Triumphs and Wonders of the 19th Century: The True Mirror of a Phenomenal Era A volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress (part 3 of 4)

Triumphs and Wonders of the 19th Century: The True Mirror of a Phenomenal Era A volume of original, entertaining and instructive historic and descriptive writings, showing the many and marvellous achievements which distinguish an hundred years of material, intellectual, social and moral progress (part 3 of 4)

The unsatisfactory trial of both federal and State banks as custodians of the public funds led to the establishment of what became known as the independent Treasury system, by which the government collects its money and keeps it in the hands of the United States Treasurer or sub-treasurers, making disbursements when required. An act putting this system into effect became law July 4, 1840, but was repealed the next year. It was repassed August 6, 1846, and remained in operation until the passage of the National Currency Act in February, 1863, which gave the Secretary of the Treasury the right to designate certain national banks as depositories of public funds. There were in such banks, on February 4, 1899, United States deposits amounting to $81,120,873, secured by United States bonds belonging to the banks and deposited in the Treasury, amounting to $89,100,240. Prior to the adoption of the national banking system the country had a somewhat disastrous experience with what has been known as “wild-cat” banks. Many of them were organized for the sole purpose of issuing notes they never intended to pay. While they were numerous and dangerous, it must be remembered that in a number of States the leading banks carried on only a legitimate business, and State banks as they exist to-day compare favorably in their management with the national banks.

IV. HISTORY OF THE LEGAL-TENDER NOTE.

The first act authorizing the issue of legal-tender notes, known popularly as greenbacks, was approved by President Lincoln, February 25, 1862. It provided for the issue of $150,000,000 in notes, in denominations of not less than $5.00. Holders of these notes could deposit them with the United States Treasurer or assistant treasurers in any sum not less than $50.00, or any multiple thereof, and receive United States bonds bearing six per cent interest. The first notes were issued March 10, 1862. An act authorizing a second issue of $150,000,000 was signed by the President, July 11, 1862. Of these $35,000,000 were to be in denominations of less than $5.00. A third issue of $150,000,000 was authorized March 3, 1863, but this act deprived the legal-tender note of its convertibility into six per cent bonds at the option of the holder.

The withdrawal of this privilege worked no particular hardship at the time, for bond issues and various interest-bearing certificates were plenty during the period of war. But after the war had closed and the issues of new securities had ceased, the absence of this provision began to prevent the absorption of the legal-tender notes.

The highest amount of legal-tender notes outstanding at any date was on January 3, 1864, $449,338,902. Their depreciation was hastened by the issue of the short-time interest-bearing securities in large amounts. During 1862 the average gold premium was 113.3; during 1863, 145.2; during 1864, 203.3. In July, 1864, this premium reached its highest point, an average of 258.1.

In 1865 the country began to feel the necessity of a contraction of the currency, with a view to as early a resumption of specie payments as the business interests would permit, and the Congress expressed the public sentiment by an almost unanimous resolution. On March 12, 1866, an act was approved calling for the retirement and cancellation of not more than $10,000,000 of legal tenders within six months, and thereafter not more than $4,000,000 during any one month. The effect was to reduce the legal tenders outstanding on December 31, 1867, to $356,000,000.

This reduction, together with the rapid payment of notes of other classes, used as currency, led to so sudden a contraction of the circulating medium, and such stringency in the money market, that Congress, by act of February 4, 1868, prohibited the further reduction of the legal-tender notes. The amount outstanding, October 1, 1872, was $356,000,000, and on January 1, 1874, $382,979,815, the increase being due to a construction on the part of secretaries of the Treasury to the effect that they had power to reissue retired notes which were held as a reserve. On June 20, 1874, Congress enacted that the United States notes outstanding and to be used as part of the circulating medium should not exceed $382,000,000, and that no part thereof should be held or used as a reserve.

Another attempt was made in 1875 to reduce the aggregate of legal-tender notes, preparatory to the resumption of specie payments. The Resumption Act of January 14, 1875, authorized, among other things, the retirement and cancellation of legal tenders till the amount outstanding should be reduced to $300,000,000; $35,318,984 were retired under this law, but further reduction was prohibited by act of May 31, 1878. The amount outstanding at that date was $346,681,016, and this has continued to the present time, no new issues having been authorized.

On January 1, 1879, the resumption of specie payments took place as provided in the act of January 14, 1875. At this latter date, the only legal-tender coin recognized by law was the gold coin. But, in February, 1878, the coinage of standard silver dollars was authorized, and they were to be a legal tender for all debts, unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract. This led to the claim on the part of those who favored silver that the redemption of legal-tender notes, provided for in coin in the act of 1875, could be effected by the use of silver dollars. But the general, and doubtless sound, construction of the law of 1875 has been that it was an express contract to redeem the legal-tender notes in the coin then recognized as legal tender, and in no other; and so the Treasury has redeemed legal tenders since 1879, in gold, when the same is demanded.

In 1869 the United States Supreme Court, the bench not being full, declared the acts authorizing legal-tender notes to be unconstitutional. But subsequently, the bench having its full quota of nine, the Court sustained the constitutionality of the acts, on the ground, mainly, that they were a proper exercise of the war power vested in the Congress. In 1883 the Court decided that the reissues of these notes, made in time of peace, were constitutional.

At the time of the resumption of specie payments there were $135,000,000 in gold and bullion on hand to provide for the redemption of such notes as might be presented. By Act of July 12, 1882, it was provided that when the redemption reserve of gold coin and bullion in the Treasury fell below $100,000,000, the issue of gold certificates should cease. This is held to indicate that Congress regarded $100,000,000 as the limit below which the redemption reserve should not be permitted to fall.

If this reserve had not been called upon to bear other burdens, there would probably never have been any doubts as to its sufficiency. In 1878, however, began the coinage of silver dollars and the issue of silver certificates. These notes were kept at par in gold by their interchangeability in the operations of commerce for legal-tender notes. They were thus an indirect charge on the gold reserve. From 1878 to 1890 they were increased at the rate of over $2,500,000 a month. In that year (July 14, 1890) an act was passed providing for the issue of Treasury notes in the purchase of silver bullion, which provided also for the coinage of some of the bullion purchased into silver dollars. These Treasury notes were redeemable both in gold and silver, and as the government never availed itself of its option to redeem in silver when gold was demanded for them, these notes as they were issued became a further burden on the gold reserve provided for the legal-tender notes.

By the beginning of the year 1893 the legal-tender notes, silver certificates, and Treasury notes had reached an aggregate of nearly $800,000,000, all depending on the Treasury reserve for gold redemption.

This reduction of the percentage of gold held to the amount of the demand liabilities raised doubts as to the ability of the government to maintain gold payments, and the legal tenders and Treasury notes were presented for redemption. The depletion of gold was so great that on one or two occasions there was danger that the reserve would be exhausted, and resort was had to the sale of bonds to procure gold to replenish the reserve.

The issue of further Treasury notes was stopped by the repeal of the act of 1890 in November, 1893, and since this repeal confidence in the ability of the Treasury to maintain gold redemptions has been gradually restored.

Under the provisions of the Act of May, 1878, the legal-tender notes when redeemed cannot be canceled. They must be paid out again, and therefore when reissued, they may again be presented for redemption. This constitutes the so-called endless chain by which the gold in the Treasury is always liable to be drawn out.

V. THE NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM.

The desirability of perfecting the banking and currency system of the country was readily perceived on the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861. Secretary Chase in two annual reports, those of 1861 and 1862, recommended a system of national banks, whose supervision should be by national authority, and whose issues of notes should be based on deposits of bonds of the government. After several unsuccessful attempts, a bill, introduced by Mr. Sherman, passed both Senate and House, and became a law February 25, 1863. This act embodied the essential features of Mr. Chase’s reports. Under it the first charter was issued to the First National Bank of Philadelphia.

The formation of national banks proceeded very slowly at first. In order to hold out greater inducements for the State banks to enter the national system, the act was amended on June 3, 1864. The first report of the Comptroller of the Currency, November 28, 1863, showed that only 134 national banks had been organized up to that date; but when the act of June 3, 1864, went into operation, new banks were formed more frequently. A more rapid increase took place after the passage of the act of March 3, 1865, imposing a tax of 10 per cent on the circulating notes of State banks. This increase was from 638 banks in January, 1865, to 1513 in October of the same year; with an increase in capital of from $135,618,874 to $393,187,206; and in circulation of from $66,769,375 to $171,321,903. Prior to 1869 national banks were required to make their reports on fixed dates, but after March 3, 1869, they were required by law to make their reports to the Comptroller five times a year on some past date fixed upon by the Comptroller.

NATIONAL BANK LAWS AND REGULATIONS.—The national banks are under the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency, who is appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury. His salary is $5000 a year.

A national bank may be organized by any number of persons not less than five, on permission of the Comptroller. The capital required is not less than $50,000 in any case, and this minimum applies only to towns the population of which does not exceed 6000; in cities having a population exceeding 50,000, the minimum capital is $200,000. For places having a population over 6000 and not exceeding 50,000, the capital required is $100,000. One half of the capital must be paid in before the bank is authorized to begin business, and the remainder in installments of not less than 10 per cent on the entire amount of the capital, as frequently as one installment at the end of each succeeding month from the time it is authorized to begin business. Capital stock is divided into shares of $100 each.

The banks are managed by a board of not less than five directors, chosen by the stockholders. Executive officers of the bank—president, vice-president, cashier, and assistant cashier—are chosen by the directors.

Shareholders are individually liable for the debts, contracts, and engagements of the bank to the extent of the amount of their stock therein, at the par value, in addition to the amount invested in such shares. This is what is known as the double liability of shareholders, and is one of the features adding to the strength of the system.

National banks are designated by the Secretary of the Treasury to act as depositaries or custodians of public money. Such deposits are secured specially by a deposit of United States bonds with the Treasury.

All national banks before commencing business are required to transfer and deliver to the Treasurer of the United States, as security for their circulating notes, United States registered bonds to an amount not less than one fourth the capital where the capital is $150,000 or less, and to the amount of $50,000 where the capital is in excess of $150,000. These bonds must be taken by the banks whether they issue circulation or not.

Circulating notes are issued to national banks on a deposit of United States bonds with the Treasurer. Notes are limited to 90 per cent of the par value of the bonds, also to 90 per cent of the capital of the bank. They are over-secured, and no holder of them has ever lost a dollar by reason of the failure of a bank.

The notes are secured by the government bonds, there being a difference of the 10 per cent between the par of the bonds and the notes issued, and the bonds nearly always command a premium. They are further secured by the first lien on the assets of the bank, including the double liability of shareholders, by a 5 per cent redemption fund in the Treasury, and also by the margin between the capital and the amount of notes permitted.

National bank notes are redeemable at the counters of the issuing banks and at the Treasury in “lawful money” of the United States. This term, as commonly used, means legal-tender money, and in practice, perhaps, gold coin or legal-tender notes.

Reserves of national banks are the amounts of money kept on hand to pay their deposits and current checks and drafts. This reserve is to be kept in lawful money,—gold and silver coin or certificates, and United States currency certificates or legal-tender notes. There are three central reserve cities, namely, New York, Chicago, and St. Louis. National banks in these three cities must keep a reserve of 25 per cent against their deposits, and this amount must be kept in their own vaults. There are twenty-four other reserve cities which are also required to keep a reserve of 25 per cent, but one half of that amount may be due from other banks in New York and other central reserve cities, approved as reserve agents by the Comptroller of the Currency. Banks outside of these reserve cities must keep a reserve of 15 per cent, three fifths of which may be due from approved reserve agents in the reserve cities or central reserve cities.

In times of panic when there is a run on banks they may use this reserve to pay their depositors, and it often happens that the reserve falls below the amount required by law. Under such circumstances the Comptroller may notify the banks to make good the deficiency; failing to comply with this request within thirty days, they may be closed.

National banks are not permitted to make loans on real estate. The regulations prescribed by the law for the management of these institutions are very stringent, supplemented by a system of examination and reports.

In 1896 the Comptroller of the Currency estimated that the government had made a net profit of $157,439,248.98 out of the revenues derived from the national banks. It was estimated in the same report that the average percentage of dividends paid to creditors of insolvent national banks was 75 per cent. There have been no losses on circulation. In 1878 the Comptroller estimated that the annual losses upon all the currency issued by State and private banks amounted to 5 per cent annually.

The national banks are not monopolistic. Any body of five reputable citizens can form one by getting together $50,000 capital. The total shares of the national banks are approximately 300,000.

Profits on national bank stock are not exorbitant. For a period of twenty-nine years the net earnings on capital and surplus have been only a little over 7 per cent.

Since the establishment of the national banking system 5171 banks have been organized, of which 1224 have gone into liquidation, 368 have become insolvent, and 3579 are in operation (February 4, 1899).

There is a marked falling off in the number of new national banks organized in recent years. In 1890 there were 307 organized, but in 1898 there were only 50 organizations reported, and that was the highest number reported since 1893. The capital of the national banks is also decreasing, but the deposits show a large increase.

At present the State banks are gaining in numbers more rapidly than the national banks.

PROFIT ON NATIONAL BANK CIRCULATION.—Many suppose that national banks make an undue profit on the privilege they have of issuing notes to circulate as money, based on a deposit of bonds with the United States treasurer. Official figures disprove this. The total national bank notes outstanding, February 4, 1899, was $203,636,184.50. The law permits these banks to issue notes to the extent of 90 per cent of their capital. This capital, on February 4, 1899, was $608,301,245. Therefore they might have had notes at issue on that date to the amount of $545,871,120.50, instead of only $203,636,184.50. This is conclusive evidence that there is no substantial profit in the issuing of such notes.

In the figures furnished by the Comptroller of the Currency for 1898, he shows that the profit which a national bank could make by taking out circulation on a deposit of $100,000 of United States bonds, on October 31, 1898, was less than 1 per cent. On that date eight leading banks had no circulating notes at all out. The meagre profits of national banks explain why they do not supply an adequate paper currency. The restrictions on them make it impossible to render any substantial assistance to business in this respect. This is especially true in times of panic. Possessing gigantic strength, they are compelled to see the industries of the country attacked by doubt and distrust, and are unable to go to their aid because of the restraints which forbid them to exercise their legitimate functions.

VI. FOREIGN BANKING AND FINANCE.

Most foreign countries issue metallic money only, except those that are on a paper basis. In general the paper currency is issued by banks, many of which are more or less remotely associated with the government. Some of these banks issue notes on the security of the government or other stocks and bonds, while many emit notes based on no special form of security, but upon the general assets of the bank.

As compared with the United States there are but few banks in the principal foreign countries. England has less than one hundred; Scotland less than a dozen; Canada but thirty-eight chartered banks. As in other foreign countries, the Canadian banks have numerous branches affiliated with the head office. National banks in the United States are prohibited from having branches. The Bank of France, the Bank of England, the Imperial Bank of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Bank, the Imperial Bank of Russia, are all more or less intimately associated with their respective governments.

The Bank of England was incorporated by royal charter, July 27, 1694, its incorporators lending £1,200,000 to the government, in return for which the Bank was permitted to issue notes to a like amount. It had a practical monopoly up to 1826, and even now, it is believed, no bank within a radius of 65 miles of London may issue notes. It has suspended specie payments more than once. In 1844, the banking and issue departments of the Bank were separated. One fifth of the reserve may be silver, though in practice the reserve is kept in gold coin and bullion. Its notes are based on gold, except £16,800,000, which are secured by the government debt and other securities. It is compelled to buy all gold offered at a fixed price, paying for it in notes. So it must redeem all notes on demand in gold. When so redeemed they are canceled and, after five years, burned. No notes of a less denomination than five pounds are issued. The Bank checks gold exports by raising the rate of discount. The building covers about four acres of ground, and employs over eleven hundred persons. It is the keystone of the entire system of British credit, and commands the assistance of the Government when needed.

The Scotch banks issue notes on their own credit to the amount outstanding at the time of the passage of the Bank Act in 1844. Their rate of interest is said to be the same at all of their thousand offices. A unique feature of the Scotch banking system is that of cash credits, by means of which a person of good credit may get his checks cashed without a deposit of actual money, the banks simply entering the credits on their books.

The Bank of France has a monopoly of note issues, charges a premium on gold for export, and may redeem its notes in either gold or silver. The Imperial Bank of Germany and a few other German banks issue notes on gold and other securities, and further amounts on their general credit. Beyond a fixed sum, called the emergency circulation, a tax of five per cent is levied. Other European banks are generally modeled on the same leading principle—a central bank of issue, with numerous branches, and associated with the Government directly or indirectly. The Imperial Bank of Russia issues notes practically covered by gold and redeemable in that coin. Japan tried a system of national banks combined with Government paper money, but is now substituting a system of bank notes issued by the Bank of Japan.

VII. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DEBT SINCE 1857.

In 1857 the Government owed only $10,000,000 over and above the cash held in the treasury. At the breaking out of the Civil War the debt had increased to about $80,000,000. By August 31, 1865, it had increased to $2,756,000,000, with an interest charge of $150,000,000. In twenty-eight years, down to June 30, 1893, the Government extinguished $1,917,500,000 of its debt, paid $2,364,000,000 for interest on its debt, and $118,000,000 for premium on bonds redeemed, making a grand total of $4,400,000,000, or an annual average payment of $157,000,000 for the entire period.

The rise and fall of the public debt from July 1, 1857, to July 1, 1898, appear more fully in the following table.

-----------------+---------------+------------------ Years. | Total debt. | Debt less cash in | | the Treasury. -----------------+---------------+------------------ 1857, July 1 | $28,699,831 | $9,998,621 1860, ” 1 | 64,842,287 | 59,964,402 1861, ” 1 | 90,580,873 | 87,718,660 1862, ” 1 | 524,176,412 | 505,312,752 1863, ” 1 | 1,119,772,138 | 1,111,350,737 1864, ” 1 | 1,815,784,370 | 1,709,452,277 1865, August 31 | 2,844,649,626 | 2,756,431,571 1873, July 1 | 2,234,482,993 | 2,105,462,060 1879, ” 1 | 2,245,495,072 | 1,996,414,905 1889, ” 1 | 1,619,052,922 | 975,939,750 1893, ” 1 | 1,545,985,686 | 838,969,475 1895, December 1 | 1,708,871,670 | 948,477,612 1896, July 1 | 1,769,840,323 | 955,297,253 1897, ” 1 | 1,817,672,665 | 986,656,086 1898, ” 1 | 1,796,531,995 | 1,027,085,492 -----------------+---------------+------------------

In 1865 the annual interest charge on the public debt was $150,977,697. In 1898 it was only $34,387,408.

From 1791 to 1898 the gross receipts of the Government were $30,547,063,336.06 and the gross expenditures $29,768,597,237.24. The net ordinary receipts, which do not include loans or proceeds from the issue of Treasury notes, were $405,321,335.20 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898, and the net ordinary expenditures, which do not include payments on account of premiums or interest on the public debt, were $405,783,526.57.

VIII. POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS.

Many believe that a system of postal savings banks could be generally introduced into the United States. Such banks doubtless appeal to those who have more confidence in the Government than in any association of individuals. Their safety may be conceded, for when the Government fails other institutions are likely to go the same way. But when people deposit money in a postal savings bank, they make a loan to the Government. This implies that the Government must be a perpetual borrower, whereas, until recent years, the United States has been a debt-paying nation, and in the course of affairs may soon be again. Unless we are to have a large permanent debt, the deposits in postal savings banks would have to be invested in general securities. Such investments could not well be made by the post-office officials of the country.

In Great Britain these banks have been in existence for about thirty-eight years, and their number has grown to about 12,000, with more than 6,000,000 depositors. The system prevails in a number of other countries. The more concentrated and paternal system of government prevalent in countries having these banks renders their management a much less difficult problem than it would be in the United States with our large areas, vast number of post-offices, and general diversity of conditions. In Great Britain the deposits in the postal savings banks are made at the money order post-offices in a pass book held by the depositor. Withdrawals are made by filling up blank forms, and these withdrawals may be made at any money order post-office. Deposits are invested in the public debt, and the rate of interest is about two and one half per cent. The postal savings banks of Great Britain contain deposits approximating $527,000,000; those of France, $152,000,000; those of Italy, $90,000,000; those of Belgium, $67,000,000; those of Canada, $31,000,000.

IX. SAVINGS BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES.

There are no worthier financial institutions in the country to-day than the savings banks. Most of these are organized on what is known as the mutual plan. They have no capital, no stockholders, and all the assets are held in trust for the benefit of the depositors. They are managed by a board of trustees, who serve without pay. The investments which the banks are permitted to make are generally restricted to high-class securities insuring safety. The savings banks in New York State, especially, are closely restricted in investing their funds, and failures in recent years are almost unknown. A deposit in one of these banks is hardly less safe than an investment in Government bonds. The savings banks are the primary schools of economy and thrift, and I believe that an extension of the mutual savings bank system throughout the country, under proper legal safeguards, would be of the greatest benefit to the people of the United States.

The deposits in banks of this kind are usually limited by law to amounts not exceeding $3000 to one depositor, as they are not intended to be used by the wealthier class of people. The following statistics will be found interesting.

SAVINGS BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1857–1897.

(Statement of condition for each period of ten years.)

---------------------+-----------+------------+------------+- | 1857 | 1867 | 1877 | ---------------------+-----------+------------+------------+- Number of banks | 231| 371| 675| Number of depositors | 490,428| 1,188,202| 2,395,314| Amount of deposits |$98,512,968|$337,009,452|$866,218,306| Average to each | | | | depositor | 200| 283| 361| ---------------------+-----------+------------+------------+-

---------------------+--------------+-------------- | 1887 | 1897 ---------------------+--------------+-------------- Number of banks | 684| 980 Number of depositors | 3,418,013| 5,201,132 Amount of deposits |$1,235,247,371|$1,939,376,035 Average to each | | depositor | 361| 372 ---------------------+--------------+--------------

In addition to the mutual and stock savings banks in the United States, a system of school savings banks, introduced into the schools of the United States by J. H. Thiry, of Long Island City, N. Y., is worthy of mention. Such banks have been very successful in inculcating habits of thrift and economy among the children of the country.

X. THE CLEARING-HOUSE.

A clearing-house may be defined as an institution for saving time, money, and labor. Its underlying principle is that of setting off one claim against another.

A bank in a large city receives every day in its mail a great number of checks or drafts drawn on banks in the same place. It does not present these checks directly to the banks on which they are drawn for payment, but sends them by messenger to the clearing-house. Let us say, for illustration, that the First National Bank presents to the clearing-house checks on other banks amounting to $100,000. At the same time the other banks send to the clearing-house checks they have received drawn on the First National Bank, aggregating $75,000. A payment of $25,000 in money to the First National Bank will be all the cash required to pay checks representing $175,000. The economy in the use of money is still better illustrated by the following statement of an actual transaction. On a day in the latter part of 1898 the Bank of the State of New York took to the New York Clearing-House checks on other banks amounting to $15,647,583.82, and other banks brought checks against it amounting to $15,647,401.85. The sum of these items was $31,294,985.67, and they were paid with $181.97 in money, which represents the credit balance due to the Bank of the State of New York. This instance shows what large transactions may be effected with small sums of money by employing proper banking machinery. Banks multiply the usefulness of money many fold.

The New York Clearing-House Association was organized September 13, 1853, and the first clearing made by the Association took place on October 11, 1853. The banks belonging to the New York Clearing-House Association reported on April 1, 1899, loans and discounts, $779,951,100; deposits, $898,917,000; specie, $187,114,300; circulation, $13,870,600.

CLEARING-HOUSE LOAN CERTIFICATES.—These are simply devices that the banks have invented for use in times of panic. They are issued by a committee of the Clearing-House Association on the deposit of approved securities by the bank desiring them, and are used only to settle balances between the banks. They are not money, but serve a useful purpose in diminishing the demand for money; for when the banks agree to accept these certificates among themselves, it makes that much money available to be loaned or paid to depositors. In 1893, and in other years of financial stringency, the issue of these certificates afforded great relief to business interests and saved the country from some of the most disastrous results consequent upon such panics.

These certificates are not to be confounded with clearing-house gold certificates issued by the Association on deposits of gold coin. They are used in making payments of balances between banks, and obviate the necessity of frequently passing the actual coin from hand to hand.

On April 11, 1898, the clearings at the New York Clearing-House for that day amounted to $352,882,567—the largest amount ever reported up to that time. The balances to be paid in money were $17,345,452, or only about five per cent. For the year 1898 the bank clearings at New York were $41,971,781,684, and for the whole country, $68,750,000,000.

An investigation of the amount of credit paper used respectively in the wholesale and retail trade was made by the Comptroller of the Currency in 1896. In his report for that year the Comptroller says: “From the face of the returns the conclusion to be drawn is that 67.4 per cent of the retail trade of the country is transacted by means of credit paper (checks), that 95.3 per cent of the wholesale trade is so carried on, 95.1 per cent of business other than mercantile, and 92.5 per cent of all business.”

XI. PANICS AND THEIR CAUSES.

A panic is generally due to inflation and speculation, and these, of course, have their origin in various sources not easily determined. An unusual increase in the production of precious metals, bountiful crops, a speculative craze taking possession of the public—such as the tulip mania in Holland—all these and many other causes lead to speculation. The fall in prices due to a stoppage in speculation brings on the panic. Sometimes the catastrophe is produced by war or rumors of war, often by the most trivial circumstances, and not infrequently without any apparent cause. Before everybody had desired to buy; they now became as eager to sell, and this rush to convert securities and commodities into money precipitates a panic.

Crises may be divided into commercial and financial. The last one in the United States, whatever may have been its ultimate developments, was in its inception and culmination essentially a financial panic. The Treasury and the banks were both regarded with more or less distrust.

Panics or crises more or less severe have occurred in the United States in 1814, 1818, 1826, 1837–39, 1848, 1857, during the Civil War, 1861–65, 1873, 1882, 1884, 1890, 1893. Some of these should hardly be called panics, as they were mere local disturbances. Different causes have been given for each of these revulsions. Overtrading and speculation were doubtless responsible for them. The panic of 1857 was coincident with large net imports of merchandise. On August 24, 1857, the onward wave of prosperity, which had been steadily rising to a great height, received a check by the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co., followed by numerous other failures. On October 4 every bank in New York, except the Chemical, suspended specie payments, and they did not resume until December 12.

The speculation in gold in 1869 culminated in what is known as the Black Friday panic, September 24, 1869. Fiske and Gould were conducting a speculation in gold, and sought to corner it. They forced the price up to a high figure, but the Government suddenly appeared as a seller of gold and broke the “corner.”

The year 1873 witnessed another revulsion of confidence and another disruption of the commercial and financial affairs of the country. Business had long been unduly expanded, and the collapse finally came. The failure, on September 18, of the honored firm of Jay Cooke & Co., which had not only been identified with the building of the Northern Pacific R. R. but had been a strong supporter of the credit of the Government when it was in the direst distress, was the first bad news. House after house fell. The Stock Exchange closed its doors on September 20, and did not reopen them until September 30. More than fifty Stock Exchange firms suspended, and several of the leading banking institutions of New York and other cities had to stop business.

During this panic the New York Clearing-House Association issued clearing-house certificates to those of its members who needed available funds, and during the trouble issued $24,915,000 of them. In May, 1884, it issued $24,915,000; in the 1890 panic, $16,645,000; in 1893, $41,490,000.

Following the resumption of specie payments the times were good for several years. The production of the precious metals was averaging $75,000,000 or more per year. From 1879 to 1883 we imported about $190,000,000 of gold. Railroad construction reached a higher point than was ever recorded, either before or since, nearly 40,000 miles of track having been laid in five years. All seemed well, when another collapse came in May, 1884. This was preceded by the failure of Grant & Ward, and it was followed by the failure of the Marine and the Metropolitan Ranks. The disclosures of bad faith on the part of men occupying positions of great trust, made the 1884 panic one of distinct characteristics of its own. The previous activity in all lines of enterprise may have made the revulsion timely, but individual dishonesty greatly aggravated the situation.

The panic of 1890, in the United States, was but a reflection of the great Baring failure in London in the fall of that year. This crash was due to South American speculations, and was one of the greatest failures of modern times. It is the opinion of many well-informed financiers that this was one of the causes which operated to produce the panic of 1893 in the United States. The course of the United States in regard to the purchase of silver, doubts as to the tariff, deficiency in revenues—all, perhaps, had their share in creating distrust. But back of these were the conditions superinduced by an era of inflation and speculation. The 1893 panic bore most heavily upon the banks. There was a continued demand upon the Treasury for gold, and the deposits in banks were withdrawn so rapidly that hundreds of failures ensued. The period of depression continued for nearly three years, and has been succeeded by an era of general prosperity, which it is hoped may be long continued.

THE CENTURY’S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE

BY H. E. VAN DEMAN,

Late Prof. of Horticulture, Kansas State Agricultural College.

From the earliest histories of civilization we learn that the cultivation of fruits has been a delightful pastime and also a substantial means of living. Their tempting colors, fragrant perfumes and luscious flavors are unequaled in combined attractiveness and satisfaction to the human senses by anything else among all the products of nature. Their juices are at once appetizing, nutritious, and wholesome. Millions of people have subsisted upon them largely, from time out of mind.

It is, therefore, not a matter of wonder that our forefathers, when they came to the shores of this New World, brought with them seeds, cuttings, and plants of the best fruits they had at their old homes. Thus it was that the apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, grape, olive, date, almond, European walnut and chestnut, and many other less valuable fruits were first cultivated in North America.

THE BEGINNING.—Previous to the beginning of the nineteenth century there had been considerable development in fruit culture in the colonies. Small apple orchards were quite common in the settlements, from New England to the Carolinas. The pear, peach, plum, grape, and a few other fruits were cultivated in less degree. The Spanish had introduced the peach and orange in Florida, and the French had planted the grape and pear in their sparse settlements in the Mississippi Valley and near the Great Lakes. There are to-day, and yet in a healthy condition, near Detroit, Michigan, several immense pear-trees from these first plantings, that are nearly three hundred years old. The Catholic fathers planted the vine and the olive, and occasionally the date palm, at their mission stations along the Rio Grande and on the Pacific coast.

Thus we see that when the year 1800 ushered in the century now closing, there were many feeble beginnings in the way of fruit culture scattered over the Continent. The Indians, contrary to what we might have supposed, helped materially in the distribution of some of the orchard fruits. In 1799, when General Sullivan made his famous raid against the tribes which composed the historic “Six nations,” he found bearing apple orchards in Western New York. In Southern Canada and Michigan the Indians occasionally planted the apple and pear. The tribes living along the Gulf of Mexico had peach-trees in their little cultivated patches, having obtained the seeds from the Spaniards; and to-day we find the descendants of these Spanish or “Indian” peaches commonly grown throughout all the Southern States, and to some extent all over the peach-growing sections of America.

THE EXPERIMENTAL STAGE.—During the life of the generation which existed for the first thirty or more years of the century the culture of fruits was still principally in the experimental stage. Some of the foreign species and varieties had not proved satisfactory, and they were being critically tested or abandoned. New varieties were being originated on our own soil. Our native fruits were being brought under culture, too, and with the most satisfactory results in many cases. It was learned that we had in them the foundation of almost unlimited development. Their progeny has revolutionized some lines of fruit culture. This is especially true in our vineyards and berry-fields.

There were men of noble and patriotic cast of mind, who devoted their lives to the development of this lovely and wholly humane work. They deserve to rank beside the heroes of our battlefields. Their victories were those of peace, and were followed by an increase of the delightful products of the orchard, vineyard, and garden.

Once that our forefathers were free from the bondage of European greed, this art of peace kept pace with our civilization on other lines. There is nothing in the whole list of our scientific attainments or material industries that can show more substantial progress. Nor is there a nation on earth that has so rich, varied, and adaptable soils, together with climatic conditions so admirably and generally suited to fruit culture; nor a people more alive to their opportunities in this direction.

THE AGE OF PROGRESS.—During the generation of fruit growers who lived from about 1830 until the time of the Civil War, the region lying between the Alleghany Mountains and the Missouri River, and extending from the Ottawa River in Canada to the mountains of Tennessee, which is now the great apple bin of America, as well as its granary, was being rapidly filled with energetic settlers. These pioneers carried with them carefully selected seeds, cuttings, and trees of the best varieties of fruits known in their Eastern and Southern homes. These were planted in the rich, virgin soil of the new territory, which was then known as “The West.” Under the happy influences of a congenial climate and careful cultivation, they developed into fruitful orchards and vineyards, yielding finer specimens, and, in some cases, larger crops than had ever been known in the older parts of the country. This gave a great impetus to the culture of fruits. The first large commercial orchards of the apple, peach, and pear in the central United States were then being planted in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.

The South had not yet awakened to a knowledge of her possibilities in fruit culture. Under slave labor the land was almost solely given up to cotton and tobacco. Florida had not then even dreamed of her wonderful developments in orange culture. In Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and the great Northwest, where now there are fruit plantations of almost unparalleled extent, only the first trees and plants were being set, and it was only thought possible that some day fruits could be produced in abundance there. The Rocky Mountain and Pacific States had scarcely been heard of, even as Territories, and only an occasional plantation of vines and trees around some mission station could be found.

THE AGE OF TRIUMPH.—At the close of the Civil War, which had somewhat distracted the attention of our people both North and South from the progress of the peaceful arts, there was a great expansion of our rural population. The love of travel had taken possession of many who had been in the armies. They were no longer content with the narrow boundaries and the poor lands of the old Eastern farms. They wanted new fields for their energies. The building of the great railroad systems across the continent solved the question of the settlement of the “Far West,” and the mythical “American Desert” that was supposed to lie this side of it. The prairies were covered with homesteaders’ shanties, sod houses, and “dug-outs.” The forests of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Arkansas fell before the axe of the pioneer. The “Boys in Blue” who had seen the natural advantages of the Southern States, while there on the dread errand of war, began the rehabilitation of the country they had helped to devastate. They took with them their Yankee notions and Western vim, and planted many kinds of farm crops, trees, vines, and berry bushes upon the old plantations where little else than cotton and tobacco used to grow. Florida was veritably turned into a garden of orange trees and truck patches. The chocolate hills and rich black lands of Texas were planted to grapes, peaches, and berries. The dry plains and mesas of the Rocky Mountain region, that were naturally almost devoid of vegetation, were irrigated and made to produce the most delightful fruits in abundance. The giant forests of Oregon and Washington were invaded by the lumberman and the homeseeker, and in their stead were planted trees which yielded the largest and best of fruits. And California,—what shall we say of her wonderful valleys, grassy foothills, and timbered mountain slopes? All of the fruits of the temperate zones are growing there, and in some places the hardier of the tropical kinds succeed. California is indeed a land of fruits.

Taking the whole of North America, except the frozen regions of the British possessions, and Alaska, where few cultivated fruits can be grown; and half-civilized Mexico, where progress is scarcely known; the last thirty-five years have witnessed such advancements in fruit culture as seem almost beyond belief. It has truly been an age of triumph. Not only has the territory of its successful culture been wonderfully extended, but the whole plan and science of fruit-growing has been almost revolutionized. Old things have largely passed away. New varieties, new methods of culture and new markets for the products of the fruit farm have been found. Some of the old varieties have been retained, but many new ones have been originated here; some by chance and others by scientific breeding. Valuable kinds that had long been lying in obscurity have been brought into public favor. Others have been imported from foreign countries. Almost the entire world has been ransacked in order to obtain fruits that might prove of value to us.

At the beginning of this period of unparalleled progress the experiments of former years had shown the success or failure of the different species and varieties already in cultivation in many parts of the country; and now, at its close, after nearly forty years more of experience, there is scarcely a section within the entire domain of North American fruit culture where it is not quite well known what is and what is not adapted to each locality.

The methods of culture are changed from the old ones, which were largely those practiced in Europe, to such as have been evolved by the peculiar necessities of our soil, climate, and varieties. This is especially true of our vineyards; for, except on the Pacific slope, where the foreign grapes succeed, our native vines require much less severe pruning, and a much more roomy trellis upon which to grow than those old kinds. The first vineyards were planted very thickly and trained by the stake method, which is the French and German style. I remember working in such vineyards just prior to 1870, and of seeing the dwarfing and dwindling effect upon the vines. Nothing of the kind is now seen this side the Rocky Mountains, because our American grapes will not endure such treatment and continue to bear well.

Horse culture has in a great measure succeeded hand culture. Without such a change it would be impossible to profitably cultivate the vast stretches of orchards, vineyards, and berry-fields that are to-day found in many parts of the country. The common plow and harrow were about the only tools available thirty or forty years ago. They are now supplemented, and in some cases superseded, by various kinds of cultivators, weeders, and improved plows and harrows. They are made to carry out the modern idea of frequent but shallow stirring of the soil. This method of culture disturbs the roots but little and retains the moisture in the soil, by keeping the surface finely pulverized, thus forming a “dust mulch.” Some of these tools are so made as to enable one man with one horse to easily cultivate twenty-five acres per day, and with a two or three horse implement, to thoroughly pulverize the surface over fifty or more acres in that time.

The tendency during the last half century has been towards heading orchard trees lower. The old style was to have them with trunks so tall that a horse could walk under the branches. Low heads have the advantage of giving the winds less purchase upon the roots, the fruit is more easily gathered, and the sun is less likely to scald the trunks.

The old idea of our forefathers was, that apples were chiefly to be used for making cider, peaches for brandy, and grapes for wine. We have become a nation of fruit-eaters, as compared with our predecessors and the Europeans. The greatest impetus ever given to American fruit culture came from the increased demand in our own country for fresh fruit. It is a staple article of diet here, rather than a luxury, as it is in most parts of Europe. Nearly all of our fresh fruits are consumed in the homes of our people, or exported. A very little is made into cider, brandy, or wine, and the larger part of the remainder is dried or canned. The proportion of grapes made into wine east of California is trifling, while there it is considerable. The enormous production and consumption of berries of various kinds by the Americans is unparalleled in the history of the world; and nearly all of this has come through the development of our wild berries.

Instead of buying largely of foreign fruits and their products, except such as are strictly tropical and cannot be grown within our borders only in a limited way, we have nearly stopped their importation, and have, in turn, become exporters. The rapid increase in our population demands more and more fruit, and it is not to be wondered at that our imports of oranges and lemons is increasing; but if it was not for our home production of these fruits the present amount would be more than doubled. Our raisins and dried prunes have almost driven out the foreign products, and their quality is so good that there is a growing demand for them in England and some other foreign countries. The same is true of our canned and preserved fruits. Our apples bring the highest price of any that reach the markets of Europe, and the demand for them is increasing. Fresh pears and peaches have also been sent to England in limited quantities from as far west as California and Oregon. Our oranges also have an enviable reputation there because of their beauty and delicious flavor. Our apples are sent to Mexico, China, and Japan. The street venders of Bombay, India, cry their sale with great gusto: “American apples! true American apples!” and sell them at a price which would require more than a whole day’s wages of a good workman to buy a single one.

The world is beginning to know the value and goodness of our fruits. We are selling, inside their dainty skins, a portion of our sunshine and water; for the golden, pink, and crimson tints are from the glowing sun, and the water, which is the main part of all fruits, is fresh from nature’s fountain.

GROWTH OF APPLE CULTURE.—From the first settlement of the country well into the present century, the principal purpose for which apples were cultivated in America was to make cider. This was a common beverage in England and on the continent of Europe, whence our forefathers came. Here they introduced the Old World custom of drinking hard cider “in season and out of season.” In 1721, in one “town” near Boston, wherein lived about forty families, there were made in one year three thousand barrels of cider, and in another of two hundred families, near ten thousand barrels. This is fifty barrels to the family, which seems ample for a great many drinks per day for each person, with plenty left to sell to the cider-loving citizens of Boston. Colonel John Taylor of Virginia wrote, in 1813, nearly one hundred years later: “The apple will furnish some food for hogs, a luxury for the family in winter, and a healthy liquor for the farmer and his laborers all the year.”

But hard cider did not always satisfy. “Applejack,” which is the strongest kind of brandy, suited the taste of many of the old-fashioned folk much better. The Virginia gentleman, the Dutch burgher, whose ample acres fronted upon the Hudson, the solemn Philadelphia Quaker and the staid Puritan of New England, all loved their dram and took it frequently.

Besides alcoholic liquors, vinegar was made in considerable quantities. But as late as the middle of this century there was scarcely a good family apple orchard to be found, such as we now have, with varieties arranged to ripen from early to late. Nor were there many commercial orchards of consequence. The famous orchard of Robert L. Pell, in Ulster County, New York, was a remarkable exception. It consisted of 20,000 trees, all of the Yellow and Green Newtown apples. Fruit from this orchard sold at wholesale in London, England, in 1845, at the enormous price of $21.00 per barrel, but the next year the price had fallen to $6.00 in New York city, ready for foreign shipment. This orchard gradually fell into decay, and was not soon followed by others of so large acreage. The Newtown apple proved unsuitable for general culture, and is now grown only in two localities with much success. In the mountain “coves,” or sheltered slopes and valleys, of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia and North Carolina, where it is called “Albemarle Pippin,” there are many orchards that produce as fine fruit as any from the Pell orchard, and it now sells from $5.00 to $12.00 and more per barrel in England. In the higher foothills of California and Oregon this variety does equally well, and apples from there are being sold in England during this closing period of the century at almost fabulous prices.

In the old days, if an orchard furnished an abundance of apples for cider, brandy, vinegar, apple butter, some for drying, and a few of fair quality that would keep for winter use, it was all that was expected.

Most of the trees in those old orchards were inferior seedlings, and it is no wonder that the people of those days did not use apples as we do. A few of them were very good, and it is from such chance favorites that we have preserved to us, by grafting, the Baldwin Winesap and hundreds more that fill our orchards to-day. We have developed a new race of American seedlings. Most of the old varieties that were so highly esteemed across the ocean are now rarely mentioned. Our newer and better kinds have largely supplanted them. As time advanced more choice varieties were added, until we may now confidently boast of having the best apples in existence. Whoever has eaten our delicious Grimes Golden, Jonathan, and Northern Spy, need not look for better kinds, because they cannot now be found. Indeed, the name “Seek-no-farther” has been triumphantly applied to one variety. However, we are still seeking and expecting to produce by skillful breeding, if not to find, others which may be even better than those we now possess.

A history of the recognized and named varieties of apples of American origin would be a book in itself. It should begin almost with the first settlement of the country. At the beginning of this century the Early Harvest, Baldwin, Swaar, Esopus Spitzenberg, Rhode Island Greening, Yellow Bellflower, and a few others which are yet popular, were already grafted into hundreds of orchards, some of them being as far west as the Mississippi River. William Coxe, in his excellent book on fruits, published in 1817, mentions 100 kinds. William Prince, of Long Island, who kept the first nursery of note, had 116 varieties of apples in his published list in 1825, of which about half were of American origin. Now there are nearly 1000 kinds offered by the nurserymen of the country, and the books on pomology contain nearly 5000 varieties, a large part of them being American. Truly this is progress.

We have the best and by far the most extensive apple country in the world. The largest apple orchards in the world are in America. The biggest of all belongs to F. Wellhouse & Son, of Kansas, in which there are 1600 acres. There are others in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico that are nearly as large.

The variety principally grown in these orchards is the Ben Davis. It is a thrifty, rugged grower, a most productive bearer, and a handsome apple to sell. Its brilliant red stripes, large size, and ability to keep, make up for its deficiency in flavor. It is, to-day, the business apple of America. Baldwin is the business apple of the Eastern States. Both these varieties are well known in every market of this country, and wherever our apples are exported.

The first government record of exported apples was in 1821, when “68,643 bushels,” or about 22,781 barrels of apples, were sent abroad. In 1897 there were 2,371,143 barrels exported, which is the largest quantity ever shipped to foreign countries in one year. During the same year there were also exported nearly 31,000,000 pounds of dried apples, 94,000 gallons of vinegar, and 750,000 gallons of cider. Certainly this is a good showing for the surplus products of American apple orchards. The year 1898 gave a lighter yield, but 1899 will, perhaps, about equal it.

THE PEAR.—Whoever has eaten a delicious little Seckel pear must know that its equal in richness and spicy flavor is not to be found. This little gem is one of the triumphs of American fruit culture. How far beyond and above the old “choke” pear of our grandfathers’ days is this one, and many more of the delicious pears that grow in our orchards and gardens to-day!

Pear growing was only a side issue until lately. A few trees were planted about our forefathers’ houses or in the edge of the apple orchards; but these were often sprouts from some neighbor’s seedling trees. As the appetite for good fruit increased, the false idea that pears should be ground and pressed into cider, called perry, decreased, until now no one thinks of wasting this delicious fruit by making it into an intoxicating drink.

The Bartlett is our most popular pear of good quality. It originated in Berkshire, England, about 1770, where it was called Williams. When brought to America early in this century and planted at Dorchester, Mass., the original name was lost, and it was renamed in honor of Enoch Bartlett, who first propagated and distributed the trees and grafts. The old tree, from which came the millions that have been and are now a source of delight and profit to our people, is still in bearing condition at Dorchester, and I have lately eaten as good Bartlett pears from it as ever were grown. The variety flourishes better in America than in its old home, and every year large shipments of the fruit are sent to England and sold at a very high price.

Some fifty years ago there were brought from China seeds of a type of a pear that was entirely new to this country, and was called by us the “Sand” pear. The only apparent reason for giving it this name is, that it is gritty, hard, and little better to eat than so much sand. But the seeds made trees that grew with remarkable vigor and were much alike, and so was their fruit.

From this stock came up a seedling some thirty years ago, in the garden of Peter Kieffer, in Philadelphia, that has almost revolutionized pear growing in America. It is supposed to be the result of a cross between a Chinese Sand pear-tree and a Bartlett that stood near each other, although this is mere supposition. The fruit is only of medium quality, and some say it is very poor; but it is large, very beautiful when fully mature, late in ripening, and endures rough handling with as little harm as so many potatoes. It is very popular with the canners. The greatest point in its favor is the freedom of the tree from blight, its vigor and almost never-failing and abundant bearing. It is the business pear of to-day, despite its inferior quality.

THE PEACH.—When the peach was first planted in America by the Spanish and French, and later by other nationalities, there was little thought of it ever becoming a great commercial fruit. The trees that sprang from the seeds brought across the ocean grew so luxuriantly and bore so abundantly that their progeny was soon scattered far and wide. Peach trees were early found growing wild, like our native trees, wherever seeds had been dropped by travelers or hunters. There was no attempt at commercial peach orcharding until well into the present century, and for the first half of this there were scarcely more than a few seedling orchards planted for family use or for making brandy. In some sections dried peaches were an article of trade before any commercial peach orchards, in the true sense, had been planted; but they were always the product of women’s work, and were prepared under the disadvantageous conditions with which they are usually hampered. It is no wonder that the grade was low, for the peaches were generally of poor quality, and no other mode of drying was then known than on boards and wooden trays, exposed in the open air to flies, moths, and dust. All that was sent to market was first taken in at the stores where the country people came to trade, and it was a mixed mess, indeed, that was thus collected. What fresh peaches were sold brought a very low price, rarely more than twenty-five cents per bushel.

Early in the century budded peach-trees were almost unknown in America. A few were brought over from France and the fruit houses of England, all of which did very well here. However, it was soon learned that there were seedlings of American origin that were equal to the best of the foreign kinds. Among the first of these were Heath, Early York, Tillotson, and Oldmixon Cling and Free. A little later, two large yellow freestones came up by accident on the premises of William Crawford, of Middletown, N. J., one ripening early and the other late. Early Crawford and Late Crawford are, after more than sixty years of trial, still very popular upon the markets. Many other kinds, once popular, have long since been discarded and forgotten.

Just before our Civil War the Hale peach was discovered and, being earlier than any kind then known, it became very popular. About 1865, the Amsden, Alexander, and some others came to notice. They were a month earlier than the Hale. A peach, called Peen-to, was imported from southern China about the same time, that ripened still a month earlier; but as it belonged to a very different race from our other peaches, and was exceedingly tender, it has been found suitable only to Florida and other semitropical regions.

The most popular peach of the present day is the Elberta. It was originated by Samuel H. Rumph, of Georgia, about twenty years ago. Its large size, creamy, yellow color, and good flavor, added to its productiveness, make it very acceptable to both grower and consumer.

The most extensive peach orchards in America are located in Georgia, North Carolina, Southern Missouri, Western Colorado, and California. A few are each more than a thousand acres in extent.

The advent of patent evaporating machines, about 1870, aided greatly in the production of high grade dried fruits of all kinds, and the peach shared in the progress. California and Oregon alone shipped in a single recent year nearly 40,000,000 pounds of dried peaches. The peach is canned more than any other fruit, as may be seen upon the shelves of any grocery store, or in the fruit closets of the country housewives. Whether eaten fresh from the trees, served up with cream and sugar (a dainty dish unknown in Europe), evaporated or canned, the peach is one of the blessings of our great country.

THE PLUM.—There are three general classes of plums grown in America to-day, the European, American, and Japanese. European plums were introduced here at an early day, but were grown very sparingly until within the last thirty or forty years. The principal reason for this is the presence of a deadly enemy to the plum, apricot, and some other fruits, commonly known as the plum curculio. It is a little enemy but a mighty one; for it deposits its eggs in the young fruit, and they soon hatch into little grubs that work their way into the fruit and cause it to die and drop off. West of the Continental divide there are none of these insects. There the soil, climate, and all else seem to conspire to enable the plum-grower to prosper. Great prune orchards are planted in the fertile valleys from New Mexico and Colorado westward. Some of them cover thousands of acres in a body, and the yield is enormous. The rainless autumns of California permit the drying of the fruit in the open air and in the most economical and perfect way. From an infant industry twenty years ago it has now grown so great that, in 1897, California alone produced nearly 98,000,000 pounds of dried prunes. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and some other western States are almost equally well suited to this industry.

East of the Rocky Mountains plum-growing is not so easy. The curculio damages all classes of plums to some extent, but the European kinds seem to be much less able to endure its attacks than any other. This led to the selection and cultivation of the best varieties of our several native species. Their fruit is not so large or so richly flavored as some of the foreign kinds, but much of it is very good, and the brilliant red, purple, and yellow colors are greatly admired. The Japanese plums are of quite recent introduction. The beginning was in 1870, when the Kelsey, which is the largest, the latest to ripen, and about one of the least valuable varieties of this class was brought to California. Later importations have brought us many very valuable kinds. The trees bear well, the fruit is mostly large, handsome, of good quality, and resists the stings of the curculio quite as well as our native kinds.

