evergreens in honor of the occasion. A suitable prayer was
offered by Rev. Dr. Todd, of Pittsfield, Mass. The remaining ties were
then laid, the last one being of California Laurel finely polished and
ornamented with a silver plate bearing the inscription "The last tie
laid on the Pacific Railroad, May 10th, 1869", with the names of the
directors of the Central Pacific Railroad and that of the donor. This
tie was put in position by Superintendents Reed of the Union Pacific
Railroad and Strawbridge of the Central Pacific Railroad, and was
taken up after the ceremonies and has since that time been on
exhibition in the Superintendent's office of the Southern Pacific
Company at Sacramento, (Cal.) Depot.

For the closing act, California presented a spike of gold; Nevada one
of silver; Arizona one of combined iron, gold and silver; and the
Pacific Union Express Company, a silver maul. At twelve noon at a
given signal, Governor Stanford on the South side of the rail and
Vice-President Durant on the north, struck the spikes driving them
home.

The two engines were then moved up until they touched and a bottle of
wine poured over the last rail as a libation. The trains of the
respective roads were then run over the connecting link and back to
their own lines. Speeches and a banquet closed the occasion.

In the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento hangs a large oil painting of
the meeting of the two engines. The artist having inserted actual
portraits of many of the more prominent officials of the two lines who
participated in the ceremonies.

By previous arrangement, the strokes on the final spikes were to be
signaled over all the wires of the several telegraph companies through
the United States, business being suspended for this purpose. First
the message was sent over the wires "Almost ready. Hats off; prayer is
being offered." Then "We have got done praying; the spike is about to
be presented." Seven minutes later "All ready now; the spike will soon
be driven." The signal will be three dots for the commencement of the
blows. Connection being made between the hammers and the wires, the
blows on the spikes were flashed over practically the whole telegraph
system of the United States. At 2:47 P.M. Washington time, 12 M.
Promontory local time, came the signal "Done" and the bells of
Washington, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and hundreds of other
cities and towns announced that the American continent had been
spanned, that