The Dickinson press., 1889-10-05
THE ORIGIN OF CITIES.
THEY ALL, IT APPEARS, CAME FROM
A VERY SIMPLE BEGINNING.

- Ne@S CHnOj SAmc FoOm
A VERY SIMPLE BEGINNING.
but Now They Spring Up in Short Order.
Some of the Many Causes That Result In
CongreGating People.
Cities, the centers of the moral and intel.
lectual activity of modern civilization, came
from very simple and humble beginnings.
When the prilneval man began first to feel
the need of association with his fellows for
the purpose of self defense, ommerce or car
rying on various branches of primitive manu-
facture he formed with them a village for tho
more convenient execution of his projects.
If the trade were carried OH by sea this vii.
lage became a seaport. If it was tho head
quarters of n chief it became the capital of u
tribe or nation, and other villages paid trib.
ute to it. If it was placed under the protec-
ton of n Deity it was called n holy city. Tho
word Babylon means the City of the God"
The name Heliopolis, literally translated, is
Holy City" Troy was a sacred city i'll the
tl'uest sense, having, according to the legend,
been built by Neptune. Mecca has been a
sacred city since the time of the patriarchs.
IN THE DAYS OF THE %coNQuEREn
If a city was tho central seat of authority,
ike Nineveh, Babylon, the capital of the
Pharaohs, Athens or Rome, population flowed
to it, and it became the home of learning, the
arts, of civilization in all its forms. If it was
oil the seasilore, like Carthage, Alexandria,
Ostia or Marseilles, it became in time great
by its commerce, while it might also some
times be the residence of the sovereign. If
there were mineral waters they became the
resort of those i'll pursuit Of health, md vii
lagcs were formed about them, as by tho
Romans ut Aix-la-Chapelle and at various
points i'll Italy, Germany and France. The
habit of visiting medicinal springs is by no
means of modern origin. If n station or stop
ping place on one of tho lines of trade and
travel between Asia and Europe in ancient
times was of considerable Importance it be-
came u powerful center of commerce and
civilization, like the Arab city of Palmyra,
whose queen, Zenobia, is n conspicuous per-
sonage of history.
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 recreated. During the dark
ages there was hardly q place in Europe
worth tho name of city, except Rome, Byzan-
tiufn, Marseiiles, Paris, London and II few
others. This was the state of things after the
Franks and other German tribes had overrun
France, or ut the moment when tho feudul
system was about to be evolved. What AFRO
now called France, Germany and Austria had
returned to their condition of virgin forest,
with rlearings here and there which repre-
sen,ed small cities, castles with villages at
tacl:ed, or monasteries with farms inclosed
by Il wall. When the conquerer divided the
s%ubjugated country among his subordinates
the building of castles began ON n scale hith-
erto unknown.
The castle wns located on q hillside, MS
near the top of a hill as possible, if water
could be obtained for the mout about it or for
the cattle. Wells were generally sunk with
i'll the walls to supply the lord and his gar
rison. ~ largo number of retnincrs 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 tho walls
end were obliged to build their huts outside,
but us near as possible, that they might escape
within in time of danger. Others who ex-
ercised trades or who titled the soil, without
being more intimately connected with tho
castles occupants than by tho obligation to
render military service from time to time,
helped to increase the population of this vas
sal village, which, if tho situation was of suf-
ficicnt commercial Importance, became in
time a city
THE FRENCH PLAN IN AMERICA.
There was another way in which villages |
were formed ut the samcepoch. 1t was often
desirable that i'll some wild forest region tho
trees should he cut down and a plantation
made in tho clearing. Then u number Of
vassals or serfs were sent to the locality dcsig-
mated and a temporary shelter prepared Tor
them Oh the edge of the forest. A tract of
land considerably longer than wido was as
signed to each, which was cleared. On ono
end of each of these tracts a house was built
ioi' each OF these ~vasSals, in front of which
ran the village street. The houses were suf-
ti,lently near together for the protection of
the inhabitants from brigands or wild ami
niais or for the carrying on conveniently of
Individual trades. On the seashore the vii
It's, III most cases similar APPENDICES of
tl'iae. were aggrandized by fishing or com
ft''rc with other countries. AS the monas-
"a s"t the middlcages were in reality feudal
ift '',saeS they might in the same manner he
IL .ei.n of villages that afterward became
cinEa
!'run, these different beginnings came most
OF the towns and cities of modern Europe.
In 'linr tue castles disappeared or became,
I"i 'ialS'a lii.taS VI iulus, puC Lno Guy re-
manned, All over France and Italy are still
seen villages or small cities perched on hill
sides. some of which, having no special rea-
son fol being, have fallen into decay, while
others may have lived and flourished by force
OF SOME special industry. Tho French car
rie,i the manner of clearing u forest and
founding Il village to America. 1t is notable
III Detroit, which was laid out in long, mar
row strip IS of land, one end of which was OH
the river and tho other end u mile or moro
back III The country. The houses were built
along the river and formed u compact viii
lag, whose population was always near to-
The fields We're never far apart in the day
time. This method of arranging the farms
was convenient as a means of defense from
the Indians.
The world no longer moves on in medieval
fashion. Cities are not now slowly evolved
from q network of crooked lanes and alleys
by d process that goes on for hundreds of
years, as at that gloomy epoch. They spring
up in a day, us during the prevalence of tho
gold fever in California or in Il new crusade
of emlgrants, as in Oklahoma, and are laid
out with painful precision by the square and
compass and not by the accidental develop
ment OF population. If our Development
goes OIL accelerating its rate of sprcd in this
manner neither steam nor electricity will suf-
flee fifty years hence. New and more effect
i've motive powers will have to be discovered.
San Francisco Chronicle.
olomon Temple.