One of the most interesting and promising steps in plum-growing is only beginning to be made, in the crossing of the three classes named. The most skillful and patient worker in this field is Luther Burbank, of California, who has already produced, by artificially pollenizing the flowers, some most excellent varieties. Some of these new varieties are larger than any plums ever before seen, delicious in flavor, and blood-red to the stone.

THE CHERRY.—Away back in the history of our country, cherry trees were planted here and there, but only for family use. The list of varieties was meagre. Most of them were sour, bitter, or small. Now we have hundreds of named varieties and of all grades of color, from creamy yellow to black, and both sweet and sour, early and late.

In Washington, Oregon, and California the cherry does better than in any of the regions farther East. The first cherries of the season to ripen are in the famous Vaca Valley of California, and sometimes shipments from there reach New York as early as April 1. The largest cherry trees in America are found in the foot-hill regions of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Trees are sometimes seen there that have trunks three feet in diameter, with a spread of branches of more than fifty feet. Such trees sometimes yield more than fifty bushels of fruit at a time.

THE APRICOT.—All over the Eastern and Central States the apricot is almost an entire failure because of the ravages of the plum curculio. After many years of trial its culture there has been almost abandoned, except by those who are willing to follow the jarring of the trees to catch the insects. Across the Continental divide, where this enemy does not exist, the apricot flourishes as well or better than anywhere else in the world. It is one of the profitable fruits from western Colorado to the shores of the Pacific. California dried and sent to market in one year over 30,000,000 pounds. There is also a great amount of apricots canned there every year, a large part of which are shipped all over the world.

THE QUINCE.—Although sour and unfit for eating from the hand, the quince is one of our most delicious fruits when cooked. No store of sweetmeats is complete without a generous supply of quince jelly. This fruit delights in a moist soil and a cool but not severe climate. However, it succeeds very well over the main part of North America. Almost every home plot has a tree or two. In western New York many commercial quince orchards have been planted within the last twenty-five years, some of them being of forty acres in extent.

AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE.—In no department of American pomology has there been more remarkable advancement than in grape-growing. It was the belief of those who first began to grow fruits here, that the grapes of Canaan, Persia, Greece, and Rome, which were brought down through the ages to the vineyards of modern Europe, would grow equally well in America. One great reason for this belief was the abundance of wild grapes of many kinds that were found from Nova Scotia to Texas.

One of the first things the pioneers of civilization did in New England, at Roanoke Island, and at Jamestown, was to make wine of the native grapes. The Spaniards in 1564 also made wine of the wild grapes of Florida. After testing the wine and finding it inferior to that produced in their old homes, they were more determined to grow vineyards of the choicest grapes of Europe. The French established a vineyard of this kind in Virginia, and another in southern Illinois; and William Penn did the same near Philadelphia in 1683. The most notable attempt that was made was by John James Dufour, a native of Switzerland. He came to America in 1796, and at once set about doing the wisest thing that he could have done, by first visiting and critically examining the vineyards that had already been started. He was not favorably impressed by what he saw, for the European vines had done very poorly, because of some unknown disease or weakness that seemed to cause them to make but feeble growth, or gradually dwindle and die. The cause has since been found to have been the fungus diseases and insect pests that are peculiar to the eastern half of America. But Dufour thought the right varieties had not been tried, except a few that he found near Philadelphia. From these he secured a start, and in 1799 organized a stock company with $10,000 in capital, to plant a vineyard, Henry Clay being one of the stockholders. A tract of 633 acres was selected near Lexington, Ky., and there he began work in the most enthusiastic manner. He induced two of his brothers to come from Switzerland to join him, and they brought other varieties of their best grapes. But after three years’ trial he gave it up as a hopeless effort and turned his attention to the cultivation of our native grapes.

The beginning of successful grape culture in America may be said to have been made by Dufour, in his next or second attempt, which was in 1802, at Vevay, Ind., on the banks of the Ohio, and with a variety of the wild Vitis labrusca, or fox grape, found near the Schuylkill River before the Revolutionary War. It was at first called the “Cape” grape, from a mistaken notion that it had been brought from the Cape of Good Hope. It was also known by several other names. Although this grape was the first of a very long list of native varieties which have made our country famous in grape culture, it has long since been entirely abandoned for better kinds. But the vineyard at Vevay, planted largely of this variety, was the first really successful one in America.

The next forward step was the introduction of the Isabella and Catawba, both having originated in America, not long previous to 1820, although of unknown parentage; but, perhaps, as the results of accidental crossing between our native wild grapes and some of the foreign kinds. The Isabella is supposed to have originated in South Carolina, and was brought from there by Mrs. Isabella Gibbs and planted in her garden in Brooklyn, N. Y., where it came to the notice of William R. Prince in 1816, when in full bearing. He named it Isabella in her honor, and introduced it to the general public.

The Catawba is supposed to have originated as a seedling near the Catawba River, in North Carolina, but was not generally known until Major John Adlum, of the District of Columbia, found it in bearing on the premises of Mrs. Scholl, a tavern keeper of Clarksburgh, Md. He was at once delighted with its good qualities, and planted it in his experiment grounds at Georgetown in 1819, and introduced it to the fruit-loving public soon after.

The next impetus to grape culture was caused by the introduction of the Delaware and Concord. The exact origin of the Delaware is not known, but it came to public notice about 1855, through the efforts of Mr. A. Thomson and George W. Campbell, of Delaware, O. It was learned afterwards that the same variety was growing in 1850, in the garden of a Swiss immigrant, Paul H. Provost, at Frenchtown, N. J. It may be that it originated at this place from a chance seed, and that cuttings were thence carried to Ohio. It is evidently a cross between the foreign species and one of our natives, and is to-day about the best of all the grapes grown in the Eastern States.

The Concord is a pure native seedling, produced by Ephraim W. Bull, of Concord, Mass., and first shown to the public at Boston in 1853. It has proved itself to be the greatest blessing of all grapes that have ever been grown in America. Its thriftiness and reliability under all circumstances are unequaled. It is not only good in itself, but it has been the parent of a race of seedlings which have filled our vineyards, gardens, and markets with the most delicious grapes, and at a very slight cost of labor or money. Whoever gathers or buys a basket of blue-black Concord or Worden, purple Brighton or opal Niagara, should render a silent thank-offering to the memory of Ephraim W. Bull, who made their existence a possibility.

The first commercial vineyard of importance was planted by Nicholas Longworth, on the hills overlooking the Ohio River, about ten miles below Cincinnati, and it was largely of Catawba. Many others followed his example, and from about 1830 to 1860 so great an interest was shown that the hills bordering the Ohio for many miles were dotted with vineyards. But mildew and black rot devastated them and almost destroyed their usefulness. These diseases are now largely overcome by spraying with a solution of sulphate of copper.

In northern Ohio, about Cleveland and Sandusky, and on the islands near the southern shore of Lake Erie, the Catawba was planted with much better success, owing, perhaps, to the climate not being so favorable to grape diseases. The lake region of western New York is perhaps more densely planted with grapes than any section east of California. Thousands of carloads of grapes of high quality are shipped from there every year. The Southern States have awakened somewhat to the importance of grape culture. Some of the poorest sandy lands of North Carolina and Florida have been planted to vines and found to produce, when fertilized, excellent grapes. Texas is also a most productive grape region. Their earliness causes them to find a ready market in the North.

But in all of North America there is no section where the grape flourishes with such wonderful success as in California and other regions beyond the Rocky Mountains. There the tenderest and most delicious of all the grapes of France, Italy, Persia, and Palestine ripen their luscious clusters beneath the glowing skies. The grapes of Eshcol, I imagine, did not surpass those now grown in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Idaho. All up and down their fertile valleys and foot-hills may be seen great stretches of vineyard after vineyard. The raisin industry alone is immense; and the product is of such high quality and is produced at so low cost that the importation of European raisins is becoming less each year, and may soon be practically at an end. We have already begun exporting our raisins to England and other parts of the world. Over 103,000,000 pounds, filling 5000 cars, were shipped from California alone in one year. Single clusters of grapes have frequently been grown in California that weighed from ten to fifteen pounds, and four or five pound clusters are very common. Truly, America is a land of grapes.

THE BERRIES.—America stands alone in the popular use of berries. Except in the matter of gooseberries and currants, which are rather plentiful in some parts of Europe, and a few strawberries and raspberries there and in Japan, there are very few berries grown outside of America.

The strawberry was found wild here in all sections. The fruit was small but of most delicious flavor. A few of the varieties grown in the mother country were brought over here, but they did not flourish. About 1834 C. M. Hovey, of Cambridge, Mass., grew some seedlings of the old Pine strawberry, which is an offshoot of the wild strawberry of the west coast of South America, and his introduction of varieties named Hovey and Boston Pine marked the first step in our modern strawberry culture. Next came the Wilson, which originated about 1850 on the grounds of John Wilson, of Albany, N. Y. This variety really popularized the growing of strawberries, because of its hardiness and productiveness. Soon after this the Crescent was found at New Orleans, La. Other kinds were soon originated from seed by experimenters, and chance seedlings were found coming up in all fruit-growing regions. It was not long until there were hundreds of named varieties of good quality and that bore abundantly. Within the last decade or two there have been hundreds more originated by the most skillful hybridizers using our native species and the foreign ones also. Others just as good were picked up wherever they chanced to grow from seed. Thus, we now have the most wonderful assortment of varieties of the strawberry in the world. They are early, medium, and late. The facilities for shipping are so convenient that, now, it is possible to have strawberries in the fancy markets almost every day of the year, from some section of our great country. In the flush of the season they are so cheap and abundant that the poor can enjoy them along with the rich. From little garden patches fifty years ago, and very small ones too, we have now come to grow them by the thousand acres.

The raspberry is another of our delicious berries. At first our pioneers were satisfied with those they could gather from the wild bushes. Following the same plan that was used with most other fruits, the European raspberries were brought over the sea and planted in the gardens of America. But they did poorly, and about 1850 our people began to plant the native varieties. These grew and bore well. Now we have hundreds of the very choicest named kinds, black, red, purple, and yellow, early and late, and more being originated every year.

The history of the gooseberry is almost identical with that of the raspberry. The foreign kinds, although bearing very much larger fruit than our native kinds, were ruined by mildew. About 1845 Abel Houghton, of Massachusetts, grew a seedling from the wild berry, which was named Houghton, and from this came another seedling, the Downing, which was originated at Newburgh, N. Y., some years later. These two varieties are now among our very best kinds. Since the benefits of spraying with fungicides have been known, the larger and milder flavored English kinds are being grown with considerable success.

The blackberry is found native only in America. It has been one of the most useful of all our wild fruits from the earliest settlement of the country, and was used by the aborigines for centuries before. Until about 1840 there was not enough thought given to blackberry culture to make the least attempt in that direction, when Captain Lovett, of Beverly, Mass., gave the name Dorchester to a chance variety, and distributed it. Soon after 1850 the Lawton was taken from its wild habitat on the banks of the Hudson River. This variety was the first really good blackberry that was named and distributed. The Kitatinny followed about ten years later, having been found wild in the mountains of western New Jersey. At least two white varieties, and several having pink berries, that were found growing wild, were named and sent out. These novelties are yet cultivated by a few amateur horticulturists. It may seem strange to say that we have white and red blackberries, but it is a fact. At this date we have many kinds of later introduction, some early and some late, and of most delicious flavor.

Perhaps all Americans know that cranberry sauce goes with Thanksgiving turkey. No country in the world has so many cranberries as North America. The bogs of Cape Cod are famous for this fruit, and the Pilgrims of Plymouth colony knew of them, and served them on their rustic tables. Now the wild marshes along the Atlantic are nearly all under cultivation, and the product has been increased many fold. Fully 1,000,000 bushels are marketed when the crop is good. The same is being done with the bogs in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. Cranberries grow in untold quantities on the marshes of Alaska.

CITRUS FRUITS.—When the Spaniards invaded Florida in search of gold they brought with them seeds of the citrus fruits from the regions of the Mediterranean. There the orange, lemon, and lime were planted in the genial climate of our Southern borders. The fruit was carried hither and thither, and soon escaped the bounds of the cultivated areas. The forests in places were filled with wild orange trees, the most of which bore fruit of poor quality. When the tide of immigration set southward after the Civil War, these wild groves were budded to good varieties, and new land was cleared and planted with small seedlings. These were budded to good varieties in due time. Orange culture was soon a fixed industry in Florida. This increased rapidly up to the time of the severe freeze of 1894–95, when there were shipped over 5,000,000 boxes. Since then the results of the freezing of the trees has greatly lessened the product, but it is steadily increasing again.

The lemon has attracted much less interest than the orange, but I have seen one lemon orchard in Florida of more than two hundred acres, and there are many smaller ones.

The lime is but little called for, and is therefore grown more as a novelty than for commercial purposes.

The pomelo, by some misnamed “grape-fruit,” is a very large, wholesome, and delicious citrus fruit that is becoming quite popular where it grows, and in the northern markets.

In California the orange was first planted by the mission fathers centuries ago. The first real orchard is said to have been planted at San Gabriel in 1804. Before the discovery of gold in that far-away region very few orange orchards existed there, and they were of small size. Up to 1872 very little more than this was done, when the founding of the colony at Riverside, and the fortunate introduction of the Bahia or Navel orange from Brazil by our government, at this juncture, was the start of prosperous citrus culture on that coast. Now there are annually about 5,000,000 boxes of oranges sent out of that State alone, and the amount is steadily increasing. A large part of these are of the justly famous Navel variety.

Lemon growing is also becoming a great industry there. Orchards of one hundred acres are rather common, and some are fully five times larger. Over 2,000,000 boxes of lemons were produced the past season.

THE OLIVE.—Among the historic fruits of Palestine and southern Europe the olive holds a conspicuous place. Numerous but futile attempts were made in early times to establish it in Virginia and along the Atlantic coast, the climate there proving unsuitable. But in the warmer parts of California the olive is perfectly at home. The first olive orchard of consequence was planted by Ellwood Cooper, at Santa Barbara, in 1872, and in 1876 he made oil from the fruit grown on the trees. Now there are many extensive orchards in many parts of the State. It is estimated that there are nearly 2,000,000 olive trees now growing in that State. The oil and pickled fruit are steadily becoming popular in our fancy markets in competition with the foreign product.

THE FIG.—Very little is done in fig culture east of California, although the trees are not tender along the Gulf coast, except in case of extremely severe winters. In California it is a decided success, commercially as well as for mere pleasure. The past year dried figs to the amount of nearly 4,000,000 pounds were sent to market, and the quantity has been constantly increasing for several years.

THE PINEAPPLE.—Those who have never seen pineapples growing are apt to think they are produced on trees. This is far from the fact. They grow on the tips of stalks about two feet high. The plants have large narrow leaves that cluster at the ground, from the centre of which these stalks spring. A few patches were planted on the islands near the Florida coast in 1860, but it is only about fifteen years since the first vigorous attempts were made to grow this delicious fruit in the United States. Florida is the only region within our country where the climate is sufficiently moist and warm for it to flourish. Along the east coast, from Rock Ledge southward, and on the west coast below Tampa, are the most favorable sections. Many acres are devoted to its culture there. Frosts damage the plants sometimes, but they soon recover. In central Florida, many acres are grown under sheds. These are made of frame-work, which is covered with slats or boughs as a protection from frost. Upwards of 3,000,000 fruits of marketable size are now produced in Florida annually.

OTHER FRUITS.—The date is just beginning to be set in the arid regions of Arizona and southern California, and with good prospects of success. Already many trees are in bearing, and the fruit is of excellent quality. The choicest varieties have been imported from Africa. The guava is being grown in the warm parts of Florida and California. The mango has been fruited in the warmest parts of Florida and California.

NUTS.—The sweet almond of southern Europe has long been tested in America, but nowhere with success except in California, where there are almond orchards of several hundred acres each. The Persian (wrongly called English) walnut is a great success in the richer lands of California, where orchards of majestic trees have been in full bearing for many years. Of our native nuts the pecan is the best of all, and it is about the only one that has so far proved worthy of cultivation. It is found in a wild state in Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The creek and river bottoms suit it best, but it will do very well on almost any rich land. On some of the hammock lands of Florida hundreds of acres are now planted to the pecan. The largest pecan orchard is that of F. A. Swinden, of Brownwood, Texas, which covers over five hundred acres, and is being increased from year to year.

Our native chestnut is of better quality than the foreign kinds, but the nuts are much smaller. The largest are from Japan, some of which are two inches in diameter. Many of these choice kinds have been imported, and others were originated from seeds, which are now being planted in orchards. The best of the European chestnuts have also been imported, and new kinds have been grown here from the nuts. Nearly all of these varieties succeed in America, and many small orchards have been planted. Some have grafted sprouts from our native chestnut stumps and small trees with these improved kinds, and found them to grow and bear abundantly.

The cocoanut is strictly tropical, and can only be grown in the very warmest parts of Florida. It will not endure as low a temperature as the pineapple without injury. As a commercial venture its culture will probably never pay in America, but for ornamental purposes and as an interesting novelty it is already a success from Lake Worth southward. The waving plumes of this giant palm are a source of constant delight to those who are privileged to see them. The huge clusters of nuts are indeed an interesting sight.

Surely we have a great and fruitful country, from the cranberry bogs of arctic Alaska to the waving cocoanut groves of Florida. This century closes and the new one begins with wonderful advances in fruit culture beyond those of a hundred years ago.

THE CENTURY’S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS

BY EMORY R. JOHNSON, A.M.,

Asst. Prof. of Transportation and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania.

Commercial activity has three phases, trade, shipping, and shipbuilding. In each of these three phases of commerce the nineteenth century has witnessed a remarkable progress. The expansion of both domestic and international trade has far exceeded the anticipations of those who lived a hundred years ago; and the agencies of transportation by water, the numerous auxiliaries of commerce and the shipbuilding industries, have undergone a technical revolution so complete, and with consequences so beneficent to our social and industrial life, as to make the commercial progress of the past hundred years one of the salient features of the history of the century. We shall better appreciate the nature and scope of the commercial progress of the past hundred years, if we glance for a moment at a picture of the commerce of the world at the close of the eighteenth century.

I. MAIN FEATURES OF THE WORLD’S COMMERCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

A hundred years ago, the volume of trade, both domestic and foreign, was necessarily kept within proportions relatively small as compared with present traffic, because of the slowness and high costs of inland transportation. Domestic inland traffic is directly dependent upon facilities for water and land transportation, and until the railroad came into use, some seventy years ago, only those countries having numerous navigable rivers or well-developed canal systems could extend their commerce much beyond the cities and districts adjacent to tide water. In all ages since the world became civilized enough to engage in commerce, an overland traffic by caravan or wagon has been carried on; but the amount of commodities could not be large, and the kinds of goods transported were necessarily limited to articles of high value per unit of bulk or weight. Such an inland traffic as this did not establish the basis for a large coastwise or over-sea commerce.

At present, bulky commodities produced long distances from the sea-ports comprise a large portion of international traffic, and supply the coast cities with the raw materials from which they manufacture the articles they contribute to swell the volume of foreign trade. When the means were wanting for the inland transportation of these bulky commodities, only a few countries, such as Phœnicia, the Italian cities, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the British colonies in America, could develop an important maritime commerce. During the past fifty years, the improvements in transportation have been such as to enable all industrial countries, inland as well as maritime, to engage extensively in the world’s trade. Commerce has become general; and countries like Switzerland and Saxony readily market their wares the world over.

The volume of foreign trade, as late as a hundred years ago, was really small, even in the case of the most important commercial nations. The imports and exports of the United Kingdom in 1800 amounted to about $360,000,000, which, for a population of approximately 18,000,000, would be about $20 per capita. At that time the trade of the United Kingdom was about one tenth what it is now. At the present time the foreign commerce of the United Kingdom amounts to nearly $100 for each inhabitant of the country.

The thirteen British colonies in America and the original commonwealths of the United States were all maritime States with navigable rivers, and their industries, lumbering, fisheries, production of food products and tobacco, called for the exchange of large quantities of commodities with the manufacturers of the home country, and with the tropical islands of the West Indies. For their time, then, these States were large traders. The statistical information which we possess of their commerce is meagre, but we know that the total trade of the colonies with the mother country in 1770 was about $13,000,000 a year, or something over four dollars per person. There was a trade of considerable proportions with the West Indies, some with the Mediterranean countries and Africa, and, after the colonies became States, with the East Indies and the Orient; but in all probability the foreign trade of the Americans did not reach ten dollars per capita until after 1790. At the present time, in spite of the very rapid growth of population in the United States that has continued throughout the nineteenth century, our foreign trade is equal to twenty-five dollars per person.

It is when the commerce of the eighteenth century is viewed from the standpoint of the transportation agencies by which it was served—the size, speed, and efficiency of the ships—that the contrast with present conditions becomes most striking. Two hundred years ago, the 560 ships owned at London averaged 157 tons. A century ago, a vessel of 300 tons was still considered a large ship, and as late as 1840 vessels of that size traded from the United States to India and China. The Grand Turk, of 564 tons, built in 1791, was probably the largest ship built in America up to that time. During the fourth decade of the nineteenth century numerous vessels of over 1000 tons were constructed, and in 1840 the Great Britain of 3000 tons was ordered. In her day the Great Britain was more of a marvel than is the recently launched Oceanic, of 28,500 tons displacement.

When we consider that these small vessels in use a century ago took from a month to six weeks to cross the Atlantic,—their speed being about one third that of the freight steamers of to-day,—we realize the great difference in the efficiency of the merchant marine of the present as compared with that by which commerce was served in 1800. The efficiency of the ships, however, does not depend alone upon their size and speed. The commercial auxiliaries which enable vessels to enter and clear harbors without delay, and to load and unload cargoes quickly,—lighthouses, beacons, buoys, spacious wharves and docks equipped with mechanical appliances for handling freight,—make it possible for vessels to spend a greater portion of the time at sea. A merchant marine to-day has fully five times the efficiency that one with an equal tonnage had a century ago. We shall better see how this has been brought about, by briefly reviewing the technical revolution which has taken place in ocean navigation during the past seventy years.

II. THE CENTURY’S TECHNICAL REVOLUTION IN COMMERCE.

During the first four decades of this century the wooden sailing vessel was the sole carrier of ocean traffic, and in the construction and operation of such ships the Americans had special advantages and manifested peculiar ingenuity. For forty years the American sailing clipper, whose fine lines made it stanch and speedy, had been “the type and model of excellence in ship-building;” but before the middle of the century the supremacy of the wooden clipper-ship had been destroyed, and the technical superiority of steam and iron had been demonstrated.

There are six distinct steps in the technical evolution of the ocean liner of the present day,—six changes which mark the epochs in the history of the substitution of steam and steel for sail and wood. The first step in the evolution was taken when the steam engine and the paddle-wheel took the place of wind and sails. Like most epoch-making changes, this one was made slowly; indeed, it was preceded by thirty years of hesitation and conservative experimentation. Robert Fulton, taking advantage of ideas and plans which he had obtained in Europe, produced his Clermont in 1807, and demonstrated the practicability of the steamship for river traffic. Five years later, Henry Bell of Scotland constructed the Comet, the first passenger steamboat built in Europe, a vessel only forty feet long, ten and one half feet in width, and of four horse-power. The Clermont was somewhat larger, having a length of 130 feet, a beam of eighteen feet, and a hold six feet in depth. She succeeded in making five miles an hour against stream. These little vessels attracted great attention, and the problem of constructing ships that could cross the ocean by steam power began to be studied. In 1819, the Savannah was fitted with engines and crossed the Atlantic, using both steam power and sails, but the vessel did not prove a success, and her engines were taken out the following year. Indeed, it was not until 1833 that a vessel steamed all the way across the Atlantic; and this ship, the Royal William, a Canadian craft of four or five hundred tons, was able to make the trip from Quebec to Gravesend on the Thames only by stopping for coal at Picton, Nova Scotia, and Cowes near Portsmouth, England.

The first steamships to cross the ocean without recoaling were the Sirius and Great Western, which arrived in New York the same day, April 23, 1838, the former vessel having sailed from London and the latter from Liverpool. This achievement on the part of these two wooden craft, neither one capable of carrying more than seven hundred tons, created a great impression. The New York “Courier and Enquirer” said, in its issue of April 24, 1838:—

“What may be the ultimate fate of this excitement—whether or not the expense of equipment and fuel will admit of the employment of these vessels in the ordinary packet service—we cannot pretend to form an opinion; but of the entire feasibility of the passage of the Atlantic by steam, as far as regards safety, comfort, and dispatch, even in the roughest and most boisterous weather, the most skeptical man must now cease to doubt.”

The employment of steamships in the regular packet service was assured in 1839, when Samuel Cunard founded the famous English line that still bears his name, and ordered four steamers of moderate size that cost between four and five hundred thousand dollars each. These, however, were wooden vessels, and it was not until 1856 that the conservative Cunards constructed any iron ships.

The construction of iron ships for ocean navigation marks the second important phase of the technical evolution of the past century’s commerce. It began on a small scale about 1830, and in 1837 an iron vessel, The Rainbow, of six hundred tons was built; but the first large iron steamer was ordered in 1840, and was the famous Great Britain before referred to, constructed by Brunel, the engineer who subsequently built the unfortunate naval monstrosity, the Great Eastern. The completion of the Great Britain, in 1843, was an important event in the progress of ocean navigation, not only because she was five times the size of her largest iron predecessor, but also because of the fact that Brunel decided, while building the vessel, to adopt the screw for propelling the ship.

The substitution of the screw instead of paddle-wheels represents a third phase of the technical evolution of ocean navigation. John Ericsson, who subsequently built the famous Monitor, had demonstrated the practicability of the screw as a propeller in 1836, and, three years later, the Archimedes, of two hundred and thirty-seven tons, was fitted with a screw. It was the success of the Archimedes that led Brunel to adopt the screw on the Great Britain.

The superiority of the screw over paddle-wheels, and the greater merits of iron ships compared with wooden vessels, have long been accepted; but the adoption of iron as a material and of the screw for a propeller came about slowly. Indeed, iron ship-building made little progress in Great Britain before 1850, and in this country wood was adhered to till much later. One reason why the English did not change to the screw and iron more quickly was probably the great influence exerted by the powerful Cunard line, whose conservatism caused it to hold to wooden ships until 1856. The Great Eastern, finished as late as 1859, was an iron ship, but was fitted with both screw and paddle-wheels. Of the total tonnage built in the United Kingdom in 1853, about twenty-five per cent was steam tonnage and a little more than twenty-five per cent was of iron. At the present time three fourths of all British-built vessels are steamers, and no wooden ships are built in the United Kingdom.

America was slow in changing from wood to iron, because the cost of iron was so high. We had wood in abundance, numerous yards for the construction of wooden vessels, and were the builders of the best type of wooden ships. In 1853, the year just referred to for Great Britain, twenty-two per cent of the tonnage of the vessels built in this country was in steamships, but only an inappreciable portion was in iron vessels. The adherence of American ship-builders and owners to wood is well illustrated by the action taken by the owners of the famous but unfortunate American Collins line, established in 1847. The company began, in 1850, to run four palatial steamers, built without regard to cost, and supplied with luxurious appointments, some of which are retained in vessels of the present day; but the company built the ships of wood and propelled them with paddle-wheels. The great American ship-building firm, William Cramp & Sons, founded in 1850, did not begin constructing iron ships till 1870. Even in 1898, the tonnage of wooden vessels constructed was one and a half times the steel and iron tonnage. About twenty-six per cent of our merchant marine, foreign and domestic, is now made up of iron and steel vessels.

The next important step in maritime progress, following the adoption of iron and the screw, was taken about 1870, when the compound engine came into general use. Though the compound engine had been used on a small vessel in France as early as 1829, it was first extensively adopted as the result of the rapid development in steam navigation which took place in the seventies. In the compound engine the steam, instead of being used in only one cylinder in passing from the boiler to the condenser, exerts its force in two or three cylinders, and even in four, in the quadruple expansion engines. This results in a great economy in the amount of fuel used. In the earlier marine engines the pressure of steam in the boilers was thirteen pounds to the square inch, and the consumption of coal per horse-power per hour was five and one half pounds; whereas, at the present time, a pressure of two hundred pounds per square inch is maintained, and the fuel used has been reduced to less than one and a half pounds per hour for each indicated horse-power.

Ten years after the compound engine came into general use, the cheapened cost of steel made it possible to adopt steel in the place of iron in the construction of hulls. This may be regarded as marking a fifth epoch-making step in the progress of commerce; because the steel ship was stronger, lighter, and able to carry more cargo than iron vessels of the same size. The substitution of steel for iron in the British yards was made rapidly. In 1879, only ten and a quarter per cent of the tonnage constructed on the Clyde was of steel; but in 1889 the per cent had risen to ninety-seven.

During the past twenty years there have been many improvements made in the construction and appointments of ships; but the more important changes have consisted in dividing vessels, by means of bulkheads, into several water-tight compartments, and in substituting twin screws for the single screw. The Inmans placed twin screws on the City of New York in 1888, and since then their use has become general on the larger ocean liners. The twin screws add somewhat, though not greatly, to the speed of vessels; but they render ships much safer and less liable to be disabled. An ocean steamer with twin screws and water-tight compartments can suffer any one of the common accidents—such as breaking of one of its shafts, losing one of its screws, having its rudder damaged, or one of its engines give out, or having its side punctured by collision—without being disabled. Although ocean travel still has its dangers, the risks at the present time are far less than they were a half or a quarter of a century ago.

The technical progress of commerce during the nineteenth century is well summarized by Mr. Henry Fry in his book on the History of North Atlantic Steam Navigation, written in 1895. He says:—

“The Comet of 1812 has multiplied into twelve thousand steamships, measuring over sixteen million tons.... Her twenty tons have been multiplied into a ship of eighteen thousand; her forty feet to six hundred and ninety-two feet; and her four horse-power to thirty thousand in a single ship. Symington’s four-inch cylinder has grown to one hundred and twenty inches; the pressure of steam in the boiler has increased from thirteen pounds to two hundred pounds on the square inch; the two hundred and forty-three knots, the maximum of the Great Western in 1838, to five hundred and sixty; and the average speed from 8.2 to 22.01 knots, while the consumption of coal has decreased from about five and one half to one and one half pounds per indicated horse-power per hour.”

The century’s naval technical progress is epitomized in the White Star liner, the Oceanic. The length of this mammoth vessel is over an eighth of a mile, being 705 feet, 6 inches. 13½ feet longer than the Great Eastern was. When loaded, the Oceanic draws 32 feet, 6 inches of water, and on that draft her displacement is 28,500 tons. The figures for the Great Eastern were 25 feet, 6 inches, and 27,000 tons. The capacity of her engines is 28,000 horse-power, or two and one third times the capacity of those in the Great Eastern. The pressure in her boilers is 192 pounds to the square inch, or ten or twelve times that in the boilers of her famous predecessor. Though not built for speed, the Oceanic can average 500 miles a day, or sixty per cent more than the Great Eastern did. The Oceanic will accommodate 400 first-class passengers, 300 second-class, 1000 third-class, and a ship’s company of 394, making a total of 2104 persons. In this regard, however, her figures are fortunately less than those of the Great Eastern, for that vessel was designed to carry 4000 persons, besides crew. These figures regarding passenger accommodations indicate in a forceful way the great advancement that has been made in the comforts of ocean travel during the past forty years.

III. IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMERCIAL AUXILIARIES.

The progress of commerce during the nineteenth century has been promoted not only by the evolution of ships of great speed and capacity, but also by the improvements made in numerous other auxiliaries of commerce. Chief among these aids to commercial activity have been the betterment of natural waterways and the construction of ship-canals, the improvements of harbors, the laying of cables, and the extension of international banking facilities.

The improvements of such rivers as the Rhine, Danube, Hudson, and Mississippi, and of such natural waterways as the chain of Great Lakes in the northern part of the United States, are conspicuous instances of the manner in which the canalization of natural waterways has been undertaken for the promotion of traffic. That part of the Rhine River traffic which passes Emmerich and Mannheim amounted to 2,800,000 tons a year from 1872 to 1875, but by 1895 it had increased to 10,300,000 tons. The traffic on the rivers of the Mississippi Valley, according to census statistics, increased from 18,946,522 tons, in 1880, to 29,485,046 tons, in 1889; and since that year the increase must have been considerable. The effect of the improvement of waterways upon commerce is most strikingly shown in the case of our Great Lakes. In the seventies, the demands of traffic were for channels and harbors 12 feet in depth. During the next decade it was necessary for the United States to increase the depth to 16 feet; and in the nineties the channels had to be made deep enough to accommodate vessels of 20 feet draft. At the present time the traffic on the Lakes is probably over 70,000,000 tons annually. During the year 1898 the freight that passed the locks at the Sault St. Marie equaled 21,000,000 tons, two and a half times the tonnage passing the Suez Canal.

During the last third of the nineteenth century six important ocean ship-canals have been opened; the Suez, opened in 1869; the Rotterdam Canal, in 1872; the canal connecting Amsterdam directly with the North Sea, 1877; the canal across the Isthmus of Corinth, 1893; the Manchester Canal, 1894; and the Baltic or Kiel Canal, finished in 1895. The Panama Canal was begun in 1882, and the construction of the Nicaragua Canal was commenced in 1889; but the date of the completion of these most important works is still problematical.

In the improvement of its harbors every government has been active. Thirty years ago a depth of 23 feet was considered ample, but after 1880 it became necessary to adopt 27 feet as the standard. During the past five years the larger seaports have required harbors with 30 feet of water in order to accommodate the largest ocean vessels, and the limit has by no means been reached. The United States Government has just recently, 1899, authorized the deepening of New York harbor to 35 feet. As noted before, the Oceanic can be loaded to a draft of 32½ feet.

The docks of the great seaports have been improved at a cost of many millions of dollars. As an illustration of this Liverpool may be cited. The city’s position gave it great commercial possibilities, but a troublesome bar at the mouth of the Mersey, and a tide with a rise and fall of thirty feet made the construction of its harbor and docks a difficult matter. The problem was solved by the construction, under public control, of a large number of commodious wet docks with gates which are opened only a few hours a day, during high tide. These harbor improvements have made possible Liverpool’s phenomenal expansion in commerce during the past quarter of a century, an increase that has given the city third place among the seaports of the world, with an annual tonnage of vessels entered and cleared of 16,000,000 tons.

The achievements of Manchester during the past decade are even more notable than those of Liverpool. Manchester is situated on a small stream thirty-five miles from the ocean; but she has become a seaport for the largest ocean vessels, and has docks and wharves equipped with the most improved appliances. Her dock-sheds, for instance, are twin structures, three stories in height, and the arrangements for handling freight are such that goods are taken directly from the ships to any one of the three stories of the sheds.

In the United States, the government and private corporations are rapidly improving the harbor facilities of our ports. During the past decade the Gulf ports have received especial attention, with the result that a large part of our export trade is now moving through the Gulf harbors. As an instance of what private corporations are doing, mention may be made of the fact that a railway corporation has recently completed a wharf in New Orleans that cost $2,000,000.

Besides these harbor improvements, the erection of more and better lighthouses and signals has made the approach of vessels safer. The United States Weather Bureau has also done much to lessen the dangers of navigation by its weather forecasts and its warnings of approaching storms. Although the Bureau was established only twenty-nine years ago, and in a small way, its services have so increased and in such a practical manner as to have come to be regarded as indispensable by the commercial interests.

The first successful trans-Atlantic cable was laid in 1866; at the present time there are 170,000 miles of submarine telegraphs in use. The cables now used for commercial purposes number 320 and include about 150,000 miles of lines, the other 20,000 miles being short government lines connecting forts, batteries, signal-stations, and lighthouses. The total cost of these cables has been about $250,000,000. The influence of the cable upon commerce has been so great as to revolutionize the methods of international trade that prevailed a century ago; indeed, ocean telegraphy has made it no more difficult to effect international sales and purchases than it is to make domestic exchanges. With thirteen cables in successful operation between the United States and Europe, we have had no difficulty in building up an immense trade across the Atlantic; but, with no trans-Pacific line, we are experiencing much difficulty in securing a large place in the trade of the Orient. Of course the development of our commerce with the East is conditioned by numerous other factors; but no one doubts that the construction of the proposed Pacific cable will be of assistance to our commercial progress in the Orient.

Among the other agencies that have promoted the progress of commerce, mention should be made of the extension and improvement of international credit systems and banking facilities. In this regard the United Kingdom leads the nations of the world, London being the clearing-house for a large part of the world’s trade. Germany, France, and the Netherlands have also developed good facilities for international banking; but the United States has not yet done so. Our merchants are still obliged to settle most accounts through foreign banks, but it is probable that our recent acquisition of foreign possessions will cause us to establish some system of international banks.

IV. EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE DURING THE CENTURY.

In the introductory paragraph of this paper it was stated that the commercial progress of the past hundred years is one of the salient features of the history of the century; and, in contrasting the commerce of a hundred years ago with that of the present, a few figures were cited that indicated in a general way the growth that the foreign trade of Great Britain and the United States has enjoyed. The expansion of international trade during the century merits fuller presentation and analysis.

Accurate figures for the whole world’s trade are not obtainable for the earlier years; and if it were possible to present comparative statistics of the international trade of the world, as a whole, the comparisons would not be so instructive as those which present the progress of the commerce of those countries which rank highest among trading nations. Accordingly it will be most profitable to confine our statistics and analytical study to the commerce of Great Britain, Germany, France, and the United States.

The progress which the commerce of the United Kingdom has made during the century is shown by the following table, giving the imports, exports, and total trade for the years 1800, 1839, 1897, and the annual average for alternate quinquennial periods between 1855 and 1890.

TABLE SHOWING GROWTH OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

--------+---------------+---------------+-------------- Years. | Imports. | Exports. | Total Trade. --------+---------------+---------------+-------------- 1800 | $148,876,000 | $210,240,000 | $359,116,000 1839 | 300,474,000 | 321,564,000 | 622,038,000 1856–60 | 890,723,000 | 604,854,000 | 1,495,577,000 1866–70 | 1,425,936,000 | 914,586,000 | 2,340,522,000 1876–80 | 1,862,775,000 | 980,818,000 | 2,843,593,000 1886–90 | 1,897,352,000 | 1,453,695,000 | 3,351,047,000 1897 | 2,194,932,524 | 1,431,598,345 | 3,626,530,869 --------+---------------+---------------+--------------

During the first four decades of the century, the growth of the commerce of the United Kingdom, though considerable, was not rapid,—the figures for 1839 showing an increase of 73 per cent over those for 1800,—but during the fifth, sixth, and seventh decades the progress was phenomenal. The value of the exports in 1873, as compared with 1839, shows a gain of 379 per cent, and the total foreign trade increased nearly 450 per cent; that is, it was five and a half times as much in 1873 as it was thirty-four years previous. Since 1880, the quantities of imports and exports have largely increased, but the fall in prices has been such as to make the increase in the total value comparatively small.

The commerce of the German States during the nineteenth century did not grow very rapidly until after 1850. During the early part of the century the great Continental wars rendered commerce nearly impossible. Peace was restored in 1815, but the German States had neither political nor commercial unity. Each State had a tariff which applied against all other States. Gradually a Zollverein, or customs union, grew up, which, by 1854, had come to include all the German States except Austria, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Lauenburg, and the three Hanse towns, Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen. In 1866, the North German Federation was organized, and this paved the way for the formation of the German Empire in 1871. The Zollverein made commercial progress possible, and political unity gave it a great impulse.

The statistics of the German trade before the establishment of the Zollverein are very meagre. A German authority, Otto Huebner, estimates the value of the total import and export trade of the German States to have been $309,019,200 in 1850, and $504,988,200 in 1855. The value of the imports of Hamburg, the chief port of Germany, rose from an annual average of $92,320,050 for the five-year period 1851–55, to $157,660,472 during the half decade 1866–70. The growth of Germany’s foreign commerce during the past twenty years has been phenomenal, and her trade is now second only to that of Great Britain. In 1881, the imports were valued at $704,904,000, and the exports at $707,978,000, being slightly more than the imports; whereas, by 1890, the imports had risen to $986,641,000, and the exports to $792,620,000, a sum nearly a hundred million dollars less than the value of the imports. The foreign trade of the country, particularly in imports, has continued its rapid growth since 1890, the figures for 1897 being, imports $1,231,756,862, and exports $977,447,198, a total trade of $2,209,204,060.

The foreign trade of France at the beginning of the nineteenth century consisted of $80,500,000 worth of imports and $59,000,000 of exports, a total of $139,500,000. The Continental wars, up to 1815, were even more disastrous to French trade than they were to German; but with the restoration of peace, commercial progress began, and between 1815 and 1831 the total trade increased from $119,200,000 worth to $168,152,000 worth. The growth by decades since 1830 has been as follows: In 1840, the value of the total foreign trade was $278,383,200; in 1850, $358,748,400; in 1860, $805,659,200; in 1871, $1,242,765,600; in 1880, $1,640,712,300; and in 1890, $2,003,557,516. These figures show that the rapid expansion of French commerce began about 1850. The highest point was reached in 1891; but since then there has been a slight falling off in the total trade, due to a decrease in imports. In 1891, the value of the imports was $1,155,973,310; in 1897, $991,537,500. The exports were valued at $920,839,130 in 1891; and at $926,998,300 in 1897. The total trade for these years was $2,076,812,440 for 1891, and $1,918,535,800 for 1897.

During the first quarter of the century France had a strong balance of trade in her favor: that is, she sold more commodities than she bought; and between 1825 and 1840 the exports and imports about balanced each other; but since that date, with the exception of the years 1871 to 1875, when the huge war indemnity was paid, the balance of trade had been unfavorable, as would naturally be expected of a country such as France, whose people are extensively engaged in manufacturing. France, as well as the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and other European countries, imports raw materials and food in large quantities.

The decline in the value of French trade, though due to falling prices rather than to a decrease in the quantities of commodities, has given the French people much concern. It is not probable, however, that this decline is due to permanent causes. The population and industries of France have not reached a stationary stage; they are going to increase and cause a natural growth in the country’s foreign commerce. The commercial progress of France, however, can hardly be so rapid as that of Germany and the United States. These are the countries whose commercial vitality is strongest, and of these two countries, the United States possesses greater natural resources and larger possibilities, industrial and commercial. The progress of the commerce of the United States merits a somewhat closer survey than has been given its three leading rivals in trade.

V. THE TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE CENTURY.

The economic progress of the United States during the past hundred years is most clearly indicated by the growth of its foreign and domestic commerce. Being a new country, busied with occupying and developing our large territory, our domestic commerce has been of enormous proportions. With nearly two hundred thousand miles of railroads, comprising four ninths of the total railway mileage of the world, with our chain of the Great Lakes and our admirable system of navigable rivers, it has been possible to exploit our natural resources on a large scale, and to develop an inland traffic several times the volume of our foreign commerce.

Our international trade, however, although smaller than our domestic traffic, has been large throughout the country, has grown rapidly, especially since the year 1850, the period of the Civil War excepted, and is now increasing in such a manner as to give our foreign rivals much concern. The progress of our foreign trade during this century is shown by the following table containing the statistics of the value of our merchandise imports, exports, and total foreign trade for each decade, beginning with 1790.

TABLE SHOWING IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF MERCHANDISE BY DECADES FROM 1790 TO 1898.

------+---------------+-------------+-------------- Year. | Exports. | Imports. | Total Trade. ------+---------------+-------------+-------------- 1790 | $20,205,156 | $23,000,000 | $43,205,156 1800 | 70,971,780 | 91,252,768 | 162,224,548 1810 | 66,757,970 | 85,400,000 | 152,157,970 1820 | 69,691,669 | 74,450,000 | 144,141,669 1830 | 71,670,735 | 62,720,956 | 134,391,691 1840 | 123,668,932 | 98,258,706 | 221,927,638 1850 | 144,375,726 | 173,509,526 | 317,885,252 1860 | 333,576,057 | 353,616,119 | 687,192,176 1870 | 392,771,768 | 435,958,408 | 828,730,176 1880 | 835,638,658 | 667,954,746 | 1,503,593,404 1890 | 857,828,864 | 789,310,409 | 1,647,139,093 1898 | 1,210,291,913 | 616,049,654 | 1,826,341,567 ------+---------------+-------------+--------------

During the first half of the century, the expansion of our foreign trade was not especially rapid. The Continental wars, lasting from 1793 to 1815, and our own war with England, from 1812 to 1815, interfered considerably with international trade. Probably our tariffs of 1816, 1824, and 1828 had the effect they were intended to accomplish, and restricted somewhat the volume of our foreign commerce. The chief reason, however, why our trade progress was much more rapid after 1850 was, that it was not until about that time that the means of inland transportation became developed sufficiently to make possible a large domestic traffic. When our central West was able to exchange commodities on a large scale with the seaboard, then our foreign commerce began to increase rapidly.

The growth of our imports was very rapid for the period of fifteen years, 1879 to 1893, their value having risen from $445,777,775 to $866,400,922; but since then there has been a sharp decline to $616,049,654. Our exports, however, have increased in a phenomenal manner during the past decade. Prior to 1897, the highest point was reached in 1892, when the value of the exports was $1,030,278,148. In 1897, the value was $1,050,993,556, and in 1898 (the official year ending June 30), the value, as shown by the foregoing table, was $1,210,291,913. In consequence of this great increase in our exports the total foreign trade of the United States has not decreased in value during recent years, although there has been a considerable fall in prices and a large falling off in our importations. Our total trade, during the fiscal year 1898, was much larger than it was in 1890, and fell only $10,000,000 short of the value reached in the record-breaking year of 1892. The calendar year 1898 shows a larger trade than has been shown by any previous year, the value being $1,868,523,057.

The leading industry of the United States being agriculture, our exports consist largely of various products of the farm. In 1898 the exported agricultural products were valued at $853,683,570, and comprised 70.54 per cent of our total sales abroad. In spite of these large figures, the preponderance of agricultural over other products is being reduced with considerable rapidity by the growth in the exportation of manufactures. Before 1876 our exports of manufactures were less than $100,000,000 a year; whereas, in the calendar year 1898, they were $370,924,994. In 1880, agricultural exports comprised 83.25 per cent of our exports, and manufactures 12.48 per cent; and in the calendar year 1898, a year of exceptionally large foreign sales of food products, agriculture furnished only 69.06 per cent,—less than seven tenths of the exports, while manufacture supplied 24.96 per cent, or one fourth of the total. The year 1898 is a notable one in the history of American manufactures, for it was then, for the first time, that we sold to foreigners more of our manufactures than we bought of theirs.

A table showing the total foreign trade of the United States from 1789 to 1898, the first eleven decades of our national existence, has recently been prepared by the Bureau of Statistics in the United States Treasury Department. It shows the total imports and exports of merchandise and specie, and on which side of our trade account the grand balance comes.

TABLE SHOWING TOTAL TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES 1789–1898.

Merchandise Exports $30,952,202,985 Imports 29,979,961,487 ---------------- Excess of Exports 972,241,498 ================ Gold and Silver Exports 3,400,623,581 Imports 1,940,150,320 ---------------- Excess of Exports 1,460,473,261 ================ Merchandise and Gold and Silver combined Exports 34,352,826,566 Imports 31,920,111,807 ---------------- Excess of Exports 2,432,714,759 ================

The table shows that we have exported nearly thirty-one billion dollars worth of commodities,—about a billion dollars more than we have purchased. It also shows that we have sent out of the country $1,460,473,261 more of the precious metals than we have received. Our exports of merchandise and gold and silver combined exceed our total imports by the large sum of $2,432,714,759. If the statistics of our imports and exports for each year since 1789 be consulted, it will be found that during the eighty-seven years preceding 1876 there were but sixteen years when our exports of merchandise exceeded our imports. The balance of trade was nearly always “unfavorable.” Since 1876, however, the balance has nearly always been on the other side, there having been only three years when our exports did not exceed our imports.

In return for something, we have given foreign countries nearly two and a half billion dollars worth more of commodities and precious metals than we have received in return. A part of this large sum, possibly one fourth, has been paid to foreigners for freights on our imported commodities, and we have also spent large sums in foreign travel. The chief reason why we have exported more than we have imported is, that we have been borrowing foreign capital to use in constructing railroads and factories and in developing our farms and mines. Prior to 1876, we received $1,084,339,912 more than we exported; we accumulated a large foreign debt. Since 1876, we have continued to borrow abroad; but we have been able to liquidate a part of our former debts, and also to exchange large amounts of commodities and precious metals for capital; for, since 1876, our exports have exceeded our imports by $3,517,054,671. If our present large excess of exports over imports continues, we shall soon become a creditor nation with large sums invested abroad.

The history of our foreign trade is highly gratifying to our national pride; our achievements have been signal, well-nigh continuous, and have been more marked during the latter decades of the century than at any previous time. The history of the American marine, however, presents a somewhat different picture.

VI. THE AMERICAN MARINE IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE.

In colonial days maritime industries held an important place. The location of the colonies adjacent to the ocean, their dependence upon the mother country for manufactures and upon the West Indies for tropical products, their need of foreign markets for their timber, fish, tobacco, and food products, and their abundant supply of lumber for shipbuilding, all tended to make them a seafaring people. This fondness for the sea was especially intense in New England, where the returns of agriculture were relatively meagre. The long Revolutionary War destroyed many ships and interfered seriously with ocean commerce, but the struggle gave the colonists what was of more value than ships,—a spirit of venture and hardihood. Hundreds of ships and thousands of seamen engaged in privateering, and when the war ended the maritime instincts of the Americans were stronger than they had been when the declaration of political and commercial independence was declared in 1776.

The imbecility of the general government under the Articles of Confederation and the restrictions placed upon interstate traffic prevented any considerable maritime progress between the Peace of Paris and the inauguration of a truly national government under the Constitution. But a stable government, sound credit, and uniform national laws for the regulation of commerce gave the maritime instincts of the Americans a chance to assert themselves, and the tonnage of our ships grew rapidly larger. Our tonnage registered for the foreign trade was only 123,893 tons in 1789; by 1795 it had grown to 549,471 tons; in 1800 it amounted to 667,107 tons; during the next five years it increased to 744,224 tons, and by 1810 it had reached 981,019 tons. Such a growth as this in twenty years, from such small beginnings, was truly remarkable.

The American ships soon crowded most foreign vessels out of our commerce. In 1790 we carried only 40.5 per cent of our imports and exports; but by 1795 we had secured 90 per cent; and, with the exception of a short period during and immediately following the War of 1812, it was not till fifty-two years later that as much as one fourth of our foreign trade was carried under foreign flags. Moreover, we not only carried our own commerce, but we also entered largely into the carrying trade of other countries. The great European war crippled the commercial activities of European countries, and made it easier for our ships to gain control of our own commerce and to secure employment as carriers for foreign merchants. During the fifteen years from 1793, the year of the outbreak of the European war, to 1808, when the blockade of European ports and the capture of American ships and seamen led us to attempt to prohibit our ships temporarily from engaging in foreign trade, our merchant marine rose from a position of obscurity to a place of great prominence on the high seas.

