Chapter IV: Part 4

Then too the traffic on the lakes became more important, requiring larger and better vessels. Detroit has one of the best harbors on all the Great Lakes, making it splendidly suited for the building and launching of vessels. Always engaged more or less in shipbuilding, Detroit improved its shipyards and kept pace with the demand. To-day it builds all types of vessels, from magnificent passenger steamers to the great steel ore ships which carry the iron ore of the Lake Superior districts.

It was in 1860 that Detroit began to take its place among the industrial cities of the country. Now it is fifth among the cities of the United States in the value of its manufactured products. Let us see what its chief industries are.

First of all comes the manufacture of automobiles and the parts of which they are made. It is estimated that more than half of all the automobiles made in the United States are built in Detroit factories. Until 1899 there was not a single automobile factory in the city. To-day there are over thirty, many of them covering acres of ground.

As few of the automobile factories make all the parts of their machines, there are in Detroit many shops for the manufacture of steel, aluminium, and brass castings, and of gears, wheels, and various other automobile parts.

Another of Detroit's important industries is the manufacture and repair of steam- and electric-railroad cars. These are largely freight cars, although many passenger cars are also made.

Other lines of business include foundry and machine-shop products, the making of druggists' preparations, the manufacture of flour, the packing of beef and pork, and the preparation of other food stuffs.

Then Detroit makes great quantities of soda ash and alkalies. This industry Detroit owes to the fact that here are found both limestone and salt, which is obtained from wells driven along the river bank. Both of these materials are required in the manufacture of soda ash.

The printing-and-publishing business gives employment to thousands; so does the manufacture of paints and varnishes. In stoves, ranges, and furnaces, Detroit leads every other city in the country. It is interesting to know that Detroit makes great numbers of adding machines, that it is the largest producer of overalls in the country, that it is a center of the brass industry, that it turns out more than 300,000,000 cigars each year, and that it is one of the largest producers of wrought- and malleable-iron castings.

The entire business of a city is, of course, never wholly manufacturing. Part of its business is always the distribution of things to supply the needs of its inhabitants and of the people who live in the surrounding country.

When these goods are sold in large quantities to merchants who in turn sell them to the person using them, the business is known as a wholesale business. When they are sold by the merchant directly to the user, he does what is called a retail business.

The wholesale business of Detroit is very large. Its merchants do the larger part of the wholesale business through the entire state of Michigan and in parts of northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. They even furnish certain supplies to some parts of Canada. Dry goods, drugs, hardware, and groceries are the principal things in which Detroit wholesalers deal.

Detroit has also many large retail stores, which supply not only the people who live in the city of Detroit but those in the surrounding country as well. Thanks to the many suburban electric railroads and the many steam roads, the people who live in the smaller places are able to come to Detroit to purchase things they want.

Now let us take our map again and notice the location of Detroit in relation to the rest of the country, for location, as you know, has very much to do with the growth of cities.

We find in the first place that it is separated from Canada by only the width of a river. So we are not surprised to hear that Detroit is one of the principal points for the exchange of goods between the two countries. The two most important Canadian railroads have terminals at Windsor, on the Canadian side of the water, and also at Detroit. A very large part of the United States finds Detroit the most convenient point from which to send its products into Canada, since goods can so easily be brought to Detroit by water or rail.

Statistics issued by the United States government show that of the eighteen customhouses on the Canadian border the one at Detroit does the largest volume of business.

Then too, by the lakes, Detroit can reach all of the American lake ports, and from Buffalo, through the Erie Canal, it can even reach New York.

The many railroads which serve Detroit give it excellent communication with all parts of the United States. The Michigan Central Railroad dives under the river, from Detroit to Windsor, through one of the most remarkable tunnels in the world. For years the cars of the Michigan Central Railroad, both passenger and freight, were carried across the river on ferryboats. This, of course, was a very slow way of crossing, but a bridge was impractical for various reasons, so at last it was decided to build a tunnel.

When the engineers studied the river bottom, they found that it was covered with mud so deep that it was impossible to build a tunnel under it. Instead they built the tunnel of steel on the river bank, and when it was completed they sank it in sections and then fastened it together.

Two belt-line railroads, extending from the river bank, circle through Detroit. One is some two miles from the center, the other, six. Along these railroads are many factories which have switches directly into their plants. This makes shipping a simple matter for the Detroit manufacturers.

Now, having learned something of the history of Detroit, something of the manufacturing which it does and the commerce it carries on, let us take a look at the city itself.

The older parts of most great cities are badly laid out. In very few cases do men realize that their little settlements are to grow into large cities. And so they pay little attention to laying out streets, but in building their houses follow the farm lanes and often the paths made by the cows as they are driven to and from the pastures.

This is not always the case however. Washington was laid out long before it ever became a city, and, in consequence, it has magnificent broad streets and many parks.

Detroit was one of the badly laid-out settlements, but in 1805 a fire burned every house in Detroit with one exception. Now at that time Judge Augustus B. Woodward was a prominent figure in the city government. When the fire wiped out the old town, the judge thought that a plan should be made for Detroit just as had been done for Washington. His idea was to have a great circle, called the Grand Circus, in the center of the town. Two streets, 120 feet wide, were to cross this circle, dividing it into quarters, and from the circle other broad avenues were to radiate in all directions. As the city grew, other circles were to be built with streets radiating from them.

Unfortunately the citizens of Detroit did not have the belief in the growth of their city that Judge Woodward had, and so his scheme was only carried out in part. That part, however, gave to Detroit its Grand Circus, its broad avenues, and its down-town parks, and did much to earn for it the title of the City Beautiful.

Detroit to-day has many splendid and costly residences. It has also street after street filled with comfortable medium-priced houses where the workmen live, and its people are fond of boasting that it is a city of homes.

Woodward Avenue, which is 120 feet wide, is named after Judge Woodward. This avenue runs from the river bank right through the entire city. At its lower end it is the principal retail street of the city, while further out are many fine residences.

As the town grew, a boulevard was built, which, starting at the river, runs completely around the city at a distance of some two and a half miles from the center. This boulevard is known as the Grand Boulevard and is more than 12 miles long and from 150 to 200 feet in width. In the center is a narrow strip upon which are grown flowers, trees, and grass, while upon either side run macadam roads.

The most popular of Detroit's parks is Belle Isle. This is on an island of about 700 acres, directly opposite the city. Originally the island was for the most part a swamp infested with snakes. In order to get rid of the snakes a drove of hogs was turned loose on the island, and for a long time it was known as Hog Island. Then the city bought it and turned it into a park. The swamps were drained, and lakes and canals were built, which in the summer time are covered with canoes and boats. In the winter they make excellent places for skating. Playgrounds, baseball fields, and picnic grounds were laid out and a zoo was built, as well as one of the best aquariums in the country. And here, too, is a horticultural building, where many rare plants and flowers are grown. A large part of the island was covered with woods, and this was left in its native state, with winding roads built through it. The island is connected with the mainland by a broad bridge.

The health conditions of Detroit are excellent. Its water supply is taken at a depth of 40 feet from the Detroit River, just where it leaves Lake Saint Clair. The city has an ample sewerage system. It has many fine public schools, and here also are the University of Detroit and the Detroit colleges of law and medicine. In short, from every point of view Detroit is a good place in which to live.

A short time ago prizes were offered to the public-school pupils in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades for the five best essays on "Why I am Glad I live in Detroit." Here is what one sixth-grade boy wrote about his home city:

"What a beautiful city is Detroit," says the world-wide traveler, as he passes along its broad avenues, in the shade of its magnificent trees. "Detroit has a fine commercial center," says the enterprising manufacturer as he surveys its busy wharves. "What an excellent situation this city has," says the farmer, as he comes trudging to town with his load of produce. "In Detroit life is worth living," says the happy pleasure seeker, as he whiles away his time, either on the lake or in its many parks and boulevards. "You can have loads of fun at Belle Isle," whispers the small boy, as he thinks of the many pastimes which so appeal to every child. "What an interesting history has Detroit," says the historian, as he recalls its many struggles, first with the Indians, then with the French, and last of all the English.

Many strangers will come to our city during the next few months, and I know that after they have seen it and go to their homes again, they will tell their neighbors and friends of our beautiful city, and I, who live here, will be very proud of it.

=DETROIT=

FACTS TO REMEMBER

Population (1910), more than 450,000 (465,766).

Ninth city in rank, according to population.

Important shipping and manufacturing center.

Important center for trade with Canada.

Most important center in United States for the automobile industry.

Place of great historical interest.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY

1. How does Detroit rank among our great cities in population,
manufactured products, and exports?

2. What were the ambitions of the French governors, traders, and
missionaries of Canada in the early days?

3. Why did the French build forts on the narrow rivers and straits
that connect the Great Lakes?

4. Describe Detroit and its surroundings in 1701.

5. How and when did the English first acquire Detroit?

6. How did the development of the farm lands about the city help the
growth of Detroit?

7. Tell about its growth since 1760, and give three causes.

8. Name and describe some of the industries of the city.

9. Tell something of its vast wholesale and retail trade.

10. Show how the location of Detroit influences its commerce and
contributes to its growth.

11. Name three products in the manufacture of which Detroit leads all
other cities in the country.

12. What conditions have made Detroit a great center for commercial
relations with Canada?

BUFFALO

About 1783 Cornelius Winne, a trader, built a little log store at the mouth of Buffalo River, which empties into Lake Erie. That was the beginning of Buffalo, the queen city of the lakes, the home to-day of more than four hundred thousand people.

To understand the wonderful growth of this city we must go back to the days of the Revolution and see New York in those early times. Almost all the people of the United States then lived on the narrow strip of land lying between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Highlands. The high forest-covered mountains made a barrier that kept the colonial settlers from attempting to push out toward the west.

But in New York State nature had left an opening between the mountain ranges, along the courses of the Hudson and the Mohawk rivers. Settlers had early followed these streams and built homes in their valleys. Beyond lay the trackless hunting grounds of the Indians--the great West.

