Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-01-14
AMERICA IN 1900.
The Population Centred In a Very Pew
cite. Near the Coast.

The Population Centred In a Very Few
Cite. Near the Coast.
In st. Nicholas there Is timely
article ca the Greater New York en-
titled Reasoning Out a Metropolis, "
by Ernest Ingersoll. Writing OF the
distribution Of the population AT the
beginning Of the century, Mr.. lnger-
soil SAYS.
Montreal aud Quebec we're then
large towns, hut making no progress;
nothing had come of the expected
cities along the coast Of Maine; old
Salem had been outstripped by Bos-
ton. which already numbered 30, OOO
citizens: Newport, New London and
New Haven we're still disappuintingly
small: New York. which had borne
the brunt Of the revolutionary war,
include only some go, OOO inhabitants;
while Philadelphia, unframed 10y the
war, was fuIrishlng, and led the list
with population numbering over ST.,
600. Farther sOuth, Baltimore. with
about %. 600 people: Charleston, with
go. 600 and New Orleans then in
French territory, with 10000 we're
the only coast towns worth mention
ing. Civilization had scarcely found
its way across the Alleghanies, Chicago
did not exist, and Oswego, Buffalo,
Detroit, PittsLurg and Cincinnati
were mere frontier villages or Indian
tradiug-pusts. New England and
eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland
were dotted with villages, but the
/ largest inland towns were those Of
northern New Jersey and the valley
of the Hudson where Newburg, kings
/ ton and Albany took the lead of all.
/ Let US see what happened during
the next thirty years.
/ As soon as peace, and firm, united
government were gained by the war
( for independence, We Americans be-
gan to think about finding out and
making use of the wealth of our new
country, first by setting as many per
sons as possible to clearing away the
forests and planting fields; and great
numbers from the older states, and
from Europe, moved West, and re-
ceived from the government tracts OF
land, for which the only pay asked
was IA promise to stay and cultivate
them.
But it was plain that there was no
use in farming, no matter how cheap
and fertile the soil, nor III cutting
/ timber or digging minerals, no matter
how accessible and abundant, unless
( the pioneers had some way to send
/ the grain they grew, or the timber or
minerals to market. Roads were,
! therefore, Of the first Importance.
/ Nobody but a hunter or an explorer
could travel into the heavily wooded
/ interior, except along some naylgable
river, and at first only the valleys Of
these rivers were cultivated. Next,
/ few roads were laid ont, connecting
/ the coast and riverside towns, but
! none penetrated inland very far, and
/ these were mostly mere tracks for
/ pack horses. All frontier goods We're
! carried by horses until almost the be-
ginning Of this century-as they are
yet in remote parts of the far West.
! This method is exceedingly expensive.
1t cost, for instance, S249 ton, or
about twelve and half cents pound,
to carry merchandise by paekhorses
from Philadelphia to Erie in 1874;
and when, in 1889, the first wagon
road was opened over the Pennsyl-
vania mountains, the cost of freight
age was three dollars ton for that
part alone about 40 miles. 1t was
not until 1904 that the first through
line of stages was established from
Philadelphia TO Pittsburg, making the
trip in seven days.
These things show how gradual, but
how sure, was the advance Of ciyiliza-
! ton westward.