The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-01-08

:
1920 TO 1890 ... a.
1880 TO 1910 s.
e 1850 1850 TO to 1859 1859 3 q
The density Of population is now in S5,
pee square mile. 'sa'
We need not pursue this detail in figures.
II 10 sufficient to sny that the Ohio Valley
doobIes its population il fifteen years, while
that Of the Union doubles in twenty tx o
years, and that Ofthe State of New York in
twenty-five years. aa. .faa.isi..a ''
A part Of this rapid and immense growth
Is due to the wonderful advance Of locomo
tions In 1906 there were neither steamboat,
railroad or turnpike. We need not enlarge
upon this. The effects OF this vast i'm
provements are felt in every part of society
and in every mart Of business. Commerce
seems instinct with lie, and men run to and
fro as il the last day had indeed come.
Let us turn to the horizon Of the future,
aud see if the same light which has arisen
and shone SO brightly in the half century
past, Continues to promise an equally bril-
liant and successful advance. As gener-
al proposition connected with the advance of
society, we consider mankind as only in the
commencement Of the Golden Age--the be-
ginning of that grand end glorious period
when human science shall unite with Divine
knowledge in completing the conquest Of the
earth aud reapipg the perfection Of its har-
vests. If this be SO, in what part of the
earth can those arts which humaniZe mankind
be so brought out and perfected as in this
Ohio Valley! Let us look ut the elements
Of the future. q ss t,o or- 1-a
Considered physically, this valley has
about 200 900 square miles ofsurface. With
the present density OF Massachusetts,, and
which it will certainly attain within forty
years, It will contain Twenty-Five millions Of
people-ubout the present white population
Of the United States, and more than that OF
England and Scotland. But there are ele-
ments in this valley TO give a far greater
density than that of Massachusetts. Three
of these physical causes may be briefly no.
ted. . -H 4.s .a. ..a".. .r..
Frst.-The soil ia more fertile, and will
sustain population equal to that on any
equal space ofthe globe. 1t is ugreut ugri-
cultural region, and already feeding in New
England and the South of Europe, treble its
own population. ".. ..5a- "
Secondly is equally as great COM
mercialregion. The river navigation Of the
Ohio Valley extends to three thousand miles
of coust, and embraces five hundred steam
boats. Its railroads are more than seven
thousand miles in extent, and are rapidly
multiplying. Indeed the commerce Of the
Valley is more distinguishing feature here
than in any portion Of the country. 1t could
not be otherwise when it is the producer, the
receiver and the distributor of such an i'm
mense mass Of products. tH
The third, und the greatest element of
wealth and population in the Ohio Valley, re-
mains almost undeveloped. 1t consists in
its almost boundless mines of iron, coal and
salt. OF the surface Of the valley, one.
fourth, or li.ty thousand square miles. con-
tain these minerals. From the Upper Ohio
to the 5slines Of Illinois, on the Licking,
the Kunawha, the Sandy, Hooking, Mus;
kineum, the Kentucky, the Cumberland and
the Tennessee, are found all the varieties OF
iron and coal. The ages Of time can never
exhaust them, and they lie ready to meet
every human use ard pour their wcslth iuto
every possible chanel. This branch of ito
resources has rever been properly under.
stood and appreciated in the Valley. In no
country are there such ready and obvious
means of creuting large and wealthy manu-.
featuring towns. The beginnings of such
now appear, and as the number aud wants oil
the people increase, the manufactures ofthe
interior will be developed more rapidly.