With the close of the Revolution things began to change. New York made a treaty with the Indians, whereby they agreed to sell large tracts of their lands. Pioneers pushed their way into the unknown wilderness of the western part of the state and found a beautiful fertile country. Their reports led hundreds to follow them. Soon central and northern New York were dotted with settlements. More and more immigrants kept coming, all seeking the land beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The great western movement of the nineteenth century had begun.

Winne had built his trading post before this westward movement reached Lake Erie. For some time he lived in his log cabin in the midst of the forest, with no neighbors except the Indians with whom he traded. But gradually other settlers came and built homes near him. By 1804 there were about twenty houses in the little settlement, which, for a short time, was called New Amsterdam.

By 1812 the name had been changed to Buffalo, and the town had a population of 1500. That year war with England broke out, and in 1813 a body of British soldiers with their Indian allies crossed the Niagara River during the night, took the Americans by surprise, and burned Buffalo. Of its three hundred houses, just one escaped the flames. But nothing daunted, the men began to rebuild their homes, and in a few years no traces of the fire were to be seen.

In early times the Indians going from the seacoast to the Great Lakes had followed the Hudson and Mohawk rivers and then gone on directly west to Lake Erie. With the coming of the white man the Indian pathway grew into a road, and in 1811 stagecoaches began to run over this road between Buffalo and Albany.

But carrying passengers and freight by stagecoach was very expensive, and a few men, headed by Governor De Witt Clinton, began to say that the state ought to build a canal connecting Lake Erie with the Hudson River. Many laughed at this idea. They knew very little about canals and thought it foolish to waste millions of dollars on a useless "big ditch," as they called it.

However, those in favor of the scheme finally won, and the work of building the Erie Canal was begun in 1817. It very nearly followed the old trail between Albany and Buffalo and was 363 miles long. Eighty-three locks raised and lowered the boats where there was a difference of level in the canal. Lockport, a city 25 miles northeast of Buffalo, was named after these locks, there being 10 of them there.

In 1825 the work was completed; the Erie Canal was opened, and at last there was a waterway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. All the towns along the canal held a great celebration. None had better reason for rejoicing than Buffalo. In 1825 Buffalo was a little hamlet on the frontier. Thanks to the Erie Canal, it was soon to become one of the leading cities of the country.

It was not long before the "big ditch" was known as the "path to the great West." A rush of emigration further west followed, and all these travelers stopped at Buffalo, for here they had to change from the flat-bottomed canal boats to the lake vessels. Hotels were crowded, business flourished, and Buffalo became "a great doorway of the inland sea."

During the first years after its completion little freight was carried over the Erie Canal, but settlers kept flocking into the West, and before many years these Western pioneers were raising far more grain than they could use. Lake commerce began. Hundreds of ships brought wheat, lumber, and furs to Buffalo from the West and returned laden with manufactured goods. Buffalo was the chief lake port, and for many years shipping was its leading industry.

Then came the railroads. The first railroad to Buffalo was completed in 1836. A few years later, trains ran between Albany and Buffalo, and in time carloads of grain were shipped by rail. Though shipments by canal continued and even increased for a time, the railroads gradually did more and more of the carrying, and finally robbed the canal of much of its former importance.

Still, shipping by canal was cheaper. Improvements have been made in the Erie Canal from time to time, and in 1903 the state voted $101,000,000 for the enlargement of the Erie, Oswego, and Champlain canals into the 1000-ton-barge canal. When this is completed it will be 12 feet deep and will float much larger barges than did the Erie Canal.

But to return to Buffalo. The city's location naturally made it one of the great centers of the country. Only the Niagara River separates the city from the most thickly settled part of Canada, and it is therefore a most convenient meeting place of the two countries. Already Buffalo's trade with Canada amounts to over $50,000,000 a year.

Besides being one of the chief commercial centers of the country, Buffalo is an important manufacturing town. Three things are necessary to success in manufacturing--raw materials, power, and a market where the finished goods can be sold. Buffalo has all of these near at hand. The country round about is singularly rich in natural resources. Forests, fertile farm lands, and rich iron and coal deposits are all within easy reach of the city and supply it with raw material at small cost for transportation.

No city in the world has greater advantages than Buffalo in the matter of power. The Niagara Falls furnish an unlimited supply of electric power, which is a substitute for coal and, for many purposes, more convenient. Buffalo's nearness to the coal fields of Pennsylvania makes the cost of both hard and soft coal low. Natural gas and oil furnish about one fifth of the power now used in the city. Both are found near Buffalo, stored in the pores and cavities of rocks. Holes are bored into the rocks, and the petroleum or rock oil is pumped into huge tanks. The gas is carried by underground pipes to the city, where it is used in heating and lighting thousands of homes and factories.

Lastly, Buffalo does not have to ship its products far to find a market. Within 450 miles of the city live almost 50,000,000 people, and lakes, canals, and railroads offer cheap and rapid transportation to all parts of the country. Thirteen steamship lines and 18 railroads enter the city. There are 2 trunk lines from New England; 5 from New York; 1 from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington; 1 from St. Louis; and 4 from Chicago.

