The suburban resident is vitally interested in the means of communication between his home and his place of business. If his morning and his evening ride are made on the steam railway, he is interested not only in passing through pleasant scenes on his way to and from Chicago, but he is concerned also in having the railway station in his suburban town conveniently located, constructed simply but artistically, and placed amid surroundings which in themselves are harmonious and appropriate. A well-kept lawn, with shrubbery shutting out the necessarily unpleasant feature of a steam railway station; a sheltered platform well lighted at night, and a commodious station, architecturally in good taste—these accessories go a long way towards mitigating the nerve strain which every business man feels and from which too many suffer. The electric railroads, with their frequent cars passing one’s very door, have done a vast deal to bind the outlying towns firmly to the central city. More than this, they have promoted neighborliness among people of adjoining towns, and have broken up the isolation of farm life. These roads now strive to obtain private rights-of-way, excepting where for the convenience of passengers they pass through city streets; and the same observations as to good order along the routes and at the terminals that appertain to steam roads apply equally to trolley lines. The rapidly increasing use of the automobile promises to carry on the good work begun by the bicycle in the days of its popularity in promoting good roads and reviving the roadside inn as a place of rest and refreshment. With the perfection of this machine, and the extension of its use, out-of-door life is promoted, and the pleasures of suburban life are brought within the reach of multitudes of people who formerly were condemned to pass their entire time in the city. While the people generally have yet to be brought to appreciate the value of well-constructed highways, the universal experience is that where a stretch of good road has been built the saving in time and money is so great and so apparent that the movement gathers force rapidly, and culminates only when all main lines have been completed. Land adjacent to such roads increases in value and finds a readier sale; the farmer is no longer cut off from his market, and often he finds it possible to lessen the number of horses he keeps. The actual economies which the good road allows far exceed the increase in taxes necessary to meet the bond issue, and life on the farm becomes more profitable as well as more agreeable. [Illustration: XLII. VIEW OF LAKE ZURICH, ILLINOIS.] FOOTNOTES: