Passing several stations at which the express trains make no stop, twenty miles further on we reach NILES, a flourishing city of nearly five thousand inhabitants.
The Michigan Central has a branch road running from this point to South Bend, and it is also the western terminus of its “Air Line” division, the other being Jackson. Much of the freight business of the road is done over this division, relieving the main line for the better accommodation of its immense passenger traffic. Mercantile and manufacturing interests occupy the attention of the thriving people of Niles, a superior water power furnishing excellent facilities for flour and paper mills and other enterprises, which combine to make this an important business center. Its leading hotels are the Bond, Pike and Farler.
At LAWTON, thirty-one miles from Niles, connection is made with the Paw Paw Railroad for Hartford, Lawrence and Paw Paw. The express trains do not stop, however, but, hurrying onward, the next important station is that so well known as the “Big Village.”
KALAMAZOO, with a population of about twelve thousand, and no city charter, prides itself on being one of the largest villages in America. Except in its municipality, however, it is, to all intents and purposes, a city, with its extensive public works, its thriving manufacturing establishments, and its important railroad interests. The South Haven division of the Michigan Central extends westward from here to the shore of Lake Michigan. Intersection is also made with the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad and the Kalamazoo division of the Lake Shore Railway. The manufacturing and mercantile interests of Kalamazoo are quite extensive, and it has also acquired no little celebrity as a market for superior agricultural products. Its leading hotels are the Burdick House, Kalamazoo House and American House.
BATTLE CREEK, twenty-three miles east of Kalamazoo, is the next important city on the route, and is one of the most thriving and enterprising towns in the State. Many of its business interests are on an extensive scale, notably the manufacture of threshing machinery and engines, three large establishments being devoted to this industry. On approaching the city the buildings of the _Review & Herald_ Publishing establishment are among the first to attract attention, and just before the train comes to a halt, it passes the shops of the BATTLE CREEK MACHINERY COMPANY, which are on the left of the track, while the factory of the UNION SCHOOL FURNITURE COMPANY is nearly opposite, on the right. The products of the former company are shipped to all parts of the world, while the “Automatic” school-seat is acquiring a national reputation as one of the most convenient and unique articles of furniture ever put in use in a school-room.