The richest iron mines in the world are located south of Lake Superior, but there are no coal deposits in this region, and coal is necessary for the manufacturing of iron and steel. As it was cheaper to ship the ore to the coal than to carry the coal to the ore, there were men who, as early as 1860, saw that iron and steel could be manufactured with profit in Buffalo. Though blast furnaces were built from time to time, the industry did not attract great attention until 1899. In that year the Lackawanna Iron and Steel Company, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, moved to Buffalo and built an immense metal-working plant. This plant is south of the city and extends several miles along the shore of Lake Erie. The company has built a ship canal over half a mile long, which the largest lake vessels can enter. On one side of this canal are hundreds of coke ovens and the storage grounds for coal; on the other side are the ore docks, a row of huge blast furnaces, and the steel works with their numerous mills, foundries, and workshops.

In the coke ovens millions of tons of soft coal are every year turned into coke, which is really coal with certain things removed by heating. This coke is used in melting the iron in the blast furnaces--so called because during the melting strong blasts of air are forced into the furnaces. These furnaces are almost a hundred feet high, are made of iron, and lined with fire brick. Tons of coke, limestone, and iron ore are dropped in from above by machinery, and the intense heat of the burning coke melts the iron, which sinks to the bottom of the furnace while the limestone collects the impurities and forms an upper layer. At the bottom of the furnace there are openings where the fiery-hot liquid runs off into molds, or forms, in which it cools and hardens. The waste matter, called slag, is also drawn off at the bottom. More coke and ore are added from above, and the smelting goes on night and day without interruption until the furnace needs repair. After the iron has been separated from the ore, it is taken to the foundries where it is made into steel rails and many other kinds of iron and steel goods.

Other iron and steel companies have sprung up in Buffalo, and the city and its vicinity is now manufacturing enormous quantities of pig iron, steel rails, engines, car wheels, tools, and machinery.

Back in the first half of the nineteenth century New York was the leading wheat-raising and flour-producing state. The first flour mill in the Buffalo district was run by water power furnished by the Erie Canal. As larger mills followed and steam took the place of water power, Buffalo became an important flour-milling center. Later, wheat began to be raised further west, and the Central States soon took the lead in wheat growing and flour milling. But Buffalo had the advantage of an early start. Its mills were already built and working. Grain from the West kept pouring into the city to be stored in its great grain elevators, and the production of flour increased. Larger mills were built, some of them making use of the Niagara water power. To-day there are more than a dozen companies in Buffalo operating flour mills which turn out over 3,000,000 barrels of flour in a year.

Buffalo's slaughter-house products for a single year are worth millions of dollars. There are two large meat-packing firms in the city, slaughtering over a million cattle and hogs each year. They both had small beginnings in the butcher business more than fifty years ago. In 1852 the first stockyards were opened, and the city's live-stock industry began. Shipments of live stock from the grazing states of the West increased until the city became the second cattle market in the world, Chicago alone handling more live stock than Buffalo.

When first settled, the lake region was covered with forests, and lumber was one of the first products sent eastward by lake steamers. Millions and millions of feet of pine were towed down the lakes on barges and transferred to canal boats at Buffalo, and the city became one of the great lumber markets of the country. Although shipments from the Northern forests have not been so great in the last twenty years, the lumber industry continues to be of great importance to Buffalo. In addition to pine from the lake region, the city receives hard wood from the South. You see enormous piles of lumber in the yards of the city itself, and Tonawanda, a suburb ten miles north of Buffalo, has the largest lumber yards in the world. These yards carry on a large wholesale and retail trade, and sawmills, planing mills, and many lumber industries have grown up around them. Mill work, doors, mantels, piano cases, and furniture are some of the things made in the Buffalo workshops.

While commerce and industry were thus developing, the city itself was growing in size, population, and beauty. It extends about ten miles along the shore of Lake Erie and the Niagara River. In the residence section there are thousands of beautiful homes, set well back from broad streets and surrounded by wide lawns and gardens. Delaware Avenue, with its branching boulevards and parkways, is the finest of these residence sections.

Several large parks and many smaller squares are scattered throughout the city, while swimming pools, wading ponds, and public playgrounds delight the hearts of the children. Lake breezes make the city cool in summer, and altogether Buffalo is one of the cleanest, most healthful, and most beautiful cities of the country.

Through the southern part of the city flows the sluggish and winding Buffalo River. In the early days the mouth of this stream was the only harbor of the port, although it was then very shallow. Millions of dollars have been spent in deepening and improving this inner harbor, while a larger outer harbor has been made by inclosing a part of the lake by breakwaters. The harbor of Buffalo is now one of the best on the Great Lakes.

About two miles north of the mouth of Buffalo River is The Front, a park overlooking the water and giving a beautiful view of Lake Erie, the Niagara River, and the Canadian shore. It is a government reservation, and here is Fort Porter. Further north the International Railroad Bridge connects Canada with the city of Buffalo.

Delaware Park, in the northern part of the city, is the largest and most beautiful of Buffalo's parks. Near the northeastern entrance is the zoölogical garden, with a seal pool, bear pits, and many strange and interesting animals. In the western part is the Albright Art Gallery, a beautiful building of white marble. Here, too, is the Buffalo Historical-Society Building, which was the New York State Building during the Pan-American Exposition which was held in Delaware Park and on the adjoining land in 1901.