As long as ocean commerce was carried in wooden vessels, the maritime interests of the United States continued to prosper. The War of 1812–15, the panic of 1819, and the competition of foreign vessels after the restoration of peace in Europe, gave our marine a setback, so that it was not until 1847 that our tonnage in the foreign trade exceeded the figures for 1810; but during the period of fifteen years, from 1846 to 1861, our tonnage increased 150 per cent. When the Civil War, which proved so disastrous to the shipping interests of the United States, broke out in 1861, our tonnage registered in the foreign trade equaled 2,496,894 tons,—the highest point it has ever reached. The American sailing clipper was for nearly half a century the mistress of the seas. As J. R. Soley says: “It was in these ships that for nearly half a century not only the largest freights of the world were carried, but the finest and most profitable as well. Merchants having valuable cargoes to export would wait for the sailing of a favorite clipper, and merchants with goods to import would instruct their correspondents to wait in like manner.” As late as 1850 the higher grades of commodities were almost always shipped in the stanch and speedy American clipper ship.

Since 1861 the American marine in the foreign trade has played a rôle of decreasing importance. Three causes account for this. About the middle of the century our commercial rivals began to substitute iron ships for wooden; but we were not able to adopt the better material in the construction of our ships because of the high cost of iron in this country at that time. Great Britain could build the iron ships much cheaper than we could, and she soon began to displace us in the carrying trade of the other countries. And it was not long before she began also to carry a large share of our own foreign commerce.

The second cause for our maritime decline was the Civil War. In 1861 our tonnage registered for the foreign trade was 2,500,000 tons; by 1866 it had fallen to 1,387,756 tons, a loss of over a million tons. During the war period, nearly 800,000 tons of our shipping were sold abroad; 110,000 tons were captured by Confederate cruisers; and other casualties occurred. Of course there were no ships built for our merchant marine during the stormy years of the war.

Why, it may be asked, did we not restore our ships after the war and regain our former proud place on the high seas? For the simple, though possibly unsatisfying, reason that we did not find it profitable to do so. Capital is invested where the prospects for profit are best, and the inducement to put money into American ships for the foreign trade was not strong. It still cost more to build ships in our country than it did in Europe, and the expenses of operating them when constructed were greater. Moreover, our rivals had gotten possession of the lion’s share of the world’s carrying trade, and would not release any portion of their business without a keen struggle. At the same time the American capitalist was offered many opportunities for the investment of his property in domestic enterprises. During the quarter of a century which followed the war, we devoted our energies and capital to building our railroads, opening the West, exploiting our mineral and forest resources, and building the mills and factories whose products are now rapidly entering foreign markets in all parts of the world. America’s economic activities were industrial rather than commercial.

The result of these general causes has been the decline of our shipping in the foreign trade from two and a half million tons in 1861 to less than three quarters of a million tons in 1898; but it seems that the low-water mark has been reached and that the tide is turning. The man who writes the history of our merchant marine on the high seas during the first half of the twentieth century will, in all probability, write a record of rapid progress. We have already made much headway in substituting steel for wooden ships; and America’s foremost iron manufacturer, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, says that steel ships can now be built as cheaply on our Atlantic coast as they can be built on the Clyde. Furthermore, the opportunities for investment in domestic industries are becoming fewer and less alluring, and there are good reasons for thinking American capitalists will be disposed from now on to put their ventures in ships to sail foreign seas.

The attitude of American capitalists, however, will depend very largely on the maritime policy adopted by the United States. That policy should unquestionably be as liberal as the policy adopted by our rivals in commerce. Whatever differences of opinion may rightly exist as regards specific measures for the restoration of the American marine to the high seas, all parties should agree as touching the justice and necessity of treating our maritime interests as generously as Great Britain deals with the owners of her mighty marine.

Our domestic marine, being free from foreign competition, has had a prosperity as great as the adversity of our foreign marine. The present tonnage of domestic shipping is nearly 4,000,000 tons, our growth during the period since the Civil War having been nearly a million tons. The traffic on our northern lakes now employs 3256 vessels, canal boats, and barges, with a total tonnage of 1,437,500 tons; and two thirds of this tonnage consists of steamships. In 1888 our lake tonnage was only 874,102 tons; the growth during a decade having been nearly 80 per cent.

It is hardly necessary to remark that the increase or decrease in the efficiency of a marine during the last few decades is not measured by the growth or decline in the tonnage statistics. The modern steamship, aided by the many commercial auxiliaries that facilitate it in receiving and discharging its cargo, is a much more efficient transportation agent than was its smaller predecessor propelled by sails, and loaded and unloaded mainly by human labor. Our present domestic marine of 4,000,000 tons is at least twice as effective as was the domestic shipping of 3,000,000 by which we were served a generation ago.

VII. AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING.

One great aid to the achievement of maritime greatness is a strong shipbuilding industry, and every nation with commercial aspirations endeavors to establish the business upon a sure foundation. For some countries, as in the case of the United Kingdom, that is much easier than for others; and that is one reason why Great Britain has so easily succeeded in maintaining her place as mistress of the seas.

The business of building ships in the United States, to be used in foreign trade, has passed through a golden age of triumphs, followed by a period of decline and discouragement, and it is now entering upon an epoch of revival. The golden age came in the days of wooden vessels. It began in early colonial times and lasted until the middle of this century, when the world began to buy iron ships of the United Kingdom. The magnitude of our shipbuilding industry at the middle of the nineteenth century is indicated by the fact that during the decade beginning with 1850 the tonnage built in our yards equaled 3,988,372 tons, an annual average of nearly 400,000 tons. During the three years 1854–56 we constructed over a million and a half tons.

The decline in American shipbuilding set in sharply after the Civil War, and, in spite of the continued growth of our domestic marine, the tonnage constructed by American builders steadily declined until 1886, when only 95,453 tons were built. The causes of this decline have been stated in what has been said regarding the substitution of iron and steel vessels for wooden. The period of decline seems now to be safely passed, for we are annually building over 200,000 tons on an average, and every indication points to rapid progress in the near future.

What is more indicative of progress than the increase in the tonnage constructed is the growth in the percentage of steamers and iron and steel ships built, as compared with the wooden sailing ships turned out. During the decade 1872–81, we built 800,000 tons of steamers and 224,000 tons of iron and steel ships; in the decade following, we constructed 1,200,000 steam tons and 485,000 tons of iron and steel vessels; and from 1891 to 1898 our yards turned out 730,432 tons of steamships and 543,850 tons of iron and steel vessels. As these figures indicate, the reconstruction of our merchant marine is progressing with a fair degree of rapidity. At the present time one half our tonnage consists of steamers; but our percentage of iron and steel is still small as compared with other countries. Over seven tenths of our tonnage consists of wooden ships, whereas our chief commercial rival has practically no wooden vessels whatever. Only 7 per cent of the French marine consists of wooden ships, and in the case of Germany less than 5 per cent.

The outlook for iron and steel shipbuilding is so promising that a rapid increase in iron and steel tonnage is certain to come. Largely through the influence of the reconstruction of our navy, numerous large plants for the construction of steel ships have been established at Bath, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Newport News, San Francisco, and other seaports. Cities on the Mississippi River, and especially those on the Great Lakes, are engaged in building ships of iron and steel. There are several steel plants in the Lake ports, and in them we have built the larger part of our steel tonnage. Our iron ships have been built chiefly in the seaboard yards. During the present year, 1899, the American yards are busy constructing vessels both for the navy and for our merchant fleet, and new yards are being established. Having begun selling crude and structural iron and steel and various classes of machinery in Europe, even in Great Britain, we shall ere long be selling iron and steel ships. The excellence of our navy has brought us orders for war ships, and the skill and invention of our shipbuilders will bring us foreign orders for merchantmen.

VIII. CAUSES ACCOUNTING FOR THE CENTURY’S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS.

The commercial progress of the nineteenth century, the salient phases of which have been depicted in the foregoing pages, has been the result of three sets of causes, economic, political, and social.

The economic causes of most importance are the improvements in transportation, the reorganization of industry on a large scale, the accumulation of capital, together with the growth of corporations and credit institutions whereby the utility of capital has been enhanced, and the discovery of large stores of gold.

Transportation is the handmaid of trade. Whatever enables this handmaid to do her work cheaper and quicker enlarges the scope and volume of the world’s commerce. When one considers that it cost nearly four times as much in 1875 to ship wheat from New York to Liverpool as it did twenty years later, and fully three times as much from Chicago to Liverpool, one can readily understand how transportation has removed hindrances to commerce.

Cheap and rapid transportation has made an extensive commerce possible, but it has been the organization of industry on a large scale that has created the chief demand for commerce. Industry at the present time is, to a large extent, so organized as best to promote the territorial and international division of labor; and each large producer regards the whole world as his market. The amount of commerce required increases with the concentration and specialization of industry, and with every widening of the producer’s market.

It has been the accumulation of capital and its increased availability for purposes of production that have made possible the organization of industry on its present basis, and enabled men to construct the highly developed transportation system by means of which commerce is accomplished. The material progress of the past century is unprecedented. Industry has created wealth as with the touch of a magic wand; and this rapidly growing wealth has been made available capital through the instrumentality of the corporation which, by means of stocks and bonds, has gathered into giant organizations the property of hundreds and even thousands of individuals. The industrial corporations have been greatly assisted in their work of concentrating and applying capital, by the banks and other institutions that have enlarged credit and made a given amount of property capable of performing a much larger work. The expansion of industrial credits, furthermore, has been greatly facilitated by the issue of government bonds in large amounts during the century. These state obligations constitute excellent business securities, of which banks, other corporations, and individuals make extensive use. Such are some of the factors that have promoted the accumulation of capital and increased the volume of commerce.

Money is not capital, but an adequate supply of a sound and stable medium of exchange is essential to industrial and commercial progress. Twice in the history of the world the discovery of large supplies of the precious metals has given a great impetus to industry and trade: once, in the sixteenth century, when the Spanish galleys brought to Europe rich treasure from the silver mines of America; and again, in the middle of the nineteenth century, when the rich finds of gold were made in Australia and California. The very rapid increase in the commerce of the United States and of the world at large, which began about 1850, was in no small degree the result of the rising prices which followed the discoveries of gold. The closing decade of the century is witnessing a similar occurrence. For many years prices declined rapidly; the demands made upon the world’s gold supply were rapidly increased at a time when the annual output was declining. From 1850 to 1870 the annual output of gold averaged over $130,000,000; it then declined so rapidly that it amounted to only a little over $100,000,000 a year, in 1885 and 1886. It was only $118,848,700 in 1890; but the present annual production is nearly $300,000,000, and the fall in prices has been cheeked for a while at least. The very rapid enlargement in commerce during the past two years must have been facilitated by the recent increase in the annual production of gold.

A second general cause accounting for the world’s progress in commerce is political—the commercial policy followed by the leading nations of the world. Up to the nineteenth century, practically every country strove to promote its trade, navigation interests, and its power as a nation by means of the mercantile system,—a system of strict and detailed regulation of foreign trade by means of tariffs and navigation laws. Each country strove to determine the nature of its international trade, and endeavored to carry on its commerce in its own ships. In the case of one country, at least, the mercantile system was eminently successful. Great Britain entered the great Napoleonic wars with a powerful naval and merchant marine, and emerged from that struggle the unquestioned mistress of the ocean. Her industries also, as well as her ships, were stronger than those of other countries; and she soon concluded that both her foreign trade and her shipping would profit by doing away with the restrictions of the mercantile system, and adopting the policy of entire commercial freedom. She made no mistake, for her industries and commerce have wonderfully prospered.

The success of free trade and freedom of commerce in the United Kingdom had much influence upon other countries, and, during the third quarter of the nineteenth century, several countries began to move cautiously in the direction that the United Kingdom had taken. They soon found, however, that for them free trade and shipping meant British trade and shipping, because of their inability to compete successfully with their powerful rival; and, during the last quarter of the century, the dominant commercial and maritime policy outside of the British Isles has been one providing for the regulation of trade by tariffs, and for the promotion of the mercantile marine by postal payments and bounties. At the present time, the two most powerful commercial rivals of the United Kingdom are the United States and Germany; and their trade policy is one of regulation instead of freedom. It would seem, therefore, judging by results, that both the United Kingdom and her competitors have acted wisely, and that in both cases the means adopted were such as conditions demanded.

The third cause of the world’s commercial progress during the past century has been colonial expansion. Germany, France, and other countries, influenced by the great success of the United Kingdom, have established colonies in different parts of the world, and assumed control over uncivilized peoples, until there are now 125 colonies, protectorates, and dependencies. These 125 regions comprise two fifths of the land surface of the globe, and contain one third of its population. These colonies and protectorates import annually over $1,500,000,000 worth of commodities, and of this large sum more than forty per cent is bought from mother countries. The last nation to adopt the policy of colonial expansion is the United States, her principal colony, the Philippine Islands, having been made a part of her possessions because of our desire to secure a larger share of the trade of the Orient.

IX. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY PROSPECT.

The world is entering upon the twentieth century with the nations of the earth bound to each other by much closer relations than existed a hundred years ago, and chief among the forces that draw the countries of the world together is commerce. It is commerce, more than anything else, that has brought about the existing organization of industry in which each nation is dependent upon every other.

The nations of the world are mutually dependent, but their interests are not identical. In the future, as they have done in the past, nations will compete with each other, each striving to secure for itself a maximum of economic advantage; and this competition will continue to take the form of commercial rivalry. The great international struggles of the present day are being carried on to secure trade advantages; and at no time in the past have those contests been more earnest than they now are. The conflicts of the twentieth century will be commercial struggles, and they will be intense.

In the centuries when Phœnicia, Greece, Carthage, Rome, and Venice were successively powerful, the Mediterranean was the theatre of commercial activity and international rivalry. The navigators and explorers, whose exploits closed the mediæval period and inaugurated the modern era, carried the world’s commerce from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and transferred the centres of national greatness from the southern to the western and northern nations of Europe. The great industrial countries of the present are those of Europe and America adjacent to the North Atlantic. These countries originate the larger part of the world’s commerce; and the main streams of international trade are those which connect these countries with each other and with those regions of the earth less highly developed industrially.

The Isthmus of Suez, just north of the Tropic of Cancer, and the Isthmus of Panama, a short distance south of that line, were the only barriers which nature placed across an otherwise continuous water route around the earth in the northern hemisphere. These barriers diverted the lines which the world’s largest volume of traffic tends to follow far to the south around Africa and South America, or did so until 1869, when Europe overcame the barrier of most consequence to her by the construction of the Suez Canal. Since the opening of that waterway Europe has enjoyed advantages for international trade superior to those enjoyed by our country. Our regions most highly developed industrially are tributary to the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. To the east of us lies Europe, a region of great industrial advancement, demanding little more than our surplus food products and raw materials; to the south are the countries of the South Atlantic lying along the line of the world’s secondary commercial routes; countries, moreover, whose trade we can secure only in direct competition with Europe, which has already forestalled us at many points. In pushing their trade westward the industrial States of the United States—and they are found in the eastern half of our country—find that the possibilities of a traffic by land are restricted within narrow bounds by the heavy costs of a long haul over the elevated Cordilleran Mountain ranges, while shipments by water have to take the circuitous and expensive route around South America. Until an isthmian canal is constructed the United States will be handicapped in its competition with Europe for the trade of all countries bordering the Pacific Ocean.

The United States looks forward to the coming century, confident of sharing largely in the world’s commerce. With an enormous and rapidly growing foreign trade, and with her industries sending their wares into all quarters of the globe, the future of her trade is certain. Shall we also become a great maritime nation? Shall we be as successful in the age of steel steamships as we were in the days when our clipper-ships, “those strong-winged gulls in timber, put swift girdles around the earth?” Unquestionably, yes! The commercial advantages which our rivals have possessed for half a century have nearly all disappeared. Our maritime instincts are not dead; and when we again turn our attention in earnest to the work of international navigation, we shall “win anew the wide-reaching seas our sires loved and occupied so well.”

EDUCATION DURING THE CENTURY

BY FRANKLIN S. EDMONDS, A.M.,

Asst. Prof. of Political Science, Central High School, Philadelphia.

The nineteenth century has been characterized by a deep and abiding interest in popular education. One hundred years ago there were many close observers who strongly opposed all attempts to provide schools for the masses, lest they should be educated above their station in life. This feeling was particularly strong in conservative countries like England. It led the Duke of Wellington to remark to one who was explaining to him the work of Joseph Lancaster, “Take care what you are about; for unless you base all this on religion, you are only making so many clever devils.” So careful a critic as Alexis de Tocqueville, after his visit to the United States in 1831, wrote to Jared Sparks: “Are the effects of education uniformly good? Does not a man who obtains an education above his social condition become an unquiet citizen?” The first triumph of the nineteenth century was the conquest of this fear; and there is to-day a general belief that it is the duty of each community to provide a well-developed school system, that each child may have an opportunity for making the best and highest use of his powers and capabilities.

Perhaps no single element has contributed more to this change in the popular attitude towards schools than the writings of the great group of thinkers who, with lofty ideals and keen acumen, have devoted themselves to the study and discussion of educational questions. Germany has been foremost in its contributions to educational literature. Foremost in time as in influence is John Henry Pestalozzi (1746–1827). Although endowed with an “unrivaled incapacity for government,” Pestalozzi has yet become an inspiration to modern pedagogy, because of his love for teaching and the tender sympathy of his nature. After various educational experiments, he opened, in 1805, a school at Yverdun, on the Lake of Neufchatel, which soon won for him a European reputation, and became a centre of interest to educators from all Europe. The Emperor of Russia gave him a personal proof of his favor, and Fichte, the great German philosopher, declared that he saw in Pestalozzi and his labors the dawning of a new era for humanity. In his writings and in his teaching Pestalozzi emphasized the importance of the home in education; he asserted the truth that all instruction is based on observation: “Neither books nor any product of human skill, but life itself, yields the basis for all education;” and in a general way he aimed to develop the child through his own personal activity, rather than to furnish him with useful facts.

The most eminent of Pestalozzi’s disciples was Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852), the founder of the kindergarten. After a varied career as a forester, student at Jena, etc., Froebel went to Yverdun in 1808, and for two years was a co-laborer with Pestalozzi. The impulse which he here received never lost its force. It brought him to consider the problems of elementary education, and finally led, in 1837, to his establishment of the first kindergarten at Blankenburg in Thuringia. His idea may be well expressed in his own words,—“I can convert children’s activities, energies, amusements, occupations, all that goes by the name of play, into instruments for my purpose, and therefore transform play into work. This work will be education in the true sense of the term.” His great theory was idealistic—he believed in the unity of the universe, in the essential harmony of the world. It was the duty of the teacher to fit the child for his place in human society. This could be best done if the child was taken at a very early age and prepared for life in an ordinary school. The kindergarten, or child-garden, is thus a school where a child learns social life, where his play is systematized and his activities are directed. The average course of study takes hold of the child when he is six years of age; the kindergarten usually fills in the two preceding years. As an educational institution, the kindergarten has met with little public support in Europe, although in Paris there are a number of “maternal schools,” which correspond closely to Froebel’s plan. In the United States, Miss Elizabeth Peabody became the first apostle of the movement. The idea of caring for the children below the regular school-age won instant favor, and in a number of large cities kindergartens were opened under private auspices. As their success became clearer and more positive, they were taken under the control of the public. In 1896–97, the report of the United States Commissioner of Education shows that there were 1077 kindergartens in the United States connected with the public-school systems of cities having more than 4000 population, with an enrollment of 81,916 pupils. The International Kindergarten Union, formed for the purpose of “gathering and disseminating knowledge of the kindergarten movement throughout the world,” has aided greatly in stimulating an intelligent interest in Froebel’s ideals in America.

None of the great German philosophers has been honored with a more loyal cult than Johann Friedrich Herbart (1775–1841), who directed general attention to the necessity of studying the principles of education. In his writings and lectures while professor at the University of Göttingen, Herbart started an inquiry into the theoretical basis of instruction. He found the final aim of all education to centre in the formation of moral character, while the keystone of instruction is interest. “The final aim of instruction is morality. But the nearer aim which instruction in particular must see before itself in order to reach the final one, is many-sidedness of interest.” Herbart’s influence in arousing and directing thought has been most felt in Germany, but in America his name has been taken by one of the most active educational associations, “The National Herbart Society.”

Next to Germany in its list of great educational thinkers must come England. At the beginning of this century there were no “public schools” in England, in the American sense of the term. The great preparatory schools,—Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Winchester, etc.,—although called “public” by the English, were in reality endowed boarding-schools, where as a rule only the children of the rich could be found. General education was cared for by the village schools under the direction of the vicar of the parish, and usually presided over by elderly dames with varied degrees of attainments. At the end of the eighteenth century, the work of Andrew Bell and Joseph Lancaster began to arouse some interest. Working independently, the one in India and the other in London, both developed the same method of providing general instruction at a minimum of cost, by using the more advanced pupils to instruct the beginners. “By the aid of monitors,” said Lancaster, “one master can teach a thousand boys.” In 1798, Lancaster opened the first English school of this kind in Southwark, London, placing this inscription over the door: “All that will may send their children and have them educated freely, and those that do not wish to have education for nothing may pay for it, if they please.” In 1808, the Royal Lancasterian Society was organized, to agitate for more schools; and although its name was changed, in 1814, to British and Foreign School Society, its work has continued down to the present time. In 1818, Lancaster came to America, and was at once placed in general charge of the public schools of Philadelphia. He was made principal of a model school for training teachers, which is believed to have been the first attempt at a normal school in America. After extensive agitation in New York, in Canada, where in 1829 he received an appropriation from the legislature to enable him to start his monitorial schools, and even in South America, Lancaster’s work was done.

Probably the greatest teacher of the century in England was Thomas Arnold, whose character will long live in literature through the loving portraiture of his pupils. While contributing little of importance to the science of pedagogy, he was yet able to work a revolution in the general conception of teacher and pupil, and their relations to each other. He insisted that his teachers must continue their studies after they had secured positions, and so raised professional ideals. “The pupil,” said he, “must drink from the running fountain, and not from the stagnant pool.” His sympathy gave him rare power to mould the character of boys. He trusted his boys and they became worthy of it. “It is a shame to tell Arnold a lie! He always believes one,”—was the common saying. As a consequence, there went out from Rugby School from 1827 to 1842, the years of Arnold’s headmastership, a group of clean, healthy, whole-souled boys, well fitted to become leaders in English life.

Many contributions have been made to the literature of pedagogy during the century, but there is none that has attracted more attention or stimulated more earnest discussion than Herbert Spencer’s “Education.” In the first chapter of his book, Spencer asks the question which aroused the educational world,—“What knowledge is of most worth?” It at once directed inquiry into the very heart of educational theory. The course of study, the order in which subjects should be considered, the time to be given to each,—all these problems were vitally concerned with the answer to this question. Mr. Spencer’s solution won instant favor: “How to live,” said he, “that is the essential question for us.... And this, being the great thing needful for us to learn, is, by consequence, the great thing which education has to teach. To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge.” This point of view led to the accenting of useful and practical subjects. The human body should be studied,—this is necessary to fulfill the first law of nature, self-preservation. The natural sciences should be an essential part of education: this is necessary for our acquaintance with the world in which we must live and work. History and social science should be studied: that each one may become fully in touch with the society in which he forms a unit. Naturally, little time would be left for branches that were æsthetic or cultural, and so Spencer would have the student give but his surplus time to these. But the important thing was that he should know himself, his world, and his society, so that he would be fitted to do his work in the most complete way. His practical influence upon education is best seen in the great increase of appreciation for the natural sciences, which has led to the introduction of nature observation and study, even in the most elementary schools.

In America there have been important contributions to educational theory during the century. There has been a perfect flood of educational books, pamphlets, and periodicals, whose merit is so great as to extort even reluctant admiration from foreign critics. While there has been much unevenness in quality, yet Americans have no reason to feel ashamed of their contribution to pedagogical literature. The best work has been done in the discussion of specific questions, rather than in an elaboration of general ideals. Administration, with its manifold problems, has appealed strongly to the American genius; and consequently the greatest names of the century are those of men who have devoted themselves to some practical work, the ideals and details of which they have thoroughly mastered, and so have left enduring monuments of their lives’ work.

The great achievement of the century in the United States has been the establishment of a system of free and public schools. Like most of the nation’s intellectual impulses, this spirit seems to have come from New England. There, the democratic ideals of the people led to an early appreciation of the necessity for universal education. There can be little doubt that it was from the Puritan settlements in Massachusetts that the original impulse toward universal education came. Thus, in 1647, the Colonial Assembly required that each town containing one hundred families should establish a grammar school to prepare youths for the university. During colonial times more and more schools were steadily established. But the movement, which was zealously supported in New England and encouraged in the Middle States, especially by the Friends, met with opposition in the South, where education was considered a family duty, and not within the province of the State. Whatever, therefore, was accomplished in an educational line prior to the Revolution depended upon the spirit of the individual colonies; consequently, there was the widest possible divergence in the policies and methods of different localities.

But as soon as the Revolution had been accomplished, and independence had become a fact, a renewed interest in general education was evident. It is exceedingly interesting to watch the development of the point of view that free schools were a necessity for the existence of the republic, and hence must be established by the State. The early fathers of the nation were not slow to recognize this. In the words of Franklin, “A Bible and newspaper in every house, a good school in every district—all studied and appreciated as they merit—are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.” “In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion,” said Washington, “it is necessary that public opinion should be enlightened.” And Jefferson, with his broad philosophical appreciation of democracy, started the battle against the ideas of Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, when, in 1779, he introduced into the General Assembly of Virginia a bill providing for the establishment of schools “for the free training of all free children, male and female.”

The half century from 1790 to 1840 is the period of the battle for free public schools. It was a hard fight, complicated in many States by local questions and conditions that rendered success almost hopeless. Some opposed from the old point of view that education was an individual matter,—each should get for himself just so much as was possible. Others raised the objection of cost,—if taxation was proposed, was it right to take money from one group to educate the children of another? Religious disputes hindered progress,—many of the denominations had founded sectarian schools, and were unwilling to see them replaced by public schools, where no creed would be taught. Especially, in some States, as in Pennsylvania, where Swede, German, Scotch, Irish, and English lived side by side, did the race problem enter as a perplexing element. Should any language other than English be taught? What respect should be given to the traditions and customs of each race-group? Moreover, when the conservatism began to yield to progress, it compromised with great reluctance. At first, provision was made whereby the children of the poor should have their school fees paid by the State. Then public schools were started exclusively for the poor, which were branded with the stigma of “pauper schools.” But these difficulties only served to increase the ardor of the public-school advocates, and at length their success was complete.

Some episodes of the struggle deserve special mention. Horace Mann (1796–1859) has been called the St. Paul of education in America. In 1837, the State Board of Education was created in Massachusetts, and Horace Mann was appointed its first secretary. For twelve years he labored with unflagging energy to build up the public interest in education. By speech and by pen, he awakened in his State an appreciation of the value of the public school system that has never since decayed. He established on an enduring basis the business side of education in the State, by systematizing the school funds. The personal sacrifice was enormous. He addressed public meetings all over the country. When he found that no arrangements had been made at Pittsfield to prepare the schoolhouse for his meeting, Horace Mann and Governor Briggs themselves swept out the building and set it in order. One of his first interests was the provision of good teachers. In order to spur the Assembly to its duty, he begged from his friends the sum of $10,000, which, with an equal sum appropriated from the state treasury, was used in the establishment of the Massachusetts normal schools at Lexington and Barre (1839). Outside of his administrative work, his fame must rest upon his stanch advocacy of the principle of “the obligation of a State, on the great principles of natural law and natural equity, to maintain free schools for the universal education of its people.”

In Pennsylvania, the hero of the battle for free schools was Thaddeus Stevens. In 1834, a law was passed by the legislature establishing a state system, and abolishing the distinction between rich and poor which had been noticed in the old pauper schools. Two years later, a determined effort was made by the combined forces of ignorance, prejudice, and caste, to repeal the act of 1834. Nothing but the stanchness of Governor Wolf and the power exerted by the eloquence of the “Old Commoner” saved free schools for the Keystone State, and so established the system which to-day receives more direct aid from the state treasury than in any other State of the Union.

West of the Alleghanies, the interest in popular education has always been deep and thorough. Settled in large measure by the steady sons of New England, education found there a most fertile soil. Moreover, by the wise foresight of Congress, provision was made for school funds in a most satisfactory way. The Ordinance of 1787, which organized the territory north of the Ohio River, contained a provision that one section of land in each township should be devoted to public education. If this grant, which was originally suggested by Jefferson, had been carefully watched, it would have been sufficient to endow the public schools of many Western States. The national government gave to education in the first hundred years of its history nearly eighty million acres of public lands, but these grants were not always conserved with sufficient care. In 1896–97 the total revenue of the school systems in the United States was $188,641,243, of which less than five per cent was from state school funds or rent of school lands, while over eighty-six per cent was derived from state and local taxation.

Some little conception of the immensity of the common-school system in the United States may be obtained from the following statistics, taken from the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1896–97.

COMMON-SCHOOL STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES (NOT INCLUDING PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, OR UNIVERSITIES).

1870–71 1896–97 I.—General Statistics. Approximate

Total population 39,500,500 71,374,142 Number of persons 5 to 18 years of age 12,305,600 21,082,472 Number of different pupils enrolled on the school registers 7,561,582 14,652,492 Per cent of total population enrolled 19.14 20.53 Average daily attendance 4,545,317 10,089,620 Average length of school term (days) 132.1 140.4 Male teachers 90,293 131,386 Female teachers 129,932 271,947 ------------ ------------ Whole number of teachers 220,225 403,333 Per cent of male teachers 41.0 32.6 Average monthly wages of teachers: Males (averaged from the statistics of 43 States) $44.62 Females (averaged from the statistics of 43 States) $38.38 Number of schoolhouses 132,119 246,828 Value of school property $143,818,703 $469,069,086

II.—Financial Statistics.

Receipts: Income from permanent funds $7,846,648 From state taxes 35,062,533 From local taxes 127,960,761 From all other sources 17,771,301 ------------ Total receipts 188,641,243 Expenditures: For sites, buildings, furniture, libraries, and apparatus $31,903,245 For salaries of teachers and superintendents $42,580,853 119,303,542 For all other purposes 36,113,815 ------------ Total expenditures $69,107,612 $187,320,602 Expenditure per capita of population. 1.75 2.62 Total expenditure per pupil 15.20 18.57

To these grand totals must be added the million and more in attendance at private schools throughout the country, and the rapidly increasing number (now 217,763) of those who receive higher instruction, in universities and professional and normal schools. This makes for the United States a grand total of 16,255,093 pupils and students of all grades in public and private schools. The growth during the last generation has been most marked. The statistical table gives an opportunity for comparison with the year 1870–71,—the span of a generation,—and it has been estimated that within this period the average total amount of schooling has increased from 2.91 years to 4.28 years. In other words, the amount of education which each one felt able to afford has increased almost one half. Such is the magnificent result which has grown out of the isolated village schools of our New England ancestors, fostered by the democratic desire for intelligence found all over the country.

Equally great has been the change in the spirit of the school. In the early days the schools were very crude. Population was scattered, and since the children could not go as far to school as their elders did to church, the number of schoolhouses was very great. They were usually put up by the people of the neighborhood with little pretense at adornment. The average schoolhouse was located either at a fork in the roads or on an elevation, where it shared, with the church, the honor of conspicuousness. We give a picture of Old Sleepy Hollow Schoolhouse, made famous by Washington Irving’s elaborate description of Ichabod Crane, its ruler in the colonial days. But a structure of this kind is luxurious compared with the hardships of more sparsely settled regions. From Wickersham’s “History of Education in Pennsylvania” the following description is culled: “The pioneer schoolhouse was built of logs, sixteen by twenty feet, seven feet to the ceiling, daubed with mud inside and out, a mud and stick chimney in the north end, and in the west a log was left out, and the opening covered with oiled paper to admit light; holes were bored in the logs and pins driven in, on which to nail a long board for a writing-table, and slabs with legs answered for seats. The early schoolhouses were generally situated near the roadside or cross-roads, being without playground, shade-trees, or apparatus.”

Here the master kept his country school for a term of from six to twelve weeks. In the winter time the pupils were almost frozen, and there were other dangers which the hardy lad of those days had to encounter. Nevertheless, rude, uncomfortable, and inadequate as they were, it was here that our forefathers obtained their scanty schooling. The three R’s, Readin’, Ritin’, and ‘Rithmetic, formed the basis of the course of study. Methods were very simple. Much of the early instruction was religious in its trend, and the child was expected to use books which would teach moral lessons. Church books, containing creeds and hymns and catechisms, might be used in the school for study. Then there were the primers or books to teach the A B C. The famous “New England Primer” was published in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Later editions contained rhyming couplets upon each letter of the alphabet, illustrated with such imagery as the art would allow. A page from the “Child’s Guide,” published in London in 1762, is shown on page 527. Its verses were easily memorized, and sometimes gave a basis for a spelling lesson. There were no graded readers until this century.

Writing in some neighborhoods was taught only to boys, on the general ground that it was an unnecessary accomplishment for the sex which never engaged in business. Ink was home-made from bruised nutgalls placed in a bottle with water and rusty nails. The writing was done with a quill pen, and one of the foremost duties of the old-fashioned pedagogue was to make and mend pens.

The master set the copies by writing a lesson which was to be imitated by the pupils. There was no set style, but usually the teacher wrote a bold, legible hand which in time was acquired with a fair degree of success. Arithmetic was taught without text-books. Sums were given out by the master and worked out on paper on the desk. Nothing but the more rudimentary principles was taught, and the higher branches of algebra and geometry were unknown in the public schools of this time. Spelling was one of the favorite studies. It gave free scope for the memory, and provided an opportunity for one of those public exhibitions in which Americans have always delighted. “Spelling on the book,” says Wickersham, “was taught by attempting to lead the pupil to give the names of syllables and words by naming the letters of which they are composed. The first lesson consisted of combinations of a word with one or more consonants, arranged so that a kind of rhyme aided the pronunciation, as ab, eb, ib, etc.” ... “Spelling off the book” consisted in naming the letters of words pronounced for that purpose. But the chief enjoyment of spelling came from the old-fashioned contests, or “spelling-bees.” Sometimes it was to discover the best speller of the district; again, one district might be pitted against another. The spellers would be arranged in two rows. The first word would be given to the first speller on one side, the next to his rival, the third to his comrade, and so on. If one missed a word, he at once took his seat; presently the contest would narrow down to a few, until at last all would have missed save one, and he or she became the champion speller.

The teachers of the time formed a group of varied attainments, and oftentimes with little professional enthusiasm. Teaching has always suffered from the fact that a great number of young men enter upon its practice, who use it merely as a stepping-stone to some other and more attractive pursuit. The number of those who have taught a few terms, in order to save money for a college, law, or medical course is legion; and this fact has laid the profession open to the reproach that only the unambitious and the unalert follow it permanently. In the early days of our country’s history, this stigma was intensified by the number of “itinerant schoolmasters,” men who wandered from place to place, teaching a term in one village and then moving to the next,—“odd in dress, eccentric in manners, and oftentimes intemperate.” Their work was simple in its nature; they were to keep order and to teach the rudiments. Their methods in the latter have already been referred to; for the former, they relied, almost universally, upon the unsparing use of the rod.

The wisdom of the practice of flogging has only been questioned in the latter part of this century. In the early days it was the one recognized punishment, even for students whose maturity and attainments would suggest an appeal to reason. With this mode of punishment was associated a more or less ingenious series of devices, such as the dunce-block, the fools’ cap, etc., all calculated to bring the offender into ridicule, but utterly destructive of that good feeling between teacher and pupil, upon which so much stress is laid to-day.

In the course of the century the old-fashioned school has either passed away or else has been modified materially. To-day it is to be found in only sparsely settled districts, while in the cities and in the more cultured neighborhoods one finds carefully planned systems of education that show the fruits of the study and direction of some of the keenest minds that our country has produced. While it is impossible in the space of a single chapter to refer to all the changes, yet some of the most important will be considered.

[Illustration:

A.

In Adam’s Fall, We sinned all.

B.

This Book attend, Thy Life to mend.

C.

The Cat doth play, And after slay.

D.

The Dog doth bite A Thief at Night.

E.

An Eagle’s flight Is out of sight.

F.

The Idle Fool, Is whipt at School.

G.

As runs the Glass, Man’s Life doth pass.

H.

My Book and Heart Shall never part.

I.

Jesus did dye, For thee and I.

K.

King Charles the Good, No man of Blood.

L.

The Lyon bold, The Lamb doth hold.

M.

The Moon gives Light, In time of Night.

N.

Nightingales sing, In time of Spring.

O.

The Royal Oak our King did save, From fatal stroke of Rebel Slave.

P.

Peter denies His Lord, and cries.

Q.

Queen Esther came in Royal State, To save the Jews from dismal fate.

R.

Rachel doth mourn For her first-born.

S.

Samuel anoints Whom God appoints.

T.

Time cuts down all, Both great and small.

U.

Uriah’s beauteous Wife, Made David seek his Life.

W.

Whales in the Sea God’s voice obey.

X.

Xerxes the Great did die, And so must you and I.

Y.

Youth’s forward slips Death soonest nips.

Z.

Zaccheus, he Did climb the Tree, His Lord to see.

CHILD’S GUIDE.

(Courtesy of J. Harold Wickersham.)]

Foremost in real importance come the changes in the course of study—in the list of subjects which the well-educated young man may be expected to have mastered. One hundred years ago the average child would have gone to the village school for the three “R’s” with, maybe, a little training in geography and parsing. If a college career was open to him, he would then go to an academy, usually a private institution, for his introduction to the classics, Latin and Greek, and to algebra. While instruction was given in other branches, yet these formed the backbone of the course. The average age of admission to college was considerably less than it is at present. In the ordinary college there was a required course of study, in which Latin, Greek, and higher mathematics played the most conspicuous part. The scientific studies were counted less educative, and were usually rather poorly taught. Literature, history, and philosophy were sometimes included in the college curriculum, and in many ways the course of study was modeled to suit the preferences and abilities of the different teachers. Nowadays this is all changed. In the United States a graded school system has been created, that is, a complete course of study has been worked out, whereby certain studies are specified as suited for each year of the school life. This is not the same for all parts of the country, for the American school system, unlike that in Germany and France, is not national in its organization. The authority over the schools is vested in the individual States, and as a consequence each State shows peculiarities in course of study, in laws, and in methods that make the whole seem chaotic. There is, however, more similarity than would appear at first sight, and while what is asserted in general may not be true of each particular locality, yet certain lines of development may be clearly seen.

The schools of the country may be divided into three groups,—elementary, secondary, and higher. The elementary schools are built in some places upon the kindergarten; they are ordinarily supposed to occupy the first eight or nine years of the child’s school-life, and are classified as primary and grammar schools. During that period the pupil studies a great variety of branches,—language studies, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar; arithmetic, geography, United States history, civil government, nature study, physiology and hygiene, physical culture, vocal music, drawing and manual training in boys’ schools, or sewing and cooking in girls’ schools. Several of these subjects have been introduced only within the last few years. The tendency toward enriching the curriculum is quite manifest to-day; it is based upon the fact that by far the larger part of the pupils never enter the higher schools, since their education is ended with the elementary schools, therefore it is thought desirable to bring some of the higher subjects into the grammar school.

With the completion of this elementary course the pupil passes into the secondary school. Earlier in the century this was ordinarily a private academy, either conducted for profit or by a religious society. In exceptional cases these schools were public; but as the benefits of higher education were recognized more completely, the popularity of these schools increased enormously. Public high schools were opened, and success led to their rapid multiplication, until to-day they form one of the most useful elements in our system, sending forth year by year leaders of thought and moulders of opinion. Their course of study has been the subject of much controversy. The old academy prepared for the college; the new high school prepares for life; consequently there ensued a breach between the high school and the college which only now is being closed. The ordinary high-school course is four years, and includes languages, Latin, French, German, and sometimes Greek and Spanish; mathematics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and sometimes analytical geometry and even astronomy; history, literature, physical geography, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, drawing, and occasionally political economy, ethics, and civics. It will be noticed that subjects formerly taught only in the colleges have been brought into the high-school curriculum. This again is due to the “enriching process,” and is illustrative of the fact that for so many of its students the high school is the crown of their education. The stress laid upon nature study and the physical sciences, and the introduction of modern languages, are among the most significant changes of the century, as indicative of the desire to bring the schools in touch with the conditions of practical life.

From the high school or academy, the student passes to the college or university. Within the last decade an attempt has been made to give a definite pedagogical content to each of these terms. A college is an institution where the liberal arts are studied for purposes of general culture. A university, on the other hand, prepares a man for one definite line of work, either professional or technical. Both confer degrees upon those who have successfully completed their courses, but those of the university (Ph. D., A. M., M. D., etc.) are of a higher type than those of the college (A. B., Ph. B.). There were twenty-four colleges in the United States in 1800. The six oldest were: Harvard, established in 1687; William and Mary, 1693; Yale, 1701; Princeton, 1746; University of Pennsylvania, 1749; Columbia, 1754.

In 1896 there were 472 colleges and universities in the United States, representing most of the States and Territories in the Union. Many of these are entirely public, being supported by State appropriations; some receive State aid; others were originally founded by private endowment, but have become public in their management; some are entirely private in both endowment and control. Most are non-sectarian, but many require worship in accordance with the services of some denomination. In general, all recognize their lofty function in society and are anxious to discharge it properly. Originally aristocratic in many ways,—prior to the Revolution some colleges classifying their students in the catalogue according to the social rank of their families,—they have become among the most popular institutions in the educational world, largely because of the high worth of their graduates.

Universities, in the scientific sense of the term, did not exist prior to 1800, except in the few medical and law schools and theological seminaries. The American conception of the university has been very largely moulded by the experience of Germany. The college does not exist as a degree-conferring institution in Germany, but its place is taken very largely by the Gymnasium. The German system comprises three grades of schools: 1. Volkschulen (primary schools), where the elementary instruction is given. 2. Gymnasia and Real-Schulen (secondary schools), which provide a nine years’ course for the pupil, usually covering the period from ten to nineteen years. The aim of the first is to prepare for the university, while the Real-Schulen fit their students for the ordinary business callings of life. 3. Universities, in which the studies are arranged in four faculties; theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. On account of the thoroughness of the German teaching, many American students have gone to Germany for their university course. A sincere effort has been made in America to develop universities according to the German concept, with its detailed study of particular topics based on a thorough general education. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, opened in 1876, has done most along these lines.

During the century a determined and successful effort has been made to break down the old-fashioned college curriculum, with its absolute and unvarying requirements from every student. Harvard University, under the leadership of its brilliant executives, Thomas Hill and especially Charles W. Eliot, has led the way by providing a series of elective courses from which the student might select a sufficient number to make up his roster. This has given scope to the exercise of a freedom of choice that has been most wholesome in its effects upon both the scholar and university. It has led to the neglect of the poor courses and to the encouragement of the good ones; and it has promoted individuality in the different students to a marked degree. The success of the elective system, and the development of post-graduate courses in the university, taken in connection with the very great interest in all the phases of higher education, constitute the chief lines of advance during the century.

It is evident, then, that the student of to-day has a tremendous advantage over his fellow of one hundred years ago in the subjects which he may study. The courses have been enriched, instruction has been systematized, new subjects, more closely allied with popular needs, have been developed. But a gain which transcends in importance even these alterations in the curriculum, is that which has come through the teacher.

We have seen that the teacher of our forefathers was a man of doubtful attainments and uncertain character, and while there were golden exceptions to any general criticism, yet it is beyond question that as a class the teachership was not well esteemed. As a rule, there was no stable salary,—the teachers “boarded around” at the homes of their pupils or received payment in produce from the farmers. At the school he was janitor as well as educator. Outside of New England, there was little intelligent supervision of his efforts, and, on the whole, very little effective home coöperation. Within the century, however, there has been a marked increase in the esteem in which the teacher is held, and in the popular appreciation of his work. Moreover, to-day, the teacher better deserves esteem and respect. While the profession still contains a vast floating element who look forward to a future in other lines of work, yet on the whole its members possess a keen interest in their work and a desire for professional improvement. A most powerful means toward this end has been found in the various teachers’ organizations. The Institute, with its annual assembly of all teachers within a given district, who for two or three days discuss school questions and listen to lectures upon educational topics, has been introduced throughout the whole country with great success. The teachers in the various States have organized State associations, and there are innumerable voluntary organizations, whose meetings give each teacher an opportunity for that free contact with others of his own kind that is so helpful and so suggestive.

The oldest educational association in America, maybe in the world, is the American Institute of Instruction, organized in 1830. During its nearly seventy years of life it has been a vast inspiration to thousands of teachers. It has drawn its support chiefly from the New England States and recently from Canada, but its influence is widespread. Annual meetings have been held regularly. Among its leading spirits, it has numbered such men as W. E. Sheldon, Francis Wayland, Henry Barnard, etc. Out of the success of the various State associations, and perhaps suggested by the necessity for more general action, grew the National Educational Association, founded in 1857, with the objects “to elevate the character and advance the interest of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of popular education in the United States.” Its first president was Zalmon Richards, and his successors have been the foremost educators of the country, including James P. Wickersham, Emerson E. White, William T. Harris, Albert G. Lane, Nicholas Murray Butler, Charles R. Skinner, etc. Its membership has grown from 80 in 1857 to 10,654 (1898), and it has been estimated that some of its conventions have brought twenty-five thousand people in their train. In spirit it is thoroughly national, meeting in every section of the country in turn, so helping to promote uniformity in school ideas. As the Association grew larger, and its work became more complicated, its organization became involved. To-day it consists of seventeen departments, each of which devotes itself to one phase of education, usually reporting at the annual meeting.

Since 1892 the National Educational Association (N. E. A., as it is popularly called) has appointed three committees to investigate special lines of work in separate departments of the school system. The Committee of Ten, whose chairman, Charles W. Eliot, was the distinguished President of Harvard University, submitted a most useful report in 1893 on Secondary School Studies. In 1895 the Committee of Fifteen, of which Superintendent Wm. H. Maxwell was chairman, then of Brooklyn but since chosen to be the first Superintendent of Schools of “Greater New York,” made a valuable report on elementary education, including reports of sub-committees on the Training of Teachers, Correlation of Studies, and the Organization of City School Systems. In 1897 came the report of the Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools, Superintendent Henry Sabin, of Iowa, as chairman. These documents have been epoch-making; they have accumulated a mass of trustworthy information; they have procured opinion upon a wide variety of topics, and their influence upon the general systematization of the school system has been enormous. Their additional value lies in the fact that they have been prepared by teachers who thoroughly understood the topics which were being considered, and they have furnished to educators generally that consensus of professional opinion which has been so badly needed in America.

In this work of gathering and disseminating information, a most potent part has been played by the national government. The limitations of the Constitution left education as a State interest, to be worked out by each commonwealth as it should think best. There had always been a general desire among teachers for some national organization, and at last, after the Civil War, Congress established a department, and then later made a Bureau of Education in the Department of the Interior. In 1867 Hon. Henry Barnard was appointed the first United States Commissioner of Education. A wiser choice could not have been made. Dr. Barnard’s career in education covers a period from 1830, when he was appointed Secretary of the Board of School Commissioners in Connecticut, down to the present. Beyond question, his greatest work has been the organization of the National Bureau of Education, which to-day is a grand educational clearing-house, sending forth in its excellent reports an account of ideas and work of each State to the others. Its high efficiency has been due, in a large measure, to the character of its commissioners: Henry Barnard, from 1867 to 1870; John Eaton, 1870–1886; Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, 1886–1889; William T. Harris, 1889 to date. The present incumbent has had the satisfaction of the knowledge that his position has been removed from the list of partisan appointments. By his tactful prudence and genuine scholarship, Dr. Harris has brought his office into touch with every good educational work for a decade, and has made his name a synonym for genial wisdom throughout the whole country.

The teacher has been aided in his work by his professional associations. It is, moreover, true that to-day the teacher enters upon his work better equipped for his duties. The normal-school system has spread over the whole country, and every year thousands of young men and women are sent forth with a preparation that fifty years ago was not even dreamed of. Since the teacher better deserves respect, he has commanded it the more readily. Gradually the barbarisms of the schoolroom have disappeared. As the sympathy with education increased, the necessity for excessive flogging passed away. To-day there is a wide variety in opinion as to the efficiency of this mode of discipline. In one State, New Jersey, corporal punishment in schools is forbidden by law; but in most of the others it is permitted in special cases, as a general part of the teacher’s power when in loco parentis. The teacher is now paid a regular salary, but unfortunately it is the lowest paid in any profession for which formal preparation is required. In 1896–97 the average monthly wages of teachers was, for males, $44.62, and for females, $38.38. In comparison with the standard of life throughout the country, this is poor pay. Superintendent N. C. Schaeffer, of Pennsylvania, in a recent annual report, states that “one superintendent found that there were teachers in his county teaching for four dollars less per year than it cost the county on an average to keep one pauper.” This is an exceptional case, but it illustrates the general truth.

One consequence of this low pay has been to accent a tendency which is fast removing education from the list of those professions in which men will engage. From 1870–71 to 1896–97 the percentage of male teachers decreased from 41.0 to 32.6; especially is this true in the older States. This is in striking contrast with one hundred years ago, when, except in infant schools, teachers were almost universally of the male sex. A variety of causes may be given for this change. The preëminent fitness of women for guiding the child during certain ages is acknowledged. Again, the decline of the rod and the introduction of a happy sympathy between teacher and pupil have helped the tendency.

But of all the forces which have contributed to this change, none has been more potent than the great increase of opportunities for the higher education of women. At the beginning of the century the United States was not behind European nations in its provision for the education of young women. No one thought of making anything like the same provision for both sexes. Women were refused admission to the colleges, and were obliged to content themselves with an elementary education or else meet the expense of private tutorage. Gradually, in protest against this state of things, girls’ seminaries were opened and girls’ high schools were established in the large cities. The idea of a seminary, “which should be to young women what the college is to young men,” was first given definite shape by Mary Lyon, who collected funds for that purpose, and in 1837, two hundred years after Harvard, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary was opened. Its success was complete; it offered the regular English and classical course, and its graduates entered generally into the teaching profession. Presently, colleges for women were incorporated, of which to-day the best known are Vassar, Wellesley, Smith, and Bryn Mawr. As the demand for the higher education of women increased, presently it was queried, why may not the two sexes be trained in the same institution? Is there any real necessity for a duplication of plants with the consequent weakening of resources? The West has advanced far beyond the East toward co-education. Oberlin College, founded in 1833, opened its doors to both sexes from the first, and most of the institutions that derive their spirit from the West have followed the same plan. As a result, some of the city systems are trying co-education in their high schools and elementary grades, and thus far, while there are many opponents, the general verdict is favorable.

