The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-02-21
ODD GEOGRAPHICAL FACTS.
Boundary Lines MakeLaw
Enforcement Hard
MEANS OF EVASION.
Few Realize How large Tcxns Really
Is - Four Inhabitants of One
County Thcrc-Watertow y. Y,
Has the Longest Block and Chi
cago the Longest Street.

The following collection OF geo
graphical peculiarities about the
United States embodies many unique
facts which are worth remembering.
A novel way to demonstrate the
enormity of the State of Texas is to
spread out a map of the United
States and stretch a string across
Texas the longest way. Then placing
one end of your measure on Chi-
cago you will find that the other end
will extend into either the Atlantic
Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. says
the New York Sun.
The two largest counties In the
United States are Custer county.
Mont, and San Bernardino county.
Cal. Each of these is little more
than 10000 square miles In extent.
and the States of Massachusetts.
Rhode Island. Delaware and New
Jersey could be put inside the bound
aries OF either of them.
The smalles county in the Union
Is Bristol county, X. l., which has
county in the United States having
the largest population is New YorE.
which has more than 100000 peC-
pie In It, At the time of the last cer-
sus Bailey county. Tex. which Is
about as large as Rhode Island. had
only four inhabitants.
The longest block in any American
ri TO io In, Tata Nv
nicipal freak is a row of business
houses nearly five squares long 1t
contains the offices and stores of 1lj
different firms, forty-fve tenants AMI
a hotel with eighty-fiye rooms. Tho
total valuation of the property n
this block is almost 81 900, 900.
The longest street in the Ulitei
States and in the world as we'll is
Western avenue, Chicago, which is
exactly twenty-five miles long. Its
nearest rival is Halsted street, also
In Chicago. which Is two-thirds OF
mile shorter. Halsted street IL 50
much more closely built up that t. Is
street In the world. BY traversing its
length one may see all the indica-
tions of the varying phases of Ameri-
can life, from the novels of outcast
sin to the palaces of pork packing
millionaires.
lnterspersed with the native
Americans on this one street are six
distinct colonies where the people
speak other languages than English
namely, Germans, Italians, RUS
sian Jews, Bohemians, Poles and
Greeks. Halsted street is crossed
over and under by twenty railroads
1t is estimated to be the chief busl-
ness center and lounging place for
175, 900 people, more than there are
In Arizona, Idaho. Nevada or Wyom-
ing.
About fifty miles from Durango,
Colorado, there is point where four
States meet. At this place by step
ping a few feet in either direction
one can walk In four different Com
monwealths in as many seconds.
These States are Colorado, Utah.
New Mexico and Arizona. A nearly
parallel case Is at Harper's Ferry,
where the train stops a few minutes
to allow the passengers to alight and
enjoy view which permits them to
look into three States-Maryland.
Virginia and West Virginia.
The highest and lowest elevations
In this country are in California,
within 100 miles OF each other. The
loftiest Is Mount Whitney, IA ,499
feet high. and the lowest Is Death
Valley, about 450 feet below the
level of the sea. Two Oceans Pass, in
Yellowstone Park. Is so named be-
cause whenever there Is shower in
TIE vicinity and certain small
creek oyerhows, its waters spread
ont over the edge of the continental
divide and Tass into tributaries of
rivers which flow to the Atlantic and
to the Pacific.
There are number of cases
where unique situations have devel-
oped in cities that happened to be d.
vided by State lines. These oddities
are the result of differences in law.
The boundary between Texas and
Arkansas runs along the main street
of TeXarkana, and formerly If fight
occurred on one side of the street
the combatants had only to cross to
the other sidewalk to be out of the
jurisdiction of the authorities gov
erning the territory where the dis
turbance had taken place. The two
sides of TeXarkana did not develop
equally, because the administration
Of one States was more enterprising
than the other
Bristol Is located on the State lire
between Tennessee and Virginia.
One of these States has a regulation
preventing colored people from oc-
cupying the same street car seats
with whites and the other has not,
consequently the colored people may
stay on one side of the car on the
boundary street and sit where they
please. The dividing line between
Missouri and Kansas is State street
in Kansas City. Missouri is wet and
Kansas Is dry, so one side of that