LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 15: Development - Michigan City, 1904

Chapter 15: Development - Michigan City

A Tyrian colony - the people made Stout for war, and studious of their trade; Carthage the name - belov*d by Juno more Than her own Argos, or the Samian shore."

With the single exception of Hudson, Mich¬ igan township is now the smallest in LaPorte county, as its northwestern corner is cut off by Lake Michigan. Formerly it had a great abundance and variety of the finest forest timber interspersed with streams which afforded nu¬ merous mill seats. One of these was Trail creek ; a deep, sluggish, very crooked stream which meandered through the country and discharged its waters into Lake Michigan at the foot of Hoosier Slide. The first saw mill in the town¬ ship was built by John Walker, father of Major Benjamin P. Walker of LaPorte. John Cheney, John Ritter, the Shreves, Sanfords and Van Winkles were all early settlers. Being a wooded country, Michigan township settled less rapidly than others, and owning to the sparseness of the population its history is mainly that of Michigan City.

The early French explorers and missionaries have been referred to in a previous chapter. It is probable that some of these visited the locality of Michigan City; at any rate we have very good reason to believe that at least one of them did. In 1673 Nicholas Perrot, an adventurous Frenchman connected with a trading company at Montreal, made an exploration of Lake Michi¬ gan. and in giving an account of his travels he said that at the head of the great lake there were "mountains of white sand." As the locality of

Michigan City is the head of the lake, as the sand dunes at that point meet this description exactly, and as there is no other place on the lake which does, it is almost certain that this was the place which he visited and thus describes. It is quite likely that Chevalier DeTonty, LaSalle and others visited the spot, but there is no direct proof of it, save perhaps in the case of Father Claude Allouez, who speaks of visiting the Indians at the "sand hills," and the region re¬ mained in the possession of the Miami Con¬ federation of Indians, or particularly of the Pottawottomies, until the advent of the white settlers in the early thirties of the nineteenth century.

This town had the honor of being first men¬ tioned in the United States Congress as "the inconsiderable position at the mouth of Trail Creek." Its name is said to have been given to it by the party who first surveyed the state road leading from the Ohio river through Lafayette and Logansport to its termination at Michigan City. This party consisted of John M'Donald, of Daviess county, Chester Elliott, of Warwick county, and John I. Neely, of Gibson county. The land for the original plat of Michigan City was purchased by Major Isaac C. Elston, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, at the sale of the Michi¬ gan Road lands in Lafayette, Indiana, at the gov¬ ernment price of $1.25 per acre. He was a citizen of the state, but was originally from New York. This gentleman had the sagacity to forsee that amid the splendid resources of the county and the grand commercial position which it presented, Michigan City was destined to hold no "incon¬ siderable" rank among the flourishing towns in the western world. In October, 1832, when the commissioners came to the county to locate the seat of justice, we find Major Elston busily en¬ gaged in laying out the original plat of Michigan City. He laid it out wisely. The lots were all large and every lot was bounded by one or more streets. The most generous provision was also made by the proprietor in donations of school, church and parsonage lots, as well as the most liberal accommodations to the earliest settlers. Major Elston lived to see and realize the accom¬ plishment of his highest anticipations of the city's prosperity, which was a rich reward for his en¬ terprise, and he possessed at the same time the good will and esteem of his fellow citizens.

Asa Harper, who afterwards lived in Cool Spring township, assisted in the survey. There is good evidence that there was a partially finished cabin in Michigan City as early as October, 1832, and that it was the only building in the place. This probably served as the home of Major Elston and the surveying party in laying out the town, the original plat of which was recorded September 17, 1833; though there have been many additions since.