But the women were not content with a general collegiate training or a normal course that fitted only for teaching. Within recent years they have entered into the other professions with a keen enthusiasm. They are allowed, in a few institutions, to take theological courses fitting for the ministry. The first woman physician was graduated in 1849 from the school at Geneva, N. Y.; since that time special medical schools for women have been opened and some colleges have decided to admit women on the same terms as the other sex. In most law schools, women may be admitted, and in several States there are women practicing at the bar. While the influence of tradition has been strong, yet there is to-day no reason why an American woman should not receive as full an education and as complete a training as her brother.

In considering the changes in school-life, the improvement in buildings and equipment must not be overlooked. With the appreciation of the value of education, there has come an attention to the environment of the pupil that manifests itself in the provision of text-books, in the erection of larger and better ventilated buildings, and in the adornment of school grounds. School architecture, especially where populations are dense, has become an important science, involving problems of light, heat, ventilation, etc., together with questions of furniture, fire-proof construction and playgrounds. There was a time when the most interest was aroused by the exterior, that the school might be an adornment to its neighborhood. To-day the important problems of arrangement receive the most attention, and deservedly so. We give two suggestive pictures of modern schoolhouses. Professor Liberty H. Bailey of Cornell University, in a pamphlet which has been extensively circulated, has advocated a judicious arrangement of shrubbery around a schoolhouse, as space permitted, with a view to the elimination of all bare and cheerless features from the landscape. This is especially adapted to country districts. As a comparison, the new Central High School of Philadelphia is given as one of the best types of a complete city schoolhouse. It has been erected at a total cost of over one million dollars.

The furnishing of a school has undergone characteristic development. The hard bench, upon which our forefathers sat, has in a large measure disappeared, and in its place has come a variety of desks patterned with chairs fitted to each curve of the back, etc. Blackboards came into general use about the middle of the century. In certain studies, maps, charts, models, etc., seem indispensable, and the modern schoolroom contains all these. Moreover, as soon as science teaching had won a place in the curriculum, the cry went up for laboratories, that a higher grade of work might be done with the more advanced pupil. It is rather a singular fact that in many places the public high school led in this demand, rather than the more conservative college. To-day no high school would count itself able to do its work without one or more laboratories where each pupil might work for himself. In the new high school of Philadelphia there are physical, chemical, and biological laboratories, as well as a completely equipped astronomical observatory.

Text-books were just coming into use at the close of the eighteenth century. The “Child’s Guide” was being superseded by such works as Noah Webster’s Spelling Book, Grammar, and Reader (1792). Within a few years came Lindley Murray’s “English Grammar,” the work of a Quaker merchant who wrote his famous text-book primarily for a young ladies’ school in his immediate neighborhood. The instant success of these books demonstrated what a need there was for such a class of literature. The writing and publication of text-books has become one of the most flourishing industries of the country. On account of hard usage, a text-book does not last more than a few years, and this gives continual opportunity for a new book more nearly up to date than its predecessor.

Within recent years, less stress has been laid on the text-book, and its influence is being minimized. In the elementary schools the teacher explains the lesson, and in the higher schools the professor lectures upon his subject. Consequently, the text-book is relatively less important. This does not mean that less reading is being done, but it does mean that the reading covers a wider ground. Particularly is this true where libraries have been established. The public library system is a most valuable auxiliary to the school system, and is fast becoming indispensable. This is one of the great advantages which city pupils have over those whose home is in the country, and it will lead in the end to district libraries. In some States, as in New York, a successful effort has been made to inaugurate a system of traveling libraries, whereby a case of fifty or one hundred volumes, relating to a particular topic, will be lent for a time to any circle of readers. Massachusetts has best developed a library system, since there are but nine towns in the State that have not free libraries. The growth of the universities has led to the accumulation of great collections for special research and study. In 1800 there were but eleven college libraries in America worth mentioning; to-day there are almost five hundred, of which the largest, Harvard, contains a half million volumes. Libraries are of use, not only for pupils, but also for adults as well. They have aided materially in solving the great question of adult education.

In the New England towns of the middle part of the century, the lyceum lecture was exceedingly popular. University extension has recently come to the front as the latest form of the lyceum system. The idea of lectures to the people by university teachers came from England, where it was suggested just after an extension of the suffrage had attached a new value to the education of adults. Societies for the extension of university teaching have been formed in Oxford, Cambridge, and London. Their methods are on the whole identical,—university men are sent to town or village centres to give a course of lectures upon some general topic; after each lecture a voluntary class is held where questions may be asked and answered; at the conclusion of the course an examination based upon the course and collateral reading is given to those who care to take it; and sometimes a certificate or testimonial may be given. The method has been transplanted to America and generally adopted by the universities, with greatest success, perhaps, in the Middle States, where the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching has organized the field. During the period 1890–99, 862 courses of lectures were given under the auspices of the American Society to audiences aggregating 952,068. Another movement of equal importance is that done by the Chatauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, which prepares lists of books for home reading, with a view to encouraging system in one’s use of spare time. Perhaps the most interesting public work for adults is being done in New York city, where a lecture department has been organized by the Board of Education, by which free lectures are given in schoolhouses to the people. In 1898, 1866 lectures were given to 698,200 people, and the president of New York’s School Board has declared that “these lectures have contributed more than any other agency to the distribution of general intelligence among the masses.” These forces have supplemented very well the work that is being done by the public night schools, which are established in most large cities, with a view to providing elementary, and sometimes technical, instruction to those adults who care for it.

No educational question has aroused more interest in business circles than the problem how to train best those who will devote themselves to a commercial life. This has become a live question recently to the American people. With improved processes in manufacture, the power of production has grown far beyond the consumption of our own people. Consequently America is competing with the great industrial nations of Europe for a control of the markets of the world. As soon as this competition became evident, the need for a better trained class of commercial leaders was felt. The example of Germany has had a great influence upon other countries. There is a general conviction that the leading position among commercial nations which Germany has won for itself is due in large measure to the technical education given to German artisans and the commercial education provided for business men. For illustration, the German government has recently established in Berlin a school where young men, preparing for business careers in Asia, can learn Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Turkish. German youths have been supplanting English young men, to an appreciable degree, in the great commercial houses of London. As a consequence, there has been a strong demand in America for the establishment of commercial high schools,—public institutions in which German, French, and Spanish will be taught, together with economics, industrial history, commercial geography, public finance, social science, etc. These institutions differ entirely from the business colleges, of which there were 342 in the United States in 1897, in that they are broader in scope and content. The latter qualify a man to be a good clerk by teaching him stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping, etc., but the former aim to give him a broad, liberal education, enabling him to have an intelligent comprehension of all matters which interest him in active business. This movement is too recent to have borne much fruit, but in many of the larger cities of America, as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Brooklyn, and Cleveland, commercial courses have been established in connection with the regular high-school course; and in some of the larger universities, as Pennsylvania, Chicago, Columbia, schools in economics and politics have been created,—all with a view to equipping a young man for an active business career. In view of the present interest in this movement, more may be expected in the near future.

The close of the Civil War brought the American people to a problem, vast in its importance and intricate in its solution. The negro race had had no opportunity for education under the institution of slavery. But with their freedom came the necessity for creating a system of schools which could be of special help to this new body of citizens. The South has preferred generally that separate schools should be provided for the two races. In the ante-bellum days, the wealthier families usually sent their sons and daughters away from home to obtain their education under better auspices than their own neighborhood could afford. So when the war concluded, and there was but little sign of public schools, a new system must be created, and at once. The first work toward educating the negro was done by the national government, through the schools opened by the Freedman’s Aid Society. The different religious bodies throughout the country took a hand in the good work, by establishing special missionary boards for work in the South. Private benevolence lent substantial assistance. George Peabody, the philanthropist, and John F. Slater, both founded trusts which they richly endowed to aid in the establishment of schools in the Southern section. But the greatest work was done through the awakening of the people to the value of education, leading to liberal appropriations and to a firm public support.

Within recent years, negro education has assumed a new and interesting phase. Booker T. Washington, principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Alabama, is the leading educator of the Afro-Americans, and he has won his high place by the success which has attended his efforts at industrial education. His school at Tuskegee was started in 1881, and to-day contains over one thousand students. While fully appreciating the value of an academic education, Mr. Washington has felt that the first necessity for his people was the knowledge that would earn a livelihood. As a consequence, the industrial side of education has been accented; twenty-six different trades or industries are in operation at Tuskegee, and one is taught to each student of the Institute. As a consequence, its graduates have gone forth into active life, well equipped to become bread-winners and to fill a useful place in society.

The care of those who, from birth or by accident, do not possess all the powers of a normal person, has aroused much interest during the century. The deaf-mutes, the blind, and the mentally deficient, have each had institutions created, where they are taught as much of the knowledge of the world as is possible. The instruction of the deaf and dumb proceeds along two lines. The manual or sign method of conversation, based on gestures, was founded by Abbé de l’Epée in 1760; while about the same time Samuel Heinicke, a German, introduced the oral method, by which the eye of the mute is trained to perform the part of the ear, by learning the meaning of spoken words through observation of the changes in the position of the vocal organs. Special institutions for these classes abound in Europe and America, with the difference that, in the former, they are generally private or maintained by charity; whereas in the latter they are maintained by the State. Rev. T. H. Gallaudet and his son, Dr. Edward M. Gallaudet, have been the leaders in the instruction of deaf-mutes in the United States, and have achieved a high degree of success.

The teaching of the blind is of equal value to education. Two methods are generally followed; an alphabet of raised letters is employed in some cases, or, and more generally in the United States, a system of raised dots or points, which do not resemble the letter in form, but are a kind of shorthand to the reader. In both methods, the sense of touch takes the place of sight. In some cases, notably Laura Bridgman and Helen Keller, the success has been so complete as to excite universal wonder. Perhaps no institutions alleviate more human misery than do the schools for the blind, by bringing world-ideas within the limited horizon of this afflicted class.

Much also has been done for the training of idiots or those who are mentally deficient. In 1848, the Massachusetts School for Idiots and Feeble-Minded was opened, and other States followed with equally generous provision. Within recent years, special schools have been opened in connection with the school systems of large cities, so that children who need individual care and watchfulness may receive more attention than they could secure in the graded class-room. All these tendencies are exceedingly hopeful, as indicative of society’s recognition of her duty to those who cannot satisfactorily care for themselves. Humanitarianism in education has been a powerful and constant force during the whole of this century.

It must not be forgotten that other agencies beside those established by States have been contributing to education. The Sunday-school movement is one of the great efforts of the century, to help in training children by a voluntary organization. In 1781, Robert Raikes employed some teachers for the poor children of Gloucester, in order that their Sundays might be spent quietly and with profit. Presently, as the number of Sunday-schools increased, men and women proffered their services gratuitously. The teaching followed two general lines, secular (reading, writing, etc.) and religious. The former was of help, especially to children who were employed during the week. From England, the movement came to the West. The American Sunday-school Union was organized in 1824, and has ever since continued to stimulate the establishment of more schools of this kind. In 1896, there were 132,697 Sunday-schools in the United States and 9097 in Canada, with a total membership of 12,288,153 and 721,435 respectively, while it has been computed that in the world the number of Sunday-schools was 246,658, with an enrollment of 24,919,313.

In European states, they have been solving the same problems as in America. The importance of education once admitted, the next problem is to secure the funds and develop the system.[5] Because of administrative centralization, this has been far easier in Europe than in America. The Minister of Education in France or Germany orders, and his directions are carried out; the United States Commissioner advises, and while his recommendations influence public opinion, yet the latter method is by far the slower. As a consequence, the European schools are more systematized and better organized than our own. Their course of study differs widely in details from our own, and generally shows more influence on the part of the pedagogical expert. Technical and professional education has been developed to an exceedingly high degree. England has had a peculiar problem to face, in determining the relation between the church schools and the secular schools, and has only solved it by maintaining both. Most European countries have adopted the principle of compulsory education for children within a certain age limit, and the same principle has been accepted in thirty-two States in America. In general, it may be said that in the changes in course of study, in equipment, in the teachership, etc., Europe and America have been working along parallel lines. As a rule, these changes have come more quickly in America, where traditions were as yet unformed; nevertheless, the progress in Europe has been constant and very great.

[5] The comparative interest in education is well illustrated by the following extract from an address by Dr. Charles R. Skinner, recently delivered before the N. E. A.

“The United States, to-day the youngest of all, is the only great nation of the world which expends more for education than for war. France spends annually $4 per capita on her army and 70 cents per capita on education; England, $3.72 for her army and 62 cents for education; Prussia, $2.04 for her army and 50 cents for education; Italy, $1.52 for her army and 36 cents for education; Austria, $1.36 for her army and 62 cents for education; Russia, $2.04 for her army and 3 cents for education; the United States, 39 cents for her army and $1.35 for education. England 6 to 1 for war! Russia, 17 to 1 for war! the United States 4 to 1 for education! The United States spends more per capita annually for education than England, France, and Russia combined.”

Canada has a well-established and well-regulated system, in which the principle of free and public education is recognized. The eight provinces contain twenty-four colleges, and the schools have over one million pupils. Education is more or less compulsory in all of the provinces, but the law is not very strictly enforced. In Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories there are separate schools for Roman Catholics; in the other provinces the schools are non-sectarian. There is a high professional spirit among the teachers, so that the schools may be expected to keep fully abreast of the times.

The nineteenth century has been a century of continuous advance in education. Its spirit has been healthy, its achievements are notable, its work has been great. It would be futile, however, to assert that all is yet accomplished. The problems in elementary education are so many and so important that there have been times when solution seemed impossible. Nevertheless, the system is now established and is assured of public support, and with an education within the reach of every child, the security of free institutions is forever guaranteed.

“THE ART PRESERVATIVE”

BY THOMAS J. LINDSEY,

Editorial Staff Philadelphia “Evening Bulletin.”

I. THE PRINTING PRESS.

When Benjamin Franklin edited the “Gazette,” in Philadelphia, a century and a half ago, he set up the type, worked off the paper on a wooden hand-press of primitive construction, made wooden types for use in his office, and engraved the cuts with which to illustrate the articles. In those days printing was an art which figured among the mysteries of science, and was practiced by men of high social standing and advanced education. The sixty years which passed between Franklin’s purchase of the “Gazette” and his death saw the discovery of many scientific wonders, but the art of printing moved so slowly as to leave it at the close of the eighteenth century practically in the condition in which Franklin found it when he began his career as proprietor of his Philadelphia printing establishment.

And this condition of affairs applied to England as well as to the United States.

With all the rare ability possessed by the printer philosopher, he was able to do but little for the advancement of the profession which was instrumental in making for him an international reputation.

In all that pertains to the printing business there is nothing with which the name of Franklin is connected as inventor; yet he is referred to invariably as in the highest degree representative of the “art preservative of all arts.”

Were the distinguished scientist, statesman, diplomat, printer, and philosopher to come forth from his grave in the cemetery of Christ Church, at Fifth and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, and go into one of the great printing houses of the country, how astounding to him would be the revelation! No more the wooden types or the unsymmetrical metal pieces; no more the wooden hand-press, the wood engravings, the ink balls, and the process of printing a few hundred sheets an hour. The terrific rapidity with which the newspapers are turned out to-day, printed, cut, pasted, and folded; the fineness of the work done on books and magazines; the wonder of one press putting on different colors at the same time; the setting of type by machines seemingly possessed of human intelligence; the rapidity and the simplicity of making stereotype plates; the dexterity of forming ordinary metal types into all kinds of forms; the millions of books,—secular and religious,—papers, and general literary productions turned out daily, would so puzzle the gigantic brain and cloud the understanding of the philosopher as to cause him to exclaim: “Take me back, O spirit of death, and let me forever rest from this seething, surging, whirling sphere of inventive progression.”

When the genius of invention was turned toward the printing art, it is worthy of note that the press which attracted the greatest attention was the production of a Philadelphian who once had been an associate of Benjamin Franklin. It was known as the Columbian press, the invention of George Clymer, and was regarded as of sufficient consequence to meet the approval of the printing fraternity of Great Britain as well as of this country.

In the National Museum in Washington, D. C., is the hand press which Benjamin Franklin used to print his Philadelphia paper, the “Gazette.” It had been built for him in London, where he had used it about five years prior to its being brought to Philadelphia.

What a curious-looking affair it is! Yet it was little less in the way of primitiveness compared with that used prior to 1817, when Clymer’s Columbian came into use. When these productions are contrasted with the magnificent contrivances of to-day, from which can be thrown sixteen hundred papers per minute,—papers of ten, twelve, and fourteen pages, printed on both sides, pasted and folded,—the comparison is like putting the steamboat of Fulton by the side of the monster ships which cross the Atlantic ocean from New York to Southampton in less than five days.

The Columbian press was looked upon, when presented to the printers, as an advance worthy of note in the art. It is easy to imagine how much prominence was given Clymer’s invention when it was placed beside the old common press. To-day, this supposed-to-be great piece of mechanism would not even be dignified by a place in the most un-modern backwoods printing establishment. And yet from this were printed the literary productions of Great Britain, as well as of the United States, in the early part of the nineteenth century.

The Columbian mechanical advancement consisted of the use of rollers for inking the type,—very much like the process now employed in inking the type when a rough proof is desired,—thus dispensing with the balls, which were managed by boys; the use of screws under the bed of the press to hold in position the form, into which had been securely adjusted the type; and the application of a long bar to obtain pressure sufficient to make the impression on the paper. The picture of this press shows the flat carriage upon which was placed the type, the platen or pressing surface, the bar which forced the platen upon the type, the spring which carried the platen back to position when the impression had been taken, and the track upon which the carriage was moved forward and backward,—primitive enough, and sufficiently simple in construction to show the limited capacity of the inventive genius of our great-grandfathers.

It was about 1829 when the Columbian gave way to the Washington press, and this was used for some time for fine book-work. The feature of it was an automatic inking roller attachment.

While the Washington press had the capacity for producing fine work, it was deficient in the speed required for meeting the demand then growing for books and newspapers. Then the printers turned to a cylinder press which had appeared in the last decade of the eighteenth century. The London “Times” had taken hold of it, and brought it to such a condition that its speed was raised to something like a thousand impressions an hour. König, a native of Saxony, in 1815, produced a press for printing both sides of the sheet. It resembled two single presses placed with their cylinders toward each other, the sheet being carried by tapes from the first to the second cylinder. Its capacity was 750 sheets, both sides, an hour.

Cambridge University about this time was furnished with a press in which the types were placed on the four sides of a prism, the paper being applied by another prism. It proved unsuccessful. In this press, however, were first introduced the inking rollers formed of a combination of glue and molasses. Rollers are made of these two materials to this day.

Cowper, an Englishman, in 1815, introduced curved stereotyped plates and fixed them to a cylinder. Two place cylinders and two impression cylinders were soon afterward worked together on one press by Cowper, printing both sides of the sheet at the rate of one thousand copies an hour.

This seems to have been the period when inventive skill began to assert itself in the printing press. The educational advancement of the people in this country and in Europe, with the lack of facility for furnishing information of the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, the desire for facts regarding the events transpiring in England, France, and Germany, the meagreness of the details which had been furnished of the conflict between Great Britain and the United States in 1812, convinced the publishers of newspapers in this country and abroad that the laws of supply and demand were not equally balanced. The outcome of this was a press constructed to print both sides of the sheet from type, and was soon followed by the introduction of four impression cylinders. These were applied to the reciprocating bed to carry the type for one side of the sheet, the sheets being fed from four feeding boards, the impression cylinders alternately rising and falling, so that two sheets were printed during the passage one way, the other two on the return passage. A pair of inking rollers between the impression cylinders obtained ink from the reciprocating board.

The capacity of this press was five thousand an hour, and this was regarded as a feat worthy of public mention, record of it being made in the newspapers of that period in a way which shows the general interest in the work.

The first power-press used in the United States was made by Daniel Treadwell, of Boston, in 1822. Two of them were used by the Bible and Tract societies.

The London “Times” had succeeded in applying steam to the movement of the printing press as early as 1814—a cylinder press being brought into requisition, to the use of which they had the exclusive right.

Following the Treadwell press, about 1825, came the improvements of Samuel and Isaac Adams, and the general use of the press which is still worked in the book offices of this country and Great Britain. It was on one of these Adams presses, in 1863, that was printed the book written by Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, describing his second expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer.

It was found that the Adams press could be used for newspaper as well as exceedingly fine book-work, its construction admitting of the use of plates or type, and its speed such as nearly came up to the requirements of that period. In this press a feed board holds the paper, which is fed by hand to a second board or tympan, having points to make holes in the sheet to regulate the second side. The type rests upon a bed which is raised by straightening a toggle-joint against the upper plates.

The fountain for the ink is carried at one end of the press. The inking rollers pass twice over the form. The paper is caught by grippers, carried in a frame called a frisket over the form (or type), receives the impression, and is carried by tapes to a fly frame in the rear which delivers it to the sheet board.

With the two-, three-, and four-cylinder presses, the Adams press, steam power and various improvements in the make of inks and rollers, the first half of the nineteenth century was looked upon as having made for the printing press extraordinarily rapid advancement. Great Britain held first place in the production of newspapers and books, the United States was a slow second, then came France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Austria, in the order given. The greatest evidence of this march of improvement was the enormous increase in the production of the Bible, and the bringing of the cost to a figure which then was looked upon as placing it within the reach of all classes. Scientific and literary works were being put out in great numbers, newspapers were being started in every town in this country and England, and the editions put out in such European centres of advancement as Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Brussels, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Glasgow, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Rome reached proportions then supposed to be enormous. The London “Times” at that period had a circulation of about 30,000,—and this was the leader in journalism. In the United States the leading newspapers did not issue daily editions greater than 20,000, while a circulation of 10,000 daily was regarded as being entirely satisfactory to the business ideas of the average publisher.

The opening of the last half of the nineteenth century may be spoken of as a quiescent period. It was the calm in the affairs of the United States which preceded the occurring of stormy events which put to the full test the strength of the young republic, the attitude of the nations of the old world toward us, and the power of the people successfully to maintain a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

Millard Fillmore became the President of the United States in July of 1850, succeeding Zachary Taylor, who died. The Congress had taken a stand on the disturbing question of slavery by the passage of the fugitive slave law, and had made the first step toward freedom for the negroes by the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. It was in this year that New Mexico and Utah were admitted as Territories, the entire population of the United States being only 23,191,876; ten years later the population reached 31,443,321. The people were beginning to realize how important was the printing press in placing them in communication with the statesmen of the country. They were looking to Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Meredith, Everett, Scott, Crittenden, Collamer, Marcy,—then in the fullness of mental vigor,—and they were demanding information of their acts in the cabinet, their speeches in Congress, their views on state rights and slavery.

It was at this time that the Hoe American Printing-press Company startled the world by producing the ten-cylinder press, the speed of which was limited only by the ability of the feeders to supply the sheets. The first one of them to be used in the United States was that upon which the Philadelphia “Public Ledger” was printed. It at once came into general use in Europe and America. Its speed was 20,000 copies an hour.

In this press—still in use in many cities—the form of type is placed on the surface of a horizontal revolving cylinder of about four and a half feet in diameter. The form occupies a segment of only about one fourth of the surface of the cylinder, and the remainder is used as an ink-distributing surface. Around this main cylinder, and parallel with it, are smaller impression-cylinders. The large cylinder being put in motion, the form of types is carried successively to all the impression-cylinders, at each of which a sheet is introduced, and receives the impression of the type as the form passes. One person supplies the sheets of paper to each cylinder. After being printed they are carried out by tapes and laid upon heaps by means of self-acting flyers. The ink is contained in a fountain placed beneath the main cylinder, and is conveyed by means of distributing rollers to the distributing surface on the main cylinder. The surface being lower, or less in diameter than the form of types, passes by the impression-cylinder without touching. For each impression there are two inking rollers, which receive their supply of ink from the distributing surface of the main cylinder; they rise and ink the form as it passes under them, after which they again fall to the distributing surface. Each page of the paper is locked up on a detached segment of the larger cylinder, which constitutes its bed and chases, termed the “turtle.” The column-rules run parallel with the shaft of the cylinder, and consequently are straight, while head, advertising, and dash rules are in the form of segments of a circle. The column-rules are in the form of a wedge, with the thin part directed toward the axis of the cylinder, so as to bind the type securely. These wedge-shaped column-rules are held down to the bed by tongues projecting at intervals along their length, which slide in rebated grooves cut crosswise in the face of the bed. The spaces in the grooves between the rules are accurately fitted with sliding blocks of metal, even with the surface of the bed, the ends of which blocks are cut away underneath to receive a projection on the sides of the tongues of the column-rules. The form of type is locked up in the bed by means of screws at the foot and sides, by which the type is held as securely as in the ordinary manner upon a flat bed.

This press was regarded as the highest degree of perfection, until William A. Bullock, of Philadelphia, put out his web perfecting press. This completely revolutionized the printing business so far as the newspapers were concerned. It came into use in 1861,—just before the breaking out of the war of the rebellion in the United States,—in time to meet the enormous demands made upon the printing press at home and abroad. It had been in operation but a short time when the newspaper owners of Great Britain took hold of it, and for several years no other press was used by the newspapers of large circulation.

How slow and toy-like it seems in comparison with the monsters of the present day! And yet this machine met the demands of a period when it was supposed the circulation of the daily press had reached an altitude never to be surpassed. A newspaper like the New York “Herald,” which had attained a daily circulation of about 75,000, was looked upon as achieving the highest degree of success. In this last year of the nineteenth century the “Journal” and “World” of New York send out at least a million copies of their papers 365 days in the year.

William A. Bullock worked at his web printing press for six years before he had it in shape to pronounce it applicable to the requirements. It was not long after it was in successful operation that one of his limbs caught in the machinery of one of his presses, and death was the result. As the presses first were made, and indeed for many years thereafter, the paper was cut in the press before being printed, and it was a difficult matter properly to control these single sheets until they were delivered, while the presses were without any folding attachment. But these old style Bullock presses did succeed in turning out 6000 eight-page papers an hour, printed on both sides.

In 1873 a great improvement was made in the Bullock presses, which allowed of the papers being printed on the endless roll before the paper was cut.

With the aid of other improvements subsequently made these presses attained to a capacity of 16,000 eight-page papers an hour. But an unexpected limit was found in the impossibility of delivering beyond a certain rate from the fly. Then R. Hoe & Co. (about 1877) invented a contrivance which obviated the difficulty. It consisted of an accumulating cylinder, on which six or eight sheets were laid one above the other and then delivered from the fly at one motion. This increased the capacity of their perfecting press to 18,000 an hour. A folding attachment was then added; next a pasting and cutting attachment. Thus, in 1879 they were able to turn out a press which produced 30,000 perfect eight-page papers an hour—printed, cut, pasted, and folded.

The next great achievement was put in operation in a New York pressroom in 1885. That was the double supplement press, which in reality combines two presses in one. It was the first press to insert supplement sheets automatically, and it was the first press to print from two rolls of paper, one roll being placed at right angles to the main roll. As the name of the press implies, from the secondary roll the supplements are printed at the same time that the main part of the paper is being printed from the other roll. And by means of what to the ordinary man seems a miraculous contrivance, but which to the initiated in the mysteries of mechanics is no doubt very simple, the supplement is automatically inset and pasted into the main paper before reaching the fly, and dropped out folded ready for the newsdealer.

From this press has been evolved the superb printing machine which, in recent years, has astonished the world. On it can be printed eight-, ten-, or twelve-page papers at a running speed of 24,000 an hour, or 400 a minute, and whether eight, ten, or twelve pages are printed they all come out with the supplements inset and the paper pasted and folded. From this press was developed the next triumph, the quadruple press. Marvelous machines these quadruple presses are, and it seemed impossible that any press could be built for many years to come that would beat them.

The printing business stood amazed, awe-stricken at the sight of so many papers being turned out each hour. And before the amazement had subsided there came forth the machine which is destined to go down in history as one of the great achievements in mechanics of the nineteenth century,—the sextuple press, manufactured by Hoe & Co., which has brought forth as many wonderful improvements as any mechanical concern in the world.

Although it is impossible to explain in language comprehensible to the man who is not an engineer how this monarch among printing presses does its work at a rate of speed which is well-nigh incredible and outstrips the flight of imagination itself, yet it is possible to convey an idea of what the extent of the work is.

This machine will print, fold, paste, and deliver 90,000 of a four-page paper or six-page newspaper in one hour. It will require some figuring to convey an adequate idea of how fast that is, for, as a matter of fact, it is faster than a man can think, and that is why I say that the speed of the machine outstrips the flight of imagination.

Ninety thousand copies an hour is equivalent to fifteen hundred copies a minute, and fifteen hundred copies a minute means twenty-five copies per second!

Now take out your watch, and while the second hand is passing from one second to another try to grasp the idea that in all that brief interval of time twenty-five six-page newspapers have been printed. You can’t do it. It is faster than you can think.

And yet in that second those twenty-five papers are not only printed, but the inside sheets are automatically pasted in, and the twenty-five papers are all cut and folded ready for delivery to the newsdealers. Is there anything more marvelous than that recorded in the “Arabian Nights”? Who said that there are no miracles in this nineteenth century? Why, if old Gutenberg,—peace to his soul,—or Faust, or Caxton, or even our own Benjamin Franklin had seen anything of the sort, they would have sworn that it was either a miracle or the work of the supernatural, with the chances in favor of the latter.

Each page of the average newspaper has six columns, and in each column there is on an average 1800 words. Six multiplied by six and the product of that by twenty-five, and that again by 1800, you will find makes 1,620,000, which is just about the number of words that this press prints in a second when it is turning out six-page papers at the rate of twenty-five a second. That is something that will stagger any man’s imagination if he tries to realize what it is.

This press will print, cut, paste, fold, count, and deliver 72,000 copies of an eight-page newspaper in one hour, which is equivalent to 1200 a minute and 20 a second.

It will print, cut, paste, count, and deliver complete 48,000 copies of a ten- or twelve-page newspaper in one hour, which is equivalent to 800 a minute and a fraction over 13 a second.

It will print, cut, paste, fold, count, and deliver complete 36,000 copies of a sixteen-page newspaper an hour, which is at the rate of 600 a minute, or 10 a second.

It will print, cut, paste, fold, count, and deliver complete 24,000 copies of a fourteen-, twenty-, or twenty-four-page newspaper an hour, which is at the rate of 400 a minute, or very nearly seven a second.

This is lightning work with a vengeance, and yet it is possible that there may be some who read this who will live to call it slow. That will probably be when they have found out all about how to put a harness on electricity. No one can predict when inventive genius will reach its limits in the printing press. Before this press was built, the fastest presses in the world were Hoe’s quadruple presses, which will turn out 48,000 four-, six-, or eight-page papers an hour, 24,000 ten-, twelve-, fourteen-, or sixteen-page papers an hour, and 12,000 twenty- or twenty-four page papers an hour, all cut, pasted, and folded.

The sextuple press has a well-nigh insatiable appetite for white paper. To satisfy it it is fed from three rolls at the same time, one roll being attached at either end of the press, and the third suspended near the centre. It is the only press which has ever been able to accomplish that feat. Each roll is sixty-three inches wide. When doing its best this press will consume 25-7/8 miles of 63-inch wide white paper in one hour, and eject it at the two deliveries, each copy containing an epitome of the news of the world for the preceding twenty-four hours, and each copy cut, pasted, and folded ready for delivery. It is a sight worth seeing to see it done, and in its way it is just as impressive as Niagara.

A man turns a lever, shafts and cylinders begin to revolve, the whirring noise sets into a steady roar, you see three streams of white paper pouring into the machine from the three huge rolls, and you pass around to the other side and—it is literally snowing newspapers at each end of the two delivery outlets. So fast does one paper follow the other that you catch only a momentary glitter from the deft steel fingers which seize the papers and cast them out.

The machine weighs about fifty-eight tons. It is massive and strong, with the strength of a thousand giants. And yet, though its arms are of steel and its motions are all as rapid as lightning, its touch is as tender as that of a woman when she caresses her babe. How else does the machine avoid tearing the paper? Paper tears very readily, as you often ascertain accidentally when turning over the pages. Truly wonderful it is, and mysterious to anybody but an expert, how this huge machine can make newspapers at the rate of twenty-five a second without rending the paper all to shreds.

It has six plate cylinders, each cylinder carrying eight stereotype plates, and six impression-cylinders. These cylinders, when the press is working at full speed, make two hundred revolutions a minute. The period of contact between the paper and the plate cylinders is therefore inconceivably brief, and how in that fractional space of time a perfect impression is made even to the reproduction of the finest, is one of those things which, to the man who is not “up” in mechanics, must forever remain a mystery.

A double folder forms part of the machine. A single folder would not be equal to the task imposed on it. As it is, this double folder has to exercise such celerity to keep up with the streams of printed paper which descend upon it that its operations are too quick for the eye to follow.

The press has two delivery outlets. At each the papers are automatically counted in piles of fifty. No matter how rapidly the papers come out, there is never a mistake in the count. It is as sure as fate. By an ingenious contrivance—if I should try to describe it more definitely most people would be none the wiser—each fiftieth paper is shoved out an inch beyond the others which have been dropped on to the receiving tapes, thus serving as a sort of tally mark.

Truly it is a marvelous machine—this sextuple press. Nowhere you will find a more perfect adaptation of means to ends, nowhere in any branch of industry a piece of mechanism which offers a finer example of what human skill and ingenuity is capable of. And it is free from that reproach which is sometimes brought against the greatest triumphs of inventive genius in other departments of human activity,—that they make mere automatons out of human beings.

There was recently manufactured by the Hoe Company for a New York paper an addition to this wonderful piece of machinery designated an octuple press. Running at full speed it will print, paste, cut, fold, and count 96,000 eight-page papers an hour. It is nearly 14 feet high, and 25 feet long. Ten men are required to operate it. The cylinders revolve 200 times in every 60 seconds.

This monster is divided into two working parts. The printing is done on the half of the machine to the right. The paper passes over the cylinders there, where it is printed from the stereotype plates, and then runs through the other half of the machine on the left, where it is cut, inserted, pasted, delivered, and counted from four outlets folding in half-page size.

This press shows four distinct double printing machines, each fed by its own roll of paper. The paper from each roll passes against two sets of stereotype plate cylinders—one for each side of the printed sheet. The machine is so perfectly adjusted that by simply turning a screw and moving a gear a few inches each of the four sets of cylinders can be thrown out of operation; that is to say one quarter, one half, three quarters, or the whole press can be operated at will.

The folder is harmonized for each adjustment of the printing cylinder. The folding of the papers has been brought to the highest state of perfection. The sheets are folded, cut, and delivered by a rotary motion at a speed that could never have been attained with the reciprocating arms, such as were used prior to the Hoe inventions.

When a sixteen-page paper is being printed it comes in four-ply thickness, and then doubles and shoots eight thicknesses under the knife.

When a twenty-four-page paper is being printed it passes over the longitudinal folder in six-ply thickness and passes under the knife in twelve thicknesses. All this is attained without the use of guiding tapes. In fact, the speed could not be attained with them.

As the papers are folded and delivered from the four outlets, with a speed too great for the eye to follow, the machine itself counts them in total and in bundles, as is done on the sextuple press. This monster octuple machine has a perfected system of ink distribution with which no other presses are equipped. Under the system results are obtained by decreasing the size and increasing the number of ink-rollers around each cylinder of plates.

The arrangement of the type cylinders is such as to make the press one that can be handled with great ease and rapidity. Along the right hand of the machine, between the two rows of cylinders, is an open passageway. It is large enough for men to pass through either from the ground or from the gallery near the latitudinal centre of the press.

From this open passageway the pressmen are able to watch every movement of the machine’s interior working, and from it they are able to make quick changes on the plate cylinders. The change in position of only two ink-rollers is necessary to change a plate on any cylinder. This is a matter of great importance to a paper which prints many editions, for it is necessary to change plates so often and to economize every minute of time in order to catch the fast mails which carry the paper to all quarters of the earth.

On the octuple presses each roll of paper is guarded against breakage. There is a device in the shape of a short endless belt of rubber which passes over two pulleys and rests on top of the roll of paper. The paper is then pulled from the roll as gently as the thread is pulled from the spool of a sewing machine. The belt pushes the roll along at a speed equal to and sometimes a little greater than that of the stereotype cylinders. Hence, all tension is removed from the paper.

From the stereotyper’s department, where they have been made in a few minutes, come the plates of curved, bright metal. Passed to the pressmen, they are locked on the cylinders as fast as they can be handled. The rolls of paper have been placed in their proper positions.

This accomplished, the men step back from the machine, the brakeman pulls the lever, and the giant press begins its work. Slowly its cylinders revolve at first, but as headway is gained the rumble that accompanied the start increases into a shrill shriek as the limit of speed is reached.

The paper rushes from its continuous rolls, is printed, folded, cut, and thrown out from the four outlets at a speed that would be over twice greater than that of any express train if it were confined to one roll. Every paper is just like every other one, perfect in every detail.

When this has gone on for an hour, two hours, or however long it may take to run off the editions, the monster press can be stopped in an instant. With the simple touching of a lever all its movement will cease before the cylinders can revolve five times, and they had been revolving two hundred times a minute before.

The two wonders just described are confined to newspaper work. This same American firm has produced presses upon which are printed the fine specimens of magazines where the work takes a striking resemblance to lithograph printing. They have a speed of 8000 an hour. From them come booklets of 16, 20, or 24 pages. From the presses of 4000 an hour come books of 32, 40, and 48 pages. In construction they are complicated and grand.

Then come the presses upon which are printed different colors. These are made in England and the United States, and are used with satisfactory results on prominent publications in both countries. A recent issue of the “British and Colonial Printer” directs attention to this advance in mechanism through the medium of the Hoe art rotary form feeder. It says:—

“This machine carries the mind back naturally to pre-rotary days, when the Hoe multi-feeder held the field as the newspaper machine, to the days of the heavy, and as we consider in these advanced days, clumsy turtle. When the creative genius of Colonel Hoe evolved the rotary press, the multi-feeder was almost at once relegated to the lumber room of obsolete mechanics. It is hardly conceivable that it entered the mind of any practical man at this time that the principle of multi-fed flat sheet printing would ever be adapted to the production of high art illustrated literature, at a speed equal, or nearly so, to the former Hoe news machine. It has, at all events in our country, long been a settled opinion that such work could only be successfully accomplished upon a flat-bed machine, that the mere curvature of a plate must destroy the beauty of a fine process block for example, and that any attempt to travel at a greater speed than 1200 to 1500 an hour must be at the sacrifice of depth and sufficiency of rolling. Whether this is really so readers will now be able to form their own opinion from the pages of the ‘Strand Magazine.’ Those pages abound in very varied methods of engraving, woodcut and process, line and nature, and reproductions alike from photos and from wash and crayon drawings. Every page has undergone the process of electrotyping, cast straight and curved subsequently, and therefore the conditions of printing at the high speed of 4000 (or to be strictly accurate, four sheets of 16 pages each put through at the rate of 950 each, or 3800 per hour) are as severe as could be desired.

“The British printer has yet to acquire a full mastery of its capabilities, and the engineer has equally before him in some degree a period of development. Some of the portraiture, human and animal, is equal to anything seen. The make-ready (upon hard packing) exhibits the highest quality, and the distribution of color perfection. The plate-cylinder is made as large as the desired speed renders practicable, in order that the curvature of the plates may be reduced to a minimum. The provision for securing adequate distribution and in-rolling is upon a liberal scale, but not one whit more so than is requisite, extent of surface and speed of running considered. There are 16 inkers and 38 distributors, with 16 iron distribution cylinders. The sheets are fed in two at either side of the machine, those from the right hand feeders being delivered upon the table at the extreme left, the other upon the inner delivery board. The plates are rigidly secured by special clutches. To facilitate the imposition of the plates, or any attention required by the cylinder, the short rear portion of the machine back of the cylinder is detachable and can be run out upon an extended base, and then closed up and put into gear again. This renders it perfectly accessible at the most essential point. The sheets are of course printed on one side only. We have not yet attained to the perfecting stage in art work in combination with high speed; the introduction of the Hoe art rotary press, however, marks a distinct epoch in this class of printing in Great Britain. Color printing-presses are in use in the newspaper and magazine offices in this country, and from them are produced the artistic as well as the lurid styles of art.”

What the possibilities of the printing press are, looking at the degree of excellence at present attained, it is difficult to predict. It would seem as if the height of perfection now had been reached. The probability is that the printer at the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century may look with something akin to contempt upon the machines which now are regarded with so much pride.

Such a thing is possible in this age of invention.

II. THE SETTING OF TYPE.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the little metal pieces of type were picked up one at a time and placed in the composing “stick” by hand, there was attached to the work an importance which elevated it almost to the ranks of the trained professions. In England, as late as 1817, compositors arrogated to themselves the dignity of carrying swords. At the close of the nineteenth century, the art is seen to be passing into the sphere of mechanics,—the methods in vogue making it entirely a mechanical operation. Before many years of the twentieth century have passed, there will have been attained a degree of advancement which will dispense with the hand of man in guiding the movements of the machine. The inventive skill which brought the printing press to such a high point of excellence and speed has been turned toward the work of type-composing, and the forward march is likely to be as rapid.

Outside of the actual learned professions, no occupation has contributed so many prominent figures to the history and progress of this country as the composing-room. They have filled important places in journalism, politics, Congress, state legislatures, the army and navy, and the world of literature.

Horace Greeley, the founder of the New York “Tribune,”—writer, statesman, and man of affairs,—is one of the notable figures of the present century, who laid the foundation of his career at a case of type.

Schuyler Colfax, who became Vice-President of the United States in 1869, passed the early years of his life setting type.

And, strange to say, these two men, when the presidential chair seemed a possible realization of their ambition, were opposed by men of their craft simply because they had seemed to run so far above the “stick” and “rule.”

Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, once Secretary of War, United States senator, representative of the United States abroad, and for many years political master of his great State, was proud to say that he had begun his career as a type-setter in a country printing-office. It is worth while noticing that this printer-politician’s life covered nearly a century of existence. His life spanned every president from John Adams in 1799 to Benjamin Harrison in 1889, while his active political control of Pennsylvania covered a period of sixty-five years,—a record made by only one man within the history of the United States.

Every state in the Union has contributed to history its quota of printer-statesmen, printer-authors, and printer-journalists. How many of such there have been in this nineteenth century would be beyond ordinary research to ascertain. But printers—compositors—can refer with just pride to the fact that in all the advanced walks of life are to be found men who have been members of the guild.

The setting of type by hand prevailed universally until as late as 1880. That may be put down as the period when there came into anything like general use the machines for type composition, although experiments in that direction had been going on for sixty years.

As early as 1820, printers realized that machinery eventually must be brought into play for composing type. But how to do it was the scientific as well as mechanical problem. It was argued that the machine must be so constructed as to pick up the type, uniformly distribute the space between the words, and “justify” the lines, that is, make them the exact width.

“It is beyond the range of possibility,” suggested the printer. “Mechanism never can be applied to art. The great Benjamin Franklin would have discovered the way to make such a thing possible, if it were possible—which is impossible.”

And the scientific electric discovery made by Benjamin Franklin in the eighteenth century is, at the close of the nineteenth, the motive-power used for driving the machines for type composition,—the seemingly impossible has reached the stage of possibility.

Dr. William Church, of Connecticut, produced a machine looking to machine type-composition in 1820. It did not come into use, although he spent large sums of money on it, and devoted a vast amount of energy toward having it taken up both in this country and in England. At the Paris Exhibition in 1835 there were exhibited several machines of this sort, one of which—the patent of Christian Sörensen, of Copenhagen—was used upon a daily paper issued during the exhibition. In 1871, at the International Exhibition in London, there was shown a machine possessing peculiar features. It used a perforated ribbon, through the medium of which types were worked into position. The machine was cumbersome, complicated, and expensive, and could not be brought into anything like general usage. In 1875 M. Delcambre, of Paris, after twenty years’ work produced a machine in New York. It had the same objections as the others. While this machine could do as much as the labor of three men by hand, it required a man to operate, another man to place the set type in lines, steam to keep it in motion, and a big cost to construct.

Up to this period, all the experiments had shown the want of something which would obviate the presence of a man to make the lines of the proper length and with equal spacing between the words. All the machines which were anything near available picked up and placed in position separate types. At the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, in Philadelphia, there were shown machines which used brass dies and cast a line of type. These seemed to possess the element for successful use, and the outcome was the production of the machine which is now in use in all the big newspaper offices in this country—the “Mergenthaler Linotype.” Practically it has driven all the other machines out of use, but how long it will hold sway is a question. Already men of genius are experimenting with two objects in view,—increase of speed, decrease of cost,—and it is fair to presume that before the twentieth century has gone very far into history these two objects will have been attained.

The linotype, as here shown, has the appearance of a heavy and cumbersome piece of machinery. It actually is so only when there are several of them placed in line—then they give to a composing-room the appearance of a machine shop. This machine, instead of producing single type of the ordinary character, casts type-metal bars or slugs, each complete in one piece, and having on the upper edge, properly justified, the type characters to print a line.

These slugs present the appearance of composed lines of type, and serve the same purpose, and for this reason are called “linotypes.” The linotypes are produced and assembled automatically in a galley, side by side, in proper order, so that they constitute a “form,” answering the same purposes and used in the same manner as the ordinary “forms” consisting of single types.

After being used, the linotypes instead of being, like type forms, distributed, are thrown into a metal pot of the machine to be recast into new forms.

The machine contains, as its fundamental elements, several hundred brass matrices. Each matrix consists of a flat plate having in one edge a female letter, or matrix proper, and in the upper end a series of teeth, which are used for distributing to their proper places in the magazine matrices containing different letters. There are in the machine a number of matrices of each letter, and also matrices representing special characters, and spaces or quads of definite thickness for use in tabular and other work of a complicated nature.

The machine is so organized that on manipulating the finger-keys it will select matrices in the order in which their characters are to appear in print, and assemble them side by side with wedge-shaped spaces at suitable points in the line.

This composed line forms a line matrix, or in other words a line of female type, adapted to produce a line of raised printing type on a slug, which may be forced into or against the matrix characters. After the matrix line is composed it is automatically transferred to the face of the mold, into which molten metal is delivered to produce the slug or linotype, after which the matrices are distributed or returned to the magazine to be again composed in new relations for succeeding lines.

These operations are performed by mechanism, as shown in the outline here presented.

A is an inclined fixed magazine, containing channels in which the assorted matrices are stored, and through which they slide, entering at the top and escaping at the foot, one at a time. Each channel is provided at the lower end with an escapement device, B, connected by a rod, C, with a finger character of the matrices in the corresponding channel. There is a key for each character, and also keys for quads stored in the magazine. The keys are actuated by the operator in the order in which their letters are to appear in print. As a key is depressed, it operates the corresponding escapement, B, which allows a matrix to fall out of the magazine through one of the channels, E, to the inclined traveling belt, F, which serves to carry the matrices down in succession into the assembler stick, G, in which they are stored side by side. A box, H, contains a number of elongated spaces, I, and a discharging device connecting with a finger-key bar, J, by which the spaces are permitted to fall into the line of matrices at the proper points during composition. It will be perceived that the operation of the various keys results in the selection of the matrices and spaces, and their collection in assembler, G, until it contains all the characters to be represented by one line of print. After the matrix line is thus composed it is transferred, as indicated by the dotted lines, to the front of a mold or slot extending through a mold wheel, K, from front to rear. This mold is of the exact size and shape of the slug required. The matrix line is pressed tightly against, and closed in front of, the mold for the time being, and the characters, or matrices proper, face the mold cell or space. While the line is in place in front of the mold, the wedge spaces are pushed up through the line, and in this manner exact and instantaneous “justification” is secured. Behind the mold there is a melting pot, M, heated by a flame from a gas burner, and containing a quantity of molten metal. The pot has a perforated mouth arranged to fit against and close the rear side of the mold, and contains a jump plunger, mechanically actuated.

After the matrix line is in place, the plunger falls and forces metal through the pot mouth into the mold, against and into the characters of the matrix line. The metal instantly solidifies in the mold, forming the slug or linotype, having on its edge raised type characters formed by the matrices. The mold wheel next makes a partial revolution, turning the mold from the original horizontal to a vertical position in front of the ejector, which then advances from the rear through the mold, pushing the slug out of the latter into the receiving galley, at the front.

A vibrating arm advances the slugs laterally in the galley, and thus assembles them side by side in column or page-form ready for use. In order to insure absolute accuracy in the height and thickness of the slugs, knives are arranged to act upon them during their course to the galley.

After the matrices in the line have served their purpose in front of the mold, they are returned to the magazine to be again discharged and used in the following manner. The line is lifted from the mold and shifted laterally until the teeth at the top engage the teeth of bar, R. This bar then rises as shown by dotted lines, lifting the matrices to the distributor at the top of the machine, but leaving the spaces, I, behind to be shifted laterally to the magazine or holder, H, from which they were discharged. Each matrix has distributor teeth in its top, arranged in a special order or number, according to the character it contains. In other words, a matrix containing any given character differs in the number or relation of its teeth from a matrix containing any other character. This difference is relied upon to secure proper distribution. A distributor-bar, T, in a single piece, is fixed horizontally over the upper end of the magazine, and is formed with longitudinal ribs or teeth, adapted to engage the teeth of the matrices and hold the latter in suspension as they are carried along the bar over the mouths or entrances of the channels.

The teeth of the bar are cut away to vary their number or arrangement at different points in its length, so that there is a special arrangement over the mouth of each channel. The matrices are pushed upon the bar at the end, and made to slide slowly along it while suspended therefrom. Each matrix remains in engagement, and travels over the mouth of the channels, until it arrives at the required point, where, for the first time, its teeth bear such relation to those of the bar that it is permitted to disengage and fall into its channel.

The travel of the matrices is secured by longitudinal screws, which lie below the bar in position to engage the edges of the matrices. The matrices pursue a circulatory course through the machine, starting from the bottom of the magazine and passing thence to the line being composed, thence to the mold, and finally back to the top of the magazine. This circulation permits the operations of composing one line, casting a second, and distributing a third, to be carried on concurrently, and enables the machine to run at a speed exceeding that at which any operator can finger the keys.

