The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-08-13
BRIDGEPORT'S GROWTH.
 (AnSOnia Sentinel.)


 value of her homes and public institu- tions have been indicative of public and private prosperity. Particularly gratifying must this increase be to the Bridgeport Board of Trade and Busi- ness Mems Association. which have striven to promote it's welfare and by united effort to ensure its progressive ness.
 And the best part of it all is. Bridge port has only just commenced to test her capabilities. She has only com menced to learn the capabilities of her citizenship. She has only laid the foundations for future bigness and business hustle and civic betterment. Her location is of itself an asset which must count for future growth. She has an abundance of territory which is unoccupied. She has elbow room and to spare And we doubt not that she no sooner received the census figures, placing her in the 10000 class. than she commenced to aspire to 150, 900. That is characteristic of her. Here's to her!
 HARTFORD AND BRIDGEPORT.
 Springfield Union.)
 An official census announcement gives the population of Hartford as 98, 915 and the population of Bridgeport as 102054. The honor of appearing in the 100000 class. which our down-the- river neighbor had confidently claimed for itself for several years past. and which it misses by the rather narrow margin of 1,O85, is captured unexpected ly by Bridgeport, which thus ranks above Hartford as the second city in Connecticut. However elating this may be to Bridgeport. it is a double disap- pointment to the state capital. Recent ly when the Hartford newspapers were bewailing the fact that Springfield was gaining in population more rapidly than their own city, 1t was assumed that the official figures would show Hartford to be a city of well over 100000 inhabitants. The most confi- this Is one of those occasions. The census officials say the count is correct and there is only one remedy open to Hartford, and that is to grow faster in future.
 The growth of Bridgeport has been remarkable indeed. In 50 years it has grown from a community of 1929 in- habitants to one of 102.054. Ten years ago Hartford had $500 more people than Bridgeport. but Bridgeport's gain of 43.7 per cent. in the decade has re- versed the standing of the two cities. The record of Bridgeport is one of rapid industrial progress, which has well nigh exhausted desirable manu- featuring sites in it's territory.
 It is of interest to note that the president of the Bridgeport Board of Trade, Fred Enos. attributes the city's growth in considerable measures to the fact that it is. like Springfield. a city of diversified industries. '1f one wants a prosperous, growing town" he says. '1et him select a diversified manufac- turing town with large weekly pay rolls and he will have it. If I have to payroll town I will take the latter every time." He predicts that Bridge port will pass New Haven in few years Meanwhile. Hartford no doubt will seek a remedy for present condi- tions in an increase of it's manufactur- ing interests. While that city has given proof of late years that 1t is not entirely blind to the advantages of having numerous manufactures in it's midst and has made perceptible de- partures from its former conservatism. the increase of its industrial activities has been too slow to enable it to main tain its relative position among the cities of the state.
 An interesting point in connection with the Bridgeport returns Is that the Board of Trade. by taking steps to cor rect omissions made by the census most 1000 names to the accredited population. It was found that 67 per- sons had been overlooked by the enumerators in a single manufac ctur1ng establishment. This involved work and expense on the part of the organiza- tion but it affords a good illustration | of the value of a Board of Trade that l It appears that Hartford's local cal culators have been misled by the di- | rectory figures. The directory includes a good many names of persons who earn their bread and butter in Hart | ford, but live in suburban places. Hartford is not the only city destined to be taken in through failure to ap- preciate the magnitude of the drift | from cities to suburban towns in the last few years. A week or two ago the Washington correspondent of a | New York paper, in an effort to get something of value out of the meager data available at the census bureau put out a story that the computations
 made thus far indicated that the drlft | from country to city had been checked in considerable measures in the last 1C | years. This conclusion probably is er- | roneous, because it fails to take ac- | count of the extent to which the | growth of urban communities has over
 Tapped city lines. The erection Of pig business blocks and factories compels | an exodus of population from the hearts of municipalities and the multi plIcation of trolley lines supplemented
 by the enterprise of real estate men has inaugurated an era of home-build- |
 in the history of the nation.
 But as Hartford's showing actually appears in the census tables. it is not bad. amounting as it does to a gain o1 239 per cent in the last decade. This
 is a gain more than twice as great as that of Cincinnati in the same period
 It is a fact. though. that many of oul
 older cities are dropping down in the | list while new towns are forging tC the front This years census promises to afford striking revelations along this lone. Bridgeport. an insignificant
 hamlet of 2S00 persons in 1890. is beat
 ing out the proud old towns of colonia days Cincinnati has been outstripped by Cleveland and Buffalo. Aristocratic Charlestown. which stood fourth in ths list of cities in 1790 finds itself out classed by more than 70 American cities Even Baltimore has lacked the | ability to hold it's own. and is likely tC
 be passed this year by Pittsburg. The industrial growth of the United States has been something tremendous. an6 the places that formerly scorned tC became factory towns" find them