labourers. Mr. Day, an agent
there, told me that the cottage would cost 500 dollars, and the land 400
dollars, _i.e.,_ L100 for the house, and L80 for the land. An eighth of
an acre for L80 would be L640 per acre, and this quite out in the
suburbs; and I was told that good business blocks in the town itself
would fetch L32,000 (not dollars, but pounds) per acre. In the large
cities, such as New York, Chicago, etc., prices in the principal streets
would compare with prices in the City of London. Returning to the
station, I joined the express train, and crossing the Missouri River to
Omaha, we proceeded west. The river was frozen at its sides, and
presented no attractions worth notice. On we go through hundreds of
fields of maize, always called "corn" in America; other grain crops,
such as wheat, etc., are called by their own names, but the crop known
only as "corn" in America is maize. The rich clusters of corn are
gathered, and the stalks, something in appearance between a wheat stalk
and a sugar cane, are left standing for the cattle to pick over. Forty
years ago _this_ part was uninhabited by white men, and was the home of
countless buffaloes; now these animals are extirpated, and everywhere we
see nothing, for mile upon mile, but corn, corn, corn. One of my fellow
travellers was Mr. H.C. Jacobs, of Chicago, whose father-in-law was one
of the pioneers, and who gave me much information. The next day
(December 4th), we traverse the great rolling prairies of Nebraska, and
see many herds of horses and cattle, and here and there ranch homes and
cowboys.

Having run through Illinois, Iowa,