"Chicago to the Sea." Eastern Excursionist / A complete guide to the principal eastern summer resorts, including: Niagara Falls, the White Mountains, Saint Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Montreal and Quebec, the New England sea beaches, etc., and how and when to enjoy them.

by William C. Gage

Among the modern comforts of railway traveling, the dining-car system takes a prominent place. The hasty scramble for refreshments at a wayside restaurant, with the constant fear of “getting left,” and a consequent bolting of half-masticated food, with dyspepsia in its train, now gives place to a leisurely eaten meal, served in elegant style, with all the appointments and conveniences that can be suggested by the most refined taste. The Michigan Central was among the first to adopt this innovation, and so popular has it become as an adjunct to their already long list of popular features, that they have recently constructed four of these elegant hotels upon wheels, and placed them upon their line between Chicago and Niagara Falls. These dining cars are models of taste, elegance and convenience, with spacious kitchens, store rooms and lavatories, large plate-glass windows, folding or opera chairs, and in fact every convenience that taste and experience could suggest for the comfort of their patrons.

A glance at the menu, which is as complete as that of a first-class hotel attests the fact that the gratification of its patrons, and not profit to its treasury, is the first great aim of the company in operating the dining-car system. Indeed, it may well be questioned how such elegant meals can be furnished for the sum of seventy-five cents, when a similar repast at many a hotel in the land would cost from one to two dollars. Perhaps a solution of the problem may be found in the remark of a shrewd Yankee, who once sat opposite the writer at table in one of these cars. He had evidently fasted for many hours previous, as his voracious appetite clearly indicated. On rising from the table, he soliloquized thus: “Well, I guess this concern han’t made much out o’ me this time, but I shall allus come by this route hereafter.”

The dining-car system is also in successful operation on the Canada division of the Michigan Central, the equipments and appointments being of the same character and completeness. Indeed, so popular has this feature become, that several other cars are in course of construction to extend the system in a manner to meet every demand of the public for accommodation in this direction.

But while we have been thus indulging in reflections on this subject, the train has been speeding onward, and here we are at Michigan City, on the extreme southern shore of Lake Michigan, and the great lumber port of Northern Indiana. It is a railroad center of some importance, the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago, and Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroads occupying the union depot with the Michigan Central. The population is about eight thousand, and its principal business interests are manufacturing and lumber. The view of the city from the car windows gives a less favorable impression of the place than a closer inspection entitles it to, the immense sand bluffs and unpretending buildings on the lake shore being the most conspicuous objects near the track. The city proper is quite an attractive and pleasant locality. Its chief hotels are the St. Nicholas, Union and Jewell.

Ten miles further eastward, we reach New Buffalo, the southern terminus of the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad, which from this point skirts the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, forming the shore line to Pentwater. It is a pretty little town of about one thousand inhabitants.

Passing several stations at which the express trains make no stop, twenty miles further on we reach Niles, a flourishing city of nearly five thousand inhabitants.

The Michigan Central has a branch road running from this point to South Bend, and it is also the western terminus of its “Air Line” division, the other being Jackson. Much of the freight business of the road is done over this division, relieving the main line for the better accommodation of its immense passenger traffic. Mercantile and manufacturing interests occupy the attention of the thriving people of Niles, a superior water power furnishing excellent facilities for flour and paper mills and other enterprises, which combine to make this an important business center. Its leading hotels are the Bond, Pike and Farler.

At Lawton, thirty-one miles from Niles, connection is made with the Paw Paw Railroad for Hartford, Lawrence and Paw Paw. The express trains do not stop, however, but, hurrying onward, the next important station is that so well known as the “Big Village.”

Kalamazoo, with a population of about twelve thousand, and no city charter, prides itself on being one of the largest villages in America. Except in its municipality, however, it is, to all intents and purposes, a city, with its extensive public works, its thriving manufacturing establishments, and its important railroad interests. The South Haven division of the Michigan Central extends westward from here to the shore of Lake Michigan. Intersection is also made with the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad and the Kalamazoo division of the Lake Shore Railway. The manufacturing and mercantile interests of Kalamazoo are quite extensive, and it has also acquired no little celebrity as a market for superior agricultural products. Its leading hotels are the Burdick House, Kalamazoo House and American House.