The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-09-20
danger without going into the air for

danger without going Into the air fo
1t.
The keelboat then. II must be re
membered, was no more out of dat,
than hte airshlp Is now. 1t was tn,
best modern boat in 1909 which coult
be equipped by the capital of sain
Louis, of New Orleans or of Phla.
delphia. Because Of II, Philadelphia
and Saint Louis commanded the East
and West movement of business as
that North and South was command.
| ed by Saint Louis and New Orleans
as soon as their first fleets of keel
boats were regularly organized. It
helped to make great history, even
| IL II did have to be pulled upstream
| by q rope dragged by men on the
bank.
II is almost IL not quite as hard
now to imagine what the world
meant before the age OF steam, as 1t is
to think out what will be its mean
ing in the age OF the perfected air
ship and aeroplanes. Every contrast
possible in the Saint Louis Centen-
NAL week OF pageants will be q chal-
lenge to look backwards and forwards
| in the attempt to find out what a
hundred years already mean, as the
first success in the attempt to find
what 1t Is to mean shortly, for this
generation and for the 'grandchild-
rem OF this generation in 2009. In the
third generation between the desper-
ate fight for life on the keelboat. with
indians shooting from both banks at
men lying fiat and shooting back from
their deadly flint-lock, muzzle load
ers. Saint Louis has grown from a
keelboat '1anding" of 146 log houses
and as stone houses on three North
and South streets of q city with an
aren of sixty-two square miles and
population OF neraly three quarters
of a million. When three million dol
lars in cash might have been high
price for everything In the town a
hundred years ago, its bank clearings
this year will pas three thousand mil
lions. As It elads the world in manu-
facture of cars for steam and electric
rairloads. one of its own cars, leav-
ing its terminal tracks for the IN
time. might pass over 100000 miles of
track in use in the United states this
year and return to Saint Louis fln-
ally to show that modern city has
"unbroken connection" with more
miles of track than any car Is likely
to pass over before wearing out.
West of the Mississippi, the cay maxi
ing this circuit from Saint Louis now
would follow closely the water routes
of its keelboats and the overland
routes of the "prairie schooners.
In 1909, the total amount of cash
In circulation in the United states as
reported by the treasury, was slight
ly less than $27. 100000 on June
2sd, 1909, Saint Louis banks report
ed to the comptroller of the curren-
CIV n capital of S39, 400, 900 and assets
of $43,161, 900 in currency and coin
The opening up OF the American West
dating back to the incorporation OF
Saint Louis in 1909 has enriched
the world until II is hard to think out
what such figures mean In explaining
history. The world has been moving
some" between the days of the keel
boat and the days of dlrigible airship
and the aeroplane, flying over Lac
lede's landing place on the Mississippi
"Think It OUT is the challenge of the
Saint Louis Centennial with its spec
tacles of historic, industrial and CIV
ic pageants, reinforced by parades OF
automobiles, educational parades,
games, illuminatlons, fireworks, mu-
sic, public banquets, speeches and ev-
erything else that is most likely 10
draw and entertain great crowds or
people to whom the city attempts to
show the panorama of century. The
attempt to show the meaning of
hundred years of history In a week
is n large undertaking .and Saint
Louis is undertaking 1t in a large
way. It expects the crowds and ex-
poets them to enjoy the show, wheth-
er they think 1t out or not. IL they
do not succeed in thinking 1t out,
thew can pass It down to the third
after them. BY zoos,
Americans may be able to think out
a whole century easily. in panorama,
as they may get the habit from gcing
up in aeroplanes to take panoramic
views of what is going on below
them.