The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-12-02

Few even of the New England States
have made use OF natural features ioI
county boundaries. Brtlsh hinsS set tie
fashion In the New NOrid Oh Indihlnb
nol,t,caI divisions by imaginary lines, aEd
Inc fashion has been followed falthIully
In States old and new. us hhdi ueNeIVp
mant is found in the Western states ana
Territories, where nature po". .as,i,,
mountain ranges and rivers, are nesIes .
ed for the sake Of the parallels anu iheIi-
dams Maize whose counties are as IRE
gular I'm shape as any In the MoliI ne a.
not made use Of natural lanuIla,A "a
any considerable extent. fei iNro 80
New Hampshire have mere anu tor county
mountain ranges and streams loi co",lac.
boundaries Massachusetts ana S oilliSC-
ticut have disrcgarded natural pounua
res in great degree. Even 'he 80
Connecticut river flows across couht'ss,
and is boundary line only between pdi -! 20
OF Mddlesex and New London couhtIes -,
Connecticut Rhode Islands cmel COUNTY
boundaries are imaginary lines. .,.,
Massachusetts has two Island couhties'
Duke and Nantucket. Island counties &C
cur also in New York and Westminster
.but not elsewhere, though the larger part
OF Door county, Wisconsin, in an isiahd
in Lake Michigan Washlnstohs lsIdHo
county bears the narne OF Island anu
is surrounded by the waters OF Puget
sound Names counties average nearly
500 square miles each In area, ana there
are several each OF when larger IMAM the
NV YORK has few natural county boun-
daries save in the lake regions anu alohg
the Hudson. New Jersey mas artI nl,ia
boundaries for many couniies' Dut r eIn-
sylvinia has used mountains and rivers
in many instances Delaware mas useu
small treaus 10 bound her counteS anu
even her townships, or hundred, as M, tney
are called. Maryland. virginia, ana "esi
Virginia, having plenty OF streams anu anu
mountain ranges, use such natuIal ied-
lures for county boundaries. virginia
counties are unusually small In poth AREA
and population. Natural DounudIIes az
usual I'm the Carolinas, Georgia ana Aia-
hama but Mississippi has many lnaSlh-
ary county lines. and her counties are
notched in a way TO suggest thdl tney
were made with aview TO the prouuCuo.
OF one of those wooden puzzle maps ina
are held together by the notches: LouIsl-
ana. Arkansas, Tennessee, and kentucKy
have the characteristic rectangular couh-
ty forms with many imaginary boundary
lines, though creeks and rivers are useu
10 some extent in Kentucky ana IenneS-
see Florida has boundary lines OF each
sort, and 80 has Texas, save In the horln-
west, where natural boundaries are az
most entirely disregarded. Buchei county,
Teyas is a Tight-angled triangle, ana
nerhaps the only one In the United states.
The States of the middle West nave
comparatively few natural county pouh-
DIARIES. and those Immediately beyond the
MississiDpi almost disregard landmarks
ties being piled mathematically tier on
tier. Even the great river Platte fows
across Nebraska much of its way thfoush
counties ~. -.
The Rocky Mountain States, unable 10
disregard the stern necessities OF great
rivers and almost impossible mountain
ranges, have accepted these natural Tea
lures as county lines, thougn tne mlS ,s!r
ri flows through one OF the North Dakota
counties Oregon and Washington nave
accepted mountain ranges ana great
fornia. though In many cases Imaginary
boundaries are used.
4 single county OF Montana IS about
as large as all the New England states
braska, is nearly as large as New Jersey,
and one county in Arizona Is nearly as
large as Vermont and New Hampshire;
One county in Wyoming exceeds by ~
enuare miles the area OF Vermont, and
any one OF twenty far Western counties
is almost double the area OF Delaware