The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-03-21

Railways, Merchant Marine. Telegraphs, and
Postal Service.
rFrom the Popular Science Monthly.l

Postal Service.
fFrom the Popular Science Monthly.l
| A general review of the economic
statistics of the world in 1877 is pub
lished by Prof. Neumann Spaltart, Of
Vienna; from which we take the follow
ing:
Railways-In the last three decades
the network of European railways has
arisen from 5000 kilometers $3.50
miles) in 1e47 to 154,200 kilometers"
COS, SOB miles) in 1877. Of these 154,-
200 kilometers, 1880 are in Great
Britain and Ireland, 24,800 in Austro-
Hungary, "a 400 in France, $4,000 in
Russia, 10000 in Germany. The re-
mainder is distributed among the
smaller states. According to these fig
ures Europe has $50 kilometers Of rail-
way for each thousand square kilo-
meters, and As kilometers per 10000
inhabitants. These ratios are exceeded
in Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland,
Switzerland, the Netherlands, etc.
America-In 1900 the United States
had AZ kilometers of railways; now
they have $4,000 kilometers (76,36O
miles,, or 1873 kilometers for every 900
square kilometers of surface, and %
kilometers per 10000 inhabitants. In
the remainder of this continent there
are $4,000 kilometers of railway, of
which Canada has 1000.
In India and Ceylon there are IL 900
kilometers, or 46 kilometers per 1000
square kilometers of area, and one-half
kilometer per 10000 inhabitants. In
Africa there are $500 kilometers,
whereof 1900 belong to Egypt. Aus
tralia and New Zealand possess 1000
kilometers OF railway.
On all these railways are employed
$4,000 locomotive engines, $4,000
passenger carriages, and 100000
freight cars; they annually carry ,l50,-
100000 passengers and 10000, 000, 600
quarters of freight.
Marine-The merchant marine of
Europe embraces in all 400 steam
ships, with tonnage of 100000 tons,
of which total the United Kingdom
contributes 5000 steamships, and over
1000, 100000 tons of freight.
Telegraphs-At the beginning of 1877
Europe had 351 900 kilometers of tele-
graph lines, whereof $4,000 belong to
Russia, 81, 900 to France, $4,000 to Ger
many and 10000 to the United King
dom. America had then $4,000 kilo-
meters. The dispatches sent over
European lines numbered 100000 in
1876; those sent over the American
lines amounted to 100000. Asia and
Australia have each 38,000,000 to 3d.
1000 kilometers, transmitting $780,
600 dispatches. In Africa there are
only $1,000 kilometers, almost ex-
clusively in Egypt, Algiers and Tunis,
and the number of dispatches sent is
100000. There are $50 submarine
cables, representing. total of $4,000
nautical miles.
Postal Service-The postal service
now extends to the uttermost bounds
of civilization, embracing the whole
globe, from Hammerfest to New Zea-
land.
In Europe over 5000 100000 letters
and postal cards are carried yearly. In
this total the United Kingdom is repre-
sented by 1,000,000,O0O, Germany by
700,0O0,000, France by 1886, 100000, Aus
tro-Hungary by 3O0,OOO,OO, Italy by
120,000,000. This would give England
33 letters per head of the population:
for Switzerland, "a; Germany, Is;
France, 10. Turkey figures for only
0.2 of letter per capita. In America
the number of letters and postal cards
carried was roc, 000,000; in Asia, 15O,-
100000; in Australia, 100000; in
Africa, 25,0OO000.
zone kilonleter is about 81 of mile