Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-25
ABOUT DIR COUNTRY.


How the Population Is Divided Among the
Great Observation-Disclosures Of Increase
"A Scheme to Beat the Custom Laws
More Great Guns.
1t is possible, in the light of the census OF
1880, to gain an idea of the way IN which the
population of the great United States OF the
future, which is certain to be the most pop
ulous and powerful nation in the world, is
to be distributed over the vast area which IL
includes. The distribution is not yet COM
plete, but the population of the country
may be said to have laid itself out in a gen
eral way. We may judge approximately
wnere the great masses of pop ulation are
10 De- ana see what sort of a country, phys-
lcally speaking, the people flock to, says
the 1o'dh'S Companion. The geogrnphers IN
the service of the Government have divided
the country into 81 different sections ac-
cording to topographic or surface features
that is, according to the clay of the land"
and not at all with regard to State lines,
means of communication or other artificial
features.
The first slice of country which the geog
raphers set oil by itself is made up of the
coast swamps of the Atlantic. Almost
2.co0,OO0 people live in this region, but they
are mainly colored neople. the country be-
ing unhealthy for the white race in general.
Its population is increasing at great rate.
Then comes the great Atlantic plain, with
almost 100000 of people, now the most
densely populated region, to the square
mile, in the country; and then the delightful
Piedmont or foot-ofthe-mountains region,
which goes from Maine to Alabama and is
second in density of population.
The New England hills-the Adirondacks
of New York being included with them-are
section by themselves. The population Is
i'm MT fort iSi al
at n slower rate than that of any other topo-
graphic division of the country, it has been
fruitful nursery for many sections more
highly favored by nature.
Passing the long Appalachian Mountain
region and the richly torested and mineral
region of the Cumberland Allegheny plateau,
we come to very populous district called
the Interior Timbered Region, along the
center of which flows the Ohio river. There
are more than IL 600 COO people in this region,
and it will always be well settled.
The imperial region of all adioins this. 1t
is called simply the Prairie Region; it sweeps
from Western Indiana to the indefinite line
of the Great Plains, and already has more
people than any other topographic division
of the country-more than l., 900 900.
This section is salubrious, highly produc-
tive, and has very little waste land; and it
must always, it would seem, remain the most
populouS region of the country.
With less than one-third as many people
to the square mile as the Atlantic Plain pos
sesses, the Prairie Region already has one
nail more people. w nat the relat1Ve I'M
portance of the two sections may be- when
the prairies are as well populated as the
Atlantic Plain, would make an interesting
computation.
The Alluvial Region of the Mississippi,
lying below the mouth of the Ohio, is like
the Atlantic Coast Swamps in two important
respects. Its climate is unhealthy for most
white people, and by far the larger proper
tion OF its inhabitants are of the colored
race. Its soil is the richest in the world.
The Great Plains, extending along the
base of the Rocky Mountains to the Rio
Grande gained in population, between the
years 1850 and $780, more rapidly than any
other part of the country-namely, 232 per
cent.
Though this section and other dry regions
to the westward still llhave small and sparse
population, no one section of them as yet
rising to 100000 of inhabitants, the very
rapid proportion of increase due to the irri-
CATION of a rich soil, points to future dense
population.
There are, west of the Great Plains, all
these geographical divisions: The North
Rocky Mountains, the South Rocky Mount
ains the Plateau Region, the Basin Region,
the Columbian Mesas, the Sierra Nevada,
the Pacific Valley, the Cascade Range and
the Coast Range.
All these districts are as yet sparsely set
tied, but capable, with a system of irriga-
ton, and in two or three of the regions with
out it, of supporting great population.