Smyrna times., 1896-06-24
SCRANTON, PA.
1.-THE ELECTRIC CITY"

To THE EDITOR OF THE SMYRNA TINES
DearS
Thinking you are always interested
in the Smyrna boys who have left
home, venture to send a few lines to
your paper descriptive of the city in
which L have resided for the past eight
months. Scranton, the Electric
City, is situated in the Lackawanna
valley in northeastern Pennsylvania
and is the county-seat of Lackawanna
County. 1t is a beautiful city with
wide, clean streets, and contains many
handsome public buildings among
which are the Court House, new Post
Office, Public Library, Y. M. G. As
sociatiOn hall, Tribune and Truth
buildings, Lackawanna and Moses
Taylor hospital, etc. There are many
fine private residences each differing
in the style OF its architecture, and
surrounded with beautifully terraced
lawns adorned with plants and flowers.
Scranton is well.provided for in public
schools, having about thirty-seven
different school buildings. The popu-
latiOn is about 100, 1000.
1t is an important commercial city,
being in the midst of the anthracite
coal fields. There are thirty-five diff
| ferent coal breakers within the city
limits. The average price of pea and
chestnut coal is $1.3O aud the larger
sizes from $3.50 to S1.75 per ton.
There is a network of mines under the
city which sometimes causes the
ground to settle badly shaking and
denolishing buildings For this cause
the great High School" building had
to be taken down. There are many
fine churches in the city, the largest
and most beautiful being the ''Elm
Park" M. E. Church. 1t and the par.
sonage are built of yellow and green
stone. The main auditorium seats
1900 people. The main Sunday
School room is separated from this
auditorium by sliding doors, which
when the Sunday School room is not
in use, can be pushed back into the
wall, throwing both rooms together
and making the largest auditorium of
of any church 1 have ever attended.
The church music is furnished by a
Quartette Choir. They have an i'm
mense Pipe Organ and Chime of
Bells casting $4,000. The church is
furnished with parlors and kitchen.
Scranton is a great Railroad centre.
Six Railroads run into and through the
city, viz: ''TheD Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western Railroad" running from Buf-
falO through Scranton to New York
city; '"The Erie & Wyoming Valley"
from PittsOn through Scranton to
Hawley, connecting with the main
road; "The Delaware & Hudson Canal
Co. ." from Wilkesbarre through Scran-
tonic Albany, N. Y. "The N, Jersey
Central" from Scranton to New York
city; '"The New York, Ontario &
Western, from Scranton to Hancock
Junction, n Y. connecting with the
main road that runs from Oswego to
New York city and the "Lackawanna
Bloomsburg' running from North
umberland to Scranton.
There are about thirty-hve miles of
street railway in the city, the motive
power being electricity. 1t is operated
by "The Peoples Street Railway
Co." One may travel along the valley
tifty-nine miles in one direction, by
electric railway from Forest City to
Ashley. This is also a great manu-
featuring city having axe factories,
steel, car wheel, wire-screen, axle,
stove, locomotive-grate, friedrich,
paving-brick and iron fence factories,
button, box and cotton factories; lace
and silk, mills two locomotive shops,
great boiler and machine shops, two
steel mills, rail mills, blast furnaces,
casting shops, lumber mills, brass
works and many others that would
take two much space in your paper to
mention.
The city is supplied with water from
several reservoirs on the eastern hills
and excellent. The city is splendidly
lighted with electricity; gas being
used only in some of the smaller stores
and privAte residences. This is an at
tractive city, but my heart clings to
Delaware as Home, sweet Home"
GEORGE M. Roe.
Scranton Tune 18th 1896.