The whole region is one gigantic reservoir system, controlling naturally the discharge of the surplus rainfall, preventing extreme floods, and furnishing a supply of water in drier periods which ordinarily maintains a good stage in the upper Mississippi River. Without the mountainous sources of most large rivers on the contrary springing from the low sand hills of the Hauteurs des Terres of northern Minnesota-the Father of Waters would have been at certain seasons insignificant had it been unprovided with these natural storage reservoirs. The government engineers understood the value of the lakes and, when the injurious effects of agricultural and lumbering operations began to appear in the form of receding water lines in the lakes and diminishing volume in the rivers, an effort was made to supplement nature's work by the construction of partially artificial reservoirs. This was readily accomplished with judiciously located dams, and the United States Government now controls a series of reservoirs whose supplies, gathered during the rainy periods and allowed to escape as the river becomes low, are of a large value to the steamboat, milling, and logging interests of the upper Mississippi.

From the Hauteurs des Terres flow other rivers, those on the east discharging their waters through the great lakes, and those on the north and west finding their way to the Hudson's Bay system of the north; but by far the greater number of the lakes are tributary to the Mississippi-as if the hand which guided that glacial carving had provided for the exigencies of nineteenth century civilization and balanced the relative usefulness

The presence of so great an aggregate water surface has a distinct influence upon the climate of Minnesota, tempering the cold of early winter and moderating the heat of summer. In Wisconsin the proportion of water being smaller and the climatic influence of Lakes Superior and Michigan being more pronounced, the effect of the minor lakes is not so noticeable.

Conjecture finds an interesting theme in the possible influence of these lakes on the intellectual, moral, and social development of the people of the northwest. They have assuredly had a perceptible effect in inspiring a love of the beautiful. As the country was settled, material considerations led to the establishment of villages upon the borders of the lakes-sometimes it was unavoidable— until the picturesque lake with its park-like shores has become quite as much a feature of the Minnesota town as the gigantic factory is characteristic of the New England village. The natural beauty it would seem awakens feelings which would under different circumstances remain subservient to the sterner affairs of life. And so it often happens that parks and drive-ways set off the lake sides, followed, as a matter of course, by a general improvement of streets and grounds. Within the city limits of Minneapolis there are half a dozen beautiful lakes most of which were early brought under municipal control and made the basis of a system of parks, park ways, and boulevards, which if developed in proportion to its natural advantages will ultimately be one of the most beautiful in the world. The plan, on which several hundred thousand dollars have already been expended, contemplates the connection of the lakes, by boulevards, along Minnehaha creek (the outlet of Minnetonka), with the immortal Minnehaha Falls and the fine cliffs of the Mississippi below St. Anthony's Falls. The example of Minneapolis is being followed in many of the smaller places.

poor alike, and a firm belief in the truth that "education ends only with life"-this was the equipment with which the Chautauqua Circle reached out a helping hand to those who stood in need. Hundreds might possibly embrace the opportunity,-who could tell? The attempt should be made. It was made, and met with an eager response from one hundred fifty thousand human lives.

Twelve years have brought many developments in this unique movement, and from the vantage ground of the present, it is interesting just at this time to look back for a moment at its beginnings.

Organized at the Chautauqua Summer Assembly in 1878, with a membership of seven hundred at the very outset, a working center for the Chautauqua Circle was, of

single room of a modest dwelling house in Plainfield. The Class of '82, the first class of the C. L. S. C., constituted at this time the entire membership of the Circle, and the experiment was watched from week to week, and from month to month with no slight degree of interest. It was a sort of "Arabian Nights'" experience to its founders, where new and strange developments might be expected at any moment. Though late in the year, since the course began in October, eager applicants who had just heard of the new movement sent in their names by hundreds. The patience of booksellers was fairly exhausted in their attempts to fill orders for books which they could not procure fast enough to meet the demand; and Local Circles of members organized for united study

Even in this, the first year of its existence, the C. L. S. C. reached from the Atlantic to the Pacific, far into the southland and northward into Canada; and the somewhat primitive quarters of the first Central Office were taxed to accommodate the heavy mails and the still heavier express packages which eager Chautauquans or anxious printers constantly landed at its doors.