In August, 1833, Jacob Furman and B. F. Bryant built a log cabin on a spot afterwards known as Peck's corner. Samuel Flint arrived in October, 1833, and at about the same time came George W. Selkirk, who afterwards be¬ came a farmer in Cool Spring township. It is said that there was but one frame building then in the town, which was built by Samuel B. Webster. Mr. Flint built the second one for the occupation of his family. In June, 1833, Thompson W. Francis arrived but left soon after, not returning as a permanent resident until March 16, 1834. But as he was a carpenter it is probable that he did some work during his first stay, which may account for Webster's frame building, which Samuel Flint found when he arrived. Joseph C. Orr and Samuel Miller, Esq., were on the ground by March, 1834. Orr built a tannery and lived in a log house on the site afterwards occupied by Ames and Holliday's drug store. He made this log house serve as an inn where he enter¬ tained strangers until a suitable hotel was built. Samuel Miller, Esq., obtained the establishment of a postoffice and became the first postmaster. He sent a, horseman to LaPorte once a week for the mail. The Michigan road had been laid out and the laborers were then at work upon it ; but it was not completed at the northern terminus, there was only an Indian trail between Michigan City and LaPorte, and foot paths or new cart paths from place to place. Soon afterwards a route was established between Michigan City and Chicago around the shore of Lake Michigan, the mail arrived daily in four-horse stages, and it is said that the quarterly returns of the postoffice soon exceeded $100. Samuel Miller, Esq. became one of the heaviest merchants of the town. Colonel William Teal, if not the first, was one of the first merchants. In company with him was David Sprague, Esq., and they did an enormous business. These gentlemen were associated with the original proprietor as holders of the remain¬ ing unsold lots. Daniel Brown and Jacob Haas formed a mercantile copartnership in 1834. Teal and Sprague, Brown and Haas, and Samuel Miller were all merchants at the same time, and the volume of business which they transacted in 1834, nay, for the single month of June in that year, is simply amazing as we shall see in the chapter on Business and Commerce. In 1834 two hotels were built; the first by Lofland and Taylor near the harbor, the other by Samuel Olinger, Thompson Francis doing the carpenter work. Business was good, the merchants had more than they could do, vessels were continually arriving with merchandise of various kinds and departing loaded with grain and produce, wagons were continually arriving from the interior loaded with grain and produce and departing loaded with merchandise, settlers were con¬ stantly arriving who were laborers, artisans, tradesmen, farmers, and merchants; the hotels were full of new arrivals or travelers passing through, the stages were crowded ; dwelling houses, warehouses, business blocks and public buildings were going up, the streets were full of bustle and activity, and all the affairs of this new and rapidly growing town were progressing at a noisy pace which surprises us even at this late day. Before the close of 1834 this place which two years previous had been inhabited only

In the town there were not many doctors nor lawyers, but a sufficient number for all require¬ ments ; for health prevailed, .drunkenness was al¬ most unknown, the people lived at peace with each other, and were united in their efforts to make the new town a prosperous one. On July 8, 1835, a paper was established, the first in the county, the Michigan City Gazette , and a writer on the new paper, evidently in love with his sub¬ ject, eloquently discourses as follows: -

"The advantages which this place possesses are manifold. Contiguous to us are the fertile and beautiful prairies with an adequate number of delightful groves, as well as an endless variety of the finest forest timber; and all these inter¬ spersed with streams which afford mill seats ample in capacity and numbers for all purposes. Such is the character of the lands about us, while the site of our town is sandy and mud is never seen in our streets. Immediately upon the lake shore two huge bluffs rear their lofty heads as if on purpose to form in winter a rampart to protect us from the blasts that sweep along the lake, yet leaving a loop-hole through which we may peep at its angry surface, and in summer to relieve the eye from that monotony which would otherwise exist, furnishing at the same time a natural observatory which on ascending the sum¬ mit affords one of the most striking views in the world. Here before us is spread that beautiful and transparent sheet of water, Lake Michigan, inviting us across its placid surface to an easy and rapid intercourse with th~present and future inhabitants of its shores, the extent of which is but little short of one thousand miles, affording also a way of conveyance by which we may send a bushel of wheat to Rochester for twelve and a half cents. These waters also furnish us with the finest varieties of fish. The salubrity of our climate is worthy of special notice. From the short experience of its inhabitants, and from all the known experience of the natives, no place in either the western or eastern country is more decidedly healthy. But one burial from among our citizens, a child, has taken place the last year/' the foundation of Michigan City. The first Ger¬ man family which is said to have arrived was that of A. A. Voigt, who made the place their permanent home. Almost at once Michigan City became a ready market for the surrounding country; not only because of its water trans¬ portation but because of its home consumption. In 1835 the farmers found it profitable to bring their butter, eggs, cheese and bacon to this market where there was a great demand for these articles. In that year the place had begun to assume the appearance of a good-sized town. One man, Mr. J. S. Castle, had formed his opinion of the place before leaving New York; this opinion and the falsehoods circulated on his way almost made him abandon the idea of coming; but as his goods had already been shipped there was no other alternative. But when he arrived, instead of finding "six or eight log buildings" as he had been told on his journey, he found a young city in good earnest, with its four-story frame buildings composing hardware, drygoods, clothing, grocery, and apothecary stores, besides four or five warehouses. One of the buildings which was especially praised was the Franklin Building, whose proprietors were Messrs. Ames, Clark and Sprague. These men were highly commended by travelers from the east for erecting such a structure, who declared that it was superior to anything they had seen in the western country. The building contained "four large stores" and was of four stories. By the middle of July, 1835, two of the stores were filled with goods - one by Fisher Ames and Com¬ pany as a variety store, the other by D. and N* W. Low as a domestic store. The other two stores were filled with goods during the course of the summer. In this building the Hon. E. A. Hannigan, then member of Congress from this district, and who was a candidate for re-election, addressed the people of Michigan City on Monday, July 13, at 4 o'clock p. m., and was followed by David H. Cole, who gave a short address. Thus early did Michigan City take her place as a fully fledged city in the political campaigns of the day. Her lines of communication were being extended ; by July a regular mail was running to and from "twenty mile prairie," and intercourse between the city and country was being facilitated by every available means. The building opposite the present Vreeland House still stands, a vestige of the structures of 1835. Nor were the people exclusively bound up in their own town; they could appreciate outlying localities. One of the citizens, writing under date of July 29, 1835, says,