One half horse power is generally used in driving a machine. About five square feet is the space occupied by the machine; it weighs 1925 pounds, and consumes about fifteen feet of illuminating gas each hour to heat the metal pot. Each machine will do complete work equal to that of five men by hand. The simplicity of the machine bears a striking resemblance to the typewriter, and this is operated successfully by young girls. When the matter set by the machine is placed together, the page presents a surface equal to an entire new set of type, or, as the printers say, “We take on an entire new dress every day.”

That is a production of the nineteenth century. How commonplace it will appear when the achievements of the twentieth century are placed on record.

III. EVENTS AS THEY OCCUR.

When the nineteenth century opened, great events were occurring in the world. Napoleon Bonaparte was the central figure in the eye of Europe. He had, but a few years previously (1797), gone through the most brilliant campaign known. He had crossed the Alps, defeated the Austrians at Montenotte and Millesimo, defeated the Sardinians at Ceva and Mondovi, and conquered Lombardy,—all in a few weeks. The year following he had conquered Egypt, and in 1800 had become the first consul and the ruler of France, to be declared Emperor four years later.

Then followed, in rapid succession, the events which caused the world to look upon Napoleon as the probable coming ruler of the universe. It was in 1805 that he began the war of aggrandizement. He crossed the Rhine, compelling the Austrian army to surrender at Ulm; he entered Vienna and routed the Russian and Austrian armies at Austerlitz. This was followed by his move to make himself master of Southern and Central Europe. He established his brother Joseph as King of Naples; his brother Louis as King of Holland; his stepson Eugene as Viceroy of Italy; and his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, as Grand Duke of Berg. The following year he defeated the Prussians and entered Berlin.

It was not until his abdication at Fontainebleau, in 1814, that Europe and America breathed freely. His final overthrow at Waterloo in 1815 removed him from the stage as an active participant in the world’s history of the nineteenth century.

In the United States, the close of the eighteenth century was marked by the death of Washington, while 1800, 1801, 1802 saw us make a treaty of peace with France, remove the national capital from Philadelphia to Washington, D. C., declare war against Tripoli, purchase Louisiana from France, and enter upon the disputes with Great Britain which culminated in a declaration of war with the mother country, in June of 1812.

While these events at home and abroad were making history, long periods of time elapsed between their occurrence and their being given to the people. There was no telegraphic communication which flashed messages around the globe. It was a wait until the mails brought the news. Two months, probably, elapsed after the battle of Waterloo ere this country was furnished with the story which meant so much to the peace of Europe.

What a change in this respect was wrought between the downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815 and the downfall of his nephew, Louis Napoleon, in 1870! On the fateful second of September, 1870, when the Emperor of France, Napoleon III., surrendered to the Emperor William of Prussia, on the field of Sedan, the news was flashed to America in less than two hours. On that hot, sultry day eager crowds surrounded the bulletin boards of the newspapers, on which were displayed the facts connected with the overthrow of the Napoleonic dynasty. The difference in time made it possible for us here to know all that had been done by the two emperors and by Bismarck an hour ahead of their actual happening. For days before that the crowds had surged around the newspaper offices, for days afterward they did the same, and facts were given with a rapidity which showed how wonderful had been the scientific stride between 1815 and 1870.

Had any one in 1815 predicted the possibility of such scenes, he would have been put down as a fit subject for a writ of de lunatico inquirendo. Such, too, would have been the comment on the one who then would have suggested the likelihood of a newspaper in this country reaching a circulation of a million copies daily,—and yet such has become an accomplished fact.

At the close of the first quarter of the nineteenth century there had been no practical advance in the rapid transmission of news. This was the period when the press lacked the facility to rapidly furnish the people with the events which were occurring in all directions. Newspapers still depended upon the mails. Home events were many weeks reaching sections remote from their happening. In this respect there had been some little improvement at the close of the first half of the century. That was the time when the electrical current was being brought into operation in the transmission of signals from which messages were being recorded, and these were being utilized for the sending of information at short distances. Scientific men were even talking of the possibility of connecting distant points on the coast, and whispering their hope for an Atlantic cable. In 1858 that wonderful event came to pass. The old world and the new were connected by cable from Valencia Bay, in Ireland, to Newfoundland, in North America, and messages of greeting passed between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan. The break which followed soon after the opening of this cable stimulated men of genius and men of capital to further efforts, and the governments of the United States and Great Britain came forward with generous aid. The laying of the Atlantic cable by the Great Eastern in 1864, and its successful operation in 1866, opened the doors for the possibilities of the press of to-day, and the realization of such scenes as were witnessed in this country on September 2, 1870.

Between that memorable year, 1866, and this, 1899, how wonderful has been the advance in the transmission of information from all quarters of the globe. From the Transvaal Republic, in South Africa; from the desert home of the Dervish in the Soudan; from the domain of Turkey’s Sultan, in Armenia; from the Holy Land; from the Oriental empires of China and Japan; from the snow-clad land of the Czar in Siberia; from the Bosphorus to the English Channel; from Valencia across the Atlantic; from Victoria Land in North America to Patagonia in South America; from Maine to Mexico; from the Atlantic to the Pacific; there are each day transmitted all occurrences of interest transpiring,—and these encompass peace and war, joy and sorrow, science and art, education and trade,—events which arouse the passions and quicken the pulse of humanity.

This is done through the medium of an organization known as the Associated Press. This wonderful combination has nearly forty thousand miles of wire from the different telegraph companies, for which there is paid a fixed price per mile. This, however, does not include its cable service, the charges for which are according to the number of words transmitted. The service of this organization costs a million and a half a year, divided among several hundred of the great newspapers of the United States. During the recent conflict between Spain and the United States its expenditure for war news alone was nearly $500,000. This can readily be understood when the reader is informed that the cable rate from Manila was $2.37 a word. Thus, a dispatch filling less than a quarter of a column of the average daily paper cost $1000. The rate from Porto Rico, at the outbreak of hostilities, was $1.90 a word, and it often happened that a single dispatch covering the movements of a body of troops in that island, with possibly a pen picture of a skirmish with the Spaniards, would cost $2000 in gold. The Santiago toll was $1.10 a word; and whole pages of newspapers were printed at that rate.

What a gigantic institution it has become for the rapid dissemination of news events!

In that war between Spain and the United States, General Toral, the Spanish commander, surrendered Santiago on July 14, at 2.15 o’clock in the afternoon. At 2.25 o’clock the message announcing the fact was received in Philadelphia. On the 12th of August following, at 4.23 o’clock in the afternoon, the Peace Protocol was signed in Washington by the French Ambassador Cambon and Secretary of State Day, and at 4.27 o’clock—four minutes later—the information was in the New York office of the Associated Press. Hundreds of such instances of this rapid transmission of news could be recorded in this last year of the nineteenth century,—facts never even dreamed of when Benjamin Franklin chained the electric current in the closing years of the eighteenth century.

The journey of a piece of news from the far East to the far West is something worth noting. The trip covers thousands of miles out of a direct route. As for instance, when Admiral Dewey annihilated the Spanish fleet in the Bay of Manila, on May 1, 1898, the fact was cabled to Hong Kong, China. There an operator transmitted it northward to Helampo in Russia, right on the border line of Manchooria, from which place it was sent across Russia to Tomsk, thence to St. Petersburg. From the Russian capital it zigzagged to Berne, in Switzerland; thence to Paris; thence across the channel to Penzance, and finally to Valencia, to be put on the cable for America. In two hours from the time the operator in Hong Kong started his dispatch, it was being hurried across the American continent—north, west, east, south—for distribution in the newspaper offices.

When a party of Mohammedans attacked a Christian mission in Calcutta, a telegraph operator dispatched the news to Bombay, whence it was transmitted to Aden. The next point reached was Suez, from which it was sent to Malta. It was next sent to Lisbon. From there it was given to Paris. From Malta it was also cabled to Penzance, thence to Valencia, and finally to the United States.

When that Manila piece of news from Admiral Dewey reached the Pacific coast in the United States, the date of its being started was yet several hours behind the time of its arrival. The attack on the Spanish fleet was made on Sunday, May 1, Manila time. The fact was not sent out by Dewey until the following morning, May 2 (still Manila time). It was started on its westward course that morning (May 2) at ten o’clock. By the route taken to Valencia with the relays, two hours were consumed. This brought it to London about three o’clock on that morning of May 2, owing to the difference in time. Traveling westward across the Atlantic ocean in advance of the sun, it reached New York about ten o’clock in the night of May 1. But little time was lost in retransmission to the Pacific coast, which point it reached about six o’clock on that Sunday evening of May 1—fourteen hours previous, by the day of the month, to its being started from Manila.

In this work of sending out news not a moment is lost that can be avoided. The aid of the typewriter enables the operator to keep pace with the sending operator, and his pace has been increased in the past few years by the introduction of a code system. Here is a specimen of the code system as used by the operator in sending out a news item:—

“Madrid, March 17—T Qn Regent h sined t Treaty of Peace btn Spn & t Uni Stas. T treaty wb frwded to t French Ambsdr, Jules Cambon, at Washn, fo exg w t one sined by Pr McKinley. No decree q sj wb pud d ‘Official Gazette.’

“Ofl rlns btn t 2 govts wi nw b promtly rnud. Ix rmrd 5 Mir to t Uni Stas wb Snor. Don J. Brunetti, Duke d’Arcos, fmr Spnh Mir to Mex, wos wif is an Amn.”

When this seemingly incomprehensible conglomeration of letters leaves the hand of the receiving operator it reads as follows:—

“Madrid, March 17—The Queen Regent has signed the Treaty of Peace between Spain and the United States. The treaty will be forwarded to the French Ambassador, Jules Cambon, at Washington, for exchange with the one signed by President McKinley. No decree on the subject will be published in the ‘Official Gazette.’

“Official relations between the two governments will now be promptly renewed. It is rumored that the Minister to the United States will be Señor Don J. Brunetti, Duke d’Arcos, former Spanish Minister to Mexico, whose wife is an American.”

The London “Times” recently has been experimenting with a scheme whereby reporters in the Houses of Parliament operate the typesetting machines in the London office by the wire from their quarters in Parliament.

It is only a question of time when this practice comes into use in the reporting of all legislative proceedings.

In some of the New York newspaper offices, the receiving operator sits at a typesetting machine and puts into type the messages which come over the wires.

How rapidly we have advanced in this direction in the last half of the nineteenth century is thus shown. What will be done by our successors in the first half of the twentieth century, no man can at this time satisfactorily predict.

IV. TYPE-MAKING, STEREOTYPING, PICTURE-MAKING.

The manufacture of the small metal pieces called type has undergone little change in this nineteenth century. That which has been done has been in the way of producing artistic designs, so arranged that combinations can be formed pleasing to the eye, and an aid to rapid workmanship. The machinery in use has lost its crudity, the production has been increased, and the finish become more perfect. The setting of type by machinery has been a serious blow to this industry, and the time will come when it will be devoted entirely to the making of job or fancy types.

Benjamin Franklin attempted to make metal type in this country, but he did not succeed. It was not until 1796 that type-making was commenced here.

As in many other departures in the printing business, the city of Philadelphia took the lead. Binney and Ronaldson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, established the first foundry in this country, operating it in Philadelphia. After a severe struggle and with some aid from the State, a business was established by the two Scotchmen, which afterwards became known as the Johnson Foundry, under MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, which is still in existence. They were followed by David Bruce, also a Scotchman, and by 1813 foundries had been established in New York and other large cities.

Since that time improvements have been introduced, but nothing has come forth which deserves to be ranked with the printing-press or the typesetting machine.

The type founder will tell you how much better are the machines used in 1899 than those which produced type in 1850. But he cannot point out any device connected with it which the mechanical world can designate as marvelous, or the people at large regard as a wonderful invention. Type once was rubbed into smoothness by boys. Now it is done automatically on the machine. By the hand process about four hundred types an hour were cast; by the present mechanism a speed of six thousand an hour has been acquired. Until about 1875, this output hardly met the demand; now it will do so. Before many years it will be far in excess of the requirements.

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Stereotyping is the art of making plates cast in one piece of type metal from the surface of one or more pages of type. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, stereotyping was used to an exceedingly limited extent. The printers were prejudiced against it for reasons purely selfish. It was not until 1813 that it was introduced into the United States, and only a few years previously Lord Stanhope introduced it into the English printing business. “The Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly” professes on its title-page to have been the first work stereotyped in America. It bears the date of June, 1813. Now the process is in general use—plaster, clay, and papier mâché being used.

The process of stereotyping originally was to preserve the pages, so that an entire edition of a work could be finished without requiring large numbers of type, and to have it ready for future editions. For newspaper work it came into vogue to save the rapid wearing out of the type by the impressions made.

From the practical introduction of stereotyping in this country, in 1813, by Robert Bruce, until about 1850, the slow, tedious, and troublesome process of making the plates by plaster of Paris was in vogue. That was done by the plaster being poured over the face of the type. Molten lead was then run into the cast, after which the plate was finished. The time thus occupied caused the work to be confined to books, magazines, and weekly issues of small journals. When the plate was taken from the cast it was rough, imperfect, and unfit for use. Men, whose specialty was finishing, were employed to make the plate so as to meet the requirements of the printing press.

It was just at the opening of the last half of the nineteenth century that papier mâché began to be used in this country. A few years before that time it had been brought into use in London and Paris. Its introduction into the United States found the printing trade ready and willing to accept it, and but a few years passed before it came into general use by the newspapers. It is a peculiar combination. The paper matrix is formed by paste of starch, flour, alum, and water. This is spread over a thick paper, on which are placed layers of fine tissue paper. When ready for use, it is placed on the face of the type and a deep impression secured by being passed through a press. Then it goes into a steam chest to be dried, from there it is passed into the casting machine, the molten metal poured in, and a few minutes thereafter the plate is ready for the press. Up to a few years ago, the impression on papier mâché was secured by being beaten with brushes prepared for that use. The method had two disadvantages,—consumption of time and destruction of type. The press now used obviates these defects. The old way took about twenty minutes to produce a plate. Now it is done in from five to seven minutes. The machinery here introduced has been of benefit to the trade, but none of it ranks among the great inventions of the century.

The making of electrotype plates had its origin early in the century, when it was found that stereotype plates had a limit as to durability. Electroplating suggested to Josiah Adams, in 1839, the idea of a copper surface for the stereotype plate. It took ten years to bring it into practical use. His first successful work in this line was on the engravings and borders for a Bible issued in New York. It was found to be particularly adapted to engravings, producing a surface of sufficient smoothness to allow the pressman to make a print of exquisite fineness. The improvements introduced tended only toward the saving of time and the excellence of finish. Practically the same process is used now that was employed half a century ago. An impression of the type is made on wax, the electric current is secured by a deposit of fine graphite, the mold is placed in a bath containing a solution of sulphate of copper and is made part of the electric circuit, in which also is introduced a zinc element in a sulphuric acid solution. The current deposits a film of copper on the graphite surface of the mold. When it has assumed a sufficient thickness, it is taken from the bath, the wax is removed, and the copper shell trimmed. It is then backed with an alloy of type metal. The finishing process brings the plate to the proper thickness, after which it is blocked to the height required for printing. That is the process. To it in the last ten years there has been applied the use of steam machinery. In the old days the making of electrotypes required from ten to fifteen hours. They now are produced in from two to three hours.

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The close of the nineteenth century witnesses the disappearance entirely from the printing establishment of the once generally used wood engraving. The rise and fall of this once splendid art is practically encompassed in the period of time covered by the nineteenth century. Thomas Bewick, an Englishman, gave wood engraving an artistic impetus by the production of illustrations for his “Histories of British Quadrupeds,” which appeared about 1790. Up to that period the work was crude. The books and magazines of the first decade of the century were illustrated in a way then regarded as highly artistic. The application of the Bewick method brought forth work which ranked in the line of high art. Of the development of this work volumes could be written. To simplify the situation it is only necessary to recall how these pictures were made. Squares of boxwood were used, on the face of which was spread a preparation of water-color Chinese white. On this surface the artist drew his picture, and then the engraver’s art was brought into requisition—the engraving being done alongside the pencil lines.

And here it was that the artistic instinct of the handler of the “graver” appeared,—the delicacy of touch being shown in the shading and in the finish of the lines. By this method there have been produced rare works of art, as can be seen by an examination of the books printed in the first half of the century.

The time taken in the making of the engravings, however, prevented the possibility of their being used by the newspapers and magazines as generally as was desired. This want was in a measure met by the introduction of machine “grooving.” The cuts, however, could not be used to print from directly in consequence of the warping of the boxwood, and it was necessary in every instance to make stereotype or electrotype plates. Then, too, came the realization of the fact that the reproduction of portraits needed something which would preserve features and expression. In those days some of the pictures produced were ludicrous in the extreme, and it became a standing joke in the newspapers that the best way to cast ridicule upon a public man was to print his picture. In the work of reproducing scenes the skill of the artist and the engraver frequently brought forth results which were marvels of excellence. For a number of years the wood engraving business flourished in this particular line, despite the dissatisfaction existing in regard to portrait work. In the production of illustrations for fine books, printed on good paper with flat presses and properly “under-” or “overlaid,” there was attained a degree of perfection in lines and shading which raised the pictures almost to the rank of steel and copperplate engravings. Many of those engaged in the work of drawing and cutting were possessed of a skill which would have won for them distinction in other artistic lines.

This, practically, was the condition of the profession when the end of the first half of the nineteenth century had been reached. Even then, however, the question of a substitute was under severe consideration in scientific as well as artistic circles. Experiments were made with copper, acids, and zinc, but satisfactory results could not be obtained. It was not until 1860 that a successful substitute was produced. Gillot, a Frenchman, brought forth a system of etching. By this means a photograph from an artist’s drawing was placed above a plate of gelatine, chemically sensitized. The parts of the gelatine exposed to the light became hard, and the remainder was brushed away with warm water. From this an electrotype could be made directly. That process has given way to the present system of photographing on zinc, and the use of acid baths for etching. Other improvements—principally the use of the screen—have resulted in the production of half-tones which are highly satisfactory in newspaper work. By this means there can be produced such reproductions as give the features of persons so that recognition is as easy as in the case of photographs. With the aid of different sizes of screens, backgrounds are secured which add materially to the artistic excellence of the pictures. So well done is the work in this direction that the plates can be used on the curved cylinders of the huge octuple presses, and enormous editions are printed from them. The peculiarity of this process is that the original can be reduced or enlarged so as to suit any width of column or page without affecting one way or the other the fineness of the work. Pen and ink drawings made by artists are photographed and backgrounded with the utmost accuracy as to design and detail. It has been found, however, that scenes in half-tones do not give as much satisfaction as do portraits, and it is believed to be only a question of time when there is a return to line engravings so far as the newspapers are concerned.

When one compares the photographic reproductions which appear in the magazines and newspapers of to-day with those of even ten years ago, there is seen an advancement which tells a wonderful story of the rapid march of artistic taste. The outline picture—excellent of its kind—has the appearance of crudity almost grotesque when placed beside the life-like half-tone reproduction of photographic art.

Wood engraving has been relegated to the days of the hand-press, the mail news-carrier and the plaster of Paris process of stereotyping. Inventive genius not only has advanced for the printing press and its adjuncts; it has also laid a heavy hand on art, causing it to pause and consider how soon the pencil and the brush will be superseded entirely by the rhythmic motion of the machine.

THE CENTURY’S PROGRESS IN MINES AND MINING

BY GEO. A. PACKARD,

Metallurgist and Mining Engineer.

When we consider how largely the discovery and exploration of America was due to the search for mines, that the precious metals might be found to replenish the depleted treasuries of European monarchs; and when we note that, as a result of this search, the world’s annual production of gold and silver had increased in the three hundred years following the discovery from $5,508,000, in 1500, to $48,995,000 at the beginning of the nineteenth century, we view with surprise the little progress made during this period in the art of mining.

At the beginning of the present century, we find in use the same general methods that were followed in the time of Columbus. The very first operation—the search for veins—was oftentimes conducted after the manner of the Middle Ages; for in Pryce’s “Mineralogia Cornubiensis,” which seems to have been one of the leading works on mining of the last century, there occurs, among other methods, a lengthy treatise on “How to Discover Mines by the Sole Virtue of the Hazel-tree.” Powder, although it had been invented for centuries, had been so little employed in mining that it was considered merely as a last resort. In a description of mining methods, another work says: “The soft vein is generally dug with the spade and turned out into wooden trays; but the hard veins are knocked out with a gad and a hammer. If the ore is so hard as to be incapable of breaking it in this manner, they usually soften it with fire. But a still more expeditious method is the working with gunpowder. A small quantity of powder does great things this way.”

In 1800 the coal miner was working by the naked light of the tallow dip. Cast-iron rails had been introduced but a few years, and rails of wrought iron, which could be bent to follow the curves of the drifts, were unheard of. The cars were pushed along the levels by boys. Water power, where it could be obtained and applied by means of the overshot wheel, was in general use for pumping, hoisting, and ventilating. But from many a mine the ore was raised by women, who pulled the bucket up “by walking away with the end of the rope” which passed from them over a sheave and thence down the shaft. In places the ore was still carried up the steep inclines to the surface on the backs of women and girls. Ventilation, when not secured by natural means, was obtained by bellows operated by men or mechanically. A mine which had been worked to a depth of one thousand feet was extraordinary. Though steam power, applied in the form of what was known as the atmospheric engine, a device utilizing for suction the vacuum formed by the condensation of steam in a chamber, had been used for years in draining mines, the steam engine, as invented by Watt, had been introduced for hoisting in only a few places. The power was applied to turn a long crank arm, which rotated the drum.

At the beginning of the century the mines of Cornwall, which were the greatest producers in Great Britain, were turning out about 5,000,000 pounds of tin and 10,000,000 pounds of copper a year, while the whole United Kingdom was furnishing only 170,000 tons of iron. South America was the greatest producer of gold and silver, wonderfully rich mines of the latter having been found in Peru and Chile. Humboldt places the production of the whole South American continent for the year 1800 at 691,625 pounds of silver and 9900 pounds of gold.

The United States at that time had practically no mining within its borders. Some small mines of iron, lead, and copper, which had been opened to supply the demands created by the Revolution, were producing spasmodically; but even as late as 1821, William Keating, in an address before the American Philosophical Society, said, “Upon the whole we think we may be warranted in saying that there are as yet no mines in activity in the United States. Coal, in most places, is taken from the surface, or dug from the foot of a hill. The lead mines of Missouri are rich and abundant, but the mining is a mere pilfering of the richest spots.”

In 1801 the Cornish pumping system was introduced. A long rod, extending from the surface to the bottom of the shaft, operates simultaneously a series of pumps placed, one above the other, at intervals of about two hundred and fifty feet. The lowest one lifts the water from the pump and delivers it into a tank from which the next one draws its supply, and this in turn forces it up to a higher tank. With this improved means of drainage mines began to be sunk deeper, a depth of three thousand feet having been reached with this method of pumping. The manufacture of iron pumps, which had begun to replace wooden ones toward the end of the eighteenth century, decreased the amount of repairs necessary on the pumps, and aided in making possible better arrangement of underground work.

It was at about this time, the beginning of the present century, that the method of opening ground by shafts, levels, and raises, which we refer to as “blocking out ore,” began to be more generally adopted, displacing the former mode of following down the ore by a series of irregular, isolated excavations. With it came overhead stoping, in which, after the shaft has been sunk, the level driven and timbered, and a raise made, the miner begins breaking down the ore from over his head, allowing it to run down into chutes. From these it is drawn out into cars pushed along the tracks in the level. The waste is allowed to accumulate on top of the stulls, or timbers, forming the top of the level above referred to, and serves as a platform upon which the miner stands in breaking down more ore.

The invention of the safety lamp, in 1815, is probably the most important event of the early part of the century. Previous to this the miners fired the gas in the “rooms” with their candles, which were raised toward the roof with the aid of a long pole, the miners lying flat on the floor of the level to escape the blaze, and sometimes putting on wet jackets to avoid being scorched. As first invented by Davy, the safety lamp consisted merely of a cylinder of wire gauze surrounding the flame, much as the flame is surrounded by a glass globe in the modern lantern, except that the diameter of the cylinder did not exceed two inches. This was based upon the theory that the gas set on fire by the light would burn inside the gauze without heating it hot enough to ignite the gas outside. The principle was correct, and the lamp worked satisfactorily when carefully used under proper conditions. It was soon found, however, that in a strong air current, or if swung at a more rapid speed than six feet per second in an explosive mixture, the surrounding gas would be ignited. As a man walking naturally on the surface moves at a rate of between five and six feet per second, it will be easily seen that even were the speed considerably diminished underground,—and any one who has tried to follow a mine foreman through mine workings knows the speed slackening is slight,—a very slight swing of the arm would bring the rate of movement of the lantern up to the danger point. Another and a very unexpected factor in causing explosions with the new lamp also developed; and that was the great carelessness of the men who used it. Armed with this device, and deluded by the quietly burning flame, the miner would seat himself upon a pile of coal, draw forth his pipe and fill it, and deliberately open the gauze to light it. As a consequence, for a time after the introduction of the safety-lamp, the number of accidents from explosions increased. This latter difficulty, the recklessness of the miners, was presently overcome by having the lamps locked, and by depriving the men of all matches before admitting them to the mine. An improved lamp, introduced by Clanny, wherein the lower part of the cylinder was replaced by glass, partially protected the flame from strong air currents, and also gave a better light. Later, Müseler added an interior sheet iron chimney, which divides the air current so that the hot air does not strike directly against the gauze, and the lamp as thus improved is very largely used, especially in Europe.

In 1831 the safety fuse was invented, a train of powder having been used before this for firing the charges. The same year a patent was granted to Moses Shaw of New York for an electrical device to fire several charges at once. It was at about this time, too, that the man-engine was invented in Germany. Some miner, noticing the slow and steady up and down motion of the long rods which operated the pumps in the Cornish system, had conceived the idea of nailing steps on to them at intervals, and riding up and down. As mines grew deeper and the time and labor required for the men to get down to their work increased, a special engine, utilizing an improvement of this device, was employed for raising and lowering men. This “man-engine” consisted of two parallel beams, moving slowly up and down the shaft with a reciprocating motion, the length of the stroke being about twelve feet. Upon these beams small platforms were nailed at distances equal to the length of the stroke. The miner wishing to descend stepped upon the top platform of one beam as it started on its down stroke. At the end of this stroke he found himself twelve feet down the shaft, on a level with the second platform of the other beam, which had in the mean time been coming up, and he stepped across on to this, which now began its down stroke. Thus by constantly stepping from one rod to the other at the completion of each down stroke, he was conveyed to the bottom. By reversing the process he was raised to the surface.

In general, mining progress was slow up to the middle of the century. The production of the baser metals, here and abroad, increased gradually with the demands of the mechanic arts, but it was not until the middle of the century that this factor, joined with the improved methods of transportation, and of metallurgy, gave to mining that impetus which, though through alternate recurring waves of prosperity and stagnation, carried it forward until the annual expenditure for technical skill, machinery, and supplies used in the industry is estimated to-day at one thousand million dollars.

The first mining excitement in the United States occurred in 1829, following the discovery of gold in the South; but these fields soon declined in importance without resulting in any improvements to mining methods and machinery.

The next mining fever resulted from the inauguration of work upon the copper properties at Keweenaw Point, Mich., in 1845. This caused the first mining-stock speculation in this country, and it is interesting to note that the century closes with a repetition of this same fever, founded upon almost the same ground. Yet the conditions have changed wonderfully. Upon the then barren peninsula, whitened with the tents of speculators and geologists, has grown up a multitude of towns, filled with thousands of people whose labors are performed at a depth of nearly a mile under ground. Thousands more transport the ore to the mills, separate the copper from the rock, and cut timber for the mines; while yet other thousands prepare food and clothing and shelter for all these. During 1898, the copper mines about Lake Superior produced nearly 160,000,000 pounds of copper, and paid in dividends $6,490,000.

This district is the only one in the United States where the man-engine has been used; but as the shafts were sunk deeper and deeper, it was found that even this method was not sufficiently rapid, and the men are now lowered into the mines by cages or skips. A “cage” is simply the miners’ name for the ordinary elevator when used underground, and has developed from the bucket in use at the beginning of the century. A “skip” is a car especially designed for use on an incline. The roadway upon which the skip runs is so planned, at the top of the shaft, that the rear wheels run upon a track raised above the one over which the front wheels pass, so that the rear end is elevated and the skip is dumped automatically. At the De Beers diamond mines in South Africa are two of these skips which hold nearly five tons of rock each. At the bottom of the shaft are chutes containing the rock, and when the skip is in position a man pulls a lever, allowing the ore to run into it. Another pull closes the chute, a button is touched which rings a bell in the engine-room, and the skip starts up the shaft. At the top it dumps itself and returns to be filled again. In the mean time the other skip has been filled and is going up while the first is coming down. With these two skips, making ninety-two trips an hour, over four thousand tons of rock have been hoisted in less than twelve hours, from a depth of 1250 feet.

To handle these enormous quantities tremendous hoisting engines are used. At the Calumet and Hecla mines is a pair of quadruple expansion engines which will lift cages, carrying six tons of ore, a mile in a minute and a half. The “Modoc” hoist, built for the Anaconda Mining Company of Butte, Montana, is the largest hoist in the world. It is a double compound beam engine, and is designed to be used in sinking to a depth of 6000 feet. This machine weighs four hundred tons, and has seven separate subordinate engines for use in operating it. Think of it! An engine so ponderous that smaller engines are necessary to apply the clutches that set the reels in motion; other engines set the brakes, and another reverses the action, if need be. All these are controlled by levers operated from the engineer’s platform, the “runner” having one foot and seven hand levers to handle. Besides these there are two indicator discs, directly in front, requiring constant attention, for these show the exact position of the cage in the shaft. Yet such wonderful skill have the runners in the control of these veritable flying machines that they instantly interpret the complicated signals, and drop the cage with such exactness that the car of ore is run from the track in the level to the track on the cage, almost without a jar.

Nor is the hoist the only large machine necessary in the equipment of the modern mining plant, for in sinking to great depths vast quantities of water have to be removed. The Chapin Mining Company, at Iron Mountain, Mich., have one of the largest pumping engines in the world. This engine is located on the surface, driving the pumps after the Cornish style, though it would be difficult to see much of the pump of 1801 in this magnificent machine. With a ten-foot stroke it conveys the power to the pumps through a walking beam weighing a hundred tons. In an hour it will raise nearly 200,000 gallons of water from a depth of a quarter of a mile.

Imagine the miner of 1800 “softening by fire” sufficient ore to supply a modern hoist. For the mines which now turn out 2000 tons a day can by no means be counted on one’s fingers, and 2000 tons means more than a foot deep over a whole city block. Before the middle of the century the use of powder and drill had largely increased, and in 1845 an attempt was made to aid the man behind the drill with a machine which swung a hammer by steam power. In 1805 a machine was invented using compressed air in a cylinder, and this was gradually improved until it became a success in 1861, in the Mont Cenis tunnel. As finally employed, the power drill is practically a small engine, the drill being attached to the piston rod and moved rapidly back and forth by compressed air or steam. The machine has three functions: to strike the blow, turn the drill, and advance it, as the hole is driven deeper and deeper.

Soon after the machine drill became a success dynamite was invented, and these two have been the greatest factors in bringing about that rapid development and production which is the most pronounced attribute of modern mining. Dynamite alone has doubled the amount of ore which can be extracted from a face in a given time. Le Neve Foster, in his work on mining, gives the rate of advance in driving a tunnel by fire setting at two fathoms per month. Compare with this the Niagara Falls tunnel, driven with power drills and high explosives, 342 feet in four weeks.

It is probably to the power drill more than to anything else that we are indebted for the development of the air compressor; the exhaust from a steam drill and the heat emitted from the pipes being very disagreeable under ground. As early as 1800 a Welsh engineer had attempted to run a blast by means of a water power a mile and a half distant, but it was not until 1865 that machines were operated to any extent by compressed air. The great difficulty had been the loss of efficiency, owing to the clearance spaces and the heating of the air. In driving the Mont Cenis tunnel but 16 per cent of the power developed was available, and up to 1880 the efficiency was extremely low; but to-day as high as 80 per cent is obtained. The air compressor is simply a force pump with ingenious devices to overcome the loss of energy. For ordinary use the air is compressed to a pressure of from 60 to 80 pounds per square inch. This is done in a single cylinder for low pressures, but for high pressures two cylinders are used. From the compressor the air is conducted to a reservoir, from which it is piped to the machine which it is to run.

One of the advantages of air-driven machines under ground is that the exhaust furnishes fresh air to the miners and cools the atmosphere. The result has been that in metal mines, where there are no noxious gases escaping from the ground, the exhaust from the air-drills, together with the natural air currents, has supplied sufficient ventilation. In the coal mines, however, it has been necessary to employ other means. After it was found that, even with the safety-lamp, gas would be exploded if a large amount of it had accumulated, more attention was paid to ventilation. Levels and shafts were divided to produce a natural current; the size of the drifts was carefully figured in order to regulate it; doors were put in to compel it to follow the faces; devices were adopted to split it, a part going to one room, the remainder to a second; and boxes were built to carry one current across another. Early in the century hand fans run by a wheel and pinion had been employed for forcing the air down the shaft, but it was soon found that the circulation produced in this way was inferior to the result of eduction. Large furnaces were then constructed at the bottom of the upcast shafts, in order to cause a strong upward current. Again, huge air pumps, run by machinery, were tried for exhausting the air. By 1850 exhaust fans were coming into use, and these, occasionally replaced by blowers, also used for exhausting, are now generally employed. The Guibal, which has been the most prominent of the fans, has been made as large as forty-six feet in diameter. The Capell, which is an improved form of the Guibal, has six curved veins, or blades, and is made from eight feet to fifteen feet in diameter. It is driven quite rapidly, making from one hundred and eighty to three hundred revolutions, and having a capacity of from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand cubic feet of air, per minute. The result of this thorough ventilation is that the gas is removed from the mine almost as rapidly as it enters, and often the safety-lamp is no longer needed by the common miner. Nevertheless, it has by no means become useless, since as an indicator of the presence of gas it is invaluable. The action of the different lamps in the presence of gas varies, but in general the size of the flame increases in direct proportion to the increase in the amount of gas mixed with the air. Each morning, before the men go to work, the fire boss takes his safety-lamp and makes the round of the mine. When he goes into a room he watches the flame, and if it burns up to the point which indicates that it would not be safe to enter with a naked light, he makes a mark on the wall which serves as a danger line beyond which the men do not go.

Another machine, which, like the fan, has been developed by the demands of the coal mines, is the coal-cutting machine. Probably the lot of no man was as hard as that of the coal-digger at the beginning of the century. After he had performed the dangerous task of exploding the accumulated gases, he was often forced to work all day lying in the most constrained attitude. Applied in this manner, his power was largely wasted, and much useless dust and small coal was produced. The first effort at relief was a machine which imitated the miner, striking a blow with a pick worked by a lever, and making as high as seventy blows a minute. These have been generally replaced by quite another type of machine, one which depends on the action of either a rotary bar, a rotary wheel, or a chain cutter. These machines are operated by either air or electricity. The Jeffrey rotary bar cutter will undercut a block of coal thirty-nine inches by fifty-four inches in six minutes. The chain-cutter is an endless chain carrying cutting knives and traveling horizontally. It is claimed that these machines will effect a saving of about ten cents a ton in the cost of mining.

When in 1848 the finding of gold in California was reported, followed in 1851 by the discovery of the Australian fields, large numbers of men were attracted to the placer mines, who later, as the placers became exhausted, turned their attention to vein mining. Nor did hydraulic mining itself fail to progress. When the placers were first discovered, the miner, standing in the shallow stream, washed the gravel, a panful at a time, and secured from fifteen to twenty-five dollars a day. As the placers became poorer he built sluices, and, shoveling in his gravel, turned the stream in to wash off the light rock, while the heavy gold was caught in the interstices between the blocks with which he had paved the bottom. If the ground became clayey, he brought part of the water through a hose and used it to break up the lumps in his sluice box. Then as he gradually removed the gravel and the banks about him became higher, he turned his hose toward the bank and brought more water from a higher level, until, to quote Bowie, “a forty-inch wrought-iron pipe has been substituted for canvas hose and a stovepipe, and an inch stream replaced by a river of water discharged through a nine-inch nozzle under a four-hundred-foot pressure.” By this means, at North Bloomfield, Cal., nearly a million yards of gravel, containing but two and nine tenths cents per cubic yard, was moved in a single season, and at a profit.

As the banks became poorer, the miners turned their attention to the river beds. In New Zealand, in the early days, they worked the banks as far down into the river as they could reach with a spoon dredge. Then a dredge was made resembling a ladder of buckets, continually revolving, and operated by wheels driven by the current. When the river got low the current became too weak, and a steam engine was substituted. Then a revolving screen was put on to separate the large rocks from the fine sand, and gradually the modern dipper dredge has been evolved, with its pumps, screen, distributors, and tables and sluices, handling 2000 yards of gravel a day at a cost of three cents a yard.

In 1859 the Comstock lode in Nevada was discovered, and it is to this district that we owe the “square set” method of timbering, so largely in vogue in wide veins to-day. Some of the “bonanzas,” that is, pockets of rich ore, were of enormous size. For example, one found in the “Gould and Curry” was 400 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 400 feet deep. As the walls were not sufficiently solid to stand unsupported, and a single stick of timber was too short to reach across, splicing was tried. It was soon found that this weakened the timber too much, and the method of square “setting” was invented. This consists in framing timbers together in rectangular sets, having a square base of four pieces, usually six feet long, placed horizontally as sills. Into these are framed posts, surmounted by a cap of four additional timbers which become the base for the next set. The timbers are usually twelve inches square, and cost on the Comstock about $10 a set. From 1870 to 1891 there is said to have been used up on the Comstock 200,000 acres of forest, valued at $45,000,000.

The amount of timber which is consumed under ground in a single year must be enormous. Mr. C. W. Goodale estimates that in Butte alone, in 1895, 37,500,000 feet, equal to 3750 carloads, were used in the mines. As the timber decays in from five to fifteen years, and has to be replaced, efforts are constantly directed toward decreasing the large expense which is thus continually recurring. In shafts and levels for permanent use iron is an economical substitute. Wherever possible, new methods of mining are being introduced. Thus in the Lake Superior iron regions, the mine development is planned along lines almost unheard of ten years ago. In the first place the gravel which overlies the ore is stripped off, even if it is fifty feet thick. This is done with steam shovels, which load the gravel upon cars. These are then pulled away by one locomotive while a second places new “empties” in position to be filled. One shovel will load from 150 to 175 cars a day; that is, will take from 3500 to 4500 tons of dirt from the sides of the pit and put it upon the cars. This method obviates the use of timber for holding up the surface.

After the overlying gravel is removed, should the conditions be favorable, the ore is taken out with a shovel. If this cannot be done, some method depending on rock-filling is adopted. At the Auburn mine, after stripping and driving the levels, raises are made to the surface at intervals of about fifty feet, the ore broken down around them, starting at the surface, and dropped down through them. This leaves openings in the shape of inverted cones, having their bases at the surface. Additional raises are then made halfway between the others, and the remaining material extracted.

At the Fayal mine they take out rooms twenty-four feet wide by three hundred feet long, with a twenty-four-foot pillar between them. These rooms are carried up from the first level to the surface, and filled with gravel which is run in from above. Then the pillars are mined by “slicing and caving;” that is, by running drifts along the sides of the pillar and caving the ore down from the roof. After removing this ore another drift is run, the roof caved, and another slice taken off. It is claimed the saving in timber by using this method amounts to ten cents on each ton of ore mined.

All of these, and many other inventions, have constantly tended to decrease mining costs. Yet the industry is carried on to-day in so many out-of-the-way places, and under such varying conditions, that the cost per ton of the ore mined vacillates between wide extremes. As an example of what can be accomplished, working on a large scale, and where supplies are easily and quickly obtained, the Atlantic mine, in Michigan, may be mentioned. This mine produced, in 1898, 370,000 tons of ore, at a cost of sixty-six cents per ton.

With all these wonderful advances in mine mechanics, engineering, ventilation, and lighting, have come the foundation and development of mining schools, the rise of technical societies, and a general governmental recognition of the importance of the industry. It is not so very far back in the preceding century that we find among the statutes of England the following: “Stealing ore out of mines is no larceny, except only those of black lead, the stealing ore out of which is felony without benefit of clergy.” It would be interesting to know the name of the gentleman who owned the black-lead mine, for, in modern parlance, he certainly “had a pull.” By 1833 mining legislation had so far progressed in England that laws were enacted regulating the employment of children under ground. In this country, in 1830, a state geological survey was inaugurated by Massachusetts, and this institution has since been copied by many States. The majority of the States where mining is carried on have passed laws tending to increase the safety of men working under ground.

Abroad, carefully prepared codes describe the method of lease or sale of mining rights, and define the rights of owners of ground. In this country the first legislation of this character was in 1807, when the government mineral bearing lands were withdrawn from sale and ordered leased. In 1834 the miners refused to pay the royalty, owing to the large number of illegal entries, and in 1847 the lands were opened to sale. It was not until 1866, after fifteen years of self-government among the miners of the West, that Congress earnestly undertook to regulate the acquisition of mining titles on the public domain. Leagues beyond the towns, miles from the nearest roads, hurrying from the scene of one excitement to another, pushed by the crowd of constantly arriving adventurers, with surveyors unobtainable and courts not accessible, almost without time to measure, and in a region absolutely unlocatable, it had been impossible for the miner of the West to secure a legal title to his land as contemplated by the act of 1847. Accordingly, there had grown up the custom which gave to the discoverer of a lode the right to a certain length of it, and it was this right which was recognized by Congress, and became the basis of the law of 1866.

So far our story has been of progress, but what shall we say of the action of Congress, which, in 1872, abrogated this law and substituted for it the prolific breeder of litigation called the law of the apex? To quote Dr. Raymond: “The leading characteristic differs from all previous mining laws of this or any other country. The old right of discovery, which was the basis of the miner’s title down to 1872, has dwindled under the present law to a nominal importance. It is true that the discovery of the lode within the claim is made a prerequisite to location. But the right to follow the lode in depth beyond the side lines of the claim depends no longer upon having discovered it, but on having included its top, or apex, in the surface survey.” Should the miner be so fortunate as to have a vein which outcrops plainly on the surface, he may stake out the ground without difficulty, so that the vein crosses the end lines. But if his vein does not appear on the surface, and he fails to guess its direction correctly, and finds, on developing, that it does not cross the end lines of his claim, he is suddenly cut off from all extra-lateral rights. Or should he, in laying out his lines along the rough, precipitous mountain-side, fail to make his end lines parallel, he again finds his rights limited. Nor has this law been made clearer by court decisions, but rather it has been complicated.

Certainly this is a peculiar condition of affairs. The century which has witnessed an advance from the hazel rod to the diamond drill, from the spade to the steam shovel, from fire softening to dynamite shattering; a century during which a clumsy car pushed over cast-iron rails by a boy has grown to a cable train, and a two-hundred-pound bucket raised by women has developed into a six-ton self-dumping skip hoisted by electricity; a century productive of new devices which tunnel mountains, cross ravines, or sink through quicksands with equal ease; a century which has seen the touch of a button and the turn of a wheel bring power from thirty miles away to light and drain the mine, as well as operate the drills and hoist; such a century closes with a law in force in the greatest mining country in the world which makes litigation one of the expected stages of mine development.

At the beginning of the century the mining engineer advised where to sink, the manner of working, and the method of dealing with the water: to-day he must not only be a mining, civil, and hydraulic expert, but a mechanical and electrical engineer, a chemist, and a lawyer.

The time was when he who leveled forests, built himself a home, and brought the land under cultivation, was regarded as the true pioneer of civilization. In later times the miner fairly divides this honor. Pursuing a hazardous occupation, he has invaded most out-of-the-way and desolate places, creating untold wealth, founding towns and States, and inviting vast and substantial populations. By his industry and enterprise he has not only revealed the seventy-seven non-metallic underground products which in the United States alone, in 1899, had a value approximating $500,000,000, but the twelve metals—precious and useful—whose value in the same year approximated $270,000,000. Around his gold mines—deep and placer—have grown California, Nevada, the Dakotas, Colorado, and even Alaska; while empires have sprung up at the sound of his pick and the introduction of his mighty machinery in Australasia and South Africa. In the development of silver he has contributed wealth, population, and institutions to Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Montana, and Arizona. His iron and copper mines have transformed the barren coasts of the Great Lakes. The quicksilver mines of Southern California brought San José and other towns to wealth and importance. In the history of Ureka and Leadville, Col., we have the romance of both the gold and lead mine. And so, whether the miner unearths the ores, the coals, the wonderful variety of buried materials which nature has provided for the use and comfort of mankind, he so frequently becomes the source of wealth, population, and permanent civic organization as to give him high rank among the “true pioneers of civilization.”

ART PROGRESS OF THE CENTURY

BY JOHN V. SEARS,

Art Critic Philadelphia “Evening Telegraph.”

I. PAINTING

At no period since the Renaissance has there been such marked progress in certain walks of art as during the period of reconstruction in the political, social, economic, and æsthetic world immediately following the French Revolution of 1798. The armies of France, returning from the conquest of Europe, brought home to Paris the treasures of art ravished from the great capital cities. The vast public galleries and numerous private collections established under the first Empire contained accumulations of pictures, marbles, bronzes, tapestries, decorations, and bric-à-brac brought from Italy, from Germany, from the Low Countries, from Spain, and even from Russia and Egypt, of extent and value unparalleled in the history of the human race. These treasures were dispersed under the Restoration and returned to their former owners; but, in the meantime, their educational influence upon the people of France, and especially of Paris, had produced profound and permanent impressions which abide to this day. To this practical education afforded by the models and examples of all that is noble and exalted, gathered from the galleries and safe deposits of the civilized world, France is primarily indebted for that cultured skill and that refinement of good taste which have enabled her to take and hold her acknowledged position as the leading nation in the realm of art in the nineteenth century.

At the beginning of the century the art of France was resting inert in the bonds of classic tradition. Academic conventionality held almost undisputed sway; only a few painters of portraits, as, for example, Madame Vigée-Lebrun, Isabey, and decorative artists like Greuze, venturing beyond the limits of the hard and fast rules prescribed by scholastic pedants. The only subjects regarded as legitimate for artistic treatment were illustrations of mythology or of Greek or Roman literature. Sacred pictures illustrating the Biblical narratives and lives of the saints were permitted for church adornment and for religious purposes; but historic and story-telling pictures of the order now known as genre were classic in subject and academic in treatment. Even in portraiture, where a likeness was the main consideration, military heroes were represented in Greek armor and distinguished civilians were invested with the dignity of the Roman toga.

The high priest of ancient pagan worship in France during the first quarter of the century was Jacques Louis David (1748–1825). David was a master of such real power that he was court painter to Louis XVI., director of Fine Arts under the Republic, and again court painter to the Emperor Napoleon. His great work, “The Oath of the Horatii,” now in the Louvre, first exhibited in 1784, was universally admired and is still highly esteemed. This was followed by a triumphal procession of classic compositions, the most notable of which were “The Rape of the Sabines,” usually considered to be his masterpiece, “The Death of Socrates,” “Paris and Helen,” and “Brutus and His Sons,” all of which have been reproduced many times in prints. David was influenced, late in his career, by the romantic reaction, as shown by his “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” and his “Floating Martyr,” but he championed classic art all his life, his last words expressing an aspiration to paint the head of Leonidas.

The downfall of the classic dominion in France was brought about by the revolt of Géricault and Delacroix, about 1820. Jean Louis Géricault (1791–1824) was declared by Viardot to have revealed an era when liberty in art was revived together with political liberty, joining the general movement of the human spirit in the march of progress toward independence. His epoch-marking picture, “The Raft of the Medusa,” in the Salon of 1819, created an intense excitement not only in artistic circles, where it opened the battle between romance and classic tradition, but also among the people. Instead of Greek heroes, posing like antique statues, this thrilling picture portrayed a group of French sailors, perishing amid the horrors of shipwreck and starvation, the subject being a scene in the awful tragedy incident to the loss of the frigate Medusa in 1816, a calamity which the nation was then mourning with unspeakable grief. Women wept and strong men paled before this terrible illustration of human agonies endured unto death, but the academicians attacked the work and the artist with almost savage fury. Géricault, a genius, sensitive and nervous, quailing before the storm which beat upon him, fled to England, but, pining in exile, returned home, only to die, crushed and broken-hearted.

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) was a man of firmer fibre than his friend and fellow-student, and his was the strong hand to take up the gage of battle when Géricault fell in the fight. For daring to depart from the classic traditions, these two young painters of the commonplace subjects of every-day human tragedy and romantic drama were savagely denounced by the academicians as traitors, as charlatans, as assassins seeking to murder art. The persecution killed Géricault, but Delacroix laughed at it. As Théophile Souvestre said of him: “The blindness of ignorance, the intrigues and clamors of envy, have not arrested him for an instant in his valiant and glorious course.” By the splendor of his genius and the virility of his work, as shown in his great pictures, “The Bride of Abydos,” “The Two Foscari,” “The Amende Honorable,” and the magnificent series of Oriental studies by which he is best known, he established the romantic school on a firm basis and attracted to it nearly all the talented and promising young painters of Paris.

Among these students and unknown painters were many whose names subsequently became famous, as Horace Vernet, Paul Delaroche, Baron Gros, Ary Scheffer, Alexandre Decamps,—artists whose noble productions gave to the romantic school its finest triumphs. In the mean time, classic art was ably and effectively supported by the distinguished labors of Doménique Ingres, pupil and successor of David, Guillaume Guillon-Lethière, Hippolyte Flandrin, and Jean Baptiste Regnault. The Academy, though defeated, still lives, and modern lovers of art find that, especially in decorative design, there is much to admire in classic subjects.

After the revolt of the romanticists the most important movement in the world of art also took place in France, and is known as the “Revolution of 1830.” To understand this movement it is necessary to consider the state of art in England, as the “men of 1830” in France derived their inspiration from John Constable, an English landscape painter. At the beginning of the century the two great artists of England were Sir David Wilkie and J. M. W. Turner. David Wilkie (1785–1841) was a portrait, historic, and genre painter, and no English artist up to his time had ever attained such wide popularity as he enjoyed. His pictures are all known the world over, as witness such titles as “The Rent Day,” “Village Politicians,” “The Blind Fiddler,” “King Alfred in the Neatherd’s Cottage,” “The Village Festival,” “Reading the Will,” “The Chelsea Pensioners,” “Blind Man’s Buff,” “The Village School,” and “John Knox preaching.”