In the center of Niagara Square stands the McKinley Monument, erected by the state of New York in honor of President William McKinley, who was shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, on September 6, 1901. It was in this city that President Roosevelt took the oath of office after President McKinley's death. It is also worthy of note that Buffalo was the home of two of our presidents--Fillmore and Cleveland.

The business district of Buffalo is only a short distance from the harbor. The most important business streets are Main Street and Broadway.

Twenty miles north of Buffalo the Niagara River plunges over a precipice more than one hundred and fifty feet high, forming the world-famous Niagara Falls. The width of the river, the beauty of the mighty waters as they rush thundering over the edge of the precipice, the foam and spray rising from the foot of the cataract, all combine to make Niagara Falls the greatest natural wonder on the American continent. In the middle of the stream lies Goat Island, which divides the Falls into the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side and the American Falls on the New York side.

Hardly less interesting than the Falls are the power plants on both sides of the river, which are making the force of Niagara do a mighty work. It has been reckoned that the volume of water which passes over the Falls is two hundred and sixty-five thousand cubic feet each second. Think of it! This tremendous rush of water, the experts tell us, represents five million horse power. To make this gigantic power of use to man, canals have been built above the Falls to bring water from the river to the power houses where its great force turns huge water wheels and produces electric power. Cables of copper wire raised high in the air carry this power to all the surrounding country. It runs many of Buffalo's factories, lights the city streets, and moves its trolley cars as well as those in Syracuse, one hundred and fifty miles away.

Such then, with its wonderful power, its command of material, its beautiful and important location, is the Buffalo of to-day. The little settlement of one hundred years ago has become the eleventh city in size in the United States.

=BUFFALO=

FACTS TO REMEMBER

Population (1920), over 500,000 (506,775).

Eleventh city according to population.

Important lake port.

One of the best harbors on the Great Lakes.

Located at the western end of the Erie Canal.

Great transfer point between lake boats and canal boats and railroads.

Important railroad center.

Center for live-stock trade.

Important center for wheat, lumber, meat packing, and the iron and
steel industries.

Electric light and power obtained from Niagara Falls.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY

1. How did it happen that the people of New York first came to settle
west of the Appalachian Mountains, and where were these first
settlements?

2. Tell about the beginning of Buffalo, and give its original name.

3. What was the first route from Albany to Buffalo, and why was it
used? How was the journey made between 1811 and 1825?

4. Tell the story of the Erie Canal, and give its effect on Buffalo
and the West.

5. How did Buffalo's location make it one of the great centers of
industry?

6. What three things are necessary to success in manufacturing?

7. How is Buffalo furnished with power for her great manufacturing
interests?

8. Where does Buffalo find a market for her products? How?

9. What great steel company is located near this city? Why?

10. Describe the wonderful coke ovens and blast furnaces near Buffalo.

11. Give some idea of Buffalo's flour mills, slaughter houses, and
lumber yards, and of her importance in these industries.

12. What do you know of Niagara Falls and the power plants on both
sides of the Niagara River?

SAN FRANCISCO

The United States extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and just as New York is our leading seaport on the Atlantic, so San Francisco is the leading seaport on the Pacific.

San Francisco's history is inseparably connected with the development of the resources of California. In 1769 Spain sent an expedition overland from Mexico to colonize the Pacific coast, and Don Gaspar de Portolá, at the head of these colonists, was the first white man known to have looked upon San Francisco Bay.

Seven years later, in 1776, the Franciscan friars built a fortified settlement on the present site of San Francisco. The Mission Dolores, which is still standing, was begun the same year, and a little village slowly grew up around it.

At the close of the Mexican War, in 1848, California was ceded to the United States, and the Stars and Stripes were raised over the little settlement, whose name was soon changed from Yerba Buena to San Francisco.

In 1848, too, came the discovery of gold in California, and San Francisco suddenly grew from a Spanish village to a busy American town. The population jumped from 800 to 10,000 in a single year. A city of tents and shanties quickly arose on the sand dunes. Thousands of people were leaving their homes in the East to seek a fortune in the gold fields. Many came by water, either rounding Cape Horn or else traveling by boat to the Isthmus of Panama, crossing on foot, and reëmbarking on the Pacific coast. Others came overland in large canvas-covered wagons called prairie schooners.

These newcomers were men of all classes--ministers, lawyers, farmers, laborers. Some were educated, others were ignorant. While most of them were industrious and law-abiding, a considerable number were desperate and lawless men. These last caused much trouble. Gambling, murders, and crimes of all kinds were alarmingly common, and the city government was powerless to punish the lawbreakers. Finally, the better class of citizens formed a vigilance committee, which hung four criminals and punished many in other ways until law and order were established.

San Francisco has been called the "child of the mines." It was the discovery of gold that first made it the leading city of the Pacific coast. From that day the production of gold has been steadily maintained. Nearly $20,000,000 worth is mined in the state of California each year, with a total production of over $1,500,000,000. Later the silver mines in Nevada were discovered and developed, and their immense output brought increased wealth to San Francisco.