"We are just returned from a short ride on the prairie beyond LaPorte. As always so new, we stopped to admire the little lake and the beautiful scenery north and northeast of it, and while passing over the three miles from the lake to the schoolhouse on the Michigan road, we in¬ voluntarily exclaimed more than once, how de¬ lightful would be a house with a good library and a few choice friends in this place !"

On February 8, 1836, Michigan City was in¬ corporated and began to be governed by a mayor and five aldermen. The first mayor was Wylis Peck. The settlement of the town had been very rapid, and by this time the population numbered fully three thousand souls; hence Michigan City started off even at the first as a fully fledged city. But it did not grow very much before the Civil war. Even as late as 1858 the city contained only three wards. It was a great business center, with much enterprise and a comparatively large population, but it sprang into being and at once attained to what for many years was the limit of its activities.

One of the greatest obstacles against which Michigan City had to struggle was the lack of an adequate harbor. The shore was open, sea vessels could not approach near enough to the beach to unload, and hence were compelled to transfer their cargo to lighters and so bring it to the shore. The storms which blew from all directions except from the south were often terrific, and when this was the case the only way to prevent being driven from anchorage and stranded was to put out to sea. Trail creek was navigable, and was made more navigable, above its mouth, but there the vessels were blocked by a sand bar which made the water very shallow so that oftentimes one could wade from one shore of the creek to the other. But at length a vessel crossed the bar and came into the creek, though by what means the sand bar was lowered to admit of this is not stated. The incident is given in Packard's history, and we will let the writer relate it in his own words : bar and this circumstance was made the occasion for a day of rejoicing. The vessel was pushed and towed, the citizens aiding, some considerable distance up the creek and the enthusiasm found expression in a way that was more applicable to those 'good old times' than to the present evil days. A barrel of whiskey was rolled out and set up on end. Then the head was knocked in, a nail was driven partly in the side, and a tin cup was hung on it, when every man helped himself ; and it may be presumed that no one failed to partake of his full share of the liquid. It was a general spree in which every man lent a hand." - Packard's History of LaPorte County, page 88.

From the fact that Daniel Webster was in Michigan City to boom the Buffalo and Mississippi railroad as related in a former chapter, and that he once addressed the citizens at LaPorte, it has been inferred that he was present on the above related occasion ; but though the refreshments were such as that great statesman would not refuse, the writer has not found any evidence of his presence at that time.

It was not long before the enterprising citi¬ zens of Michigan City provided against the ne¬ cessity of discharging cargoes by means of lighters; they built a long pier out into the lake so that vessels could moor alongside and unload and reload. The center of business then was near where the Michigan Central Railroad station now is. Soon there was a row of large elevators reaching from Hoosier Slide up to Franklin street. The buildings reached lakeward even be¬ yond the Slide to a point near where the light house now is. There were nine or ten big ware¬ houses. There was a slab bridge across the creek and a track all along the way and the whole length of the pier, and grain and produce used to be run down to the vessels on small cars and loaded, and returning, the cars would take the imported goods up to the warehouses. The Messrs. Blair were the prime movers in the erec¬ tion of the pier, and the people were enthusiastic in pointing to what individual enterprise had ac¬ complished, and in their condemnation of the "loco foco" presidential administrations for what they had not accomplished by neglecting or refus¬ ing to make adequate appropriations to provide a safe and quiet harbor. The pier was a great ad¬ vantage, but the vessels, could approach it and effect their exchange of cargoes only in a com- parative calm; if the water was rough they were compelled to suspend operations and put out to sea and ride at anchor, which was a great detri¬ ment. What was needed was a strong break¬ water providing an adequate area of still water for anchorage and enabling vessels to discharge their cargoes and reload no matter how rough the lake might be outside. The struggles and triumphs of the plucky citizens with reference to making a harbor will be related in the chapter on Architecture and Public Works; here we only remark how exasperating must have been the conduct of the national government in not co¬ operating with the people as it should have done.