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) was one of the most remarkable artists that ever lived; a most original genius, “without ancestors and without heirs.” He was a landscape painter and a most earnest and faithful student of nature, as shown by his wonderful illustrations, in black and white, of the scenery of England and Wales. In his paintings, however, he interpreted rather than portrayed nature, investing his subjects with the grandeur and glory of his imagination. His pictures were “golden dreams,” revealing the beauty, the majesty, the sadness, and the terror inspired by nature, not from observed details “but from the image or ideal in his own mind.” Of his many masterworks mention can only be made here of “Crossing the Brook,” “Dido in Carthage,” “Palestrina,” “The Golden Bough,” “Hannibal Crossing the Alps,” “The Slave Ship,” “Battle of the Nile,” “Burial of Sir David Wilkie at Sea,” and perhaps the greatest of all, “The Fighting Téméraire.”

Turner created no school and left no successor, but he made a distinct impression on the art of England by stimulating an active interest in landscape painting. Patrick Nasmyth, Augustus Wall Callcott, John Linnell, and a score of artists turned to the study of rural scenery, with the result that they succeeded in establishing what is known as the Norwich school of landscape art. By far the most important name in the annals of this period, after Turner’s, is that of John Constable (1776–1837). Constable presents the contrast of diametric opposition to Turner. His pictures, so far from being “golden dreams,” are more like cast-iron realities. When Turner was an idealist, Constable was an uncompromising realist. If the one painted poetry, the other painted prose, and often very rugged, plain prose indeed. While Turner subordinated fact to fancy, illuminating his subjects with the glow of his fervid imagination, Constable devoutly stood before nature in the attitude of a worshiper, and faithfully labored to represent as truthfully as his powers permitted exactly what he beheld. In contrast with the shining canvases of his brilliant contemporary, Constable’s pictures seemed dark, dull, and heavy to the British public, and the original genius of the conscientious artist was not recognized. His greatest works, “Dedham Vale,” “The White Horse,” “The Hay Cart,” “Stratford Mill,” “Salisbury Cathedral,” “The Rainbow,” and others were exhibited in succession during the second decade of the century, before an indifferent public, only his fellow artists and a few connoisseurs caring for them, the painter meanwhile starving in neglect.

In 1824 two of his pictures were shown in Paris, and were then instantly understood and appreciated. They created a profound impression and, as has been justly said, inaugurated the second revolution of the century in the realm of art. By this revolution the artists were driven out of their studios and out of the city, to study nature in the spirit of humble sincerity shown by John Constable. Among the young students who went forth to encounter poverty, hardship, and the severest toil were the “men of 1830,” the founders of the Barbizon school of painting. Millet, Rousseau, Diaz, Corot, Troyon, Daubigny, and Dupré left Paris and the ways that then led to success, and sacrificed themselves to what they saw to be the truth in art. They carried the study of out-door nature further than ever before; created the standard of modern landscape art, and attained immortal fame, though not until their leader and prototype had perished in poverty.

Jean François Millet (1815–1875) has been called the greatest painter of the nineteenth century, and his masterpiece, “The Angelus,” is regarded by many as second only to the “Sistine Madonna” of Raphael in the brief catalogue of the world’s artistic treasures. He lived the life of a poor peasant in the rural village of Barbizon, attracting around him, late in life, the ablest of the “men of 1830,” and producing there those works which have placed his name first on the annals of our time: “The Sower,” “Waiting,” “Sheep-shearers,” “Woman Carding,” “The Gleaners,” “Shepherdess and Flock,” and the few others that constitute the tale of his exceedingly careful and long-considered compositions.

Théodore Rousseau (1812–1867) was declared, by Edmond About, to be the Moses who led the landscape painters of France out of the Egyptian bondage of academic convention into the promised land of liberty, where rivers ran water, where trees were rooted in the ground, and where animals lived, moved, and had their being. As late as 1848 the Salon rejected Rousseau’s noble work, “The Alley of Chestnut Trees,” one of the finest landscapes ever painted; but this was the last act of the academic tyrants, the foolish offense against the great master causing the old classic pedants to be relegated to oblivion. Rousseau took up his residence in Barbizon, and in the forest of Fontainebleau and the adjoining country studied those rural and pastoral scenes that have given him his place as one of the first, if not the very first, of landscape painters. Of these magnificent examples of landscape art, mention can only be made here of “The Village,” “A Pool under Oaks,” “Edge of the Forest at Barbizon,” “A Forest Interior,” “Water Course at Sologne,” and “Hoar Frost,” these being the pictures best known to the public through reproductions in black and white.

If Turner was a painter of “golden dreams,” Corot was a painter of silver dreams; the pearly haze of early morning, the pale sky and misty tree-forms of a gray day, and the soft, low tones of a still, cloudy afternoon attracting his loving devotion and commanding the conscientious exercise of his skill. Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796–1875) was certainly one of the happiest artists that ever lived. Like the other “men of 1830,” he was ostracized by the Academy, and he was never allowed to receive the first medal of the Salon, but he had every other honor and compensation, and, late in life, was given a magnificent gold medal by popular subscription. For many years he could not sell a single picture, but, being fortunately independent, in a modest way, he continued to paint the subjects which, as he said, delighted his heart, and to treat them, as he again said, “with truth to your own instincts, to your own method of seeing, with what I call conscientiousness and sincerity.” In due time Corot conquered his world and, in the height of his career, was earning not less than $50,000 a year by his brush. He was a constant visitor at Barbizon, maintained a close intimacy with his friends, there, and studied in the vicinity many of the hundreds of landscapes his industrious and tireless hand rejoicingly produced.

Jules Dupré (1812–1889) and Charles François Daubigny (1817–1878) are distinguished members of the “1830” group, each standing at the head of the department of landscape art to which he was especially devoted. Narcisse-Virgil Diaz de la Peña, called Diaz (1807–1876), another of the fraternity, was not technically so thoroughly trained as his fellows, but he was a stronger colorist than any of them and a romanticist of the most pronounced type. Constant Troyon (1810–1865) was the most eminent cattle-painter of the century. He came on the scene after the revolt of Géricault was accomplished, but was in full sympathy with the movement, and is usually accounted as one of the revolutionists. So also with Jean Leon Gérôme (1824), an artist surviving to the close of the century.

He first exhibited in 1847, but he took up the line of Oriental romance, following Delacroix, and made so strong an impression with his illustrations of the splendors and glories of the East that his influence in art will be felt for generations to come. After attaining fame as a painter, Gérôme also developed marked ability as a sculptor.

In strict chronological order the birth of the pre-Raphaelite movement in art preceded the “revolution of 1830,” as the event actually occurred in Rome, about 1812. The movement was not originally known by the name subsequently given it, and it did not attain to more than local importance until it was fully developed in England, about 1850. It is to the great German artist, Peter von Cornelius (1783–1867), that the honor of originating the pre-Raphaelite revolution must be given. In 1811 Cornelius went to Rome and soon became the master spirit of the “Brotherhood of Painters,” popularly called “Nazarites,” banded together for the study of the thirteenth-century Italians, Cimabue and Giotto, and their successors in the century following, Gaddi, Simoni, and Orcagna. This Brotherhood was afterward imitated by Rossetti in London, and its purposes more fully developed; but it was the young German enthusiasts of the previous generation who affected a revival of the pure religious spirit, the devout simplicity, and the absolute sincerity of the Italian artists before the era of Raphael.

Cornelius returned to Germany in 1816, became the founder of what is known as the Munich school of painting, and was made director of the Art Institute of that city. He exercised a controlling influence in the evolution of modern German art and, indirectly, on art in England and in America. His pupil and successor, Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805–1874), imparted vitality and power to the Munich school, attracting to his classes students from all civilized countries. During the second and third quarters of this century, Kaulbach reigned as the first artist of Germany and one of the first in the world.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) founded his pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in London, with John Everett Millais—subsequently president of the Royal Academy—and William Holman Hunt, in 1848. The pre-Raphaelite movement gave a richer and stronger color to English painting in the latter half of the century, and also awakened general interest in early Christian art, that is, the art of the Italian Renaissance. Beyond this, Rossetti’s new departure, though widely advertised by John Ruskin, had very little permanent effect. Millais soon left the Brotherhood and produced his master-works, the greatest historic-genre pictures of his time, in England, after outliving pre-Raphaelite influences.

Little known outside of England, that movement did not entirely absorb British art, as proved by such a man as G. F. Watts, a master of portraiture, who made studies of many of the most notable men of the century in England, besides many imaginative works of great interest. Others were Holman Hunt, with his powerful religious conceptions, and the talented Landseer family, the youngest member of which, Edwin, is world-famous for his animal pictures. The critic and philosopher, John Ruskin, studied art and became a proficient draughtsman, although never using his skill professionally. His literary works on art, however, have had so wide an influence that it seems just to include him in the list of contributors to art’s progress in this era. His criticism of the fantastic productions of James McNeill Whistler brought forth a controversy and law suit, resulting in a verdict of damages of one farthing to the injured artist, and enough advertising gratis to secure his fame. The genius of the latter for achieving artistic effects and personal notoriety are equal to his skill in avoiding oblivion. He is a unique and interesting figure, despite his abnormal vanity, for his unquestionable talent in many lines of art, and is American by birth, English by adoption, and now French by force of circumstances. Edwin Abbey is also an adopted son of Britain, although born in America. He is better known through illustrative work in black and white, but his superb decorations in the Boston Public Library testify to his great skill as a colorist. The most illustrious growth of foreign seed on British soil has been Lorenz Alma Tadema, whose wonderful representations of Greek and Roman life place him hors concours as an artist, and hold before our eyes a mirror of ancient days. Sir Frederick Leighton, the recently deceased president of the Royal Academy, was a true Briton and a leader of modern art in England, as also was Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson Butler, with her patriotic war pictures, as vigorous as any man’s could be. A talented young artist, whose untimely death cut short a promising career, was Frederick Walker, who is said to have been the original of “Little Billee” in Du Maurier’s famous novel of student life in the Latin Quarter, “Trilby.” That masterpiece takes us into the art atmosphere of Paris, and we readily understand why there is the centre of the artistic circle.

From thence have risen most of the great modern names, one of the greatest and most honored being that of Rosa Bonheur, who has received all possible distinction as an artist and reverence as a woman. Her animal pictures, especially horses and cattle, are known the world over, and the story of her early struggle for study, disguised as a boy, that she might work unmolested where a girl could hardly have gone, is well known, yet she never renounced an atom of her womanliness in adopting masculine attire. It is hard to avoid dwelling on the lives and works of the modern masters, but we must pass over the intermediate period between the revolt of 1830 and our own day, touching only an especially shining light here and there, such as Jules Breton, with his sturdy peasants; Léon Bonnat, Alexandre Cabanel, and Carolus Duran, with their elegant distingué portraiture. Besides these are Edouard Détaille and Alphonse de Neuville, showing faithful studies of soldier life and action; Eugène Fromentin, with his picturesque Arabs; and the decorative allegories of Puvis de Chavannes. The brilliant Spaniards, Mariano Fortuny and Don Frederick Madrazo, are practically Frenchmen in their art, although each is distinctly individual in manner. We must also mention Vibert, with his delightful little satires on the human frailities of the holy fathers of the Church, and Meissonier, the master of exquisite finish in detail, and Passini, with his small canvases crowded with Oriental figures glowing with color. In addition to the great French names of this time are Defregger, of the Munich School; Israels of Amsterdam, Schreyer of Frankfort, whose works all hold that quality dear to the popular heart, but despised by the high priests of lofty criticism nowadays, that is, they have a story to tell, and they tell it.

At the time these men were telling their artistic tales in Europe, such men as Washington Allston, the first great painter in this country; Thomas Sully, whose rare works in portraiture entitled him to paint the Queen of England, Victoria, when a girl; Henry Inman, also a great portrait painter; George Fuller, a painter of poetic dreams; and many others of talent, had said their say in America. Almost with the beginning of the new country, public interest had been roused in the fine arts by the efforts of such men as Gilbert Stuart and the Peales, Charles and Rembrandt, who bridged the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries together, and labored to advance the cause of art. Schools and academies, with adequate galleries for exhibition purposes, became necessary; and such institutions as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the National Academy of Design in New York were established. The latter was started in 1802, but did not receive its charter until 1808; so the Pennsylvania Academy, which was incorporated in Philadelphia in 1806, was really the first of its kind in the country. In 1807, the minutes bearing the date of October 8 record as follows: “Until the funds of the institution will admit of opening a school on a more extended plan, persons of good character shall be permitted to make drawings from the statues and busts belonging to the Academy,” thus showing the humble beginning of art education in America. Naturally, for many years the facilities for learning were too limited to supply more than rudimentary instruction, and the pilgrimage to Paris was a necessity before an artist could feel qualified to launch out professionally. In these latter days that need no longer exists, for the great art schools of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis can amply provide all that is required; but the charm of the Latin Quarter still draws as a magnet all who can afford to go there.

In that centre is a constant mingling of ideas from all sources seeking new forms of expression, out of which proceed the impulses that vibrate through the world of current art. Naturally enough many of the new departures are futile experiments, short lived and not sufficiently important to discuss; but within recent years the movement known as impressionism has been so widespread in influence, so radical in method, and so vital in result, that it has doubtless produced a permanent effect on art. Like its predecessor, the renaissance after the dark ages, this mouvement moderne was an upheaval of all forms of expression; and in painting it seemed as if a wave of dazzling color had burst over the studios, drenching the canvases with rainbow tints, flooding the exhibition galleries with bewildering brilliance. The unaccustomed eye was overwhelmed, and the confused and wondering public burst into loud outcry against the insane folly of these mad young painters, who showed purple and green gridirons, speckled with green and streaked with scarlet, and called them landscapes, marines, and figure studies as they chose. Of course the pendulum swung to its limit, the radicals carrying things to extremes after the fashion of their kind, and making foolish caricatures of work that was really great. By degrees, however, sober sense prevailed, the new ideas became better understood, the public point of view changed, and it was seen that there was method in this madness. The new movement was intended simply to interpret what the artist saw most forcibly expressed by any given subject, or, as the name implies, to record his first impression and convey the idea rather by suggestion than by explicit statement and detail. Applied to out-of-door subjects, these principles were carried out by the plein air colorists, as they were styled, from their efforts to suggest atmosphere glowing with light, a feeling of space and sunshine. Edouard Manet was the leader of the new school in figure work, and Claude Monet in landscape. No two styles could be more widely different save in their mutual abhorrence of detail; the first dark, heavy, and sombre in color; the latter luminous and palpitating, every conceivable tint vibrating into harmony, an example which is followed in this country by Childe Hassam, often successfully, but sometimes with extravagance. After reaching extreme high-water mark, the flood of brilliance has somewhat subsided, and latter-day painters do not find it necessary to observe the world through a prism. While returning to more sober statements of simple truth, without trying to copy a kaleidoscope, the vision men have had of pure color sparkling with light has given them an insight into Mother Nature’s method that has left a lasting impression upon the minds and manners of the best workers and lifted the whole tone of modern painting. Whether one was prepared to enjoy truly impressionistic pictures or not, the force of them in a collection of works in the old manner of hard outline and heavy shadow could not fail to be felt like a beam of light in a dark room. However one might protest against the invader, the old friends looked dull and flat after a time, in spite of the most determined loyalty. The style of the Hudson River school was narrow and petty, full of trifling little details, the color often being forced and theatrical in effect. The striking scenery of that noble stream inspired the efforts of American landscape painters of the two decades from 1830 to 1850. Asher B. Durand was a leader among them, and for many years the manner of a generation past held sway until the new method forced a place for itself. It was an amusing experience in following exhibitions of late years to see, one after another, the leaders, long established in their own particular methods, finally breaking away from lifelong habits and coming into line with the new movement, some keeping step bravely with the vigorous newcomers, some halting along with pitiful attempts at a jaunty stride. The strong men neither hung back in sulky indifference nor flung themselves wildly about in exuberant freedom, but kept quietly on the even tenor of their way, absorbing what was best in the new, holding fast to what was best in the old, and producing the kind of work that is independent of schools and eras, but intrinsically great in itself. In Paris, the younger workers who began sending strange wild landscape and figure pictures to the exhibition at the Salon of the Champs Elysées, the most important annual exhibition in the world, were indignantly rejected by the horrified jury of selection. Equally indignant at their treatment, the young painters, who felt themselves to be the coming men, gathered their rejected treasures together in an independent exhibition of their own, and established a rival salon in the Champ de Mars, which has come to hold an equal footing in the world of art with the older institution.

By reference to “men” we do not at all exclude women, for there is no sex in art, and women of our time paint as well as men, folding equal rank in the exhibitions, equal places on the juries of selection, and receiving equal honors and awards. One of the foremost women of the day is a Philadelphian, Miss Cecilia Beaux, whose portraiture ranks among the highest. Miss Mary D. Cassatt is also a Philadelphian, although long resident in Paris, and highly esteemed there. Her name is mentioned in a recent notice of a Salon exhibition among those of distinguished men, which concluded with the words “and other strong men,” meaning thereby no grain of disrespect to the woman, but only honor to the artist, classifying her as among the first painters of the time. Important exhibitions nowadays are likely to contain strong works by many women, such as portraits by Mrs. Sarah Sears of Boston or Mrs. Rosina Emmet Sherwood of New York, child studies by Ellen K. Baker, or animal studies by Mrs. Helen C. Hovenden, widow of the late master of modern genre, Thomas Hovenden, whose untimely death the art-loving public of this country has not ceased to mourn. His faithful studies of American domestic life have touched the people, who are, after all, the final art critics, despite the claims of those who feel themselves especially qualified by taste and training to tell others what they must and must not like. Many times public opinion has been unduly slow in setting the seal of its approval on worthy works, but once established in the heart of the populace, immortality is assured, and that place belongs preëminently to Thomas Hovenden, as proved by the throngs that stood before his picture “Breaking the Home Ties,” at the World’s Fair in Chicago. That cosmopolitan collection showed, among other interesting developments, a strong school of vigorous young Norsemen, hardy vikings of art from Scandinavia, of whom Anders Zorn was the leader, with a variety of figure subjects, studied indoors and out, with an unconventional freedom and dash as inspiring as the breezes of his native fjords. Prince Eugene, the handsome popular second son of the King of Sweden, was no mean contributor to this school. Fritz von Thaulow is a Norwegian by birth, but being well recognized in France he has taken up his abode at Dieppe, although still finding inspiration in his native land. He is an exponent of the theory of tone in painting, as it is technically termed. This refers to the quality of harmony, or perfect balance of light and shade and color. It does not depend upon the key of the picture, whether light and bright or dark and sombre, but consists in keeping the relations of the different masses of color true to each other, the small details subdued to their proper places, yet each having its correct value in the whole.

The Scotch painters, stimulated no doubt by the success of their literary brethren, have established the Glasgow school of art, most original in its methods, and in some cases highly peculiar in its results, but with unquestionable strength in its more serious and less fantastic work. John Lavery is a leader among these men. Germany prides herself on one of the greatest painters of modern times in the person of Adolph Friedrich Menzel, a Prussian, born 1815, contemporary with Meissonier. As the latter was devoted to the Emperor of the French, so was Menzel to his hero, Frederick the Great, and their vivid portrayals of their respective sovereigns will keep the personality of these conquerors fresh as long as art lasts. For many years Menzel has been artist laureate to the court at Berlin, painting Hohenzollern family portraits, battle pieces and scenes of court splendor in the most masterly manner. The Hungarian, Munkacsy, has been widely known by his huge religious works, lately exhibited in this country,—“Christ before Pilate” and the “Crucifixion.” His work shows great power and much originality in conception, although often somewhat morbid, a not unnatural condition, as the unfortunate artist has become hopelessly insane. The opposite extreme of expression is to be found in the gorgeous coloring and superb compositions of Hans Makart of Vienna, notably his “Coronation of Catherine Cornaro at Venice.” A revival of interest in religious subjects has recently appeared, possibly stimulated by the work of Mr. James Tissot, a Parisian, who has given ten years to the production of a series of careful studies of the life of Christ. These little paintings, numbering some five hundred in all, are the result of close research in the Holy Land into the conditions of life and customs which prevailed at the time of Christ, and are a tribute of religious devotion. Whether through this influence or not, Dagnan-Bouveret has been inspired to paint a number of strong scenes of biblical subjects, two conceptions of the Last Supper being very powerful. A young colored man, H. O. Tanner, has achieved success on similar lines, an “Annunciation” recently shown giving evidence of deep and original thought. Curiously enough, the women painters of distinction do not seem to be given to religious subjects. One serious lack in most of the work exhibited in recent years is the absence of any importance in subject. The artists have been so concerned to express what they saw in the simplest manner, that they have carefully avoided seeing or thinking about anything but the simplest things to be expressed. While some powerful work has resulted, it has often been labor worthy of a better cause, for the pictures produced have had little to tell beyond the skill of the painter. A nobly painted cabbage field, or a superbly handled stone wall with the tail of a woman’s skirt disappearing around a corner, may be masterly painting, but it is not great art; and it is to be hoped that the day of meaningless canvases will soon pass, and the coming painters will not be content to discourse grandly about nothing.

Among the leaders of current art in America, the place of honor in portraiture belongs to John S. Sargent, who easily ranks with Boldini and Benjamin Constant in Paris. He is closely followed by Edmund C. Tarbell, John H. Alexander, with his love for long flowing graceful lines of drapery, Robert Vonnoh, and William M. Chase. John McClure Hamilton has made some striking studies of some of the most prominent people of our time, among them Gladstone and Pope Leo XIII. Elihu Vedder, John LaFarge, Will H. Low, Carroll Beckwith, Abbott Thayer, and E. H. Blashfield are figure painters whose subjects are frequently of a decorative or semi-religious character. The latter is noted for his literary as well as artistic ability. George H. Boughton, though called an American, really belongs to England, where he paints interior genre subjects usually of olden times. John Swan, the animal painter, is also English. The names of Moran and Sartain are distinguished in the history of American art, each family having contributed several generations of talented painters. The elders were contemporary with Daniel Huntington, long president of the National Academy of Design, and Eastman Johnson, whose “Old Kentucky Home” was famous. William T. Dannat, Herbert Denman, Frederick Bridgman, and F. L. Weeks are all strong figure painters, the last two being especially given to Oriental subjects. Winslow Homer includes figures with his marine studies, often presenting groups of peasants on a stormy shore, while Alexander Harrison and W. T. Richards usually confine themselves to marines pure and simple. The ragged, dirty little street Arabs of J. G. Brown have been exceedingly popular, and so have the landscapes of H. Bolton Jones. The list of modern landscape painters really deserving of mention is far too long to give in anything like complete mention. A few leaders, such as Charles H. Davis, Homer Martin, the late William T. Picknell, and George Inness must suffice to close our talk on the painters of this century.

II. SCULPTURE.

Human progress seems to advance in waves, sending forerunners to announce the gathering tide; and the ebb and flow of force is felt in all manner of endeavor, but in nothing so instantly or accurately as in the fine arts, the most sensitive and subtle forms of human expression. The plastic arts are as keen to record these changes as the pictorial, and the coming power of the nineteenth century found a few prophets in the dying years of the century passing away. Antonio Canova (1757–1822), born near Venice, left many graceful and delicately finished works. His “Three Graces” and group of “Cupid and Psyche” are well known, also his colossal bust of Napoleon and seated statue of Washington for the State of Carolina. France produced a master in Jean Antoine Houdon (1741–1828), more vigorous than his contemporaries, as seen in his powerful work, the seated statue of Voltaire. His statue of Washington, in the state capitol of Virginia, while preserving a faithful likeness, has a singular air of French elegance. Despite his strength, Houdon was not more accurate in study than the great Dane Thorwaldsen, born at Copenhagen, 1770. His famous “Lion of Luzerne” is known to all tourists, and his bas-reliefs are familiar the world over. His chief religious works, the colossal figures of Christ and the twelve apostles, are in the church at Copenhagen, where he died in 1844. The greatest name of this period in England was John Flaxman (1755–1826), who was as successful a teacher as he was a worker in his art. He was the originator of the cameo designs on the Wedgwood ware, being particularly happy in delicate reliefs. Christian Daniel Rauch (1777–1857) achieved the place of honor among German sculptors of this time by his heroic imperial monuments, of which the most important is the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great.

Although, for many generations, Rome was the Mecca of artistic pilgrims, and most of the great names have at one time or another been enrolled upon the list of students sojourning within her gates, the race characteristics of each strong mind were liable to find expression in spite of classic training; and when the mature artist brought forth his own creations independent of the touch of school or master, they were likely to present his own national tendencies of thought. Of late years, with increased facilities for studying other art centres, of intercommunication of ideas by travel and increasing duplication of works of art by various reproductive processes, the “art atmosphere” seems to have extended so as to absorb, and in a great measure obliterate, distinct lines of racial difference in manners of expression, the fundamental principles of truth being more generally sought for and applied. Thus, the unmistakably Teutonic aspect of German sculpture in the early half of this century shows in the great monument to “German Unity,” by Schilling, at Niederwald on the Rhine, and the Walhalla decorations, by Ludwig Schwanthaler, for King Louis of Bavaria. German seriousness of purpose lends a dignity of appearance, even if it becomes somewhat grandiose at times, and German painstaking accuracy perfects the technique even to the finish of small details. During the same periods, in Italy, the classic influence was more dominant where the Roman school still held sway, and delicacy deteriorated into insipidity, and finish became finical. Religious and classic subjects were most frequently produced, beside more vital work in portraits, statues, and busts. Some there were who struggled for freedom, among them Lorenzo Bartolini (1777–1850), a Florentine professor, whose group, entitled “Charity,” is in the Pitti Palace. Luigi Pampaloni achieved a surprising fame for his figures of children, one of which, from a monument on a Polish sepulchre, has been widely copied in cheap plaster under the erroneous title of “The Praying Samuel.”

In France, the advance of sculpture has been more continual and consistent, the national artistic temperament finding abundant means of expression in the plastic art. The French dramatic instinct has a sure perception of the effect of a pose, the value of graceful or vigorous lines and the balance of proportion, so that whether under bonds to academic tradition in matters of technique, or broken loose and working under individual inspiration, the French sculptor is likely to create an artistic result. The minds of the common people are more awakened to artistic impressions through the general excellence of the public monuments and sculptural decorations, so freely displayed throughout the land, than are the masses in countries where art is at a low standard. Until after the middle of the century, French sculpture, like the rest, was mainly of smooth and delicate finish and inclined to be romantic, though François Rude was powerful and vigorous, as shown in his patriotic group “Le Chant du Départ” on the Arc de Triomphe. In England, the seeds of Flaxman’s sowing slowly began to bear fruit in an awakening public interest, though the earlier efforts were sedate and conventional rather than spirited, the most important works being dignified and stately monuments and memorials. Westmacott (1777–1856), Francis Chantrey (1782–1841), whose large fortune was bequeathed to the Royal Academy as the “Chantrey Fund;” John Gibson (1791–1866), a pupil of Canova; Henry Weeks (1807–1877), who made the first bust of Victoria as Queen; and Alfred G. Stevens (1817–1875), are a few of the more notable men of the past generation. Thomas Woolner (1825–1892) expressed the feeling of the pre-Raphaelite movement in sculpture, as did Hunt, Burne-Jones, and Rossetti in painting.

American sculpture began with the new century and, like most American growths, began in a very small way; for although Rush had made a few figures, notably a fountain now in Fairmount Park, one of the first pieces of sculptural work in the country was that of a poor New Jersey stone-cutter, John Frazee, who tried to comfort himself for the death of his child by making a memorial figure of him, although he had never seen a statue. From this meagre beginning started a line of ever-increasing strength, until now, in the plastic arts, as in all others, we can hold our own with the best in the world. Of course the earlier students, led by Horatio Greenough, of Boston, Hiram Powers, of Vermont, and Thomas Crawford, of New York, made their way to Rome, where they applied the traditional methods to traditional subjects with conventional results. Greenough’s colossal statue of Washington is in the Capitol grounds; Powers’s “Greek Slave” is owned by the Duke of Cleveland; and Crawford’s “Orpheus seeking Eurydice,” now in the Boston Museum, and “Colossal Liberty” in the Capitol, are his best-known works. Erastus Palmer, of Albany, contemporary with these, developed his talent at home, and secured models and subjects from his own neighborhood, giving a distinctly American character to his work. Among the most noted of the American colony at Rome, although not particularly given to American subjects, was William Wetmore Story, of Salem, Mass., born in 1819. Thomas Ball, born in the same State in the same year, was of the same class in Rome; but his themes are more patriotic, notably the “Emancipation” group in Washington. Harriet Hosmer is the first feminine name on the American list of sculptors. She also settled in Rome, where she completed many works. William Henry Rinehart and Randolph Rogers were both of the idealist school, the latter completing Crawford’s unfinished Washington monument at Richmond. The name of Rogers is more commonly connected with the familiar little statuette groups of every-day domestic scenes so appealing to the popular taste. The sculptor John Rogers, of Massachusetts, has also made a few large works, among them the equestrian statue of General Reynolds, before the City Hall, Philadelphia. Henry Kirke Browne (1814–1886) made a number of equestrian statues of note, one of Washington being the first bronze actually cast in America. His figure of General Scott was cast from captured cannon, relics of the Mexican war. His pupils, Larkin Meade and J. Q. A. Ward, both attained high places, the latter being especially prominent in the progress of American sculpture through such works as his colossal Washington for the New York Treasury Building, and his “Indian Hunter,” “Pilgrim,” and “Shakespeare,” in Central Park.

After the middle of the century, French art became emotional and dramatic, the notorious “Dance” for the Paris Opera House, by J. B. Carpeaux, being one of the first of the new utterances. Paul Dubois was less astonishing in manner, and Henri Chapu was still more restrained, although far more vital than the old conventional school. The name of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi should be known to every American by reason of his colossal statue of “Liberty Enlightening the World,” now standing sentinel in New York harbor. This, and his figure of Lafayette offering his services to Washington, were presented to America by the French government. Antoine Louis Barye (1795–1875) was a sculptor sui generis, a law unto himself of his own development; and though he has many followers, as a sculptor of animals he has no rivals. In many branches of art he was proficient, but his best-known works are the marvelous studies of animal life, modeled with infinite skill.

When the great wave of impressionism rose and flooded the land, carrying music, literature, and the drama before it, plastic art as well as pictorial was caught up too, and whirled into a variety of strange forms. Auguste Rodin led the new movement in sculpture, his manner being copied with varying degrees of success by lesser lights, and like all new movements run to foolish extremes by incompetent followers. His heroic group, “The Bourgeois of Calais,” will indicate his style. From extreme realism on one side, with portrait statues in the last detail of modern costume, silk hats, kid gloves, and in one case holding a cigar, to the vague suggestions of a shapeless mass of marble, out of which protrude unfinished limbs and half-developed heads, sculpture has been pushed from side to side, but is settling into a vigorous, steady, onward movement, in which the best men of all nations stride along together. In the limits of a short article it is impossible to mention all deserving names, but a few will serve as types, and the Americans are well worthy to head the list.

Daniel French’s grand majestic golden figure of Liberty, towering above the Court of Honor, the imperial hostess of the World’s Fair at Chicago, placed him at once on a pedestal of fame. From the prominence of his beautiful Columbian Fountain opposite the golden Goddess, Frederick MacMonnies became known the land over. His greatest late work is the crowning of the soldiers’ and sailors’ memorial arch for Prospect Park, Brooklyn, with a colossal quadriga of Triumph and groups of the army and navy. Augustus St. Gaudens, though a cosmopolitan, is truly an American sculptor of the first rank, whose statues of Admiral Farragut in New York, Lincoln in Chicago, and the sturdy Puritan, Chapin, in Springfield, Mass., are well known. Olin Warner is another distinctively American product, although he had the advantage of some training in Paris. His work is French in technique but not French in spirit, having the native traits of freedom and originality, as shown in his figure of William Lloyd Garrison, and later in his relief portraits on the art building at the Columbian Fair. This great occasion offered opportunities to American sculptors of which they took full advantage, showing the high rank to which they were entitled. It made an American of Carl Bitter, the talented Austrian, whose decorations on the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Philadelphia, are well known. It added further lustre to the name of John J. Boyle, whose heroic “Indian Mother” in Fairmount Park, and seated statue of Benjamin Franklin, are matters of just pride to Philadelphians. It gave prominence to such men as Lorado Taft, with his graceful work on the Horticultural Building; Philip Martiny, on the Agricultural Building; the great Columbus quadriga, by E. C. Potter and Daniel French, whose beautiful relief of “Death Staying the Hand of the Sculptor” is a masterpiece. All visitors to the White City will remember the vigorous animal studies by Edward Kemys, and the Indian figures of A. C. Proctor. The sculptural commissions of the Congressional Library in Washington have produced a remarkable collection of works by talented Americans, and every great exhibition brings interesting examples from those already named, and such others as Herbert Adams, Edwin Elwell, Bessie Potter, with her dainty little statuettes, portrait work by Charles Grafly, Catherine Cohen, C. E. Dallin, strange visionary suggestions, in the Rodin manner, by George Bonnard, and an array of lesser names too numerous to mention.

For this reason, but few of the notable names of modern foreigners can be given. However, Hamo Thornycroft, of England, must not be overlooked, whose famous “Mower” is much admired; nor Onslow Ford, more youthful and romantic in style. John Henry Foley, of Dublin, has had a pronounced effect on English sculpture, being a successful teacher, including among his pupils several distinguished women, among them the Princess Louise and the Earl of Elgin’s granddaughter, Miss Grant. George Tinworth’s terra cotta reliefs must conclude the list of English works. A few Russians have reached eminence, mainly by animal studies. Antocolski, a Jew of Wilna, of poorest parentage, has done powerful figure work of a serious, rather melancholy sort, the most important being a “Christ Bound.” What is best in modern Italian and German work is practically French, and of the French themselves the list is too long to complete. A few must suffice, such as Jean Alexandre Falguière, who aspires, like Carpeaux, to give vitality by means of vigorous action to his figures. Emanuel Frémiet has worn with some distinction the mantle descended from Barye’s shoulders. Vidal, another pupil of Barye, was blind for twenty years, yet gained two medals for correct anatomy in his modeling. Carrier Belleuse’s “Hebe Asleep” is an example of the delicate style, and Alfred Boucher shows the other extreme in his rendering of sturdy masculine figures, toiling or racing, striving to present in sculpture the picture of human struggle for existence, as did Millet in his paintings. These materialistic studies represent the fight for the bread and breath of life, while the impressionist contortions of the Rodin school try to suggest the conflict of emotions, good and bad, and the battle of spiritual and physical desires and development.

III. CERAMICS AND GLASS WORK.

From time immemorial to the present day men have been fashioning shapes of clay, experimenting with different kinds, different degrees of heat, and different chemical combinations to form glazes and colorings. The fundamental processes of pottery making have changed but little since prehistoric times, and wall pictures of the days of the Ptolemies show the potter’s wheel whirling much as it does at present, although, of course, many modern inventions have been made to facilitate different forms of work. In the famous Sèvres factories in France, established under royal patronage and still remaining government property, a modern device has rendered possible the making of large vases of extremely thin ware. To prevent the delicate paste of which these are made from collapsing by its own weight before it can harden, the vase or jar is moulded in an air-tight chamber, the mouth of the object sealed, and the air exhausted from the chamber, leaving the object in a vacuum. The air contained in itself is sufficient to hold up the sides until they harden and danger of collapse is over, when it can be fired. Attempts were made in vain to equal the delicacy of the Chinese egg-shell ware, when, one day an educated Chinese visitor to the factories observed the method employed, and exclaimed, “This is the way we make those cups,” and, taking a mould, he dipped it into the liquid paste, rinsed it around and emptied it at once. A thin film like a soap bubble remained in the mould, which hardened enough to form the dainty ware the workers had been trying without success to produce; so the Chinese method was at once adopted. About the middle of the last century an impetus of development in ceramic art appeared all over the continent of Europe and in England. This was probably due to the discovery, in different places, of kaolin or the fine clay of which porcelain is made, which stimulated the pottery industry and caused the establishment of many factories which are still working to-day. The Dresden works, founded in 1700, were hidden in an old fortress, and their secrets jealously guarded. After about a century they went into decay, but in 1863 were revived and reëstablished in large new buildings of their own, where dainty flowered ware is produced, which has again come into popular favor. Italian ceramics are apt to be florid and overloaded with decoration, that called “majolica” deriving its name from the island of Majorca, where it was first made. “Fayence” comes from Faenza, and the French form of the name, “faïence,” has been used to designate porcelain in general. The town of Limoges, in France, has been a centre of ceramic art since 1773, when a French firm established a factory for the production of a peculiarly fine ware, made possible by the superior quality of the kaolin found in the neighborhood. In 1839 a lady in New York showed the Haviland firm a cup of delicate ware, asking them to match it for her. It was so much finer than anything they had seen that they desired to import some for their own business. With this end in view, Mr. David Haviland took the cup and went to France trying to find where it had been made. He was directed to Limoges and, in the factories there, he tried to have English shapes and decorations copied in the exquisite ware. The conservatism and slow methods of the place were not equal to his demands, and he therefore established a factory of his own, which, since the middle of the century, has been the most important in the town.

In England, the most celebrated potteries are all over a century old, and the ceramic art has been developed to the highest degree both in technical and artistic directions. The works of the Doulton firm, who own many potteries, are particularly rich in color, and decoration, those from their factory at Lambeth being especially fine. So also are the Coalport wares, celebrated for their rich blue color, the Royal Worcester and the Crown Derby. In these English factories, and also in those on the Continent, artists of great skill are employed as decorators, and in the Wedgwood works the delicate cameo figures in white relief on a tinted ground were originated by the famous sculptor, John Flaxman. In America, the Trenton potteries turn out a vast quantity of wares of varying degrees of artistic excellence, and one factory has the secret of an old Irish ware, the Belleek, of indescribable delicacy, like an iridescent sea shell, long thought to be a lost art. The Rookwood pottery, of most artistic quality in design and color, is made in Cincinnati, and was the invention of a woman who has trained a school of girls as decorators; as has also the Tiffany firm in New York for their marvelous glass work. An adequate description of the work of this firm would fill a book, as they have developed undreamed-of possibilities in the use of glass for decorative purposes. They have revived forgotten arts of coloring and invented new processes of treatment, that give results like fairy work, no two pieces being alike. These and many other forms of industrial art products are brought to a high plane of perfection nowadays, although the word “art” is grievously abused, being applied to everything salable, from writing paper to soap. The great schools and institutions which teach the arts and industries combined are doing vast good, however, in improving public taste and teaching the world to discriminate between true art and false, and their influence can already be felt in higher standards of decoration in articles of common daily use.

IV. INDUSTRIAL ARTS.

Closely following painting comes black and white art in various forms, either reproductive or original work, and it is difficult to discriminate between fine art and handicraft in the many processes employed. Engraving on metal has long been known, and steel was considered an especially valuable method of reproducing paintings until within a generation. Etching is another old form of black and white work, and is still popular, though less so than formerly. Wood engraving during this century has passed through many stages of development, and in the illustrations of books and magazines has been brought to a high standing as a fine art. It is still used in many ways, but all those processes that require line work by hand are being superseded by the photo-type processes, of which there are many kinds. The making of plates or blocks for printing required skilled hand work, and the engravers and wood-cutters were necessarily artists themselves, so that while they were copying the work of others they were also producing works of art themselves. The plates and prints were, therefore, valuable and expensive, and, as modern haste grew more and more to demand cheap quick work, the old careful style of working gave way to mechanical methods of greater speed. With the development of photography and its application to the engraver’s art, while a certain individual artistic character in the work was lost, the actual copying of painting in all the details of light, shade, and half tones has been carried to a high degree of perfection. By what is known as photogravure, every tiny brush mark and every different tint of color is reproduced with scientific accuracy in black and white. This is accomplished by having a photograph of the painting taken on a gelatine film, which is suspended in a bath of acid in the line of an electric current. This current, playing over a sheet of copper, sets free the molecules of metal that are deposited upon the film, and filling all the little inequalities of the surface, produce what is practically a cast of the photograph in copper. The plate, thus secured, is gone over by hand and finished here and there with engraver’s tools, and from this prints may be duplicated to any extent. In engraved plates the design is cut into the metal, incised lines being either drawn by hand with a sharp point, called “dry point” work, or eaten in by acids, the remaining surface of the plate being protected from the acid by a greasy film. In wood-cutting, the blocks show a reverse process, the design being left standing in fine lines, while the remaining surface is cut away, so that a wood-cut is in reality a carving in low relief. The modern electrotype processes produce a similar result on a metal block by the action of acid, a method capable of most speedy work and therefore in demand among the multitude of daily publications illustrating current events. Of course these hasty results can scarcely be called fine art, but they are developments of artistic industries, calculated to meet certain needs of our busy civilization.

For more artistic effects, various forms of lithography have given beautiful results. This valuable process was accidentally discovered in 1796, by a young Bohemian, Aloys Senefelder, of Prague. Desiring to write a list, and having no paper, he scrawled on a fine stone floor tile a few words, and later on, coming to remove them, he bethought him of an experiment with acid on the stone. This he tried, finding the stone eaten away all around his writing, leaving that raised in sufficient relief to print from, the lettering being done with a greasy writing substance that repelled the acid. Later experiments proved that the eating away of the stone was not necessary if the design were made with an oily material and the rest of the surface kept moist with a weak solution of acid. A greasy printing ink being applied would stick only to the oily design and not to the acidulated surface, which process made possible the printing from flat stones, which were not so liable to wear out as the relief designs. Senefelder died in 1824, living long enough to see his invention in use throughout the world, although of course he could not know the improvements that photography would bring. On the centennial anniversary of this great discovery in 1896, exhibitions of lithographic works were held in London and Paris, and the possibilities and developments shown. Mr. James McNeill Whistler has made many very interesting experiments with it, as have also Mr. Joseph Pennell and Mr. Hubert Herkomer. The latter has made innumerable experiments and inventions in his busy artistic career, and has just recently perfected an improvement on lithography which he calls “plate printing,” and which has been dubbed by the irreverent the “Herkotype” process. It is simply painting in a peculiar oily ink on a metal plate, which, while the ink is moist, is dusted over with a fine powder which adheres to every brush mark on the surface. One ingredient of this powder is a metal that is electrically conductible, and, after the excess of powder is brushed off, the plate, with what remains sticking on the oily surface, is placed in an electrotype bath. The copper deposited thereon by the electric current hardens and forms a negative of the original painting, which can be stripped from the plate and used in a printing-press, giving an absolutely faithful reproduction of the artist’s handiwork. A similar process, called “algraphy,” has been invented by Mr. Scholz, of Mayence, who has developed the possibilities of aluminum for plate work, the advantage of this material over stone or other metal being its extreme lightness. These processes are especially valuable to artists who can work in black and white, as their own original conception is perfectly reproduced without the possibility of misconception by some copyist, as exists where a painting is interpreted by an etcher or engraver.

Of the new processes or improvements on the old, that have arisen because of the discovery of photography, it may be said their name is legion. Photography itself is rapidly being developed into a fine art, and has become one of the most important factors of modern existence. It combines science, art, and industry, and is equally necessary to all these occupations. While it is difficult to state what was the first attempt that led to the suggestion of photography, it may be supposed the experiments of the Swedish scientist Scheele were among the first. He found that the action of the sun’s ray blackened silver chloride, and others experimenting after him, at the beginning of the century, had glimmering ideas of the possibility of a new art. As has so often happened with the dawning of some great idea, some new appreciation of a great natural law, the thought was working in many minds, and the discovery seemed to be almost simultaneous in several places. As early as 1802 Wedgwood published in the “Journal of the Royal Institute” an “account of a method of copying paintings on glass and of making profiles by the agency of light on nitrate of silver, with some remarks by Sir Humphry Davy.” These gentlemen were, however, unable to fix the impressions they procured, and a Frenchman, De Niepce, seems to have been the first to succeed in this direction. In 1826, learning that M. Louis Jacques Daguerre was experimenting on the same lines, he conferred with him and they formed a partnership. The latter seems to have been the more businesslike of the two, and the process they evolved became known as the “Daguerreotype.” De Niepce died in 1833, and Daguerre continued the partnership with his son Isidore, making many improvements, and becoming really the pioneer of modern photography. The extent of advance may be calculated from Daguerre’s own remark, that “a landscape requires seven or eight hours to be photographed, but a single statue or monument, if strongly lighted, can be taken in about three hours.” Comparing this with the instantaneous camera work of to-day, that gives us the lifelike moving figures of the kinetoscope, will illustrate the change wrought in two thirds of a century. The earliest portrait work was slow and tedious, the first portrait in New York probably being produced by Dr. Draper, the scientist, although the celebrated Professor Morse was vastly interested in the new science or art, and advanced its cause in this country.

From the beginning of photographic experiments, the greatest desire has been felt to photograph in color, and numberless attempts with more or less success have been made, but the processes are mainly slow and very expensive. A new method of photo-printing in color, however, has recently developed very artistic possibilities. This is accomplished by means of three plates, one for each of the three primary colors; the negative having been made and the plate prepared for printing in each color, the inks of each color are applied separately. One printing produces a red impression, directly on this comes a yellow impression, and on top of that is put a blue; and as all gradations of color are composed of various proportions of these three primary tints, the “overlaying” of the three inks produces a picture containing all the variety of the original subject. A still more recent discovery makes an impression upon a glass plate that gives all three colors on the same plate; but this process is a secret, and is too new to be classed among the successes of industrial art as yet.

One of the later and more notable uses of photography is found in its application to the purposes of astronomy, an evolution in modern science, which, although still in its infancy, has already produced wonderful results. About the middle of the century photographs of the moon were secured by Warren De la Rue and other astronomers, which greatly facilitated studies of the earth’s satellite, and these were followed by photographs of the sun and the sun’s corona during eclipse. It was not, however, until Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institute originated the idea of uniting the camera with the telescope that the marvelous possibilities of stellar photography were discovered. It is not too much to say that this discovery has revolutionized the science of astronomy, extending the field of human observation into the realm of the infinite. By the aid of clockwork attachments, the telescope is made to follow the apparent motion of the star to which it may be directed, throughout the night, if desired, and the sensitive photographic plate is exposed to the action of light during a corresponding period. “Each image, however faint, has a comparatively long time on the sensitive surface, and therefore exerts a cumulative action.” The result is that stars are pictured by the camera which no human eye has ever seen. It is estimated that the camera has revealed double the number of stars discovered by the most powerful telescopes. In 1887, at a convention of astronomers held in Paris, it was resolved to photograph the entire skies, with the purpose of making a new stellar atlas to include the latest discoveries among the heavenly hosts. With this object the firmament was charted in squares, and each observatory of importance throughout the world was assigned certain of these squares to work on. This monumental labor is still going on, and it will necessarily be extended well into the first quarter of the twentieth century.

The epoch-marking paper of Dr. Röntgen, in which he announced the discovery of the X-ray, was made public in the latter part of 1895. It immediately attracted the attention of the scientific world, and, since that date, endless successions of experiments have been made with the marvelous ray in all civilized countries. The X-ray produces no noticeable effect on the retina of the eye, and we therefore acquire knowledge of it through indirect agencies. One of these agencies is the photographic plate, on which, under certain conditions, the ray acts somewhat in the same manner as does a ray of light. It is not a ray of light, in the ordinary sense, as it penetrates opaque bodies which light cannot traverse. Just what it is scientists are not yet ready to state, but its discoverer defines it as “a longitudinal vibration of luminiferous ether.” This vibration will traverse many substances opaque to light, as wood, paper, vegetable and animal tissues and fabrics, as wool, cotton, silk, etc.; and, if then directed upon a photographic plate, will produce an image there. The resulting picture is not of the object traversed by the ray, but of any intervening object which it does not pass through. As a consequence, the picture is the image, so to speak, of a shadow, and, hence has been called a “shadowgraph.” To illustrate, if the ray is directed through a human body, it will give a “shadowgraph” of the bones, or of a bullet or piece of metal, if such foreign substance be encountered on its way. Again, the ray will traverse a diamond and cast no shadow, but it will not pass through the finest imitation ever made, the “shadowgraph” showing the manufactured article.

THE CENTURY’S ADVANCE IN SURGERY

BY J. MADISON TAYLOR, M.D., and J. H. GIBBON, M.D.,

Surgeon in Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospitals.

AT THE DAWN OF THE CENTURY.—In the year 1579 the celebrated French surgeon, Ambroise Paré, probably the greatest of his day, in completing his work on “Chirurgery,” made the following statement, which to us of to-day is both amusing and pathetic. He says: “For God is my witness, and all good men know, that I have labored fifty years with all care and pains in the illustration and amplification of Chirurgery; and that I have so certainly touched the work whereat I aimed that antiquity may seem to have nothing wherein it may exceed as beside the glory of invention, nor posterity anything left but a certain small hope to add some things.” This great man had scarcely passed away when the practice of surgery of his day was a thing of the past, due to the realization of that “certain small hope” which he allowed as possible to posterity. Every reader, when he reflects upon the crude surgery practiced in those days, when the operations were those of necessity and not election,—that is, were done for injuries and not for disease, done to relieve and not to cure; when he remembers that not only antiseptics but also anæsthetics were unknown, must be filled with sympathy for this old gentleman, and wonder what he would think now were he to see what progress posterity has made and is still making.

It is not our purpose, however, to carry our researches so far back as Paré’s time, but to begin with our own century and bring before the reader the advances in surgery since the day of our grandfathers.

In the beginning of this century surgery was practiced by many great men, men who did not enjoy the self-satisfaction of their predecessor, Paré, but who accomplished much by constant endeavor and faithful application to advance this art and science. They, too, realized manifold “hopes,” and their children and grandchildren have moved on, and to-day are still pressing forward in the line of invention and discovery. But to us, the art of an hundred years ago appears widely different from that of our day. Anæsthesia had not then been discovered, no germ theory had been evolved, and, consequently, no such thing as antiseptic or aseptic surgery was known. The abdomen was opened for disease only, and rarely; and brain surgery consisted solely in trepanning for fractures of the skull. Surgery was not regarded as a specialty, but every surgeon was also an obstetrician and a practitioner of general medicine. Outside of the treatment of broken bones, dislocations, gunshot wounds and injuries, the surgeon at that time operated for strangulated hernia, for stone in the bladder—“cutting for stone,” as it was called; for cataract and for cancer. Dentistry was just beginning to be taken up as a specialty, and all medical men extracted teeth, and many filled their cavities. Ophthalmic surgery consisted largely in operations for cataract, and was done by the general surgeon. One department of the surgeon’s education at this time was well attended to, and that was his anatomic knowledge. Our bodies were the same then as now; and although the surgeon dared not trespass in anatomical fields which are familiar ground to the student of to-day, he did study the body after death, and was quite as well informed regarding the gross anatomy of the human body as the surgeon of to-day; and, had anæsthesia been known to him, he would probably have accomplished nearly all that was done during the middle of the century by his successors.