States and Territories, and through its agency more than six thousand members in the last twelve years have been brought into the Chautauqua Circle. The Canada Branch, second only to its sister organization on the Pacific Coast, also was established a few months later, and Chautauqua became as familiar a term in Canadian as in American homes.

life history, of unsatisfied longing, or of hopes rekindled, found its way into the crowded mails which brought daily messages from grateful Chautauqua students.

Steadily the work grew and the second year of the C. L. S. C. opened auspiciously. There was no sign of even a temporary lull in the onward sweep of the new organization. During the summer of 1879 the California Branch of the C. L. S. C., with its summer headquarters at Monterey, was organized by Chancellor Vincent, and the establishment of this, the first Western Chautauqua Assembly, did much to bring the C. L. S. C. into local prominence. The California (now Pacific) Branch of the C. L. S. C. became a

distant where, uniting with the Plainfield Y. M. C. A., an entire floor was secured. The office now had increased facilities for work, but five years later when the Y. M. C. A. removed to a larger building, the C. L. S. C. already had outgrown even its new quarters; and with almost a sigh of relief took full possession of its habitation. Here on the second floor of this busy street corner, for ten long happy years the Plainfield Office carried on its work; and during those years of the marvelous growth of the great Circle the quiet little suburban city of Plainfield became known the wide world over.

In the fall of 1880, THE CHAUTAU QUAN, a new magazine devoted exclu

sively to the interests of the C. L. S. C., and containing part of its required readings, was first issued. The publication of this magazine marked an important era in the history of Chautauqua, and has proved one of the strongest bonds by which this widespread organization is yet held firmly together by strong ties of common interest and sympathy. As the Circle steadily widened, touching human life in all countries and under almost all conditions, new developments arose. Now a letter from a far away teacher in South Africa, grateful for personal help from the course of reading, anxious to impart the same benefits to others and sending the names of a little band of readers-the first fruits of a work still growing and accomplishing untold good. Then a call for aid from another missionary worker in Japan. What could Chautau qua do for the Japanese? Again with the need came the opportunity, and to-day the Japanese Chautauquan (translated) published monthly, is an accomplished fact, and hundreds of Chautauqua students in Japan are looking for guidance to the Japanese C. L. S. C. Once more came the call for help, from a still different source. A Western penitentiary opened its doors to the Chautauqua Circle, and here, too, Chautauqua met the call with an answering welcome.

Many an important feature in the develop ment of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in the future will be traced back to its beginnings during those ten early years of C. L. S. C. history, when on the records of the old office at Plainfield the membership of the Circle grew from a modest beginning of eight thousand to class organizations of fifteen, twenty, and even twentyfive thousand members enrolled within a single twelve-month.

But once again has the Central Office been called upon to join the onward march of events, and as each previous removal has meant greater efficiency in the workings of the of fice machinery and has been followed also by a broader and more permanent growth throughout all the branches of the C. L. S. C., the new departure commends itself to all friends of Chautauqua. Pleasantly situated in a

light, airy building on a wide street in the city of Buffalo, N. Y. (the present home of Chancellor Vincent), with facilities for work such as the suburban city of Plainfield even with New York almost at its doors, could hardly furnish, and less than seventy miles from

MEMORANDA DEPARTMENT.

Chautauqua Lake itself,-it indeed will be a strange turn in the wheel of destiny if in the next ten years the Chautauqua Circle be not the gainer from this drawing together of its working forces.

But just what the work of the Central Office involves and how it holds together this vast army of Chautauquans may be of interest to many who have not through actual experience as members of the Chautauqua Circle, become familiar with its methods.

Let us step for a moment into the busy office at Buffalo and learn for ourselves what this work really means. Taking the elevator at the first floor, we are carried swiftly up four stories, high above the surrounding buildings, where fresh air and a strong light rule the day, an almost ideal location in this respect. Entering the large mailing room we turn first to the desk of the chief corresponding clerk, whose duties include the opening of the daily mail and assigning its contents to the various departments where it receives attention. Such a multitude of letters! Let us look at them. Here, first of all, comes a perfect rush of inquiries for "fur