The warehouses remained for many years and served well their purpose; but on Sunday night, March 26, 1857, they were burned, and a con¬ siderable amount of produce was destroyed in the fire. On Friday, March 20, 1840, a previous fire destroyed the old brewery.

The population of Michigan City seems to have been greater in 1836 than it was for some years thereafter. For nearly ten years there was little growth. One reason for this was the financial depression of 1837, the effects of which were felt throughout the country for several years. Both statistics and common reports show that in 1841 there was a manifest falling off in shipments, which was attributed to poor prices and bad roads. Still, winter wheat was selling at 70 to 75 cents, spring wheat at 3 7J4 to 43 cents, oats at 15 to 20 cents, barley at 25 to 37^ cents, and com at 25 to 31 cents, and the dealers were paying cash. This was in December ; but in September, 1841, wheat was selling in Rochester, New York at $1.38, but only at 90 cents in Michigan City, which seemed to be out of all proportion even allowing for cost of transporta¬ tion. Thereupon there was a general complaint among the farmers against the local dealers for keeping the prices down. Then as now it was "diamond cut diamond." We need not read the following lines with the feelings of a pessimist, but there is much of truth in them : -

Another reason for the falling off, or the stand still, or at least the slow growth of Michi¬ gan City, is found in the fact that the building of turnpikes, plank roads and canals, even before the advent of railroads, diverted the transporta¬ tion to other points. For many years Michigan City was the shipping point for a large part of Indiana reaching far to the south, but this in the very nature of things could not last ; as the coun¬ try developed the people farther south found other markets.

Nevertheless, after the year 1840 the popula¬ tion of Michigan City, which had been at a stand¬ still, began to increase again, and the increase has continued with little or no intermission until the present time. In January, 1842, a memorial of the citizens to Congress concerning the harbor contained the following : 'Taking into consider¬ ation the importance of this point, both State and national, to the state as an outlet for her im¬ mense surplus produce, * * * we would remind your honorable bodies that only eight years since the country now known as Northern Indiana was an unbroken wild where the savage beasts of the forest held undisputed sway. It is now thickly settled by an industrious and enter¬ prising people. Where but yesterday was the rude wigwam of the Indian, may now be seen stately edifices, towering spires, and large manu¬ facturing establishments."

To mention and give an account of all the additions which have been made to the original Elston plat, would take too much space and be like giving one a few pages of a dictionary to read. Packard's History was published in 1876, and mentions the following additions: Burr's, Orr's, Waddell's, the West addition, the East addition, Miller's, Duncan's, Orr & Cobb's, the Michigan City Land Company's, Blair's, Bigelow and Winship's, the South addition, the Southwest addition, DeWolf's South addition, Orr and De- Wolf's addition, and William B. McCartney's. Since this list was given there have been perhaps forty additions to Michigan City; so many that some of them have been lost sight of and for¬ gotten. The following new additions were added to the city during 1903: Camp Anderson, 182 lots ; Baut, 37 lots ; J. R. and J. E. DeWolfe, 58 lots; South Park, 70 lots; Oakland, 50 lots; Central, 24 lots; Case & Walker, 66 lots; Ridgeland, 549 lots, and Lambka, 18 lots.

No sooner was Michigan City incorporated than she gave her attention to public improve¬ ments. As early as 1836 an effort was made to have the owners of lots on Wabash, Washington, Franklin, Pine, Spring, and Cedar streets, remove the brush and decayed timber from the public highways, under penalty for the failure to do so. Later, in 1837, this effort was abandoned and the city began to grub and turnpike the streets. This served until the late forties, when some of the streets were planked, and the plank road companies which were building plank roads to other points were allowed the use of the streets. When the railroads came they were given right of way on certain streets, permission was given to build or remove railroad bridges as demanded, and every effort was made on the part of the city co-operate with each new and promising en¬ terprise, and facilitate its usefulness. When factories came they were welcomed, encouraged to build, and given permission to lay railroad tracks to their places of business. New avenues were created and streets were extended to meet the needs of the growing settlement. Then came paving with cedar block in the late eighties, which here as elsewhere proved unsatisfactory. Latterly came stone curbing and brick paving, which have been done on many of the streets, additions have been vacated and replatted, new and improved systems of numbering the streets, crossings and buildings have been adopted, the streets have been kept free from advertisements, and the city has kept abreast of modern improvements. From the time when, in 1837, the city ordered the street commissioner to open water courses on Pine, and Market streets to drain off the stagnant water, there has been a steady improvement Qf the sewerage until the city has some excellent sewers, notably the prison sewer of which we shall write in the chapter on Architecture and Public Works.

