The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-15
SAVANNAH AS 1T IS TO-DAY.
AN UP-TO-DATE, PROGRESSIVE,
COMMERCIAL CITY.


tropoIis of the southeast-Its Rise
From Comparative Obscurity
Gradual, But Sure-It Has Spread
Far Beyond the Narrow Limits of
Fifty Years Ago and Has Grown in
Wealth, Population and TerritOr-
iaI Extent-Its Magnificent Rail-
Road and Terminal Facilities
Place 1t Far I'm the Van of All Com
| petitOrs.
The Savannah of to-day. with its miles
of broad and we'll paved streets, its beau
tiful parks and squares, its handsome
public buildings its deep harbor. its mag
nificent railroad and terminal facilities,
its steamship lines, its large and growing
commerce, its many handsome residences
and its blocks of business buildings its
| territory well drained and its fine system
of water works, together with its many
public improvements, no more compares
with the Savannah of fifty years ago than
does the magnificent palace car with the
ancient omnibus, or a modern ocean liner
with the old-fashioned sailing craft.
Fifty years have worked wonders, and
yet these changes have come about so
gradually that The average citizen does
not realize them until the facts have been
presented to his view. Savannah's growth
has been steady. but gradual, SO gradual,
in fact, that its citizens have often com
planned of lack of progress. Yet to-day
it stands undisputed as the leading sea-
port of the South Atlantic, the leading ma
val stores market of the world, one of
| ~.
with an Importance in trade and an az
vantage in position which makes her the
envy of her neghbors. To this it has
| grown from the comparatively unimpor-
tant seaport town of fifty years ago. cut
ting little figure in the commerce of the
world and content to play second fiddle
TO Charleston. This, happily. has passed,
never to return.
Never Had Boom.
Savannah has never had a boom. Its
growth has always been of the solid, sub
! stantial character. Its citizens have been
content to make haste slowly, but surely,
and, having made a step forward, not TO
| go backward.
Fifty years ago Savannah had a pop
ulation of about 1900. To-day it has near
! lY five times that number. An arc describ-
ed with a radius of half a mile from the
city exchange would then have included
| the entire business and residence area of
the city. To-day this radius must be
heightened TO two or two and a half
miles in order to include the present bust
ness and residence area, and one not
largely occupied by scattered houses, but
! almost entirely built
then the southern limit of the residence
section, or about half a mile south of the
city exchange. To-day this limit has been
pushed one and half miles further south
From the city exchange to the Confed-
crate monument in the parade ground, now
the center of the city's residence section,
is one mile and from the monument to
| Estill avenue, now the citys southern
boundary, is another mile. This second mile
has been accomplished, not in the mem
DRY of the Oldest inhabitants, but in that
of the younger generation, and of those
who came within the last decade or two
| from other cities and other clines to throw
IN their lot with Savannah
The City's Streets.
! The city has 175 streets, many of them
! small and unimportant, it is true but all
| contributing in some measure 90 its gem
| eral make up The total mileage OF
! streets is ninety-eght, besides twenty
| miles of lanes. Walking twenty miles
| day it would take an ablebodied man inst
week TO walk through every stseet and
lane in Savannah OF the streets twen-J
! ty-five and half miles are paved incIud-
! ing several miles of asphalt. The total
| area of paved streets is. asphalt 14OS1S
! square yards; brick % PIP square yards.
ebert 1913 square yards cobbe III. sos
| square yards granite blocks, So .3O2 square
J halI IL.
p, Al square yards. In no one particuar has
theE citys improvement been so marked
1 in the last two decades a S in the matter
/ of street paving, practically ali of the i'm.
proved paving having been put down in
the last twelve years. The Improvement
! goes steadily forward year by year
! Not only in paving but in drainage
/ sewerage and water works the city has
made marked improvement Fifty years
ago the citizens of Savannah walked or
rode through streets deep in sand. the city
was surrounded by swamps and the
citizens drank surface water from
| pumps sunk a few feet into the ground.
! To-day the entire bluff and all the sur
| rounding country has been thoroughly
drained and blocks of handsome residences
/ stand where formerly were lowlands A
| splendid system of artesian wells sun
plies the purest drinking water in che
world and in ample quantity. But one.
| improvement remains TO be completed TO
make the citys sanitary condition perfect
/ and that is now well under way The
| system of house drainage begun two
| years ago, is being pushed rapidly to COM
pletion and within eighteen months at
| furthest Savannah will be in possession of
all The benefits which modern sanitary
| science can give.
An EnviabIe COmmercaiI Position.
Savannah's commercial position TODAY
! is one to be envied by less fortunate cities
It's once shallow river channel, which suf-
| feed for the light draft vessels of older
days, has been deepened untn it now ac-
commodities vessels dra wing Twenty-Five
! feet of water. and single cargoes are
taken out daily in the busy season which
would have required a whole fleet of YES
sells in the days of sailing ships and small
side-wheel steamers. The citizens of Sa-
vanuah and the large corpora lions which
make the port their outlet, have not failed