During the first quarter of the century no great advance was made in surgery, that is, nothing revolutionizing; but many minds and hands were at work perfecting old methods of operation and devising new ones. They had to trust to whiskey and opium to control the pain of the patient, and consequently operations requiring much time in their performance were avoided when possible, and, when necessary, had to be performed with such rapidity that the essential object aimed at was often missed. The patient was given a large dose of laudanum and a huge drink of whiskey or brandy, and was then held or tied on the table while the surgeon proceeded with his work. One can readily understand the torturing pain the poor patient had to endure, and the hurried and often unsatisfactory operation which the surgeon had to perform. The endurance of pain was not the worst part of the patient’s lot, for afterward he ran the greatest risk of blood-poisoning and gangrene, which were common complications in those days. It was the rarest thing for even the simplest operation wounds to heal by “primary union,” as it was called,—that is, without the formation of pus. Every wounded surface was expected to go through a certain amount of suppuration. Many patients lost their lives from compound fractures of their bones; and a compound fracture, that is, where there was a wound connecting the seat of fracture with the skin, usually meant many months in bed, and very often the loss of the limb.

Excepting for the purposes of removing a fœtus from the womb (the so-called Cæsarian operation, because Cæsar was from “his mother’s womb untimely ripped”), the abdominal cavity was practically never opened, and when it was the patient nearly always died. The operation for the radical cure of hernia was seldom resorted to, excepting when strangulation of the intestine necessitated operative interference to save the patient’s life. During the latter part of the eighteenth century the quacks, calling themselves “rupture cutters,” were not scarce; but the great mortality of their practice produced a wholesome fear among the people. The operation was so often fatal that most of the best surgeons would only perform it under unusually urgent circumstances. What caused the deaths was peritonitis, or gangrene of the intestine, and not the method of operating; for at this time nearly every method of operating had been devised that was in vogue fifty years later.

Bone surgery, the treatment of fractures, dislocations, and diseases of the bones, was greatly improved in the first half of the century, this subject receiving more attention at the hands of surgical writers than any other.

ANÆSTHESIA.—Anæsthesia may, certainly from the patient’s point of view, be looked upon as the greatest advancement ever made in surgery. It was great not only for the reason that it gave the patient absolute unconsciousness during the time of the operation, but because it enabled the surgeon to work with greater exactness and less hurry. The conception of the anæsthetic state did not, however, come into being for the first time in our century, for, like most great ideas, it agitated the minds of medical and scientific men for centuries. Gross tells us that Theodoric, in the thirteenth century, recommended the inhalation of a certain combination of opium, hemlock, and other vegetable derivatives for the purpose of producing sleep, and that in India similar combinations were for centuries in use. It is needless, however, to say that the effect produced was nothing like that following the use of nitrous oxide, “laughing gas,” ether, or chloroform, and that their use never became general. Toward the close of the last century Sir Humphry Davy and others performed repeated experiments with nitrous oxide gas, but finally gave up in despair. In the early part of our own century several methods of producing insensibility to pain were recommended, such as pressure on nerves and bleeding to the degree of producing unconsciousness, but none of them was ever sufficiently successful to render their adoption general; and it remained for a New England dentist, Dr. Horace Wells, in 1844, to first use satisfactorily upon himself and his patients the complete state of unconsciousness produced by nitrous oxide gas. This poor man, however, failed signally when he endeavored to demonstrate its powers before a body of medical men, and was subjected to the most unwarranted ridicule. However, a pupil of this man, another dentist, named Morton, two years later, experimented with ether, and finally proved upon himself and on patients the wonderful power of the vapor. He exhibited his discovery at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Boston, where Dr. Warren performed an operation upon a patient etherized by Dr. Morton. The fame of this man and his great discovery spread rapidly over the continent and into the Eastern Hemisphere, and in 1847 Sir James Y. Simpson in Edinburgh discovered the anæsthetic powers of chloroform. These two agents, ether and chloroform, have existed as rivals for professional favor for nearly half a century, one being more popular and more generally used in one country and the other in another. There is, however, a field for the use of both, the operator choosing the anæsthetic to suit the individual case. In our own country ether is more generally used in the North and East and chloroform in the South and West. Chloroform has had more deaths attributed to its use, but in many cases is a much safer anæsthetic than ether. It is most amusing to observe the attitude of the so-called conservative surgeon toward the use of anæsthetics soon after their discovery; this is particularly true of their employment in obstetric practice, many eminent obstetricians maintaining that the parturient woman was intended to suffer, and referring triumphantly to the Bible for authority. It is, however, needless to say that although many men were at first uneasy in the use of these new-found agents, those who did not take advantage of their wonderful powers found themselves rapidly becoming out of date and deserted by their patients, who preferred unconsciousness to the older method of using opium and whiskey.

Notwithstanding the great step made by the introduction of ether and chloroform, the medical man is to-day still dissatisfied and is continually endeavoring to discover some agent or combination of agents which will produce insensibility to pain without unconsciousness and without the slight danger and the uncomfortable after effects of chloroform and ether. An ideal anæsthetic then must be a local anæsthetic, one that will render the field of operation insensible and be without the slightest danger to the patient.

LOCAL ANÆSTHESIA.—At the beginning of our century freezing with ice alone, or with ice and salt, was the only method employed for producing local insensibility. Freezing as a local anæsthetic was, however, not extensively used until fifty years later, when Dr. Richardson of London showed the anæsthetic effect of spraying the surface of the tissues with ether. During the late sixties this method of freezing became quite popular for producing local anæsthesia for small operations such as extraction of teeth, removing nails, opening abscesses, etc., and occasionally was employed for more protracted operations, Cæsarian section having been performed a number of times by the aid of this agent. The rhigolene spray was found later to be more satisfactory than ether in many respects, and the two together were frequently used.

Another freezing agent which is now used very extensively and has entirely supplanted those just mentioned is the chloride of ethyl. This, when applied to the dry skin, produces in a few seconds complete freezing, and renders the surface comparatively painless for many of the minor surgical operations.

The properties of cocaine as a local anæsthetic were known thirty years ago, but it was not until 1884 that Dr. Kohler of Germany demonstrated its practical applicability. To-day most of the operations on the eye, nose, and throat are performed under the pain prevention afforded by this drug, and in general surgery it has an extensive field, being found satisfactory where freezing is inapplicable or general anæsthesia not desired, as, for instance, in removing small tumors, splinters, ingrowing nails, etc. In the eye, nose, and throat it is applied simply in solution to the mucous membrane, but where anæsthesia of the skin is desired, it is necessary to inject it under the skin with a hypodermic syringe. When used in strong solutions this remedy is dangerous, and it has lately been shown that weaker solutions when used in larger quantities are just as satisfactory and less dangerous.

A recent substitute for cocaine is eucaine; but, although less dangerous, it is less satisfactory and not harmless to the tissues themselves.

ANTISEPTIC AND ASEPTIC SURGERY.—Excepting the introduction of anæsthesia, no greater step has ever been made in surgery than that which was brought into use by the antiseptic and aseptic method of treating wounds. It is now about thirty years since Sir Joseph Lister, believing in the so-called “germ theory,” evolved by Pasteur, Virchow, and others, advocated the use of agents which were destructive to germ life in the treatment of wounds. At first the great antiseptic, and the one used most generally by Lister, was carbolic acid, which was applied to the wound in solution, and used as a spray during the performance of operations, to protect the wound from infection by germs in the atmosphere. It was not long, however, before it was discovered that the danger lay not in the atmosphere but in the skin of the patient and in the hands of the surgeon and in the condition of his instruments and dressings; and to these sources attention was given with results known to us all. Other antiseptics, such as bichloride of mercury and boric acid, afterward came into use, and within the past ten years the first of these two has largely supplanted carbolic acid, and is the one reliable and practical destroyer of germs. The antiseptic treatment of wounds was probably not in full swing until about 1885–1890, and was quickly followed by the more recent aseptic method. These two can, however, never be successfully separate, as the latter is dependent entirely upon the former; that is, in order to render the field of operation and the hands of the surgeon aseptic, the antiseptics must be used. Asepsis means without poisonous germs, and, as applied to surgical treatment, it is essential that, after the instruments, the dressings, the patient’s skin, the surgeon’s and his assistants’ hands have been thoroughly cleaned with soap and water and rendered free from germs, there be use of antiseptic solutions in the wound or on the dressings. This has been a great step forward, this discovery that it was in the skin that the germs lurked, and that soap and water and a scrubbing brush were as necessary as antiseptics. Few surgeons to-day employ antiseptic solutions in wounds unless the wound itself is already infected, when it becomes necessary. In wounds which are clean and made by the surgeon under aseptic conditions, no antiseptic drug is required which may indeed be actually harmful, for these chemicals which destroy germs are not altogether harmless to healthy tissue, particularly when used in strong solution.

The discovery of anæsthesia and the promulgation of the germ theory of inflammation, together with the subsequent perfection of the means of destroying microbes, all within the memory of many now living, have revolutionized surgery to such an extent that the surgeon reaches fearlessly into regions which before were impracticable, and undertakes operations which were never even dreamed of a generation ago. One can readily imagine that no surgeon would care to undertake, and no patient would endure, the agony of an operation lasting for several hours without an anæsthetic; and that it must have been only an immediate and certain danger of death that compelled a surgeon, in pre-antiseptic days, to open an abdomen or brain when he realized the great probability of subsequent inflammation and death.

Let us look at some of the individual advances of surgery since the introduction of anæsthesia and of the use of germ-destroying agents, considering first, simple fractures.

OF SIMPLE FRACTURES.—Anæsthesia was the means of permitting surgeons to “set” fractures in a satisfactory manner and without pain; and the use of antiseptics has prevented many of these fractures from becoming compound fractures. Lately there has been a change in the general treatment of fractures which is proving a great advancement. Formerly it was the custom to keep not only the broken bone itself perfectly quiet on a splint until union had taken place, but also to immobilize all the neighboring structures, joints, muscles, and tendons. This meant that when the limb was taken off the splint, not only would the bone be “solid,” but there was also a tendency to fixation of the muscles and joints, so that it took the patient as long to get back the use of the limb as it did to unite the broken bone. This is now obviated in many fractures by beginning both the passive and active motion of the neighboring muscles and joints at a much earlier period than heretofore; in fact, in many fractures, such as those near the wrist, by never allowing these adjacent structures to get stiff at all, but keeping up the passive motion (while the fragments are held firmly together) from the very first dressing. In other more complicated and serious fractures where motion is contra-indicated, the use of carefully applied massage prevents largely the stiffness and the wasting of the muscles which results from long confinement on splints.

COMPOUND FRACTURES.—In pre-antiseptic days compound fractures were one of the greatest causes of the amputation of limbs; and yet, to-day, these same breaks, which twenty-five years ago would have cost the patient his limb, are, by means of antiseptics, rendered aseptic and converted into a simple fracture by the closing of the wound, and the part is not only saved but fully restored to function.

BONE DISEASES.—Diseases of the bones, as inflammation, caries, and necrosis, are now dealt with very differently from of old. The diseased structures are now thoroughly removed; and the inflammation which at one time kept the patient in misery and danger for a long time is subdued from the start.

OSTEOTOMY.—This term, which means the division of a bone, is generally applied to the correction of deformities, such as bow-legs. This operation fifty years ago was not frequently resorted to, and then only in severe cases, the milder ones being left alone or treated with braces, which at best could do little more than prevent increase in deformity. When the operation was performed on the bone, it was then divided, usually with a saw. The operation nowadays for this condition is what is called subcutaneous osteotomy; that is, the wound made is only as large as the chisel used for severing the bone, about one half inch, and owing to our knowledge of microbes and our means of destroying them and preventing their ravages, hundreds of legs are made straight every year which a generation ago could not have been safely touched.

AMPUTATIONS.—The first successful amputation at the hip joint, for either injury or disease, in the United States, was done in 1806 by Dr. Brasheur; the next was not accomplished until 1824. As late as 1882, the great American surgeon, Gross, wrote in his “System of Surgery:” “To no operation that can be performed on the human body is the oft-repeated maxim, ‘Ad extremos morbus extrema remedia,’ more justly applicable than to amputation at the hip joint. The operation may become necessary both on account of disease and accident; but it is of so formidable a nature and so fraught with danger, that it should never be undertaken unless the patient has no other chance of escape. The great risk which attends it is chiefly due to shock, loss of blood, suppuration, erysipelas, and pyaemia.... Under highly favorable circumstances, much of the enormous wound may unite by the first intention; but, in general, more or less suppuration takes place, and in some instances the discharge is so copious as to lead to fatal exhaustion. The greatest danger of all, however, is the occurrence of pyaemia, or secondary abscess, especially in amputations at the hip joint in consequence of injury, as a compound fracture or a gunshot wound.” This gives the attitude of the profession toward this operation a little more than fifteen years ago, and the dangers which attended its performance. Let us add that the mortality at this time may be expressed in the following figures. (Dr. F. C. Sheppard prepared these statistics for Dr. Ashhurst.) Of 613 cases in which the results are known, “237 occurred in army practice, of which 30 recovered and 207, or 87.3 per cent died; 71 were performed in civil life for injury, with the result of 47 deaths, or a mortality of 66.1 per cent; 261 were practiced for disease, with 105 deaths, or a mortality rate of 40.2 per cent; and of 44 amputations for unknown causes 34, or 77.2 per cent were fatal.”

In 1890, Dr. John A. Wyeth of New York introduced his “bloodless method” of amputation at the hip joint, and he recently reports 69 operations performed after this manner by himself and others, in which there were 11 deaths, 5 of which occurred in cases of extreme injury, where the patients had lost a large amount of blood and vigor before operation. In 40 cases the operation was done for malignant growth, and 4 deaths occurred, 10 per cent. In 22 the amputation was made for inflammatory disease of the bone, and 3 died, 13.6 per cent. One has but to contrast these statistics to understand what antiseptic methods and recent improvements in the control of hemorrhage have done to lessen the mortality of amputations. The still more recent use of salt solution injected into the circulation of patients suffering from profuse hemorrhage has lately been the means of saving many lives which would have otherwise succumbed to the loss of blood and the shock subsequent to injury and operation. As illustrating the contrast between the septic and antiseptic methods, let us consider the surgery of our Civil War and compare with that of to-day, and we shall see the enormous differences in methods, and particularly in economy of limbs and organs as well as mortality.

HEMORRHAGE.—The arrest and control of hemorrhage has greatly improved within the past twenty-five years. The making of an aseptic wound does away largely with the much dreaded secondary hemorrhage of a generation ago, by preventing suppuration, which is usually the cause of secondary hemorrhage. The clumsy and complicated apparatus of former days for controlling hemorrhage has been superseded by the use of the Esmarch rubber tourniquet, the neat hemostatic forceps, and the sterile animal ligature. No surgeon thinks to-day of applying a silk ligature to a blood vessel and allowing it to hang out of the wound until it separates, so that in case of secondary bleeding he could readily find the vessel; but he applies an absorbable ligature, usually of catgut, which is sterile, and which is entirely absorbed by the tissues after it has done its work. Much suffering has been saved patients by the introduction of absorbable materials for ligation of vessels and sewing of wounds. Formerly one of the great dreads of wounds was the “taking out of the stitches.” To-day where the wounds are not inflamed this is little complained of, and where the animal suture is used there is no discomfort whatever. Many means have, during the past century, been employed for the resuscitation of patients suffering from profuse hemorrhage and shock. The idea of injecting into the veins of the patient thus affected blood from another person or from an animal is not new, and has at times been quite successful. The most generally used method was to draw the blood from a healthy person or animal and inject it into the vein of the patient with a syringe: however, so-called “direct transfusion” was also employed, and consisted in pumping the blood direct from the vein of the healthy individual into that of the patient. Other materials than blood have been injected into the blood vessels of persons suffering from great loss of blood, notably milk. All of these methods have been put upon the shelf, never to be called into use again. The ingenuity of the nineteenth century suggested the substitution of a solution of common salt for blood and, to-day, the intra-venous injection of normal salt solution saves hundreds of lives. The solution is made to resemble as closely as possible the liquid portion of the human blood (the liquor sanguinis), especially as to specific gravity; and as it is always sterilized by boiling before being used, it is free from all the dangers which accompany the transfusion of one person’s blood into another. No well-appointed operating room is without its transfusion apparatus and its salt solution ready for use.

WOUNDS.—Reference to the remarks on asepsis and antisepsis will show the reader that the treatment of wounds has undergone a complete change in the past quarter of a century; but probably the modern treatment of gunshot wounds illustrates this better than anything else. Until 1885, only six cases were recorded where the abdominal cavity was opened for gunshot wounds, but since that time hundreds of cases have been treated in this way every year. The injuries were formerly considered almost certainly fatal, and if the intestine was injured the patient assuredly died. Now the abdomen is opened, hemorrhage controlled, wounds—often to the number of six or eight or even thirty or more—of the intestines closed, or an injured section of the intestines removed and the abdominal cavity cleansed and closed, with many favorable terminations to make the operation not only a justifiable one, but one of necessity and safety. There is no comparison with the present-day results of gunshot wounds of either abdomen or chest and those of a generation ago. It is the duty of the surgeon, in case of gunshot wound of abdomen, to open, explore, and repair, whereas formerly it was considered the part of wisdom to leave the patient without radical treatment and only to make him comfortable with opiates. Thus cases of damage to the intestines and viscera did occasionally recover in pre-antiseptic days, but it was the rarest occurrence.

What has been said of gunshot wounds applies also to stab wounds of the chest and abdomen.

THE ALIMENTARY CANAL.—Probably the surgery of no portion of the body, unless it be the brain, has been so much improved during the past fifteen years as that of the alimentary canal. The esophagus or gullet is now opened with impunity for both disease and injury. This organ is not only approachable through the neck but also through the back part of the chest, by resection of the ribs; and the latter operation is frequently made necessary by the lodgment of foreign bodies,—buttons, false teeth, etc.—so low down in the esophagus that they cannot be reached through the mouth or through an opening made in the neck.

THE STOMACH.—This organ, which was formerly a forbidden field to the surgeon, is now subjected to the most varied surgical operations, from simple opening for the purpose of removing a foreign body or establishing a fistulous tract to the resection of a portion of it or to its complete resection, as has been successfully accomplished several times within the past year or two for malignant disease. The removal of the smaller end of the stomach for cancer is now a frequent operation. During the war of the rebellion there were sixty-four cases of wounds of the stomach, and only one recovered. In over six hundred and fifty cases of wounds of the intestines there were recorded only five cases of recovery from wounds of the small and fifty-nine from wounds of the large intestine.

THE INTESTINAL TRACT.—What has been said of the stomach applies also to this portion of the alimentary canal. No surgeon can nowadays call himself such if he is incapable of removing a diseased portion of intestine, it may be only a few inches or several feet, and bringing the dividing ends of remaining intestine into such apposition that healing takes place and the function is restored. Until recently, when the means of anastomosing the intestinal canal were perfected, it was the custom of the surgeon to bring the severed ends of the intestines into the abdominal incision and suture them there, establishing in this way an artificial anus with all its accompanying discomforts. This was certainly better than allowing the patient to perish from his disease, but how infinitely preferable is the present method of bringing the healthy cut ends of the intestine into apposition and reëstablishing the calibre. It is this operation which has so much reduced the mortality of intra-abdominal injuries, gunshot wounds, stabs, etc., and has made hundreds of sufferers from intestinal cancer either well again or comfortable for years. The perfection of the operation of joining one part of the alimentary canal to another has been due largely to the ingenuity and perseverance of American surgeons, who have devoted years to experimentation and practice upon the cadaver and upon animals.

THE KIDNEYS.—The kidney has not been behind the other organs of the body in reaping the benefits of modern surgery. The first case of removal of the kidney was done in 1869 by Simon, and was successful. It was done only after a number of dogs were operated on successfully to demonstrate that life and health are compatible with only one kidney. Since this time the removal of a kidney for disease or injury, when its fellow of the opposite side is healthy and performing its function, has been looked upon as an entirely justifiable operation. The surgery of this organ has lately so far advanced, however, that many kidneys are now treated by more curative operations. In 1880 the first operation was done for the removal of a stone from the kidney, an operation which now nearly every surgeon of much experience has performed. The operation for the fixation of a floating kidney, which is now so common, was first done in 1881. Now, since Simon’s bold experiment the lives of between two thousand and three thousand persons have been thus saved who had otherwise certainly died.

THE BLADDER.—For generations the bladder has been considered a legitimate field for surgery, but modern methods and technique have greatly extended the domain. One of the greatest advances in bladder surgery has been the crushing of stone and its immediate removal. Until 1825 the treatment of all stones in the bladder was their removal through an incision made in the organ. At that time Civiale first performed the operation of passing a bladed instrument into the bladder and crushing the stone, then allowing the patient to pass it subsequently at urination. The operation became quite popular with certain surgeons as early as the middle of the century. The cutting operation has, however, never been entirely put aside, and even to-day it is, in many cases, the best and only procedure. In 1878 Bigelow, of Boston, devised the method which is now universally used, of crushing the stone and washing it out at once through a silver tube. This was a great stride ahead of the old method.

One of the great difficulties in deciding upon the removal of a kidney has been the trouble of finding out whether the other kidney is doing its work, and this Kelly, of Johns Hopkins University, has done much to overcome in devising his method of examining by looking at the openings of the tubes of the kidneys where they empty into the bladder. If the kidney is performing its function the urine will be seen flowing from its tube into the bladder.

HERNIA OR RUPTURE.—Probably the treatment of no condition has received more consideration from the surgeon of the nineteenth century than that of rupture, and it was not until 1891 that an operation was devised, simultaneously by an Italian and an American surgeon, which has proved for itself all that its originators claimed. Hundreds of operative methods have been brought forward for the cure of this troublesome and dangerous condition; but, until the operations of Halstead and Bossini were brought forward, little prospect of an absolute cure could be promised a patient, and the conservative surgeon would only undertake to operate upon very troublesome cases such as could not be controlled by a truss. Now nearly every case of hernia may be looked upon as curable by an operation.

OPERATIVE GYNÆCOLOGY.—The operative treatment of the disease of the female generative organs has been revolutionized in our century, and its revolution has been largely due to American surgeons. The first ovariotomy ever performed was done in Kentucky, by Dr. Ephraim McDowell, in 1809. In the fifties, Marion Sims won great renown for himself and his country by his wonderful ingenuity and boldness in this line of work. The greatest advance here, as in all departments of surgery, has been made since the introduction of antiseptic and aseptic principles. To-day there is no disease or condition which, if seen early enough, cannot be cured, or essentially relieved at the hands of an expert abdominal surgeon. Thousands of women are now saved every year by these means who formerly would have certainly died or remained hopeless invalids.

APPENDICITIS.—This condition must seem to the ordinary reader to be either a new disease or one much more prevalent than in days gone by, but it is not the case. The cause of this appearance is the fact that in former times the condition was not recognized in its incipiency, and the exact cause of the trouble was unknown. The condition then advanced until it was called typhlitis, peritonitis, and obstruction of the bowels, etc., all of which would to-day occur if the conditions were not recognized early and treatment immediately instituted before the inflammation and infection extended from the appendix to neighboring tissues.

BRAIN SURGERY.—This branch of surgery is practically a triumph of recent years. Formerly the brain was never interfered with except for injury (traumatic), and even then nothing was done excepting for the removal of pressure, as from a piece of depressed bone, and the institution of drainage. To-day the skull is opened for epilepsy; abscesses of the brain are opened and drained successfully, and tumors of the brain are removed, thus not only in numberless instances saving life but—what is equally important—saving the usefulness of the life and mind. The first actual successes in this line are recorded by Bennett and Godlee in 1884, who localized and operated on and ultimately found a tumor. The patient died, but the bold beginning was followed by a number of other surgeons, till this new region for exploration, hitherto untouched, has become a fertile ground for successful efforts. Abscess of the brain, until twenty years ago, was almost invariably fatal. MacEwen in 1879 located an abscess of the brain and begged to be allowed to operate, but was refused by the family of the patient. After the death of the patient he operated precisely as he would have done in life, evacuated the pus and demonstrated that had he been permitted to do so he could have saved life.

Where the cranium is wounded surgeons nowadays will not hesitate to open the skull, secure the bleeding vessels, remove clots, and thus many lives are saved. Even comparatively slight injuries to the skull, where the brain is damaged, involve oftentimes destruction to the arteries and blood is effused, producing such destructive pressure as causes very serious symptoms or even death. In other instances, the results of a blow or a fall without injuring the skull may cause profound damage and subsequent hemorrhage. In all these cases operative interference, now extremely safe and easy, may readily save life. Gunshot wounds of the brain are now only occasionally fatal, provided opportunity offers for prompt and clean operative work. Even where the ball has traversed the entire length of the cerebrum, recovery has followed operation. The results of brain surgery in relieving certain forms of epilepsy are occasionally most brilliant and frequently much relief is afforded. Where the epilepsy is of the character known as focal, and where there is evidence of irritation of the brain, due to a local pressure, whether of the cranial walls or of some new growth within the brain tissue, the removal of these sources of irritation has in many reported instances been most satisfactory. Again, certain cases of protracted headache, so severe as to render life insupportable, have been cured by trepanning the skull. Certain forms of insanity have been modified and relieved where this had followed upon brain injuries. It is of great interest to reflect upon the methods by which students of brain disease are enabled to determine so exactly the location of tumors, abscesses, hemorrhages, clots, scars, and other alterations of tissue giving rise to epilepsy and brain disorders, and which afford no indication of the diseased locality by any changed condition of the surface. In dealing with other parts of the body, if the precise locality of the part to be operated on cannot be at first determined, there is no hesitation in the minds of the surgeons in cutting down upon, and searching for, that which he proposes to remove. In dealing with so delicate an organ as the brain, however, this cannot be permitted; for a variation of the very smallest dimension will sometimes change the manipulations from those of perfect safety to the most fatal results. Our knowledge of the location of the functions of the brain and the areas from whence arise governing influences has been derived almost solely from experiments upon living animals. Among the names of the great pioneers in this direction must be mentioned those of Ferrier and Horseley, of England; Fritsch, Hitzig, and Goltz, of Germany. The researches which have thus opened up a new realm of operative possibility are among the very greatest triumphs in our means of saving life and affording opportunity for relief of the most serious disablements known to modern times.

For illustration of how these studies are pursued, it may be of interest to review the method used by Horseley.

The brain of a monkey having been exposed at the part to be investigated, the poles of a battery are applied over squares one twelfth of an inch in diameter, and all the various movements which occur (if any) are minutely studied. One square having been studied, the next is stimulated, and the results are again noted, and so on from square to square. These movements are then tabulated. For example, all those adjacent squares which, when stimulated, produce movements of the thumb are called the region for representation of the thumb, or “the thumb centre;” and to all those squares which produce movements of the hand, the elbow, the shoulder, or the face, etc., are given corresponding names. In this way the brain has been mapped out, region by region, and the same minute, patient study given to each.

These animals are etherized so that they do not suffer the least pain. Such operations, with few exceptions, even without ether, are not painful. The brain itself can be handled, compressed, cut, or torn without the least pain. A number of cases have already been reported in which a considerable portion of the human brain has been removed by operation, and the patients have been about their ordinary avocations within a week or two.

Studying in this way the brain in the lower animals, it is now possible to get a very fair knowledge of the localization of many of its functions in man.

Moreover, portions of the body can be entirely severed, and, if suitably preserved, can be replaced, and they will adhere and grow as if nothing had happened. When a wound is slow in healing, we now take bits of skin, either from the patient’s own body or provided by the willing family or friends, or even from frogs, and “graft” them on the surface of the wound. They usually adhere, and as enlargement takes place at their margins, they coalesce by one half the time required for healing. Even a large disk of bone, one or two inches in diameter, when removed from the skull, can be so saved and utilized. It is placed in a vessel filled with a warm antiseptic solution, which is again placed in a basin of warm water, and it is the duty of a special assistant to see that the thermometer in this basin shall always mark 100° to 105° Fahr. The bone may be separated from the skull so long as one or two hours, but if properly cared for can be replaced, and will grow fast and fulfill its accustomed but interrupted duty of protecting the brain.

RÖNTGEN RAYS.—One of the most recent advances in the art of surgery is the discovery and use of the X-rays. In December, 1895, Professor Röntgen, of Würzburg, announced his discovery, and since then its utility has continually increased, until to-day no large hospital or properly equipped teaching institution, indeed no first-rate surgeon, is without the X-ray apparatus. By its use many doubtful cases of both injury and disease in surgical practice are thus entirely rendered clear. In the diagnosis and treatment of many fractures it is nearly indispensable, showing the exact location of the break and the position of the fragment before and after dressing. Probably in no other condition, unless it be in fractured bones, has the X-ray proved itself of so much value as in the location of foreign bodies lodged in any of the organs or tissues of the body. Before Professor Röntgen’s discovery it was not of infrequent occurrence that an exploratory operation was necessary to positively prove the presence of a foreign body, and even this was at times of necessity a failure. To-day the X-ray picture enables the surgeon to learn the exact location of the foreign body and indicates to him the best point from which it may be attacked. With repeated improvements in apparatus the time of exposure required for making the picture of the part has been greatly reduced. The advantage of this was made manifest when it was discovered that destruction of the skin, the so-called “X-ray burns,” might follow long and repeated exposure to the rays. It is not always necessary to make a plate of the part to be examined, since by simply studying the parts by the eyes through the fluoroscope or the fluoroscopic screen the surgeon can readily see everything that a photographic picture could show him. The fluoroscope or screen is now often used during the operation of removing foreign bodies; through it the surgeon can watch the various steps of his operation, his approach to the foreign body and its final removal.

If the field of its usefulness continues to expand at its present rate, it will not be long before its use as a diagnostic measure will be as valuable to the medical man as it now is to the surgeon.

By such instruments of precision as this, and others less conspicuous, the old elements of intelligent inference and argument by analogy and exclusion are rendered of less value, and a rapid approach is made to scientific exactitude in surgery as well as medicine. All this has attained a far higher quality and scope in the last quarter of this century than in any other period of the world’s history, and we may look to great advances in the coming century, in all life-conserving and remedial measures whereby the race may enjoy a larger measure of relief as well as immunity from the onslaught of disease and the results of accident.

There is shown here for illustration a photographic picture of a limb, taken by the X-ray now growing familiar to every one. It should be borne in mind that while it is a simple matter for the casual observer to note obvious solutions of continuity in bones, or the presence of foreign bodies, this is not the chief item of usefulness to the surgeon, and certainly not to the medical practitioner. A special training is required to study and interpret the findings and appearances of the tissues, their altered relationships, densities, and many other matters entirely insignificant to the uneducated among medical men or laity.

Again, the picture here shown is similar in outline to but a reversal of the shading seen through the fluoroscope by direct vision, when the greatest skill is required in noting the significance of altered states in the denser or softer tissues.

When suits for malpractice are instituted against surgeons it is not to be admitted that the evidence or findings of the “highly intelligent” but not technically skilled witness can have the slightest weight as proving the condition of tissues of which they are very ignorant, not only physiologically but more so pathologically.

PROGRESS OF MEDICINE

BY FRANK C. HAMMOND, M.D.,

Instructor in Gynecology, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia.

“As a point of history pregnant with valuable deductions, it is good to look back upon the conditions of medicine in former times and find that it has always kept pace with the progress of the physical and moral sciences. Where these, however, have been marked by folly and credulity, medicine has exhibited the same imperfections.”

It is difficult to trace the improvement in successive eras, because they melt into one another by indefinable gradations. During the earliest period it was believed that physic was an art which was supposed to be most mysterious, and it was presumed that the practicers held communion with the world of spirits. The practice of medicine in those days consisted in the usage of agents necessarily unreliable, as, for instance, the word abracadabra hung around the neck as an amulet to chase away the ague, etc.

Much time has been wasted in attempting to portray the first origin of medicine. Bambilla, a surgeon of Vienna, has asserted that Tubal Cain was the inventor of cauterizing instruments, apparatus for reducing fractures, and other instruments for surgical procedures, thus endeavoring to prove that surgery antedated medicine. It is evident that medicine must have had a very early origin, for mankind even in the earliest ages suffered pain and the train of sequences due to exposure, and hence soon discovered a method of alleviation. Their category probably consisted of herbs. Unacquainted, however, with the construction and function of the human economy, practitioners were unable to trace the progress of disease, and the more fatal internal maladies were ascribed to the deities whom they feared. Hence, various superstitious practices would arise and be handed down from one generation to another. We may imagine this to have been the origin of the healing art, and such is nearly its present condition amongst the savages of Africa, Australasia, Polynesia, Sumatra, etc.

Later on, the priests became the physicians, from being the oracles of the divinity whom the people wished to consult. The various remedies were handed down from one to another, as medical science did not exist at that time. Herodotus informs us that even in his time the Babylonians, Chaldeans, and other nations had no physicians. When any one was attacked with disease the patient was carried into the public street, and passers-by who had suffered from a similar affection, or nursed one who had, advised the sufferer to employ the measures that proved successful in former cases.

The earliest writers on medicine trace its origin, in common with that of most other branches of knowledge, to the Egyptians. They appear to be the first nation that cultivated medicine and furthered its progress. Many peculiar medical properties were attributed to the deities. All diseases were supposed to originate from the anger of Isis. Resin was burned in the morning, myrrh at noon, and a composition termed cyphy in the evening, in the temples of Isis, and the sick were taken there to sleep, during which the oracles might reveal to them the means which they should employ to effect a cure. This is an illustration of the superstitions which prevailed at that time.

The earliest authentic records which we can ascertain from collateral reading are to be found in the Scriptures. Here it is stated that Joseph commanded his servants and physicians to embalm him (1700 B. C.). This shows that Egypt at that time possessed a set of men who practiced the healing art, and that they embalmed the dead. This must have required an idea of anatomy, which, needless to say, was crude and unscientific, as dissection of the human body at that time was prohibited, the penalty being death.

According to Pliny, the Egyptian kings encouraged post-mortems, for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of diseases; and this method was fostered by the Ptolemies, during whose reigns anatomy was raised to a higher standard.

Through the writings of Moses in the sacred Scriptures, we learn that the medicine of the Hebrews appertained mostly to public hygiene. Meat of the hog and rabbit was forbidden, as being injurious in the Egyptian and Indian climate. The relation of man and wife and the purification of women were regulated. The measures suggested by Moses for the prevention of the spread of leprosy have not yet been surpassed. Next to Moses, Solomon acquired quite an efficient knowledge of compounding remedies.

The Indian races were divided into castes, the priests alone enjoying the privilege of practicing medicine. Their medical knowledge was condensed in a book which they called Vagadasastir. They believed the body gave rise, through seventeen thousand vessels, to ten species of gas which conflicted and engendered disease. So far as we know, they were the first to record a way of testing the specific gravity of urine. Though accused of many absurdities, they claimed to cure the bites of venomous snakes and compounded an ointment which eradicated the cicatrices of smallpox,—a result which has not as yet been attained in the present epoch. The Chinese attribute the invention of medicine to Hoâm-ti, one of their emperors, who lived about 2687 B. C.; but possessing no anatomical knowledge, their surgery, to say the least, was barbarous. For over four thousand years the Chinese were not allowed to communicate with foreigners, and naturally their progress was at a standstill. They used cups, acupuncture, fomentations, lotions, plasters, baths, etc. Their midwifery practice consisted mainly of murderous principles, and it is only since the introduction of missionaries that a reformation in the medical practice of the Chinese empire has been accomplished.

The condition of medicine in Greece did not differ from that of the “rude and uncivilized nations.” But later, Greek physicians are credited with the most brilliant discoveries. The most distinguished of Chiron’s pupils was Æsculapius, who occupies the most conspicuous place in the history of medicine. Æsculapius is always painted with a staff, because the sick have need of a support; and the serpent entwined around it is the symbol of wisdom. The sons of Æsculapius are considered the fathers of surgery, and, for their distinguished valor at the siege of Troy, have been classed by Homer among the Greek heroes.

The first operation of venesection, or blood-letting, formerly so promiscuously done, with at times good, but oftener disastrous, results, and now rarely resorted to, is attributed to Podalirius, of recognized Grecian medical skill, the patient being a princess.

The early Greeks above all recognized the value of physical culture, which to-day occupies a prominent place in our curriculum. Were the children of to-day, like those of the ancient Greeks, compelled to follow a routine of physical training, a rugged constitution would replace many a “delicate” and “infirm” one, and the race propagated would tend to develop a stronger character. Then the weak-minded, now so conspicuously present, would be eradicated, and many diseased conditions fostered by an “inanimate” race would disappear.

Hygeia, from whence comes Hygiene, or the art of preserving health, was a pretended sister of Æsculapius. Anatomy could not flourish in Greece, because a most exemplary punishment awaited any untoward conduct toward the dead. Their peculiar religious beliefs regarding the rest of the soul were responsible for this.

The knowledge of the functions of the body in health and disease was appreciated by Pythagoras. Diogenes asserts that Alcmæon, one of the Pythagoreans, wrote a work on the functions, which work would consequently be the most ancient known treatise on physiology.

The age of Hippocrates (B. C. 460–370) was marked by a revolution in medical science. “This central figure in the history of medicine” was descendant of a family in which the practice of medicine was hereditary. He was an extensive writer on such subjects as epidemics, acute diseases, dislocations, fractures, etc. Owing to the impossibility of establishing a physiology without an anatomical basis, his references to these subjects are crude and incorrect. To Hippocrates we owe the classification of endemic, sporadic, and epidemic forms of disease, and their division into acute and chronic. He wrote on diseases of women and epilepsy, and his therapeutics, though crude, were a marked improvement on what had preceded. He wrote fully on external diseases and surgical therapeutics. In obstetrics he was a close observer and a thoughtful teacher. The brilliant theories and practices so diligently observed and urged by this master were thrown in the shadow by his thoughtless followers. The well-instructed physician is not ignorant of the opinions of Hippocrates, for truly the “divine old man” is the “Father of Physic.” He caused a revolution in the practice of medicine, semeiology, pathology, and dietetics. He taught physicians to observe attentively the progress of Nature, proved the inutility of theories, and showed that observation is the basis of medicine.

An important age, and one of marked progress in medicine, is from the foundation of the Alexandrian Library (320 B. C.) up to the death of Galen (A. D. 200). Under the Ptolemies dissection of human bodies was allowed, and hence, as already stated, the science of medicine received quite an impulse. Herophilus deserves first mention as a dissector. He described the brain and its vessels, the eye, the intestinal canal, and parts of the vascular system. The valves of the heart were more exactly described by Erasistratus, who discovered the lymph vessels and pointed out that the epiglottis prevents the entrance of food into the lungs.

Aretæus, more than any other up to his time, attempted to found pathology upon a sound anatomic basis, an effort which shows the scientific progress of his age.

Of all the physicians of antiquity, Galen was probably the most brilliant genius. In the midst of disorder he led back to the safer road of sound doctrine and accurate observation which distinguished the Hippocratic school. He wrote extensively on anatomy, especially regarding the muscles. He was the first vivisector, by exposing the muscles of animals and demonstrating their functions, and his classification according to their use is at present in vogue. Carefully regulated vivisection has been, and always will be, of incalculable benefit to the development of accurate medical knowledge, and an indirect aid in the alleviation of human suffering. Galen divided the body into cranial and thoracic cavities, and described the organs, etc., contained therein. Anatomy and physiology, the fundamental bases of medicine and surgery, made the most progress during the period just reviewed, and next came the description of diseases, their medical and surgical therapeutics.

After the sixth century medicine was exercised almost exclusively by the monks of the West. They were unworthy the name of physicians, as they resorted more to prayers, and were retarded by ignorance and prejudice.

During the seventh and eighth centuries there were among the monks a few traditionary remains of science, originating from the East. The prelates, archdeacons, etc., though continuing the practice of the healing art, were gradually discouraged by the church, but as late as the middle of the fifteenth century the Bishop of Colchester was chaplain and first physician to Henry VI. In 1452 physicians of the University of Paris were not allowed to marry, the applicant, prior to admission, taking the oath of celibacy.

During the twelfth century the school of Salernum, through the personal interest manifested by Emperor Frederick II., acquired a degree of reputation attained by few similar institutions in ancient times. Schools in Paris and England were placed on an advanced standing, the professors being salaried; and about this period the titles of bachelor, licentiate, and master, were granted to the physicians.

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries medicine made remarkable progress in France under St. Louis. During the reign of this prince the teaching of medicine and surgery was divided into separate and distinct classes. Medical institutions now became greatly encouraged, and in the leading cities of Europe universities were erected under the auspices of royalty.

Medical instruction experienced an important revolution in the European countries during the fourteenth century. For the first time in Europe anatomy was taught by dissection of the human body. Guy de Chauliac, who lived at the end of this century, wrote a treatise on surgery which served as the basis of European instruction until Ambroise Paré of France published his celebrated work upon the same subject.

The fifteenth century was also one of improvement. The Arabs added a few observations on pathology, especially of the eruptive fevers. Some useful works on pharmacy and materia medica were published during this epoch. During this era the operation was devised for replacing the nose when removed by accident or disease, by using for the purpose a piece of flesh taken from the arm, and applying it by a grafting process. About the middle of this period the internal administration of metallic drugs was introduced. Towards the latter end, the invention of printing tended to assist the progress of medicine. Near the close of this century scurvy was first noticed in Germany. During this period more energy was devoted to postmortem demonstrations and the study of symptoms of diseases.

To Benevieni we owe the commencement of the study of gross pathology and pathological anatomy. Malgaigne remarks of him: “A eulogy which he merits, and which he shared with no other person, and which has not been accorded to him up to this time by the many historians of surgery, who have superficially searched among these precious sources, is that he was the first who had the habit, felt the need, and set the useful example, which he transmitted to his successors, of searching in the cadaver, according to the title of his book, for the concealed causes of disease.” His observations on anatomical heart lesions, gall-stone, and presence of parasites in the body, were original. John Fernel, who has been surnamed “the modern Galen,” divided medicine into physiology, pathology, and therapeutics. The fundamental maxim of therapeutics, that every disease must be combated by contrary remedies, was early laid down by him, and he claimed that anything that cured a disease was contrary to it. Surgery was placed on a high scale during this era, as thorough a course as the time afforded was given, and a rigid examination held at its termination. Ambroise Paré contributed largely toward making this a glorious century. He rose from the lowest walks of life to the highest professional attainments and honors. He was the first to control hemorrhage by tying the bleeding vessels, thus doing away with the former crude and painful method of pouring on hot oil. This procedure proved quite a boon to surgery; as an instance it may be mentioned that prior to the introduction of this method in amputations the bleeding was controlled by means of a hot iron, and this before the days of anæsthesia.

Every age of ancient, mediæval, and modern medicine has had its charlatans, and the more civilization progresses, the more popular these quacks become with certain types of people, particularly those of the middle and lower classes, although no class appears to be exempt. Latent, unscrupulous, and unprincipled, they play upon the credulity of the ignorant.

The central figure of the mediæval charlatans was Paracelsus, who was given to drink and debauchery. He advertised extensively, similar to the charlatans of to-day, and exerted an influence in his time. “The school which he would have founded was nothing but a school of ignorance, dissipation, and boasting—a school of medical dishonesty.”

During the sixteenth century the greatest discoveries took place in anatomy, based upon dissections, the only rational method of ascertaining anatomical knowledge. The lesser circulation of the blood, or that through the lungs, was appreciated.

The officers of the universities were chosen by the students, who assisted in laying out the curriculum. Compare this with the rigid methods of medical instruction now in vogue. The practitioners were of roving habits, which were evidently contracted during their student days, as it was customary for them to go from one school to another, the poor classes defraying expenses by begging and singing.

There was evident improvement in the social and mental status of medical men upon the approach of the seventeenth century, and this period is signalized by the discovery of the circulation of the blood, one of the most important ever made in medicine. Chemistry now assumed the dignified aspect of a science, which fact benefited the progress of medicine.

It is difficult for us at the present time to understand why the circulation of the blood was not discovered prior to this period, but to the ancients it was incomprehensible. They believed the arteries contained air, because after death they were found empty. William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, did not publish the results of his investigations until 1628, first submitting them to fifteen years of proof. This naturally revolutionized physiology. The capillary circulation, or that intermediate between the arteries and veins, was described by Malpighi in 1628. Of course this was possible only through the means of a microscope. No less remarkable was the discovery of the lymphatic vessels. Peruvian bark (the alkaloid quinine being more commonly employed) so universally employed as a specific for malaria, was first used in the early part of this epoch.

During this period ophthalmology (which treats of the diseases of the eye) was cultivated in France, cataract was first recognized, and the diseases of the ear first systematically described. Altogether the century showed marked progression, closing with the teachings of Sydenham, “the English Hippocrates.”

The eighteenth century was one of continued progress. The eminent observers devoted more time to microscopical work, studying the minute structure of the tissues and cells. One of the most prominent is Lieberkühn, who invented the solar microscope, with which he was enabled to exhibit the circulation of the blood. The systematic practice of the preventive inoculation against small-pox by vaccination originated in this decade. The first inoculation with cow-pox was in 1774. Edward Jenner, the English surgeon, was “the father of vaccination,” which he first did in 1796. About 1800, Dr. Waterhouse, then professor of medicine in Harvard College, performed the first vaccination in America, the patients being his four children.

The treatment of the insane was changed from one of torture and barbarous methods to a more scientific one, conducive to the comfort and return to health of the patient.

This period marks the earliest example of medical teaching in this country, consisting of the demonstrations of anatomy in Philadelphia by Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, upon his return from Europe. This was previous to 1750, about which time a body was dissected in New York. In 1754–56 Dr. William Hunter of Scotland delivered a series of lectures on anatomy, accompanied by dissections, at Newport, R. I.

In 1762 Dr. Shippen laid the foundation of a medical school in Philadelphia, which finally developed into the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. This was the first medical school established in this country. In 1768 a school of medicine was organized in New York, and the next in succession was the Medical Department of Harvard College in 1782. The fourth was established at Hanover, 1797, being connected with Dartmouth College. These were the only medical colleges instituted prior to the present century. The first book on American surgery was written in 1775 by Dr. John Jones, the title being “Wounds and Fractures.”

“The tendency of the nineteenth century seems to be a continuation, and, perhaps, in some respects an exaggeration of the condition that obtained in France during the previous century; in other words, the world has become practically an enormous school of pathological anatomy and diagnosis—a school inaugurated by Bichat, as representing so-called scientific or exact medicine.”

Darwin has promulgated “the most influential philosophic doctrine of this or any other century.” Our materia medica and the laws of physics have been enriched by botanical discoveries, aiding greatly the experimental researches of to-day. Helmholz has given us an instrument called the ophthalmoscope, containing a series of numbered magnifying lenses, with which the interior of the eye can be explored by looking directly through the pupil of the eye, similar to looking through a door into a room. Through his knowledge of physics, Seebach was able to make fame through his discovery of thermal electricity. Daguerre, who invented photography, must not be overlooked, as by means of this process, many conditions are directly appreciated by the eye which could not be told in words and still convey an idea of the tumor, etc., being described. It may not be amiss to mention here that the biograph will in a few years prove an important factor in teaching the various operations. One surgeon in France is now employing it. We must not overlook Edison and his electrical achievements which directly and indirectly affect medicine; nor Bell’s telephone, which is sometimes used to locate a bullet. By placing the receiver to the ear and probing for the bullet with electric conductors, the making and breaking of the circuit upon contact with the missile is transmitted to the receiver and distinctly heard. This procedure, however, has been discarded since the introduction by Röntgen of the X-ray.

A very significant feature of the age has been the extraordinary development of associations devoted to scientific discussions and the publication of medical literature and journals. The formation of medical societies, especially in the United States, has been quite active. But few counties are without a medical organization, referred to as “The ... County Medical Society.”

The American Medical Association was established by Dr. Nathan Smith Davis in Philadelphia fifty-two years ago (1847). The first two years no meetings were held, but since then regular annual meetings have been in progress, the place of assembly being decided upon by a majority vote of its members. It has met in the city of its birth five times, the founder has been elected president twice, and is still (1900) in active practice at the age of eighty-two. He has attended all its meetings held in various cities from Boston to San Francisco.

The first medical journal in this country appeared in New York, 1797. It was called “The New York Repository,” was published quarterly, and managed to reach its twenty-third edition. Fifty years ago there were about twenty journals published in the United States. At the end of the century there are two hundred and thirty.

In 1810 there were six hundred and fifty students of medicine in America, and one hundred graduates. At the present writing about twenty thousand medical students are enrolled in our various colleges, and during the spring of 1899 about three thousand five hundred received the degree of M. D.

The original branches, practice of medicine, surgery, obstetrics, physiology, anatomy, therapeutics, and chemistry, have been subdivided and specialized. Among the chief of these specialties are gynecology, which treats of diseases of women; pediatrics, which treats of diseases of children; dermatology, which treats of diseases of the skin; ophthalmology, which treats of diseases of the eye; laryngology, which treats of diseases of the throat and larynx; otology, which treats of diseases of the ear; neurology, which treats of diseases of the nerves; medical jurisprudence, which treats of the relation of medicine to law; pathology, which treats of diseased tissues and organs; bacteriology, which treats of the microbes; and physical diagnosis, which treats of the art of discriminating disease by means of the eye, ear, and touch. The nucleus of the teaching regarding the latter subject is due to the efforts and observations of Corvisart, of France. He was the first to ascertain the diseased areas of the lungs, by tapping on the chest with the fingers, and listening to the pitch of the note thus elicited. A low, dull note indicates that the lung is solid, as in pneumonia; a flat note that fluid is present, and so on. By placing the ear to the chest wall, sounds in health and disease are heard, which vary in intensity, degree, etc. Laennec discovered by accident that this method was greatly improved and the sounds more distinctly heard if a cylindrical tube was interposed between the ear and the chest wall. The outcome of this principle is the stethoscope.

The name of Pravaz, the Lyons surgeon, has been perpetuated by the hypodermic syringe which he devised. The employment of suitable drugs in this instrument is the method par excellence for relieving pain. With it drugs can be injected into unconscious patients. Suicides who refuse to swallow emetics can have their stomachs emptied most effectually of their contents by a hypodermatic injection of apomorphine.

