The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1899-12-14
AMERICAN CITIES.
SOME FACTS ABOUT THEM THAT
ARE INTERESTING.

The Oldest Is Albany-But Three Have
Populations Running Into Millions.
Mckeesport, Pa, Is the Healthiest.
Saloon Statistics.
Acting on instructions from congress
the department Of labor at Washington
Issued in its September bulletin statis-
tics relating to all the cities in the
United States of population of 10000
or more. 1t was found that there were
140 such cities, and the statistics col
lected throw much interesting light on
their status and development.
The Oldest city in the United States
is Albany, N. Y, which was incorpor-
ated in 1855, Philadelphia dating Is
years later. New York, Chicago and
Philadelphia are the only American
cities whose population runs into the
millions. Some odd contrasts are pre-
sented in the tables which give the
area covered by the different cities. II
appears that Taunton, Mass, occupies
a territory greater than that of either
ppSlOn VI DdlllulOIt. NEW olltduS. d
city of 2S5, 000inhabitants, covers 1875 900
acres, while Newark, N. j., with a
population of about the same size, oc-
cupies less than 10000 acres. One ex-
poets to find the manufacturing dis
tricts of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
and Illinois closely packed, but It is
surprising to notice that Richmond,
Va. covers only $3.50 acres, and Louis
Vile, Ky, 1880 acres, as compared
with Duluth. Mimi, and Des Moines,
Ia, which. with much smaller popula
tions in each case, cover respectively
40,960 and 34,560 acres.
The second table in the bulletin deals
with saloons. police force, and the
number of arrests from drunkenness.
Judging from the arrests made, it
seems that Davenport, Ia. Is the most
sober city in the United States, while
San Francisco and Boston suffer most
from drunkards Several papers tried
to find in this table some light that
would help to elucidate temperance
problems, but found the figures so con-
fusing as to be of very little practical
use The New York Evening Post, for
example, commenting on this part of
the report, says:
ut casts darkness rather than light
upon the question. For example,
Springfield, Mass. Manchester, n. H.,
and Utica, N. Y, have each about CO.,
600 inhabitants. Utica is under the
Raines law, Springfield under the high
license system of Massachusetts and
Manchester under nominal prohibition.
The New Hampshire city has no legal
saloons, while Springfield has AZ and
Utica 252 But Manchester has had
Lass arrests for drunkenness during
the past year, while Springfield had
1,431. Still more remarkable is the
record of only 765 arrests in Utica, or
only about half as many as in Spring
field, although there are more than
five times as many saloons. Almost as
anomalous is the showing of only 3S3
arrests in Dayton, o., with 400 saloons
and $4,000 people, while Hartford,
Conn, with 1900 people and but 219
saloons, reported 2.460. There is no
possible way of reconciling such ex-
traordinary differences, except upon
the theory that the police in some
cities enforce the laws much more
strictly than those of others, and run
in drunks' when men in the same con-
dition elsewhere would be passed by"
The health statistics show that Nc
keesport, Pa, is perhaps the healthiest
city in the country. It's rate of deaths
from consumption is only 1,09 per 1000,
as compared with IL in Boston and
New York. and 26 in Denver, Colo.-
due, of course, to the fact that con-
sumptives resort to Denver from all
parts of the country. The rate of 1850
deaths per 1000 from old age ICON
siderably the highest on the list), is
accredited to Salt Lake City, a condi-
tion to account for which no theory
has yet been brought forward. In
Pittsburg and Chicago deaths from old
age are only 2 per 1000.
At a time when the extension of
municipal functions is occupying pub
lie attention. it is interesting to note
the figures which relate to city owner.
ship. Ninety-siX cities own their own
water supply, among the exceptions be-
ing indianapolis, New Haven, New Or
leans and San Francisco. Four have
municipal gas works-Duluth, Rich
mond, Toledo and Wheeling-and 13
own and operate electric light plants.