Morning journal and courier., 1888-07-25
SDAY MORNING, JULY 25, 1888.

ont an interesting fact which probably many Americans have never needed. This is the large number of cities that are crowded near each othsr-the last thing to be expected, apparently, in 8 "new country" Boston with it's 400, ,000 people and its score or more of tributary cities, each ranging from 30,000 to 60,000 population, is but six hours from New York, with 1 400, ,000, and Brooklyn with 800, 900, Jersey City with 150, 900, etc. Close at hand are Newark with 150, 900 and 8 number of minor cities on the route to Philadelphia with it's 900, 900, Baltimore with its 100000 and Washington with it's 160,000. The writer adds: There are no such city centers as these in most Continental actly comparable to it. In 8 Latin country it would be impossible for two cities the size New York and Philadelphia to exist within three hours of each other. The centrali8a- tion would inevitably build up one at the ex- pense of the other.
 Some of the representatives of organized labor are protesting against the advancement of Colonel Carroll D. Wright from his pres ent position of chief of the bureau of labor statistics to that of commissioner of the new department of labor. The Providence Jour- nal correctly charaeterizes this kind of thing as follows: These labor bureaus, State and national, were originally established under the pressure of ttlabor" influence; they were looked upon by the professional working men" as in some sort special institutions for their benefit, as intended to collect and pub- fish statistics to prove that the wage workers were cheated and oppressed and that some- where in the country was an immense store of money and other pleasant things which the workingmen ought by rights to have. Naturally these expectations were disappoint- ed. And 50 soon as the labor sgitators be- gan to find out that the labor bureaus were stating facts as they found them and without regard to tickling the prejudices or bolster ing up the contentious of discontented work ingmen, they began to denounce the officers of the bureaus as being retained in the inter est of capital.
 Chicago Is big city, and the city work is done in big way. A leak was discovered in water pipe the other day and this is the way it was fixed: One morning about 10 o'clock a large double wagon drove into the neighborhood: and deposited brace of picks and shovels. About 8 in the afternoon two men drove up in buggy. One of them alighted and marked out square of about three feet on the pavement, and then, getting back into the buggy, drove away. This, said the relator of the incident, evidently consti- tuted days work, and for the men and team cost the city not less than $10 or $15. The next morning about 9 two laborers came and sat on the curb-stone until another man drove up in buggy and set them at work. This man was the hole inspector. They finished the work about o'clock in the af- ternoon. It was apparently impossible tc consume any more time on the job, and at the hole inspector came again, looked into the cavity, and, sending the men away, de- parted himself. The next day two other men came, and after getting in and out of the hole dozen times one of them took g piece of wood, and, sharpening it with his knife, drove it into the crevice in the pipe, and then they made their escape. Another day was yet to be consumed in this big job On the following morning the two laborerf came and spent the day filling up the hole and resting. The job was finally finished Itl had taken four days, any number of mel with wagons, horses and buggies to drive wooden plug into crack in a water pipe and cost the city enough money to support { family A month