Everything that
I have said of Detroit applies to it, with the addition that some of
its commercial buildings are not only palatial in their dimensions, but
original and impressive in their architecture. An afternoon stroll along
Woodward-avenue, Detroit, or Main-street, Buffalo, reassures one as to
the future--the physical, at any rate--of the American people. The
prevailing type is, if not definitely Anglo-Saxon, at any rate Teutonic,
and the average of physical development is very high, especially among
the women. It may have some bearing upon what I have been saying above
to note that, in point of stature and beauty, the Bostonian woman, as a
rule, seemed to me to fall far short of her sisters in the other cities
I have visited. I have before my mind's eye many distinguished and
delightful exceptions to this rule; but, postponing gallantry to
sociological candour, I state my general impression for what it is
worth.
Here, in Chicago, gallantry and candour go hand in hand. A legend of the
envious East represents that a Chicago young man travelling in Louisiana
wrote to his sweetheart: "DEAR MAMIE,--I have shot an alligator. When I
have shot another, I will send you a pair of slippers.
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