The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-23
Uncle Sans Progress
in SiSty Years
Bion H. Butter, in Pntsburg Times.

Englishmen are pointing with a good
deal of pride to the remarkable growth of
London from the time of Queen Victoria's
accession to the throne. They have rea-
son to feel gratified by the development
of their metropolis, for in the three score
years it has arisen from a cluster of
houses ana shops sheltering 100000 peo-
pie to a well built city of four times that
| many inhabitants. But while London has
grown 300 per cent. in GO years, ii Is in
! terestng to note what has been done here
| with 100000 souls. 1t has increased 600
| per cent in 60 years, or twice as rapidly
as the one rapidly growing English city.
| With us the whole nation has made un-
precedented growth, not merely one ia
vored section of it. In 1880 the entire
| population of all the American cities was
| less than 100000. Now we have four
| cities with more than a million each,
while England has but one, and but one
| that exceeds 100000 inhabitants very
| much. Then there was one city in the
| country, New York, with a population eX-
ceeding 100000. Philadelphia and Balti-
more had 10000. Boston $1,000, and
| Charleston. which ranked fifth, contained
| 10000, New York has increased three
! times as fast as London, Brooklyn has
| increased more than 1000 per cent. against
| London's 800 in the same time, while Chi
| cago has grown from nothing at all to
| a place nearly half as large as London.
| In 1880 Cleveland was town of 1,O76 per-
| sons. Pittsburg had grown as large as
Butler is now Besides Chicago, other
| towns then not in existence are Milwau-
| kee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha,
St. Paul, Jersey City, Denver and In
dianapolis, all of them now having a pop
ulation of more than 100000.
| In 1880 Ohio was out west, and the
| northwest corner of the state was still
| unsettled. Illinois had fewer than two in
| habitants to the square mile in fully half
| her territory, and not more than 10 or IL
| in the most popuiou5 portion. The Pot
| tawatomie Indians lived on the south end
| of Lake Michigan, and nobody cared
enough for the swamp lands to dispute
them their possession, Where then the
| country had a settled area of $4,000
! square miles it has cow a settled area of
almost 100000, or a greater rate of prog
ress than the marvellous growth of Lon
dons population which eXcites the ad-
miration of the Brtisher. Since 1850,
| which is as far as the census figures go
| back, the number of farms have increased
from l,445,OO0 to 456,0O0 or fully as rap
idly as the increase of London in the
longer period. Since 1910 the cereal pro-
duction has jumped up from 615, 0Ot
| bushels to 3,5lS, 100000, or 600 per cent.
Horses increased in numbers from 1896,
900 in 1850 to 100000 in 1890. and cattle in
the same time from 100000 to 81, 100000.
%
In 1880 there were not quite 40 miles of
railroad in the United States. At present
the steam and street railroads run close
to 100000 miles, employing an army of
more than three-quarters of a million
people, and paying in wages annually, di-
rectly or indirectly fully 800, 100000. The
railroads, not in existence when Vic
toria was a girl, pay now in interest and
taxes half as much as the cost of run
| l,1in ha fnAA oil lN
and their debt is five times as much as
that of the United States. 1t is apparent
that in manufacturing and mining the
development has been more rapid than in
other lines. for these are comparatively
new industries in a new country, which
in its early days depended more on the
farm than on the factory for livelihood
for its people. Yet so pronounced has
been the growth of the manufacturing
interests that from nothing at all the
United States have come to occupy the
first place among the nations of the
} world, as we'll as in the production of
minerals. In iron, petroleum, copper,
gold, silver, hard coal and Except Eng
land alone, to which we are a close sec
: ond) soft coal, and i'm many other things
not of so much importance, this country
ranks at the head. In nothing can the
British empire show such marvellous de
[ Velopment as in the iron and steel manu-
facture of this country, which, taking up
the thread where the Old world would
permit has climbed to a first place, and
: is now disputng with the nations of Eu-
5 rope the actual domination of the mar
: kets of the world. The precious metals
of the west have made history for tho
United States in the way of gold, silver
? and copper production that stands alone
2 The Sl00O00,000 worth of oil produced
7 by the wells of this country reads like a
story of Aladdin and his lamp to those
. not familiar with the romantic business
4 and is unparalleled by anything England
has to show.
When 1t comes to fine streets, comforts
of city life, public or private buildings
or any of those things that go to modern
I | ize or improve either town or country, tho
| old world is sadly behind the progressive
and audacious hustler of the western
e hemisphere. London has some fine build
n | ings, though they date farther back thar
the queens reign. But London has moth
ing to surpass the public buildings of thi:
: country. Our national capitol, rebuIl
= and built largely since the accession o.
the queen, is the superior of anything
:, built in London In the same time, If thu
u same Is not also true of the city hall IN
Philadelphia, the capitol at Albany, anl
: that i'm Austin, Tex. And so far as bust
ness places and the homes Of tine peopl'
are concerned, no city in Europe has any
u thing like so many comfortable, commo
dious and modern buildings as nearly
e any prominent city of the United States
g London. with its narrow, crooked streets
must depend on one-horse cabs for he
D rapid transit crowd that travels OF
Pittsburg'5 trolley roads at o'clock II
= the evening would m, London, il put II
a cabs, in a Jam from Trafalgar square Il
u the Bank OF England. The dingy stores
the crooked and narrow lanes, the i'll
" lighted Railways and the stuffy littl
Y rooms In which men have offices woul
not be tolerated in any American city 0
10000 people, let alone a big place tha
= prldes itself on its sky-sorapers, witt
@ elevators and all sorts Of Yankee moderl
a convenences.
e OF course America can lay no credit 4
: augmenting the growth of Londo