In the several departments of the city govern¬ ment there have been few changes during the year and the usual routine of business has been transacted without attracting especial attention. The visible improvements made by the city con¬ sist of one and one-twelfth miles of new brick pavement, built under contracts that are not free from dissatisfaction among the property owners who pay the bills. The streets so improved are Pine, Detroit, Green, west Eighth, west Fourth, east Fourth and Ohio streets. The finished pave¬ ments aggregate 20,056 square yards and the un¬ finished contracts total 14,735 square yards. The only new street opened during the year is Buffalo, extending 300 feet south from Green. A large amount of sidewalk has been constructed, to¬ gether with some new sewers.

Pavement Improvements

Besides the above mentioned pavement im¬ provements, two pavements, one on east Fourth street from Franklin street to Michigan street and the other on Ohio street from Boston to the section line, are under way of construction.

New Sewers New Sidewalks

In 1875 the city began the construction of water works, in connection with the Michigan Central Railroad Company. The water mains were extended in 1884, and in 1887 steps were taken to improve the plant, construct new water works, purchase pumps, machinery, etc. But in 1899 the Lake Michigan Water Company was given a franchise, the citv bonded itself for $20,000 to pay for two hundred shares of stock in this company, and the result is the present system with the pumping plant and fine building on the lake shore.

Closely related with the waten works is the fire department. As early as 1836, when the city had increased quickly to a comparatively large population, a law was passed compelling the citi¬ zens to keep fire ladders, buckets, etc., that they might be in readiness to fight a fire. In 1837 the city gave much attention to regulating the fire department, specifying its officers, the number of men in each company, etc. In 1838 there were regular fire drills of the department, which, the city did not leave optional but compelled by law. This was very necessary in a town built mostly of wood, as Michigan City then was, and with no better means of protection than were at hand at that time. From time to time fire limits have been established, within which only buildings of a certain specified kind might be erected. In 1881 the fire department was reorganized and its government specified as consisting of a chief, two assistant chiefs, and such hose, hook and ladder, and engine companies as might be found agreeable to the new law of organization ; and in 1894 it was reorganized again each company to have only seventeen members, and now consists of five hose carriages, one engine, and one hook and ladder wagon, with a company to handle each one. The system may be called a paid depart¬ ment, though from the salaries paid it will be seen that it must be largely volunteer. The chief re¬ ceives $150, the assistant $75, other officers $2.50, and firemen $1 each per month. In the spring of 1899 Chief Fred W. Westfahl organized the Firemen's Relief Association for the benefit of injured and sick firemen and was elected its first president, and in March of that year the city council passed an ordinance creating a fund for the pay of firemen and the relief of injured fire¬ men. The department has the reputation of being a brave and efficient one.

Though there had been at least two franchises given to gas companies, the first plant which was built was under the franchise given to I. H. Miller in 1881. This company was reorganized in 1897 under the present title - the Michigan City Gas Light Company. The plant is large and includes gas houses, coal sheds, and holders, with a complete and expensive mechanical equip¬ ment of modern pattern. By its popularity and liberal methods it has brought gas into extensive use as fuel, and the increase in its use for domestic purposes was nearly one hundred per cent, in 1903. The company also handles the best makes of gas ranges and equipments. Several other franchises have been given, but this company still holds the ground. Among these franchises was one given on March 14, 1887, to the Michigan City Natural Gas and Oil Company, which con¬ cern spent much money in trying to strike gas or oil, but in vain ; good reason for which may be found in Chapter I.

In 1886 Michigan City took the step usually taken sooner or later by such towns, and intro¬ duced electric lighting. The city at first owned its own plant which was bought by the Lake Cities Electric Company, and this gave place to the Michigan City Electric Company. Recently the plant has been enlarged and greatly improved, and has increased power facilities. But as this is the plant that runs the street cars, something further will be said of it in the chapter on Com¬ munication.