As time went on, however, people began to see that California's real wealth lay not so much in her mines as in her fertile farm lands. These, combined with the wonderful climate, have made California a leading agricultural state.

The great central valley of California, about 400 miles long and 50 miles wide, lies between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Coast Ranges. Its farms, orchards, orange groves, and vineyards produce immense quantities of grain, and of grapes, and other fruits. Large numbers of cattle and sheep are raised. In the southern counties many tropical fruits are grown successfully. Irrigated groves of orange, lemon, and olive trees cover thousands of acres. Other important crops are English walnuts, almonds, prunes, and figs. Copper, silver, oil, quicksilver, and salt are also valuable products, while the forest-covered mountains supply excellent lumber. Such is the wealth of California's natural resources, and San Francisco is the great port and market of this rich back country.

As the Sacramento River flows into San Francisco Bay from the north and the San Joaquin from the south, the two offer cheap transportation up and down their valleys, being navigable to river steamers for over 200 miles.

The great bay of San Francisco is the largest landlocked harbor in the world. Here the navies of all the nations could ride at anchor side by side in safety. Though 65 miles long and from 4 to 10 miles wide, the bay is completely sheltered from dangerous winds and storms. It is connected with the Pacific Ocean by a strait called the Golden Gate, which is 2-3/4 miles long and over a mile wide.

Such advantages have made San Francisco a great commercial and financial center. Ships from San Francisco carry the products of California westward to all the countries bordering on the Pacific, while others sail to the Atlantic seaports of America and Europe.

The outgoing steamers are loaded with wheat, cotton, canned goods, oil, barley, prunes, flour, dried fruits, leather, machinery, lumber, and iron manufactures. Incoming steamers bring raw silk, coffee, tea, copra, nitrate of soda, tin ingots, sugar, rice, cigars, coal, burlap, vanilla beans, cheese, and manila hemp.

Already the foreign commerce of San Francisco amounts to more than $150,000,000 annually, and with the increasing trade of Japan and China and the shortened route to the Atlantic through the Panama Canal, the future of its foreign trade cannot be estimated.

In addition to her foreign trade, San Francisco has many growing industries at home. Printing and publishing, slaughtering and meat packing, are among the most important. The canning and preserving of fruits and vegetables is a leading industry of the city. The California Fruit Canners Association employs many thousands of people during the fruit season and is the largest fruit-and-vegetable canning company in the world. It operates thirty branches throughout the state, and its products are sent to all parts of the globe.

Though iron has to be imported,--there being little mined in California,--the city does a thriving iron business. In the early days there was need of mining machinery in the West, and San Francisco at that time began manufacturing it. She also has one of the greatest shipbuilding plants in the United States. The famous battleship _Oregon_, the _Olympic_, the _Wisconsin_, the _Ohio_, and other ships of the United States Navy were built in San Francisco.

In 1906 a severe earthquake shook San Francisco, wrecking many buildings. Fire broke out in twenty places, and as the earthquake had broken the city's water mains, the fire fighters had to pump salt water from the bay and use dynamite to stop the progress of the flames. During the three days of the fire, four square miles were laid in ruins.

Because of occasional slight shocks in former years, the inhabitants had built their city of wood, thinking it safer than brick or stone. They had not thought of the greater danger of fire. This earthquake taught them a lesson. The few skyscrapers in the city had stood the shock remarkably well, and profiting by this experience thousands of modern structures--steel, brick, and reënforced concrete--were built to replace the old wooden buildings. A far more modern and beautiful city has arisen from the ashes of the ruins.

The city occupies 46-1/2 square miles at the end of the southern peninsula which lies between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The site of the city is hilly, especially in the northern and western parts. Market Street, 120 feet wide and the chief business thoroughfare, extends southwest from the water front and divides the city into two parts. The southern district contains many manufacturing plants and the homes of the laboring people. The streets here are level. North of Market Street lie three high hills--Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill, and Russian Hill. In this half of the city are the finest residences, Nob Hill having been given its name in the early days when the mining millionaires built their homes upon it.

The main business section is in the northeastern part of the city, facing the harbor, and is on level ground. It contains hundreds of new office buildings, many of them from eight to twenty or more stories high. Fine modern hotels and beautiful banks add much to the beauty of this part of San Francisco. The most important public buildings are the United States mint and the post office, which escaped the flames in 1906, the customhouse, the Hall of Justice, the new Auditorium, and the city hall. These last two face the Civic Center, which is being created at a cost of nearly $17,000,000.

At the foot of Telegraph Hill is the largest Chinese quarter in the United States. It was completely destroyed during the fire, but is now rebuilt and much improved. Its temples, joss houses, and theaters, its markets, bazaars, and restaurants, with their strange life and customs and their oriental architecture, attract crowds of visitors. There are now about 10,000 Chinese in San Francisco, but their number has been steadily decreasing since the Exclusion Act was passed, prohibiting Chinese laborers from entering this country. It was thought necessary to have this law in order to protect the American workingman on the Pacific coast, as the Chinese laborers who had already been admitted were working for wages upon which no white man could live.

