The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-15
"LOS ANGELES
 { THE GREATEST

Los Angeles. home of the cafeteria and birthplace of the jitney. will celebrate today its 1s5th birthday, when the ebullient citizenry of the western metropolis will give expres- sion to their joy at being residents of the largest city of America. Yes in sober truth-if sobriety can apper- tain to such a glorious fact-this Ciu- dad La Reina de Los Angeles. found ed by the Spanish paures on the nf- teenth of August, 17S1, has grown from a mere frontier mission, a tiny cluster of adobe huts built around a somnolent plaza, into the largest city between the two oceans This magni- ncent continuation has been attained within the past year, and when Los Angeles observed it's last birthday it
 was with the humble admission that 1t stood second to New York. That indignity has now been abolished. and Los Angeles. revelling in the finest climate known to civilized or. unci- vflized man, now. has an even greater claim to the respect and admiration of the world.
 1t is understood, of course, that in claiming to be the largest of Ameri- can cities Los Angeles does not refer to mere numbers, but to area The
 recent annexation of Westgate and
 Occidental to; the city makes Los Angeles the largest municipality in area between Montreal and Buenos Ayres. inclusive of both. The exact figures is ss7.s2 square miles, as EcompaTed with New York.s s14.75.
 New York Is the only close rival of the California metropolis in respect to area. Chicago covers only 1s8 square miles of the soil of Cook county. The Philadelphia's area is 129.50 square miles. St. Louis has an area of 61.33 square miles. Bos- ton 47.3s, Cleveland 52.50, Detroit
 41.75, and Baltimore '3l.50. These municipalities. although greater or equal to Los Angeles in population. are but pygmies in the matter of
 'reacha. Such places as Pittsburgh. Buffalo and Montreal are mere min bricks on the map when compared with the wonderful metropolis of Cu- materia. Even mighty London must hang her abashed head when compar- ing her area with the far-flung boun- dary lines of the City of the Queen of the Angels
 In the matter of population. Los Angeles now claims 600, 900. folks. hich would make her seventh in standing among North American nun icipalities. surpassed, only by New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston and Cleveland, and DOS stbly by Detroit and equalled by BaI- timore. According to the statistics supplied on the enevelopes used in their correspondence by all good Angels. such smaller fry as St. I,o,is Boston. Cleveland. Detroit and Ball. timore are doomed to be passed with in four years. for on these envelopes Is boldly printed the statement. "Pop- Anlation in 1920, 1000, ,O0O."
 As for San Francisco, that ouon- dam metropolis of the Pacific coast.
 citizen of Los Angeles professes to have nought but pity. "A good old town. bat she's had her day." ex- presses the Los Angeles sentiment. Beneath this atmosphere of confi- dence, however. the visitor may per- ceive a substratum of fear. Frisco may have fewer noses to count when the census taker comes round. but the present margin between the two cities Is certainly not large And then-this is the bugaboo of Los Angeles-San Francisco has an area of only forty-six square miles. Sup- pose the upstate city should follow the example of Los Angeles and set out to annex everything in sight? There is Oakland with 200, 900 people. right next door, and many smaller cities and towns across the bay which might be gobbTed up. Greatest Los Angeles can sacrcely sleep O. nights because of this nightmare vision of a nossfhle H(1raafer San Erancirco