Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-14

and traffic. In the traffic department was
very thorough illustration Of the trans
portation systems Of Berlin, London,
Paris. New York and Chicago. The
American models were the most elaborate
Of all. They were marvels of detail.
Every street crossing, tunnel and subway
was reproduce, and the similarity or the
situations and requirements of Chicago
transportation facilities especially inter-
esting.
Berlin and Chicago.
The two cities have kept pace in popu-
lation in a very remarkable manner. By
the last census d91O Berlin has 2,1sO.O00
population and Chicago 2185,2S3 BY the
census Of 1905 Berlin had 100000 and
the census Of 1900 gave Chicago 1905, 675
The population OF Berlin increased 6.S
per cent during the last five years. The
population of Chicago has increased 2S.7
in ten years.
The figures given for Berlin. however,
include only the population OF that city.
which is closely and compactly settled.
without including the outlying cities Of
Charlottenburg. Schoehberg. Wllmersdorf
RiXdorf and other adjoining suburbs
which are theoretically distinct and indie
Berlin as Kenwood is of Chicago, or Har-
lem is of New York. If a model Of Berlin
were placed on top of model of Chi
cago 1t would cover only about one-third
OF the area, and even il the suburbs !
have named were to be added to Berlin
they would not cover the entire area of
Chicago. If their population were added
to that of Berlin proper the total would
be more than three millions, and the
seven cities that compose what we might
Greater g
entity so far as commercial and social
affairs are concerned as London or Bos-
ton.
The jealousies that exist between the
component parts of this great entity are
very amusing. For example. no stranger
and very few people in Berlin, ever know
when they pass from one city to the
other. the boundary being solid street,
but the municipal officials on both sides
are painfully aware of the dividing line
and they compel the public to respect it.
The late Senator Mitchell of Wisconsin.
who spent a winter in Berlin some years
ago, lived on the Charlottenburg side of
the street that forms the dividing line
and, one day when he had an accidental
fire in his apartment. he rushed down
stairs and turned in an alarm at a red
box on lamp post exactly opposite his
door. A detachment of the Berlin fire
they discovered that the fire was in Char
lottenburg instead of Berlin they declined
to put it out. The foreman walked down
to the next block on the Charlottenburg
side and coolly pulled the key. Senator
Mitchells expostulations made no i'm
preston whatever. and the foreman even
threatened him with arrest for giving a
false alarm.
Parks and Fairgrounds.
The department of the Berlin exposition
which dealt with parks, Fairgrounds
monuments, boulevards, cemeteries and
similar features of town building was
even more interesting than the transpor-
tation section, and the most attractive
features were models of the parks of
Boston and Vienna. The magnificent sys-
tenn Of landscape gardening and the belt
of boulevards of Boston created a decided
sensation, particularly when visitors were
informed that they represented a cost of
forty millions of dollars-a sum OF money
which is beyond the conception of most
Europeans.
Although Berlin has splendid system
in Fairgrounds. and. according to the
statistics presented at the exposition. &c
per cent of the children of Berlin do not
enjoy the opportunity for physical exer-
In the surrounding suburbs the condi-
tons are only l per cent better. 1t was
also shown that ~ per cent Of all the in
habitants of Berlin live in one-room flats.
This revelation startled the humanitarians
and movement was undertaken at once
to solve the problem of housing the poor
by the construction of model tenements,
like those which Henry Phipps is build
ing in New York city and similar build
ings that have recently been erected in
London.
1t has been asserted that a race of pa
tr'ots cannot be raised In apartment
houses and great many people believe
1t.
II the town planning exposition did
nothing more OF good 1t has certainly
stirred up the people of Germany to
sense Of guilt and apprehension concern
Ing the effect of the congestion of their
population upon the future of the en-
pire.
Other Attractive Exhibits.