at Montreal to visit the American Association at Philadelphia. I was one
of those who went over to America simply and solely for a holiday, and I
am bound to say that I set my face determinedly against going to
Philadelphia. I traveled with two charming companions, and we all decided
not to go to Philadelphia. But the compact was broken, and we capitulated,
and went from the charming climate of Montreal into the most intense heat
and into the greatest discomfort that I think poor members of the
Telegraph Engineers' Society ever experienced. We entered a heat that was
100 deg. by day and 98 deg. by night; and I do not think there is anybody in this
room, unless he has been brought up in the furnace-room of an Atlantic
steamer, who can fully appreciate the heat of Philadelphia in these summer
months. The discomforts of the climate were, however, amply compensated
for by the hospitality and kindness of the inhabitants. We spent, in spite
of the heat, a very pleasant time.

Before referring further to the meetings at Philadelphia, I may just
mention the other journeys that I took. My holiday having been broken by
the rupture of the union to which I have alluded, I had to devote it then
to other purposes, and, in addition to Montreal and Philadelphia, I went
to New York (to which I shall refer again), from New York to Buffalo, then
to Lake Erie and Cleveland, and on to Chicago, where I spent a week or
more. From Chicago I went to see the great artery of the West--the
Mississippi. I stopped for a day or two at St. Louis. One remarkable fact
came to my knowledge, and I dare say it is new to many present, and that
is, that the Mississippi, unlike other rivers, runs uphill. It happens,
rather curiously, that, owing to the earth being an oblate spheroid, the
difference between the source of the Mississippi and the center of the
earth is less than that of its mouth and the center of the earth, and you
may see how this running up hill is accounted for.

From St. Louis I went to Indianapolis, thence to Pittsburg, where they
have struck most extraordinary wells of natural gas. Borings are made in
the earth from the crust to a depth of 600 or 700 feet, when large
reservoirs of natural gas are "struck." The town is lighted by this gas,
and it is also employed for motive power. In Cleveland, also, this natural
gas is found, and there is no doubt that it is going to economize the cost
of production very much in that part of the country. F