rn
Christians erect to Jehovah and Mammon. I may say that the Ryan Hotel at
St. Paul and the West House at Minneapolis are among the very best
hotels I have come across in America, the latter especially. When I have
added that, the day before yesterday, I had an immense audience in the
People's Church at St. Paul, and that to-night I have had a crowded
house at the Grand Opera House in Minneapolis, it is hardly necessary
for me to say that I shall have enjoyed myself in the two great towns,
and that I shall carry away with me a delightful recollection of them.

* * * * *

Soon after arriving in Minneapolis yesterday, I went to see the
Minnehaha Falls, immortalized by Longfellow. The motor line gave me an
idea of rapid transit. I returned to the West House for lunch and spent
the afternoon writing. Many interviewers called.

[Illustration: "WHAT YEARLY INCOME DOES YOUR BOOKS AND LECTURES BRING
IN?"]

The first who came sat down in my room and point-blank asked me my views
on contagious diseases. Seeing that I was not disposed to talk on the
subject, he asked me to discourse on republics and the prospects of
General Boulanger. In fact, anything for copy.

The second one, after asking me where I came from and where I was going,
inquired whether I had exhausted the Anglo-Saxons and whether I should
write on other nations. After I had satisfied him, he asked me what
yearly income my books and lectures brought in.

Another wanted to know why I had not brought my wife with me, how many
children I had, how old they were, and other details as wonderfully
interesting to the public. By and by I saw he was jotting down a
description of my appearance, and the different clothes I had on! "I
will unpack this trunk," I said, "and spread all its contents on the
floor. Perhaps you would be glad to have a look at my things." He
smiled: "Don't trouble any more," he said; "I am very much obliged to
you for your courtesy."

This morning, on opening the papers, I see that my hat is getting into
trouble again. I thought that, after getting rid of my brown hat and
sending it to the editor in the town where it had created such a
sensation, peace was secured. Not a bit. In the Minneapolis _Journal_ I
read the following:

The attractive personality of the man [allow me to record this for the
sake of what follows], heightened by his neglige sack coat and vest,
with a background of yellowish plaid trows