At the foot of Market Street, on the water front, stands the Union Ferry Building, a large stone structure with a high clock tower.

Only one of the cross-continent railroads--a branch of the Southern Pacific--lands its passengers in the city of San Francisco. All the other roads, which include the main line of the Southern Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé, the Union Pacific, and the Western Pacific, terminate on the eastern shore of the bay and send the travelers to San Francisco by ferry. In consequence, San Francisco has developed the best ferry service in the world, all lines meeting at the Union Ferry Building.

North and south of the Union Ferry Building stretch eight miles of wharves and docks and many factories, lumber yards, and warehouses. At the docks, ships are being loaded and unloaded continually.

In March and April each year a fleet of forty or fifty vessels starts out for the Alaskan fisheries. San Francisco is the leading salmon port of the United States, distributing millions of dollars' worth of salmon yearly. Fisherman's Wharf, at the northern end of the water front, is full of interest, with its brown, weather-beaten fishermen and their odd fishing boats. To the south of the Union Ferry Building is "Man-of-war Row," where United States and foreign battleships ride at anchor.

The cities of Alameda, Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley are directly across the bay from San Francisco, on the east shore. Like New York, San Francisco is the center of a large metropolitan district, and the residents of these neighboring cities daily travel to their work in San Francisco on the ferries. For several years there has been talk of uniting these cities with San Francisco. If this plan were carried out, it would add over 350,000 to San Francisco's present population, which is between 400,000 and 500,000.

The University of California, in Berkeley, has nearly 7000 students, tuition being free to residents of California. The Leland Stanford University, 30 miles from San Francisco, is another noted institution in the state.

To the north of the Golden Gate is Mt. Tamalpais, 2592 feet high, overlooking the bay and San Francisco. To the south is the Presidio, the United States military reservation, covering 1542 acres. Here are the harbor fortifications and the headquarters of the western division of the United States Army. Fronting on the ocean beach and extending eastward for 4 miles is Golden Gate Park, the largest of San Francisco's many parks and squares.

Occupying part of the Presidio and facing the water at the northern end of the city is the site of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, held in 1915 to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. That the citizens of San Francisco look to the future was shown at a gathering of business men in 1910, when more than $4,000,000 was raised in two hours for this Panama exposition. The climate of the city (averaging more than 50 degrees in winter and less than 60 degrees in summer), the beauties and wonders of California, the romantic history of the city, exhibits from many parts of the world--all these, the citizens knew, would attract thousands of visitors from afar and make known to the world the advantages and prosperity of the Far West and its chief city, San Francisco.

=SAN FRANCISCO=

FACTS TO REMEMBER

Population (1910), over 400,000 (416,912).

Eleventh city according to population.

Largest city of the Western States.

One of the finest harbors in the world.

The natural shipping point for the products of the rich state of
California.

Chief center for the trade of the United States with the Orient.

Leads all American cities in the shipment of wheat.

Has great canning and preserving industries.

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY

1. Find by measurements on a map of the United States the distance of
San Francisco from New York City in a direct line.

2. Find by consulting time tables or by inquiry of some railroad
official how long it would take to make the journey from New York
to San Francisco, and what railroad system might be used. Answer
this question, applying it to your own city.

3. Who founded San Francisco, and what was it first called?

4. When and how did San Francisco become an American possession?

5. Of what was the great wealth of California supposed to consist at
first? What is the great wealth of the state considered to be
to-day?

6. What are the chief exports of the city, and to what countries are
they sent?

7. What are the chief imports of the city?

8. What are the great advantages of San Francisco Bay?

9. When did the great fire at San Francisco occur, and what damage was
done?

10. What benefit will San Francisco derive from the completion of the
Panama Canal?

11. Why is the ferry system of San Francisco so important?

12. Name four cities across the bay from San Francisco, and tell how
they are related to that city.

13. Tell something of the fishing industry of San Francisco.

14. Does the name "Golden Gate" seem appropriate to you? Why?

15. Name the chief industries of San Francisco.

16. Describe the location of the city.

17. Find out how many days' journey by steamship are the following
places from San Francisco:

Honolulu Shanghai
Manila Yokohama
Sydney Buenos Aires

NEW ORLEANS

The story of New Orleans, the Crescent City, reads like a wonderful romance or a tale from the Arabian Nights. As in a moving picture, one can see men making a clearing along the east bank of the Mississippi River, one hundred and ten miles from its mouth. It is 1718. The French Canadian Bienville has been made governor of the great tract of land called Louisiana, and he has decided to found a settlement near the river's mouth.

At the end of three years the little French town, named for the duke of Orleans, stands peacefully on the banks of the great Mississippi, its people buying, selling, fighting duels, and steadily thriving until the close of the French and Indian War. Then France cedes Louisiana to Spain, and for some years New Orleans is under Spanish rule. In 1800, however, Spain cedes Louisiana back to France, and once more New Orleans has a French commissioner and is a French possession.

