The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-10-31
.Sagerbrush State" Celebrates Its Semi
 Centennial Today

This Is Admission Dayss in Neva- da, and the observance of the holiday assumes general interest because today marks the semi-centenary of the ad- mission to the Union Sof the Sage brush State..' With fifty years of statehood behind it, Nevada stin holds what a baseball fan would call the "eeIlar championahip, In population. Within it's 110,700s square miles the nose-counters of Uncle Sam were able to find in 1910 81. 875 human beings. or about seven n-ten ths of person per mile Wyoming, with one and haI individuals per square nadle, is Neva- da's nearest rival for providing ts population plenty Of elbow room One good reason for Nevadass paucity or population may be found in the faAst that there are almost two men to ey- cry woman, the exact figures being 52,- 551 males and 29, Szz females It is very evident that every Jack does not have his Jtl1 in the sagebrush state. Of Nevada's population. only lS,367 people are to be found in cities and communities of over 300, which 1rl- dtcates that the people are inclined to take advantage Of the opportunities for plenty of breathing space.
 But if Nevada hasn't much to brag about in the way Of population il has a history which for picturesque tea- torres is hardly to be surpassed by that
 
 wild vest the final stamping ground of those hardy pioneers who detested cities and civilization, and found an irresistible appeal in the wild places Of earth. To Nevada too. focked the prospectorss grizzled and otherwise the gamblers, and adventurers of all sorts and of both sexes from all parts of the globe At a later period Reno became the center of Americas di- voree industry, and the Mecca of hosts of g1nhappily marrded folk.
 Silver and gold were the lures which and mining is still it's principal indus try But 1t has become an industry in the modern sense of the word, and is operated along strictly business lines GoEdhetd. Tonopah and Ely revived for a time the vanished glor- loved a brief revival of the old free days. The state had it's last wild splurge in 191O when the Johnson Jeffrfes prize fight was staged in Re- no, and the fsIid' was ripped off. Then the authorities put the gamblers out of business and tEae Sagebrush state has become as staid and respectable as any of it's sisters
 Nevada was first visited by Span ish monks. who gave the country it's name, which means ssnow-covered''- a name scarcely applicable to a large
 
 acquired from Mexico by the. treaty which ended the war between that country and the United States The first settlers were the Mormons. who located in the Carson and Washoe valleys in J848 The gold rush to California brought additions to the population, and the discovery of sil- yer in 184S and subsequent years add ed vastly to the population. Nevada was organized as a territory in 1881, and was admitted as a state on Octo- ], Der 31, 1884, The Constock silver E1ode, discovered in 1859. was for years the most valuable in the world, and it made Virginia City. now a mere viii l 1age, the metropolis Of the state.
 Mark Twain went to Nevada in 1861, as private secretary to his brother who had been appointed secretary o1 the territory, and his experiences as a miner reporter and editor in the Sage brush state afforded material for lit- 1erature which has spread Nevas7a's fame around the world It was in his reports of the Nevada legislative pro ceedings, published in the Virginis City Enterprise, that the great humofe ist first used his pen name of s.Marl Twain"