Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-08-03
ORIGIN OF CITIES.
They All, 1t Appears, Came From a
Very Simple Beginning.

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
Cities, the centers of the moral and intellec-
tual activity of modern civilization, came from
very simple and humble beginnings. When
the primeval man began first to feel the need
of association with his fellows for the purpos,
OF self-defense, commerce, or carrying on
various branches Of primitive manufacture he
| formed with them a village for the more con-
venient execution of his projects If the trade
were carried on by sea this village became a
seaport II it was the headquarters of a chief
it became the capital of a tribe or nation. and
other villages paid tribute to it. If it was
placed under the protection of deity it was
called holy city. The word Babylon means
the City Of God" The name Heliopolis literally
| translated is Holy City" Troy was sacred
| city in the truest sense, having, according to
the legend, been built by Neptune. Mecca has
been a sacred city since the time Of the patri-
| archs.
| If city was the central seat of authority.
like Ninevah, Babylon, the capital of the
Pharaohs, Athens or Rome. population flowed
to 1T and 1t became the home of learning, the
arts, of civilization in all its FORMS If it was
| on the seashore like Carthage, Alexandria,
Ostia or Marseilles, it became in time great by
Its commerce, while it might also sometimes be
the residences of the sovereign. If there we're
Il
in pursuit of health, and villages were formed
about them, as by the Romans at AK la
Chapelle and at various points in Italy, Ger
many and France. The habit of visiting medi-
| cinal springs is by no means of modern origin.
| III station or stopping place on one of the
| lines of trade and travel between Asia and
Europe in ancient times was of considerable
| Importance 1t became powerful center of
commerce and civilization. like the Arab city
| of Palmyra, whose queen, Zenobia, is a con-
| spicuous parsonage of history.
MODERN CITIES
The origin and growth of modern cities is
more interesting. After the fall of Rome and
the chaos that succeeded the world had, SO to
speak, to be re-created. During the dark ages
there was hardly place in Europe worth the
name of city except Rome, ByZantium, Mar
settles, Paris, London and a few others. This
was the state of things after the Franks and
other German tribes had overrun France or at
the moment when the feudal system was about
to be evolved. What now called France,
Germany and Austria had returned to their
condition of virgin forest, with clearings here
and there which represented small cities, cas-
ties with villages attached, or monasteries with
! a farm enclosed by wall. When the Conqueror
| divided he subjugated country among his
| subordinates the building of castles began
on a scale hitherto unknown. The castle
was located on a hillside, near the top
of hill as possible, If water could be obtained
for the most about it or for the cattle. Wells
were generally sunk within the walls to supply
the lord and his garrison large number of
retainers were needed to perform the work. to
care for the dogs and horses, to cultivate the
fields, to make armor and clothing. These
could not always be accommodated within the
walls, and were obliged to build their huts out
side, but near as posaible, that they might
escape within in time of danger. Others who
exercised trades or who titled the soil, without
being more intimately connected with the
| castles occupants than by the obligation to
render military service from time to time,
helped to increase the population of this vassal
village. which, if the situation was of sufficient
commercial importance, became in time city,
There was another way in which villages were
formed at the same epoch. 1t was often
desirable that in some wild forest region the
trees should be cut down and plantation made
in the clearing. Then a number of yassals or
serfs were sent to the locality designated and a
temporary shelter prepared for them on the
edge Of the forest. tract of land considera-
bly, longer than wide was assigned to each
which was cleared. On one end of each of these
tracts house was built for each of these vas
sails, in front of which ran the village street
The houses were sufficiently near together for
the protection of the inhabitants from brigands
or wild animals, or for the carrying on con-
veniently of individual trades. On the seashore
the villages, in most cases similar appendages
Of castles, were aggrandized by fishing or COM
merce with other countries. As the monasteries
of the middle ages were in reality feudal
fortresses, they mighk in the same manner be
the germ OF
VILLAGES THAT AFTERwARD BECAME CITIES.
From these different beginnings came most
Of the towns and cities of modern Europe. In
time the castles disappeared or became, per-
haps, mass of ruins, but the city remained
All over France and Italy still seen villages
or small cities perched on hill sides, some of
which, having no special reason for being, have
fallen into decay, while others may have lived
| and fourished by force of some special indus
try. The French carried the manner of clear
| ing q forest and founding village to America.
| 1t is notable in Detroit which was laid out in
long, narrow strips of land one end of which
| was on the river and the other end mile or
more back in the country. The houses we're
built along the river and formed a compact
| village, whose population was always near to-
| gether at night, while the men cultivating the
| fields were never far apart in the day time
This method of arranging the farms conve-
nient as a means of defense from the Indians.
The world no longer moves on in medieval
fashion. Cities are not now slowly evolved
from a network of crooked lanes and alleys by
q process that goes on for hundreds Of years, a.
| at that gloomy epoch. They spring up in q
in California, or in new crusade of emigrants,
as in Oklahoma, and are laid out with painful
precision by the square and compass and not
by the accidental development of population.
IL our development goes on accelerating its
rate Of speed in this manner neither steam nor
electricity will suffice fifty years hence. New
and more effective motive powers will have to
be discovered.