Almost equidistant from Chicago and N.Y.C., the city of Buffalo, by reason of its favorable location in respect to lake transportation and its position on the principal northern trade route between the East and the West, has become one of the important commercial and industrial centres in the Union. Originally, the harbour was only the shallow mouth of the Buffalo River, but it has been greatly enlarged and improved by extensive federal work. The Welland Canal, about 25 M. west of Buffalo, connects Lake Erie with the St. Lawrence River. The annual tonnage of the port of Buffalo is upwards of 20,000,000 tons. The total export trade is close to $100,000,000. Besides being the first port in the country in handling horses, sheep, cattle and hogs, it receives immense quantities of lumber, pig iron and ore and has more than a score of huge grain elevators with a capacity of about 30,000,000 bushels. In the manufacturing field it has two great advantages: a supply of natural gas and almost unlimited electric power from Niagara Falls. Its total annual output is valued at approximately $400,000,000, and its manufactures include meat packing, foundry and machine shop products, flour, steel, linseed oil, railroad cars, clothing, chemicals, furniture, automobiles, jewelry, confectionery and tobacco. Buffalo is connected with the Canadian shore by ferry and by the International Bridge, completed in 1873 at a cost of $1,500,000. Niagara Falls, while it is not on the main route to Chicago is best reached from Buffalo, from which it is only 32 miles distant, and travellers so easily can stop over to make the little side trip that it is virtually a part of the journey westward. [Illustration: The fall of Niagara in the Province of New York. A Colonial Print (1762) in the N.Y. Public Library] Niagara Falls. Of the seven natural wonders of the American world, which are given as Yellowstone Park, Garden of the Gods, Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, the Natural Bridge, Yosemite Valley, and the Giant Trees of California, by far the greatest spectacle is Niagara. The name means "thunder of the waters," and was given by the early Indians who regarded the falls with a quite comprehensible religious awe. Today there are more than a million and a half visitors annually.