The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-01-01

of q scorched hand: "Wh-at? You
don't know Bill Cary? Why, I'm the
man what used to do the lasso act in
Murrsy's circus !-NeW York Sun.
TIE EASTERN STATES.
Some Interesting Facts In Relation to the
Population of New England.
Nathan Allen, in an address before the
Social Science Association, gave the fol-
lowing interesting information concern
ing New England people and changes in
population in the Eastern Stetes
According to the census Of 1870, 615,-
TAI residents of other States were born
in New England. Another marked change
consists in a migration from country
towns and rural districts to villages and
cities, and has become very extensive
throughout New England. Closely on
nected with a change of residence is q
change in pursuits; in fact, q removal
from county to city, or from q small place
to a larger one, almost necessarily i'm
plies such a change. Prior to the present
century, the prevailing business of New
England people was agriculture. The
report of 1875 gives these facts in respect
to the number engaged in The following
pursuits:
1.-Governmcntand professional 90, $50
2.-Domestic and personal SER
vice. 434, 2S9
3.-Trade and transportation 49,. 104, 935
4.-Agriculture, fisheries, &C.. 81, 156
5.-Manufactures and mechani-
cal industries. BIG, 459
6.-Non-productive and proper
tied ........................ 65, 43O
7.-Students of all grades. ..... 2S2, 1874
S.-Not given, including chill
dren, DC. 34I,l29
The most striking fact observable in
this table is the comparatively small
Plumbers engaged in agriculture. 1t is
we'll known, too, that many important
changes in agriculture have taken place.
Less land is now cultivated than former
ly; the improvement of many thousand
acres on the hills and in the poorer dis
tricts of New England is now given up,
but the land neal cities, large towns and
the markets is more fully and better Gull
tivated. BY the introduction of machin-
cry and improved tools, farming is car
ried on with much less help and manual
labor. These facts may account in part
for changes in pursuit. In this change
two facts are noticeable:
l. The diminishing number of Amcri-
ans engaged in agriculture.
2. The relative increase of foreigners
engaged in it. And never was this
change taking place faster than at the
present time. The Massachusetts, cen
sus of 1875 reports under the head Ag-
riculture," 1000 persons less than the
United States census of 1870. The state
ment made in this paper 60 to establish
these general facts:
l. There has been within a half a GEN.
fury a great change of residence among
the New England people, both by immi-
grating out of these States and by mi
grating in each State from the country
to the city.
2. There has been q marked change in
business, men largely giving up manual
abor and exchanging the farm for the
! SlOp, CuS olOlC duo> tllC lulll.
3. A change also in numbers and
character, the removal of more than half
a million of New Englanders of these
States, and the introduction into their
places of q still larger number of persons
born in other counties.
4. The birth-rate of New Englanders
has for q long time been gradually de-
clining-approaching nearer and nearer
to the death-rate, so that their increase
from this source has become, as a whole,
small, and in some localities is doubtful;
whereas, it is an established fact that
the birth-rate of the foreign element is
twice that of the American, SO that the
probabilities are that the former class
will steadily gain in numbers upon the
latter.
There are in New England, according
to tho last Catholic Directory, $50
Catholic priests, sos churches, 1877 cha
pels and stations, in a Catholic popula-
ton of about $50, 600 souls, and it is evil
dent, from an examination of the list of
the churches, that a large proportion of
them are in the small towns and rural
districts of these States.
Nearly twenty-five per cent. of the
present population of New England is
composed of Roman Catholics, and near
ly seventy per cent. of the births in that
region are those in Roman Catholic
families.
New England, indeed, promises to be
the first portion Of the country which is
likely to become distinctivcly Roman
Catholic. The immigration into New
England is small, but is composed most
ly of Catholics; the increase of popula-
ton is very largely Catholic; the immi-
grafton is almost entirely nom Catholic"