Michigan City has been governed well. Her laws against the running at large of stock, her laws regulating the conduct of pedlers, and the sale of intoxicants, and the passing of trains, and all things pertaining to the welfare of the people but which do not grow out of the common law, have been wisely made; and, taking everything into consideration, they have been faithfully and effectually administered. In 1884 the council passed an ordinance providing for a board of health which looks after hygiene and sanitation. The government has been careful but progressive. The chief power is vested in the mayor who is elected by the people. Two councilmen, one elected' biennially from each ward, represent the aldermanic board. The mayor is the supreme executive authority, the council the supreme legislative authority. The government and city are conducted on an economic basis which se¬ cures the best at the minimum cost to the people. No city of its size has better paved streets, better sidewalks, better cross walks, better sewers, or is better lighted and governed. At the present writing, April, 1904, the following is the city government :

Municipal Officers

The various city departments include police, fire, health, water, harbor, parks and education, which are in charge of governing boards and are directed by men selected to preside over them be¬ cause of their fitness and ability.

Michigan City has had many vicissitudes ; her prospects at times have been bright, at other times gloomy. Recently she has had high hopes of se¬ curing the naval training station which the na¬ tional government is thinking of locating on Lake Michigan ; but though she is in the list of avail¬ able places, it is said that she is far from heading the list, and the probabilities are that the training station will be located somewhere else. She has been disappointed repeatedly at not receiving from Congress any appropriation for harbor im¬ provement, but her leading men have never lost heart. When fortune smiled they have energet¬ ically set themselves to improve its opportunities, when the prospect has been gloomy they have courageously met the emergency by themselves opening new channels of prosperity.

They have their reward. Situated many feet above high water, at the head of a great lake, with the best of transportation facilities both by rail and water, only fifty miles from Chicago and within about a day's ride of all the great cities, in the very heart of the best agricultural valley of the world, in a healthful climate, with beautifnl residences, many fine public buildings, large and well stocked stores, towering churches, busy fac¬ tories, and a population of nearly twenty thou¬ sand, Michigan City has developed until it is very far from being that "inconsiderable position at the mouth of Trail creek."

It may be useful at the close of this chapter to compare Michigan City and LaPorte, though not invidiously to either. As long ago as Novem¬ ber 10, 1841, Mr. James M. Stuart, editor of the Michigan City Gazette , wrote to Myron H. Orton then editor of the LaPorte Whig , as follows :

"The time has now come for us to cease our eternal war and jar about localities; a nobler feel¬ ing should animate us, one of state and sectional pride ; we should rally zealously in favor of every thing calculated to elevate our country, build up our state, and improve the condition of the tiller of the soil."

These words were well uttered. Michigan City and LaPorte are not enemies, but sister cities, and should co-operate with each other for their mutual good, which will in no wise detract from but rather add to the individual good of each. Now that the two cities are bound together by an electric railroad, they are coming into closer relations with each other, people are continually passing and repassing, the two cities are brought much nearer together, and it begins to seem a& though each were a part of the other. And this is well. Towns and cities have their strongly marked and varied personalities just as individ¬ uals do, for a town or city is a man in larger form. To dispute which of these two cities is the superior, is as foolish as for two persons to dis¬ pute as to which has the better mother. These two cities are entirely different from each other and each is superior in its way. From the very first Michigan City has been mainly commercial, whereas LaPorte has been domestic. Michigan City has been restless and aggressive; through the influence and efforts of her leading men she has always sought to push out for new things. She has been checked and thwarted in this, and obstacles have been thrown in her way, but she has always overcome them and forged ahead. On the other hand LaPorte has been domiciled and contented. She has cared less to become the leading city of the west, and more to develop her resources for the comfort and well-being of her own citizens. Relatively to each other Michigan City is masculine, LaPorte feminine, and they should be married. From the very first, leading spirits have sought to make Michigan City a center of communication with the outside world, while the founders and promoters of LaPorte have sought to make it a home center. The lake city has been mercantile, the inland city agricul¬ tural ; the one radical, the other conservative ; the one quick to see the advantage of and to adopt new things, the other less responsive ; the one mercurial, the other less ready to move. LaPorte and Michigan City are as unlike as a peach and an apple, though each is excellent fruit of its kind. These two cities can no more do each other's work than Lincoln and Grant could do each other's work, all rivalry between them is foolish, and all talk as to which is the superior is talk worse than wasted.