Again the scene changes. Energetic, sturdy men sail down the river, land in the quaint little town, and march to the Cabildo, or Government Hall, where they receive the keys of the town. Because of the Louisiana Purchase, New Orleans with all its inhabitants--Spanish, French, Italians, and Jews--is being given over to the United States. The French flag is taken down, and the Stars and Stripes are unfurled over what was, and is to-day, the least American of all American cities.

As the history of New Orleans unrolls, one follows the thrilling scenes of a great battle. It is in the War of 1812, and on the last day of December, 1814, the British begin an attack on the city, with an army of 10,000 trained soldiers. They mean to capture New Orleans and gain control of Louisiana and the mouth of the Mississippi.

Andrew Jackson commands the American forces, made up of regulars, militia, pirates, negroes, and volunteers, numbering only about half the attacking British army. Day after day goes by with no great victory gained on either side, until Sunday, January 8, dawns. With the daylight, the British commence a furious assault. But Jackson and his men are ready for them. Rushing back and forth along his line of defense, the commander cries out, "Stand by your guns!" "See that every shot tells!" "Let's finish the business to-day!" Many of Jackson's men are sharpshooters. Time and again they aim and fire, and time and again the enemy advance, fall back, rally, and try to advance once more. But in three short hours the British leader and more than 2500 men have dropped, hundreds shot between the eyes. It is no use! In confusion the British turn and flee. Jackson has saved the city.

In the Civil War the turn of affairs is different. Louisiana was one of the seven states to secede from the Union in 1860 and form themselves into the Confederate States of America. Of course this made New Orleans a Confederate city. Naturally, the north wanted to capture New Orleans in order to control the mouth of the Mississippi River. This time the attacking force is a Union fleet, and the defenders of the city are stanch Confederates who have done all in their power to prevent the approach of the Northerners. Across the river, near its mouth, two great cables have been stretched, and between the cables and the city are a Confederate fleet and two forts, one on each side of the river.

The Union fleet under David Farragut appears, opens fire on the forts, and keeps up the attack for six days and nights. Still the forts hold out. Then Farragut decides that since he cannot take the forts he will run his ships past them. But there are the cables blocking his way. The steamer _Itasca_ undertakes to break them and rushes upon them under a raking fire from both forts. The cables snap. That night the Union ships, in single file, start up the river. At last the forts are passed and the Confederate ships overcome, but not the spirit of the people of New Orleans. They fight to the finish as best they can. Cotton bales are piled on rafts, set afire, and floated downstream among the Union ships. Still the ships come on. At least the Northerners shall not take the valuable stores of cotton, sugar, and molasses! So the cotton ships are fired, and hogsheads of molasses and barrels of sugar are hurriedly destroyed. When the Union forces land and takes possession, the people of New Orleans, though heartbroken, know that they have done their best.

Then comes peace. The war is over, and New Orleans is once more a city of the United States.

To-day New Orleans presents the unusual combination of an old city, full of historic interest, and a splendid new city, a place of industry, progress, and opportunity.

The successful building of a great city on the site of New Orleans is a triumph of engineering skill. As the city lies below the high-water mark of the Mississippi, it was necessary to build great banks of earth to hold back the water in the flood season. These levees, as they are called, form the water front of the city.

In the early days the only drinking-water in New Orleans was rain water caught from the roofs and stored in cisterns. Imagine a city without a single cellar. Then not even a grave could be dug in the marshy soil. The cemeteries were all aboveground. In some cemeteries there were tiers of little vaults, one above the other, in which the dead were laid. In others, magnificent tombs provided resting places for the wealthy. Such was old New Orleans. To-day modern sewers and huge steam pumps draw off the sewage and excess water, discharging them into the river, while a splendid water system filters water taken from higher up the river, giving a supply as pure as that enjoyed by any city in our land. The marshes have been drained by the construction of canals, which are used as highways for bringing raw materials from the surrounding country to the factories of New Orleans. Many of these canals extend for miles into the interior of the state of Louisiana.

The city proper covers nearly two hundred square miles and is laid out in beautiful streets, parks, and driveways, crossed in many places by picturesque waterways. Here are splendid trees, belonging both to the temperate zone and to the tropics. Palms and cypresses abound. In the City Park is one of the finest groves of live oaks in the world. Audubon Park, named for the great lover of birds, who was born near this city, is another of the beautiful parks of New Orleans.

Canal Street divides New Orleans into two sections, with the Old Town, or French Quarter, on one side and the New Town, or American Quarter, on the other. This is the main thoroughfare of the city. It is a wide street, well-kept and busy. Here are many of the great retail stores, and to this street comes every car line. From Canal Street one may take a car to any section of the city, and a car taken in any part of New Orleans will sooner or later bring one to Canal Street. On this street are handsome stores, club buildings, hotels, railroad stations, and the United States customhouse. The upper end of the street is a beautiful residence section, whose houses are surrounded by spacious lawns and fine trees. Almost all of these houses have wide galleries, or verandas, upon which their owners may sit and enjoy, all the year round, the balmy air of the southern climate. Very seldom does the temperature drop below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually it is between 50 and 60 degrees, and even in summer it varies only between 75 and 90 degrees. New Orleans is really cooler in summer than some of our northern cities, being so surrounded by river and lakes.