Morris tribune., 1898-09-21
AMERICA IN 1900.
The Population Conferred In q Very Few
Cities Near the Coast.


Cities Near the Coast.
In ST. Nicholas there is article
on the Greater New York entitled
Reasoning Out a Metropolis" by
Ernest Ingersoll. Writing of the
distribution of the population at the
beginning of the century, Mr.. In
gersoll says:,
Montreal and Quebec were then
large towns, but making no prog
ress. Nothing had come of the eX-
pected cities along the coast of
Mama Old Salem had been out
stripped by Boston, which already
numbered 10000 citizens; Newport,
New London and New Haven were
disappointingly small and sleepy;
New York, which had borne the
brunt of the Revolutionary war, in
Guided only some go, 000inhabitants;
while Philadelphia, unframed by
the war, was fourishing and led the
list with population numbering
over 1000 Farther south, Balti-
more, with about $4,000 people;
Charleston, with 10000, and New
Orleans (then in French territory,
with 10000, were the only coast
towns worth mentioning. CiViliza-
ton had scarcely found its way
across the Alleghanies, Chicago did
not exist, and Oswego, Buffalo, De
troit, Pittsburg and Cincinnati were
mere frontier villages or Indian trad
ing posts. 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, Kingston
and Albany took the lead of all.
Let us see what happened during
the next 80 years,
AS soon as peace and firm, unit
ed government were gained by the
war for independence we Ameri-
cans began to think about finding
out and making useof the wealth of
our new country first by setting as
many persons as possible to clearing
away the forests and planting fields,
and great numbers from the older
states and from Europe moved west
and received from the government
tracts of land for which the only
pay asked was a 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, or in
cutting timber or digging minerals
no matter how accessible and abun.
dant, 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 navigable river, and at
first only the valleys of these rivers
were cultivated. Next a few roads
were laid out, connecting the coast
and riverside towns, but none pene.
trated inland very far, and these
were mostly mere tracks for. pack
horses. All frontier goods were car
ried 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 expen
sive 1t cost, for instance, $249 d
ton, or about 1219 cents a pound, to
carry merchandise by pack horses
from Philadelphia to Erie in 1884,
and when, in 1889, the first wagon
road was opened over the Pennsyl
vania mountains the cost of freight,
age was So a ton for that part. alone
about 40 miles. 1t was not until
1904 that the first through line Of
stages was established from Phila.
delphia to Pittsburg, making the
trip in seven days.
These things show how gradual,
but how sure,s Was~.the advance Of
civilization westward