INTRODUCTION.← TO THE PUBLIC: "Experience is the only school that sends forth proficient graduates, since practice makes perfect." ment. We do not advance the slightest claim as a recipient of the insignia of perfection, but in presenting our second volume to the public, we indulge a hope that our experience may be most practically illustrated in the following pages by an improveIn our researches bearing upon the special interest we strive to represent, we comprehend how modest a tribute any publication-however elegantly prepared it may be is to the magnificent success of the Railway Transportation System. We realize most fully its intimate relations with the National weal or woe—which involves individual welfare. Every tangible encouragement this "Universal Exchange" receives, is an aid to prosperity and intelligence, and every effort to circumscribe its facilities, is a blow at the very roots of progressive civilization. In tracing the prominent and reliable Routes, we have endeavored to be accurate, but we have been brief, inasmuch as we might fill a volume for each, in the delineation of advantages and pleasures. We ask the kindly attention of the reader to the leading and responsible Business Houses we represent, convinced that it will be to the profit of all interested in the several lines of commercial industry we have selected, to consult with them before making trade decisions. With earnest wishes that our second Publication will be received with the same kindliness that greeted our first, we are Sincerely, A. T. SEARS, EFFIE WEBSTER, Editors and Publishers. |