through rail communication was established, never to be
broken, that the Union Pacific Railroad was completed.

The formal announcement to President Grant and through the Press
Associations to every inhabitant of the civilized world, was couched
in the following language:

Promontory Summit, Utah, May 10th, 1869.

"The last rail is laid, the last spike driven. The Pacific Railroad is
completed. The point of junction is ten hundred and eighty-six miles
west of the Missouri River and six hundred and ninety miles east of
Sacramento City."

Leland Stanford, Central Pacific Railroad.
T. C. Durant,
Sidney Dillon,
John Duff, Union Pacific Railroad.

No sooner were the ceremonies complete than there was a rush made to
obtain souvenirs. In ignorance of the fact that the "Last Tie" had
been taken up and an ordinary one substituted, the relic hunters
carried off the substitute piecemeal. In fact some half dozen "last
ties" were so taken in the first six months after the roads were
completed.

An odd coincidence occurred at the closing ceremonies. The rail on the
east was brought forward by the Union Pacific laborers--Europeans,
that on the west by Chinese, both gangs having Americans as bosses.
Consequently here were Europe, Asia, and America joining in the work,
the Americans dominating.

Next morning the Union Pacific Railroad brought in from the East half
a dozen passenger coaches for the Central Pacific Railroad, these
being attached to the special train of Governor Stanford when he was
returning to California, constituting the first through equipment.

All over the land the different cities vied with one another in
celebrating the event--which it was truly felt marked the beginning of
a new epoch in the history of the United States.

New York City celebrated with the "Te Deum" being sung in "Trinity,"
the chimes ringing out "Old Hundred" (Praise God from whom all
blessings flow), and a salute of a hundred guns fired by order of the
Mayor.

Philadelphia rang "Liberty Bell" and all fire alarm bells.

Chicago had a parade four miles long, the City being lavishly
decorated, and Vice-President Colfax speaking in the evening.

Omaha had the biggest day in its history: a hundred guns when the news
came. A procession embracing every able-bodied man in the town, in the
afternoon. Speeches, pyrotechnics, and illuminations in the evening.

At Salt Lake the M