The thermometer used for taking the temperature of the human body is so arranged that the mercury does not descend into the bulb until shaken down, hence after taking the temperature it remains uninfluenced until shaken down. Were an ordinary thermometer used, by the time it was removed from the patient to the light the mercury would descend several degrees.

Pasteur began the studies of fermentation in 1854. Through his observations, aided by the microscope, the opinion was reached that micro-organisms played an important role in the causation of disease. Many of the laboratory investigators became imbued with the spirit, and through their diligent observations the microbes causing many diseases have been isolated. It remained for Koch to discover the tubercle bacillus, or Bacillus tuberculosis, which is the cause of consumption. The sputum of a patient, properly stained, and examined under the microscope, will at once decide whether that individual has consumption.

Having ascertained that bacteria were the cause of disease, sepsis (blood poisoning), etc., it then remained to discover a method of killing them, without any undue injury to the patient. Sir Joseph Lister began experiments upon this hypothesis, and in 1867 was able to publish favorable results. But lo! the world was slow to bend to a new thought ably demonstrated, and for a score of years he was bitterly opposed.

It was Crawford W. Long, in a little village of Alabama, who, in 1842, was the first to put to sleep a patient with ether, and remove a small growth. The patient, upon awakening, had experienced no pain. This method of relieving pain was christened “anæsthesia” several years later, by the distinguished Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose writings did more than those of any other American to eradicate “child-bed fever.” Every woman in the land owes him an eternal debt of gratitude. To Guthrie, of Sackett’s Harbor, New York, is due the credit of first discovering chloroform, but Sir James Simpson, of Edinburgh, deserves the credit of first employing it in medicine.

The surgeons of America laid the foundation of gynecology, the progress of which has been more marked than any department of medicine. The first ovariotomy in the world was performed by Dr. Ephraim McDowell in Kentucky, December, 1809. This was prior to the days of anæsthesia and antisepsis, and a howling mob awaited outside, ready to murder the brave surgeon should his patient die during the operation. “In five days,” says Dr. McDowell, “I visited her, and much to my astonishment found her engaged in making up her bed.” Dr. J. Marion Sims, our illustrious genius who established an international reputation, did much to promulgate plastic work on the female genitalia. The deeds of medical men are soon forgotten by an ungrateful public, and the sons of Æsculapius are the last to have monuments erected to their memory. But four exist in America; one, in New York, to that grand old gynecologist, Dr. J. Marion Sims; one in Washington, to Dr. Samuel D. Gross, “the Nestor of American Surgery;” one in Bushnell Park, Hartford, Conn., to Dr. Horace Wells, the discoverer of anæsthesia; and one in the Public Garden in Boston to the discoverer of anæsthesia. This last bears no name. Antisepsis and anæsthesia have played an unusually important role in obstetrics, by alleviating the sufferings of childbirth and eradicating child-bed fever, thus reducing the mortality of both mother and child.

Physiology has made very rapid strides during this era. Beaumont, in his famous work, describes digestion in the stomach and experiments on the gastric juice. He was enabled to observe this in a voyageur who was accidentally wounded in the stomach by the discharge of a musket, June, 1822. Quite a large opening remained, which Nature closed with a valve. By pushing the valve to one side, the interior of the stomach could be explored.

Through the work of the experimental physiologists in the laboratories, the study of the action of drugs on the lungs, heart, liver, stomach, nerves, etc., has been greatly enhanced.

Anatomy is now being taught by the only true method, and that is dissection. Didactic lectures are given, but the student must dissect every part of the human body before he can receive his degree. Formerly graves were robbed, and the bodies sold to the colleges. Now, however, through legislative enactment, unclaimed bodies are turned over to the colleges, where they are preserved either by injection, a pickling process, or by cold storage.

The ophthalmologists of to-day fear nothing inside nor outside the eye. Cross eyes are straightened, cataracts removed, eyeballs taken out and glass eyes inserted.

This article would be incomplete, were not a few remarks directed toward the trained nurse.

The first training school for nurses in America was established in connection with the Lying-in Charity Hospital of Philadelphia in 1828. This school, still in existence, thus has the honor of being the oldest in this country, and is antedated by only one abroad.

The generally recognized profession for women, that of the trained nurse, is practically of recent development. Twenty-five years ago the training school connected with the Bellevue Hospital, New York, graduated a class of five nurses. This was a marked departure in the medical history of this country. Since then the demand for the trained nurse has been great, and no hospital is complete without such a training school.

The progress of medicine in the nineteenth century has been far more rapid, creditable, and momentous than during any like period of the past. This is true not only in the United States, but in every civilized country. Its entire scope, meaning, and purpose have undergone changes equivalent to revolution. Antique superstitions, idle theories, foolish speculations, absurd practices, the ridiculous jealousies and incriminations of opposing schools, have been largely eliminated. Medical institutions are upon the loftiest plane in their history. Teachers are better endowed than ever before. Periods of scholastic preparation have been lengthened and curriculums enlarged, thus securing for the fields of practice a higher mental equipment and more conscionable devotion to duty. Never before have the auxiliary and material agencies been turned to so frequent and preventive account. Electricity, the microscope, anæsthesia, antisepsis, laboratory experiment, hospital opportunities, etc., are ever constant inspirations to skilled treatment and fresh researches. As the grand army of humanitarian workers was never so large as at the end of the century, so it was never better fortified for attack upon the enemies of health, fuller of enthusiasm or more deeply established in the public confidence. One may not, as yet, assert that medicine is ridding itself of empiricism with a satisfactory degree of rapidity, or that it has arrived at the stage of an exact science, but it surely has approached such a stage as nearly as conditions will allow.

EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY

BY E. E. RUSSELL TRATMAN, C.E.,

Assistant Editor of “Engineering News,” Chicago.

The railway as a means of rapid transportation and general intercommunication is one of the most important factors in the development of modern commerce and civilization, and, after reviewing what it has done and become in the nineteenth century, one cannot help wishing for the opportunity to review the railway wonders of the twentieth century.

While the history of the railway dates back far beyond the nineteenth century, yet the railway, as we know it to-day, is essentially a product of this century. It dates, in fact, from England in 1830, when the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, 31 miles long, was opened, and was operated from the beginning by steam locomotives. The Stockton & Darlington Railway, 37 miles, was opened in 1825, but this line was intended only for private coal traffic, while the other line was built for general passenger and freight service, and for the use and benefit of the public.

The United States followed this lead very closely. In 1828 the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company built a line from its mines to its canal at Honesdale. This was a private coal road, however, and may best be compared to the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The first public railway operated by steam was the Mohawk & Hudson Railway, from Albany to Schenectady, 16 miles, which was opened in 1831. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway was the first railway enterprise of more than local character, being designed to open communication with the Ohio River, a distance of 400 miles. It was chartered in 1827, commenced in 1828, completed to Ellicott’s Mills (13 miles) in 1830, and to Washington (40 miles) in 1834. It is one of the great monuments of the American railway system, and it was examined by government commissions from Russia and Austria in 1831 and 1849.

In speaking of the railway we unconsciously associate with it the steam locomotive, since the two are so entirely interdependent. Railways operated by horses, or by cables and stationary engines, could never have become the great civilizing and commercial medium which the railway operated by swift locomotives has become. Similarly, the development of the locomotive grew apace, as soon as it was recognized that the smooth track of the railway—and not the rough track of the highway—was to be its field of operation.

At the end of the nineteenth century, after seventy years of development, the world has nearly 500,000 miles of railway, on which locomotives of 80 to 110 tons in weight (without their tenders) haul freight trains of 1000 to 3000 tons. Passenger trains, too, are run at speeds of 40 to 75 miles per hour in regular daily service, and even make bursts of speed at 80 to 100 miles per hour. The fact that in 1890 Europe and North America had about 320,000 miles of railway out of a grand total of 370,000 miles, indicates that this phase of nineteenth-century progress has been due mainly to peoples of Christian civilization, and besides this, it must be remembered that the railways of Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America have been mainly built by the same peoples. The central regions of these four latter geographical divisions are fields for twentieth-century development.

The great trunk lines of railway communication are hardly more important than the vast network of branch and minor lines which connect and intersect them. These latter lines bring the people of smaller towns and country districts into closer relation with the large cities, the centres of industrial and intellectual energy, enterprise, and wealth. They thus tend to reduce isolation and dependence upon purely local resources.

Railways also serve important military and strategic purposes. In India many of the railways have been built with a view to the defense of the northeastern frontier, and many European governments assume certain military authority over the railways. The first trans-continental railways of the United States and Canada were largely assisted by government subsidies on account of their great importance for the transportation of troops. The railway also serves purposes of pleasure, as well as of commerce and war. Not only do the ordinary railways carry much tourist and pleasure travel, but lines are built exclusively for such travel. Some of these take people to the summer and pleasure resorts, while others cater to the inherent desire of man to ascend great altitudes and to behold the world in its beauty and grandeur spread below them. For this purpose alone have railways been built to the summits of the Rockies, the Alps, and other mountain ranges.

At the end of the century the United States has about 185,000 miles of railway, which have cost about $53,000 per mile and earn $6500 per mile. Great Britain has about 22,000 miles, which have cost $225,000 per mile and earn about $20,000 per mile. A large proportion of this high cost of construction is due to the high prices for land and to the preliminary parliamentary proceedings which are necessary in securing the right to build railways. The average cost per mile of railways in different countries is as follows:—

United States $53,000 India 75,000 Japan 92,000 France 100,000 Germany 101,500 Switzerland (ordinary) $119,300 Do (mountain) 162,500 Russia 122,000 Austria-Hungary 125,400 Great Britain 225,000

One of the great economic purposes of railways in new countries is to reduce the cost of rapid transportation in bulk far below that of slow transportation in small quantities. Train speed is a matter of secondary importance in such cases, the traffic accommodation and capacity of the slowest train being far beyond that of road or canal transportation. Traffic will be served better and at much less cost by being carried in bulk on 500 miles of railway at 10 miles per hour, than on 100 miles of railway at 35 miles per hour, and then in small lots on wagons or canal boats at 3 miles per hour for 400 miles.

The advantages of the rapid transportation of perishable freight by rail, especially in regard to food supplies for cities, were early recognized, and by 1854 the trains brought car-loads of country milk into London every day. Previous to this, the supply was obtained from cows kept in stables, which was an unsanitary and expensive plan. Another immediate result of railway service was that people began to live farther out of the towns, and then began the growth of the suburban residence districts, which are such a feature of modern cities and city life.

The early railways were built merely as local lines, and there was little idea of their ultimate connection or extension. These small individual lines, however, with their own rate-making powers and systems of management, have been consolidated into great systems, thus effecting material economies and facilities in operation. Thus the Mohawk & Hudson Railway of 1831 was the first of a series of lines now consolidated to form the New York Central Railway; while the Liverpool & Manchester Railway of 1830 was the beginning of what is now the London & Northwestern Railway system. Not only is there this consolidation, but also a most comprehensive system for the interchange of traffic between different systems. Thus passengers can purchase through tickets and travel through from Paris to St. Petersburg, or from Boston to San Francisco, while freight cars can be sent through in a similar way. This is really a wonderful feature of railway development. The following are a few examples of the great railway systems of the world:—

-------------------------------------+------+--------+---------+------- Railway. |Miles.| Loco- |Passenger|Freight | |motives.| Cars. | Cars. -------------------------------------+------+--------+---------+------- Pennsylvania (U.S.A.) | 8882 | 3594 | 3847 |146,060 Chicago & Northwestern (U.S.A.) | 7996 | 1380 | 1176 | 49,484 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (U.S.A.)| 7462 | 1205 | 936 | 40,720 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé (U.S.A.) | 7120 | 1036 | 655 | 29,837 Great Western (England) | 2576 | 1837 | 6201 | 53,156 London & Northwestern (England) | 1912 | 2851 | 8446 | 65,456 Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean (France)| 5594 | 2624 | 5837 | 87,320 Western (France) | 3464 | 1492 | 4378 | 26,487 Mediterranean (Italy) | 3568 | 1314 | 3706 | 23,077 Northwestern (India) | 3371 | 602 | 2121 | 10,312 -------------------------------------+------+--------+---------+-------

In some countries the government owns and operates all, or nearly all, of the railways, as in Germany, Belgium, and the African and Australian colonies. Switzerland, in 1898, decided that its government should acquire the railways. In Holland and Italy the government owns the railways, but leases them to operating companies. France, Brazil, and the Argentine Republic have both state and private lines, with a greater or less degree of state assistance and control of the latter. In Great Britain the railways are owned entirely by private companies, but their operation is subject to government supervision in the public interests. In the United States there was at first almost absolute freedom of construction, but the consequent abuses and financial disasters, owing to unnecessary lines and cut-throat competition, have led some of the States to wisely exercise some degree of control over railway affairs. The interference of the federal government in railway affairs has been slight but important. In 1862 it aided the construction of the first transcontinental railway; in 1887 it passed the act for the regulation of rates, etc., in interstate traffic; and in 1893 it passed the act making compulsory the use of power brakes and automatic couplers on freight cars.

Government ownership and operation of railways is rarely satisfactory from a financial or a traffic point of view, but, on the other hand, an absolutely unrestricted railway element is liable to become a serious evil. The best system is undoubtedly that in which the railways are owned and operated by private enterprise, but subject to state supervision, like steamships, factories, etc. It must not be forgotten, however, that private enterprise is not always available. In Russia, for example, the development of railways would have been but slow on such a basis; and in India, government backing was needed to induce British capitalists to enter the field. It is unfortunate for China that neither the government nor the people have been competent or enterprising enough to deal with the railway question. The present system of development by rival interests of various nationalities seems almost certain to lead to the eventual dissolution of the empire and its partition among other nations, as Africa is already in large measure partitioned.

In the United States railway construction has gone by leaps and bounds, and there is now a vast network of lines,—main, secondary, branch, and local. The highest records of construction within the past twenty years were 12,800 miles built in 1887, and 11,600 miles in 1882, while the lowest record was 1750 miles in 1896. The growth from 1886 to 1899 has been as follows, the relatively small increase in number of locomotives being due to the greater power of modern engines:—

---------------------+-------------+--------------+---------- | | | Increase, | 1886. | 1899. | per cent. ---------------------+-------------+--------------+---------- Mileage | 133,600 | 185,000 | 88.47 Tonnage carried |482,000,000 | 780,000,000 | 62.00 Number of cars | 871,500 | 1,330,000 | 52.61 Number of locomotives| 26,400 | 36,000 | 36.30 ---------------------+-------------+--------------+----------

Perhaps the railway of most recent interest is the first line in Alaska, which is twenty miles long, and was built as a result of the rush to the Klondike gold fields. This was opened on February 20, 1899. The great transcontinental railways, however, are of much broader interest. In 1835 the Rev. Samuel Parker, a missionary in the Northwest, suggested a railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Dr. Samuel E. Barlow proposed one from New York to the Columbia River, 2000 miles, to cost $10,000 per mile, and to carry traffic at about seven miles per hour. From 1844 to 1849 Mr. Asa Whitney urged Congress to grant land to aid him in building a line from Lake Michigan to San Francisco, 2030 miles, to cost $20,000 per mile. Between 1853 and 1861 Congress had surveys made of five routes, but no definite action was taken until after the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, when the federal government soon recognized the importance of having direct communication with the Pacific States, which were at that time isolated. Companies were organized in 1862, and work commenced in 1864, under government subsidies and military aid and protection. On May 10, 1869, the Union Pacific Railway (from the east) and the Central Pacific Railway (from the west) met at Promontory Point, Utah, 1186 miles from the Missouri River and 638 miles from Sacramento, Cal.

Now, thirty years later, we have six so-called transcontinental railways, no one of which, however, has its own line from ocean to ocean, and none of which run through trains or cars. In Canada, however, the Canadian Pacific Railway (opened in 1887) has a through line from St. John and Montreal to Vancouver, with through trains daily between the latter points, 2905 miles. The principal transcontinental lines, with the total distances from ocean to ocean, are shown on the following page.

-------------------+-------+------------------------+-------+--------- | | | | Total Railway. |Opened.| Route. |Length.|Distance. -------------------+-------+------------------------+-------+--------- 1. Canadian Pacific| 1887 |Montreal to Vancouver | 2905 | 2905 2. Great Northern | 1893 |St. Paul to Seattle | 1827 | 3157[6] 3. Northern Pacific| — |St. Paul to Tacoma | 1912 | 3242 4. Union Pacific | 1869 |Omaha to San Francisco | 1928 | 3340 5. Union Pacific | — |Omaha to Portland | 1823 | 3235 6. Atchison, Topeka| | | | & Santa Fé | — |Chicago to San Francisco| 2577 | 3497 7. Southern Pacific| 1883 |New Orleans to San | | | | Francisco | 2489 | 4164[6] -------------------+-------+------------------------+-------+---------

[6] In Nos. 2 and 7 the total distance is given from New York.

Of the various completed and partly completed interoceanic railways across Central America, the most important by far is the Panama railway, in Colombia, 47½ miles long. This was opened as long ago as 1855, and was originally intended as a link in a route between New York and San Francisco, 5450 miles. In South America there are few railways of great importance, and the interior yet remains undeveloped, with the exception of the great plains of the Argentine Republic. A transcontinental line between Buenos Ayres and Valparaiso, 850 miles, is nearly completed, but work has been stopped for some years, leaving 50 miles yet to be built at the summit of the Andes. An interesting, but as yet visionary, scheme is that for an intercontinental railway through Central and South America. The distance from the southern frontier of Mexico to Buenos Ayres would be 5500 miles. About 1280 miles of this are built, but comprise many small lines which would have to be rebuilt. The total cost would be about $220,000,000, at a low estimate, and the total distance from New York to Buenos Ayres would be 10,300 miles by rail.

In Europe there is a vast and comprehensive network of railway lines, but the distances are less, even St. Petersburg and Constantinople being but about 1600 and 1800 miles from Paris. While the development of railways has been remarkable, the most striking features are the lines which cross the Alps to connect the interior with the Mediterranean ports. The first of these was the Semmering railway, on the route between Vienna and Trieste (1854). The Mont Cenis railway (1867) was mainly a surface line, with heavy inclines operated on the Fell grip-rail system. Its route followed the great carriage road built by Napoleon in 1803–10. The railway over the Brenner Pass was opened in 1868; in 1871 the Mont Cenis tunnel superseded the high-level line, and in 1880 the Great St. Gothard railway was opened. This was followed by the Arlberg railway in 1884, and the Simplon railway is now under construction.

Europe has the only railway within the Arctic Circle. It runs from Lulea, on the Gulf of Bothnia, northwest to the Gellivara iron mines, 44 miles within the circle. As the port is closed by ice during the winter, the line is to be extended to the Atlantic coast at Ofoten, 69° north latitude, where the influence of the Gulf Stream keeps the ports open. This end of the line will be 130 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The countries of Asia (with the exception of India) are but scantily supplied with railways. Even Palestine—the Holy Land—has, however, been invaded, and has now two railways. One of these is from Jaffa (the biblical Joppa) to Jerusalem, 54 miles (1892); the other is from Beirut to Damascus, 70 miles. British interests have long advocated an “all-rail-to-India” project. The line would start opposite Constantinople, pass down the Euphrates valley, across Persia, and along the coast of Baluchistan to Kurrachee, connecting there with the Indian railway system. This great system aggregates 25,000 miles, and extends up to the Bolan Pass and the Khyber Pass, on the Afghan frontier. Southward, it has been proposed to connect with the Ceylon railways by a line of bridges and embankments along the reefs and shoals known as Adam’s Bridge.

Owing to the vigorous opposition of the government and people, China has but 350 miles of railway to its 4,200,000 square miles and its population of 420,000,000. Many lines are projected, but are all in the eastern portion, and the twentieth century will be well advanced before the railway opens up the heart of the country to civilization. Japan, the very opposite of China, has encouraged railway construction, and now has 3000 miles of railway to its 147,600 square miles and its population of 45,000,000.

The most notable of all the railways in Asia is the great Trans-Siberian railway, now being built by the Russian government. It was commenced in 1891, and may be completed by 1903, the distance from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, or Port Arthur, being then about 5670 miles. There are several large cities on the route, and the line does not pass through such a wild and uninhabited country as that through which the Union Pacific Railroad was built thirty years ago. It is now open to Lake Baikal, the trip of 3230 miles being made in about 12 days by the slow train, or 8 days by the less frequent fast train. The road is roughly and lightly built in many respects, so that high speeds cannot be maintained. The eastern end of the road will pass through Chinese territory, thus giving Russia a firm foothold in that empire. Hardly less interesting is the Trans-Caspian railway, from the Caspian Sea to Samarcand, 885 miles, with a branch from Merv to within 95 miles of the Afghan city of Herat. An extension to the Persian Gulf is also projected. As the Trans-Siberian railway has developed a new wheat-growing region, so the Trans-Caspian railway is developing a new cotton-growing region.

In Africa the railways already extend northward from Cape Town, through the land of the Boers and up to Buluwayo, the old Zulu stronghold, 1400 miles. There is a picturesque project for carrying the line on to the Mediterranean, a total distance of 5500 miles, but this will not materialize for many years. The Congo railway, passing the rapids, opens communication between the coast and a long stretch of inland navigation. Several lines are being pushed from the east coast into the interior, and a transcontinental railway from St. Paul de Loando, on the west, has been commenced, but there is not now much life in this latter project. The French have two favorite schemes for railways,—from Algeria to Timbuctoo, and from Tunis to Lake Chad, the latter line being about 1600 miles in length.

In Australia, the lines of the different colonies are gradually extending and connecting to form a continuous system, which is hampered, however, by differences of gauge. There is railway communication between the capitals of Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), and South Australia (Adelaide). The great stretch westward to the coast cities of Western Australia is yet in the future, as is also the South Australian transcontinental line from Adelaide northward across vast deserts (already crossed by the telegraph) to Palmerston.

Great bridges and tunnels are among the prominent features of the railways of the world, but space forbids entering into details of these works. They are in principle similar to those required for highways, but many of these great works would never have been undertaken for such traffic as is carried by a highway. The only railway suspension bridge ever built was the Niagara bridge, opened in 1855, and replaced by a steel arch in 1898. The development of bridges and traffic may be judged from the fact that the Victoria single-track tubular bridge over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, which was opened in 1859, was replaced in 1897–98 by a double-track railway and roadway truss bridge on the same piers. The steel arch bridge, 1700 feet long, across the Mississippi, at St. Louis, cost $5,300,000. The tubular bridge, 6592 feet long, over the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, Canada, cost $7,000,000. The cantilever bridge, 8925 feet long, over the Firth of Forth, Great Britain, cost $13,000,000. The cost of the proposed suspension bridge, 3000 feet long, over the Hudson, at New York, is estimated at $13,000,000. The first railway tunnel was the Portage Tunnel, in Pennsylvania, built in 1831. The longest railway tunnel is the Simplon, in Switzerland. It is 12.25 miles in length, and is still under construction. The next longest is the Gothard, Switzerland. It is 9.30 miles long, and was opened in 1881.

In track construction, cast-iron rails began to be superseded by wrought iron in 1820, and many of the early American railways had strap iron laid on timber stringers. Within the past twenty years steel has been used almost exclusively. In place of rails weighing 25 to 35 lbs. per yard, and 3 to 15 feet in length, we now use rails of 80 to 100 lbs. per yard, 30 to 60 feet long. Stone blocks and wooden ties were first used to support the rails, and the latter are now generally used, although metal ties are extensively used and date back to 1846. In 1894 there were thirty-five thousand miles of railway laid with this form of track. The next development will probably be a permanent and continuous concrete bed for the rails; as the present construction, with wooden ties laid in stone or other ballast, requires continual attention and repair under the effects of heavy traffic.

The semaphore signal was introduced in England by Mr. C. H. Gregory in 1841, and is now used in all parts of the world, to govern and protect train movements. The first interlocking plant was erected in 1843, and the complete plants—as used to-day—date from 1856. Now, practically all important junctions are equipped with interlocking plants, which prevent conflicting signals and switches being so set as to lead to accident. The electric telegraph was patented by Cooke and Wheatstone in 1837, and in 1839 they secured its introduction to govern the train service on the Great Western Railway (England). The movements were telegraphed from station to station, and a train was not allowed to leave a station until the preceding train had passed the next station in advance. This was the beginning of the “block system,” which is a great element in the safe operation of traffic, since it maintains an interval of space between trains. Mr. Edwin Clark’s telegraph block system was introduced in 1853, and as traffic increased intermediate block signal stations were established between the regular stations, so as to shorten the distances between trains. This system is compulsory in Great Britain and is already largely used in the United States. It was at first held that it was not adapted to conditions in this country, where so many lines have but a single track, but experience has shown that it increases the facility as well as the safety of operating traffic on single and double track lines alike.

Steam locomotives were used on colliery railways in England as early as 1804, when Trevithick built an engine, which was the first to haul a train on rails. George Stephenson built his first locomotive in 1814, and in 1825 built the “Locomotion” for the Stockton & Darlington Railway. Horses, stationary engines, and steam locomotives were all proposed for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, and in 1829 the directors offered a premium of $2500 for the best locomotive. Each engine was to consume its smoke, weigh about 6 tons, cost not more than $2750, and be capable of hauling a train of 20 tons at 10 miles per hour. This led to the now historical trials at Rainhill, in October, 1829, between the “Rocket” (Stephenson), the “Novelty” (Braithwaite and Ericson), and the “Sans Pareil” (Hackworth). The award was made to the “Rocket” as the most practicable machine, although the “Novelty” attained a higher speed, and the “Sans Pareil” was also a good engine and continued in use for several years. Seguin introduced the locomotive in France in 1827, having modified and rebuilt an old Stephenson engine.

The first locomotive operated in the United States was the imported “Stourbridge Lion,” on the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co.’s line, in 1829. Cooper’s “Tom Thumb” was run on the Baltimore & Ohio Railway in 1830, and in 1831 the directors of this road offered premiums of $4000 and $3500 for locomotives. Each engine was to weigh not more than 3½ tons, to have four wheels, and to haul loads of 15 tons at 15 miles per hour for 30 days. Five engines were presented, by Davis, Costell, Milholland, Childs, and James. The prizes were awarded to the first two, the Davis engine “York” being rebuilt under the direction of its inventor and Mr. Ross Winans, while the “Costell” was put in switching service. In 1831 the “John Bull” was built by the Stephensons in England, and was put in service on the Camden & Amboy Railway (U. S. A.) in the same year. In 1893 this old engine was readjusted and ran from New York to Chicago, 912 miles, under its own steam, hauling two cars of the type of 1836.

In 1898 there were about 19,500 locomotives in Great Britain and 36,500 in the United States. As a comparison between the little engines of early days and the huge and swift engines of to-day, it may be stated that modern passenger locomotives are now constructed with as many as six driving wheels, and ten wheels in all. Some of those in use on the Great Northern Railway, Great Britain, have driving wheels of 97 inches in diameter. On the Fitchburg Railway, U. S. A., locomotives are in use which weigh 75 tons. Some modern freight locomotives have as many as ten driving wheels, and twelve wheels in all, and a total weight of 115 tons.

Since the application of electric traction to street railways, it has frequently been said that it would eventually supersede the steam locomotive. In no instance, however, has it yet been applied to regular railway service, with heavy trains and long runs, nor is there yet any indication of increased economy or efficiency due to its use in such service. It is successfully used for local and suburban lines, but these form a class in themselves, and the conditions of operation are very different from those which obtain in ordinary service. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway has some heavy electric locomotives, but these are for hauling trains through a tunnel, to avoid the trouble and discomfort from the smoke and gases from the steam engines.

The early passenger cars were either open cars with cross seats, or had coach bodies on four-wheel platform cars. The coach-body cars on the Mohawk & Hudson Railway, in 1831, were 7 ft. 4 in. long and 5 ft. wide. In 1836 the American type of car was introduced on the Camden & Amboy Railway, having a long body mounted on two four-wheeled trucks. These cars seated 48 passengers, and cars for 60 passengers were in use in 1839, their cost being $2400. American day cars are now 60 to 80 ft. long, seating 60 to 84 passengers, and weighing from 30 to 47 tons. The standard day car of the Pennsylvania Railway is 60 ft. 7 in. long over all, and seats 66 passengers. Dining and sleeping cars weigh from 45 to 65 tons, much of the weight being due to the special equipment for the comfort and convenience of passengers, and consequently so much dead weight to be hauled. It can be said without dispute that in no other country have the railways done so much for the comfort and convenience of their passengers, and have charged so little therefor.

In Europe, the cars developed into the compartment system, with side doors, there being high transverse partitions with seats on each side, so that in a full compartment half the passengers must ride backward. The cars are usually short, with two or three axles, but about 1872 the American system of mounting cars on trucks was introduced, and longer cars on trucks are now somewhat extensively used. Within later years corridor cars have been introduced, with a corridor connecting the compartments. Such details as steam heat, toilet arrangements, ample light, luxurious finish, etc., which have long been a matter of course in this country, are quite “end of the century” improvements in Europe, and generally below the standards observed in this country.

Sleeping cars were used on the Cumberland Valley Railway (U. S. A.) in 1836. In 1856, Mr. T. L. Woodruff built a sleeping car, and in 1857 two were built by Mr. Webster Wagner and operated on the New York Central Railway. Mr. George M. Pullman began his experiments in 1859, and in 1864 he put in service on the Chicago & Alton Railway the first sleeping car with the berth arrangements now almost universally used. He pushed the business more vigorously than his predecessors and acquired many of their patents. The Pullman Palace Car Co. was organized in 1867, and in 1879 its various works were all concentrated in a new industrial town—called Pullman—near Chicago. In 1898 the company owned 2,428 cars, which were operated on 121,236 miles of railway, ran 190,562,758 miles, and carried 4,852,400 passengers. Most of the cars are in the United States, but some are in Europe and Australia. The Wagner Palace Car Co. owns 560 sleeping cars and 143 parlor cars. In Europe most of the long distance sleeping and dining car service is operated by the International Sleeping Car Co., which runs cars between Paris and Constantinople (72 hours), Paris and St. Petersburg (120 hours), Calais and Brindisi (25 hours).

Passenger cars are now usually lighted by oil, the mineral oil used in America being superior to the vegetable oils commonly used in Europe. Oil gas, compressed in tanks, is very extensively used, and gives an excellent light. The system was invented by Mr. Julius Pintsch, and was introduced in Germany in 1873, and in the United States in 1881. It is now applied to about 85,000 cars in 22 countries; 32,000 of these cars being in Germany, 17,000 in Great Britain, and 15,000 in the United States. The electric light is as yet used only on a few of the finest express trains, the current being generated either from a steam engine and dynamo in the baggage car, or from a dynamo on each car, driven from one of the car axles. Storage batteries maintain the light when the cars are at rest. American cars were heated by stoves at a very early date, and this developed into the hot water system, with a stove and circulating pipes in each car. Steam from the locomotive, however, is now generally employed, and its use is compulsory in some States. In Europe the passengers have to rely largely upon their own wraps and rugs.

In American freight cars, great improvements have been introduced, increasing the carrying capacity while reducing the weight. The capacity has been increased from 10 tons of load in 1870, to 30, 40, and even 50 tons in 1899 (an increase of 300 to 500 per cent). The weight has increased only from 10 to 15 or 17 tons (or 50 to 70 per cent). Cars are now being built entirely of steel, and while their first cost is greater, the cost per ton and the expenses of maintenance are less than for wooden cars of similar capacity. As sleeping, dining, parlor, tourist, and other special cars have been introduced for passenger traffic, so refrigerator, stock, horse, fruit, poultry, and furniture cars have been introduced for special requirements in freight traffic. In other countries, however, the use of such special equipment is much more limited. The ordinary foreign freight cars are the same as those of 30 or 40 years ago, being short four-wheel cars, weighing 5 tons, and carrying 8 to 10 tons. These are not well adapted to the handling of bulk freight, and greatly increased economy and facility in such traffic would result from the introduction of the American system, as has been done in Australia. In modern American practice, too, the cars are equipped with automatic couplers and power brakes, thus greatly increasing the safety and facility of operating heavy fast trains. In 1893, Congress passed a law requiring that by January 1, 1898, all freight cars should be equipped with automatic couplers and enough cars equipped with power brakes (operated from the engine) to put the trains entirely under the control of the enginemen. The date was afterwards extended to January 1, 1900.

As the speed and weight of trains increased, the dangers due to lack of brake power soon became alarmingly apparent, and numerous forms of continuous brakes were devised, to be applied to the wheels of every car, under the control of the engineman. In 1889, the British government passed the Railways Regulation Act, making compulsory the use of the block system, the interlocking system, and continuous brakes. In England and some other foreign countries, the vacuum brake (introduced about 1871) is largely used, but it is slower in action than the compressed air brake, and is therefore less efficient for long, heavy, and fast trains.

The Westinghouse brake is one of the most important factors in the safe and efficient handling of heavy and fast trains. Mr. George Westinghouse patented his straight-air brake in 1869, his plain automatic brake in 1872, and his quick-action freight train brake in 1887, while in 1892 he introduced his high-speed brake for express trains. Up to the opening of 1899, the Westinghouse brake had been applied to about 55,500 locomotives and 912,000 cars, of which 34,300 locomotives, 50,000 passenger cars and 750,000 freight cars were on American railways. With this brake, a passenger train of 300 tons, traveling at 60 miles per hour, can be stopped in about 4500 feet and about 90 seconds, or in 1200 feet and 31 seconds in case of emergency. A freight train of 800 tons, running at 30 miles per hour, can be stopped in about 950 feet in 32 seconds, or in 300 feet and 11 seconds by an “emergency” application. Very few countries have applied continuous brakes to freight cars, except the United States and Canada, and (to some extent) Russia and New South Wales.

The improvement in train service has been even greater than that in train equipment, and this improvement has been in speed, accommodation, and number of trains. Among the notable runs are those across the American and European continents. The Canadian Pacific Railway starts a train daily from each end of the line for a through run of 2900 miles. In 1888, a through train service (with sleeping and dining cars) was instituted between Paris and Constantinople, about 1800 miles, and through trains are run twice a week between Paris and St. Petersburg, 1600 miles. There is also a similar service between Calais and Brindisi, 1200 miles, in connection with the mail steamers between England and India. In 1898, the Trans-Siberian Railway was completed to Irkutsk, and a through train service between St. Petersburg and that city, 3230 miles, was commenced.

Railway trains were at first intended to have speeds of about 10 to 20 miles per hour, the latter being looked upon as almost excessive, but much higher speeds were very soon attained. There has been almost from the earliest days a public demand for higher and higher speeds, with consequent rivalry between the railways. The United States and Great Britain (and France within the past few years) have the fastest trains and by far the greater number of fast trains. The highest recorded train speed is that of the Exposition Flyer, 270 tons total, upon the New York Central Railway, May 10th, 1893. It ran a distance of one mile at the rate of 112 miles per hour, and again, on the same date, maintained a speed of 100 miles per hour, through a distance of five miles. As a daily train between New York and Chicago, it maintained a rate of 60 to 75 miles an hour, throughout the entire 980 miles of distance.

It will be seen that the speed of “100-miles-an-hour,” which is popularly looked upon as a sort of ideal, has been more than once exceeded, but it may be well to explain that such spectacular bursts of speed are really less important and less wonderful than the trips of 50 to 1000 miles at speeds averaging 50 to 65 miles per hour for the entire journey. Taking into account the loss of time by stops at stations, by changing engines, by the resistance of long grades, etc., it will be easily understood that in order to maintain the average speed from start to finish, the actual speeds must often range from 60 to 75 or even 80 miles per hour. The regular daily transcontinental train of the Canadian Pacific Railway has an average speed of 30 miles per hour, but maintains this for the trip of 2906 miles, which occupies 94½ hours. This is a train and a record of which railway men in general, and those of the Canadian Pacific Railway in particular, may well be proud. There are no such through trains in the United States, but in 1876 a special theatre train was run from New York to San Francisco in 3 days 7⅔ hours. In 1889, the time of the transcontinental mails was 5 days 8¼ hours, but that same year it was reduced to 4 days 12¾ hours, which schedule continued in force until 1899. On January 1, 1899, a new mail service was inaugurated, making the 3408 miles in 98½ hours, or at an average of 34½ miles per hour, including all stops, and the transfer of mail bags across Chicago by wagon from one station to another. The actual running speed is often 60 to 75 miles per hour for long stretches. Engines are changed 18 times and postal crews 7 times.

Fast passenger trains are a popular attraction, but only railway men can fully appreciate the advantages and economies of heavy trains for handling freight traffic. In Europe coal trains weigh from 300 to 400 tons, but in the United States the weight of coal, ore, and freight trains is from 800 to 2000 tons. Automatic couplers and power brakes enable the freight trains to be run as fast as passenger trains, with entire safety; improved cars carry greater loads, and more powerful locomotives are continually being put in service to haul heavier trains. The heaviest trains on record are as follows: (1) Pennsylvania Railway, 130 cars, 5213 tons, or 5560 tons with engine and tender; (2) New York Central Railway, 81 cars, 3478 tons, or 3595 tons with engine and tender. Both these were run in 1898, the length of journey being 160 and 140 miles.

The mails were carried by rail between Baltimore and Washington in 1834, on recommendation of the Postmaster-General. The U. S. railway service was instituted in August, 1864, between Chicago and Clinton, and the following figures indicate its wonderful development:—

-------------------------------+------------+------------- | 1880 | 1898 -------------------------------+------------+------------- Mileage run by mail cars | 65,763,993 | 187,483,187 Number of mail cars | —— | 3,649 Number of mail clerks | 2,946 | 7,999 Miles of railway operated over | 85,320 | 174,777 Tons of mail carried | 368,000 | 1,432,050 -------------------------------+------------+-------------

The railway express business was started in 1838 by Mr. W. F. Harnden, on a suggestion from Mr. Josiah Quincy, who had to travel weekly from Boston to New York, and was in the habit of taking small packages for business acquaintances. Mr. Alvin Adams became associated with Mr. Harnden, and in 1845 formed the Adams Express Co. In Great Britain, this business is conducted by the parcels-post and the railway companies, but in other European countries it is mainly in the hands of the post-office department.

A very remarkable feature of railway development is that from the beginning there has been a tendency to increased traffic, better service, and a steady reduction in rates. In the United States the average rates per mile since 1867 have been as follows:—

-----+------------+---------- | Passenger, | Freight, Year | cents | cents -----+------------+---------- 1867 | 1.994 | 1.925 1870 | 2.392 | 1.889 1875 | 2.378 | 1.421 1880 | 2.442 | 1.232 1885 | 2.216 | 1.011 1890 | 2.167 | 0.941 1895 | 2.040 | 0.839 1896 | 2.019 | 0.806 -----+------------+----------

While the reduction in passenger rates has been comparatively small, it must be remembered that the safety, speed, comfort, and service have greatly improved. The marked reduction in freight rates has been made possible only by a still greater and more remarkable reduction in the cost of transportation. This has been effected by consolidation of companies, by improvements in roadway, bridges, etc., and by the introduction of heavier trains, with engines of greater power and cars of greater capacity. This economy can be still further extended. The reduction in rates has been much greater than that in the prices of commodities. Rates for wheat and hay, for instance, have decreased 23 and 20 per cent more than the market prices, and the rate for shipping anthracite coal to tidewater has decreased 50 per cent in the past ten years, while the price of the coal has decreased only 10 per cent. The average freight rate on the Pennsylvania Railway in 1898 was 0.536 cent per ton per mile, while the cost was 0.369 cent. The cheapness of transportation in the United States is shown by the following figures for 1898:—

Passengers carried one mile 13,000,000,000 Tons of freight carried one mile 95,000,000,000 Revenue from passenger service $26,000,000 Revenue from freight service $62,000,000 Distance railway carries 1 passenger to earn $1 profit 500 miles Distance railway carries 1 ton to earn $1 profit 1530 miles Average profit per passenger (including baggage) per mile 2-10 cent Average profit per ton per mile 1-15 cent

The lowest passenger rates in the world are on the Indian railways. In Europe the passenger rates average higher than in the United States, though the accommodation is inferior.

Railway transportation has almost entirely superseded barge, canal, and river transportation, except in special cases. This is due to the greater speed, the greater efficiency of service, the greater carrying capacity, and the extent to which spurs and branches are built to enable cars to reach mills, factories, and other industrial plants. It was for a long time held that the low rates of water transportation exerted an influence in keeping railway rates down, but with the present condition of the latter this no longer holds good as a general proposition, especially for the limited capacity of barge canals. The rates established for wheat and corn from Buffalo to New York by rail in 1899 are about 0.23 and 0.18 cent per ton per mile, which is but little above the canal rates, while rail shipments are much more advantageous.

The railway system is a vast employer of labor, directly and indirectly, and several million persons in the United States derive their support from the various railway industries, without taking into account such allied industries as rail mills, bridge works, locomotive works, and car works, etc. The number of direct railway employees (exclusive of the employees of terminal and sleeping-car companies, fast freight lines, etc.) is over 820,000, or over 1.2 per cent of the total population. A large proportion of these represent skilled labor of a high degree of intelligence. France has about 1110 employees per mile of railway, and 10 per cent of these are women. The figures for the United States and Great Britain are as follows:—

-----------------------+-----------------+-------------------------- | United States | Great Britain +--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- | 1890 | 1897 | 1857 | 1889 | 1895 -----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- Miles of railway |163,597 | 184,428| 8,942| 19,943| 21,174 Number of employees |749,301 | 823,476| 109,660| 381,626| 465,412 Number of employees per| | | | | 100 miles | 479 | 449| 1,230| 1,900| 2,197 Number of employees per| | | | | cent of population | 1.2 | 1.2| 0.4| 1.0| 1.2 -----------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------

The railway service especially demands some better and more intimate relation between the employers and employees than that of the mere buying and selling of labor for a price. Both humanity and self-interest have led several railways in this country and abroad to establish relief departments, providing temporary financial aid in case of accident or sickness, with other forms of benefits in addition, the object being to induce men to continue permanently in the employ of the road. Such associations have existed in England since 1850, in Canada since 1873, and in the United States since 1880, when one was started by the Baltimore & Ohio Railway. In 1896 there were six of these associations in the United States, with an aggregate of about 125,000 members. The six railway systems owned 15 per cent of all the mileage and had 20 per cent of all the railway employees in the country.

Before closing this review of railway development, brief reference may be made to certain special classes of railways.

MOUNTAIN RAILWAYS.—These include lines either isolated or forming part of main lines, having grades so steep as to require special means of traction. They may be operated by (A) cables, (B) grip rails, or (C) rack rails. Cables are used for many short lines, but are now rarely adopted for regular railway working. The grip rail system was first used on the Mont Cenis railway in 1867, and has been used in later years in Brazil and New Zealand. Rack rails were used in 1848 on the incline near Madison, Indiana (U. S. A.). In 1866 they were used on the Mount Washington railway (U. S. A.), (with the Marsh rack), this being the first mountain-climbing railway. In 1885, the Abt rack-rail system was introduced, and is a great improvement. It has been used both for ordinary railway service and for special mountain lines.

RAPID TRANSIT.—Street or surface railways for city traffic date from 1831, in New York, and were operated by horses until 1873, when cable traction was introduced. Electric traction was introduced in Germany in 1881 and in the United States in 1884, and the growth of this system was such that in 1894 it was in use on 9000 miles in this country and 195 miles in Europe. Locomotives operated by steam, gas, compressed air, etc., have been used to a limited extent. For high speeds it was necessary to remove the railway from the street surface. The first elevated railway was built in New York in 1869, and now New York, Brooklyn, and Chicago have about 100 miles, operated by electricity and steam. The only foreign railway on this system is at Liverpool (England), the line being 5 miles long, and operated by electricity. The first underground railway was opened in London in 1863, and that city now has several miles of such railway, mostly operated by steam locomotives. Two underground electric lines are in operation and another is being built. Budapest (Hungary) and Boston (Mass.) have also underground electric railways. New York has for years needed and demanded a railway of this character, but political methods and extravagant demands for franchise rights have prevented the commencement of work upon the line.

MILITARY RAILWAYS.—Railways cannot be made available to any extent for tactical purposes, but are of great importance as a means of supply and communication. They were used by the Russians in the Crimean war (1854), and were prominent features in some of the campaigns of the American Civil War (1861–65). In the Franco-German war (1870), the German army advancing on Paris was closely followed by a military railway, and in the Soudan campaign of 1898–99, the British army carried with it the head of a railway communicating with the base of supplies on the Nile.

PORTABLE RAILWAYS.—These are narrow-gauge lines of light construction, for use on plantations, in lumbering operations, on engineering construction works, and for pioneer railways. The rails are riveted to steel ties, forming complete sections of track, straight or curved, which can be laid down, taken up, or shifted, as required. Such a line, of 24 inches gauge, was used to carry passengers around the grounds of the Paris Exhibition of 1889.

SHIP RAILWAYS.—These are projected as substitutes for ship canals, but none have been built in modern times, if we except a few small ones for canal boats, including one at the Columbia River rapids, in Oregon (U. S. A.). One was proposed for the Isthmus of Suez in 1860, and in 1879 Captain Eads strongly advocated one across Tehuantepec (Mexico), to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This line would be about 150 miles in length, and the cost is estimated at $50,000,000. In 1888 work was commenced on the Chignecto ship railway (Canada), at the head of the Bay of Fundy, but it has never been completed. The general principle of the system is to float the ship into a dock and deposit it upon a wheeled cradle of suitable form. This would then be raised by machinery and hauled along the railway by a number of locomotives.

ADVANCE IN LAW AND JUSTICE

BY LUTHER E. HEWITT, L.B.,

Librarian of Philadelphia Law Association.

I. INTERNATIONAL LAW.—Exclusive rights asserted in past centuries have been succeeded by freedom of the seas and privileges on the rivers. The principle back of the American guns off the Barbary coasts has prevailed. Crimes of one country against another are punishable in either. Extradition for nonpolitical crimes is general. Expatriation has been won for those who would change their country. Internal affairs of countries are free from interference; but a rule may be so revolting, or so hurtful to foreign interests, as to justify intervention. The Monroe doctrine was intimated in the Declaration of Independence, and has developed with our country. Regard for other nations has increased. Protectorates and spheres of influence are respected, while recognition of insurgent States will not be hurried. Devastation and weapons causing needless pain are condemned, while guerillas are regulated by requirement of a responsible head, a badge recognizable at a distance, and subjection to rules of war. The sick and wounded, attendants, and appliances are protected from intentional attack.

Open, unfortified places are in practice spared, and ransoms no longer extorted. Twenty-four hours are allowed for withdrawal of noncombatants from places to be attacked. Military occupation no longer confers sovereign power; and compensation on the closing of war has been recommended for private property of an enemy used in military operations.

Impartial neutrality is demanded. Nations once bound themselves for troops in case others went to war. This has ceased. Passage of troops through neutral territory is not allowed. Even sick and wounded will be denied if their passage would relieve a combatant’s own lines; but neutrals have interned such refugees. The neutral cannot allow fitting out of armed expeditions or enlistment of troops. Jefferson advanced international law by demanding Genet’s recall for such offenses. Carriage of signals, dispatches, or persons in military operations is unneutral, and the United States insisted that this ruled the Trent affair. A belligerent’s ship of war can remain in port but twenty-four hours, unless in an emergency, like need of repairs. Coal will be afforded only to the nearest port, nor will a new supply be furnished within three months. Statutes enforce some of these rules. Neutral trade is not lost except on blockade, although goods which may be put to military uses are liable to seizure as contraband. “Free ships, free goods,” was long contended for; and at last the Declaration of Paris, in 1856, provided even further, as follows: (1) Privateering is and remains abolished. (2) The neutral flag covers enemy’s goods, with the exception of contraband of war. (3) Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under an enemy’s flag. (4) Blockades, in order to be binding, must be effectual. Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States declined to adhere to the Declaration. The United States adopted 2, 3, and 4, and offered to agree to the abolition of privateering if noncontraband property of the enemy were exempted under its own flag. The United States and Spain refrained from privateering in the recent war. Private property of the enemy on land has long been exempt from capture.

II. LAW-MAKING BODIES.—State legislators were originally chosen from landed proprietors, except, perhaps, in Pennsylvania. Legislatures frequently had the selection of governors, judges, and other high officials, but the Ohio constitution in 1802 foreshadowed the coming democracy. Distrust has followed reliance on legislatures. Their sessions have been limited in about half the States to an average of less than ninety days, and almost everywhere made biennial. Increase of the members’ own compensation is forbidden. Their duties are carefully prescribed. Common requirements are, reading of bills on three days; one subject for a bill, and that expressed in title; recital of old law, upon revision; prohibition of riders on appropriations. Nearly half the States require a majority in each house of all members elected thereto. Constitutional restrictions on state and municipal indebtedness and loan followed the burdens assumed in the first exultation over inventions in transportation. The Pennsylvania constitution, for instance, prohibits “local or special laws” in about thirty cases, such as in municipal affairs, descent of property, judicial proceedings, remitting penalties, exemption from taxation, regulating labor, chartering corporations. Boundaries between legislative and judicial proceedings have been simplified; special legislation in marriage and divorce has been forbidden; appellate jurisdiction has been taken from Senates once possessing it. The British House of Lords retains such jurisdiction, but within it sit the great judges, and the lay lords almost never vote on appeals.

Payment of expenses of members was derived from England, and although abandoned there has continued here. Members of Congress give attendance remote from home, so that they receive salaries rather than compensation. Sums for expenses are allowed in the other American republics, in France, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, chiefly in the lower houses. Some are paid by the local constituency, but this tends to create classes. Representatives to Congress were generally elected at first on the State ticket, and in some States this continued until the Congress in 1872 required district election. The Revised Statutes appoint the day of their election, and require a printed or written ballot.

III. THE COURTS.—A feature of American jurisprudence which excites the wonder of foreigners is the power in the courts to declare legislative or executive acts void because unconstitutional. Before the Revolution the Rhode Island court struck down a statute contrary to the provincial charter; and a recent instance is the decision of the U. S. Supreme Court on the income tax. The power is exercised on individuals, without direct conflict between the great departments of government. The judicial power has otherwise widened. Civil trials without jury are frequent. In the counties judges exercise much administrative power. Road and bridge cases, grants of liquor licenses, appointments to educational and other offices, are illustrations. In what has been termed “government by injunction,” functions both of the executive and of the jury have been assumed. Perhaps this justifies the demand that all judges shall be elected by the people. Frequently the choice of judges was originally by the legislature, or by the governor, alone or with the approval of the senate. The judicial tenure of office has generally been lengthened to a term insuring a long service. In Pennsylvania, a supreme court judge holds office twenty-one years, a county judge ten years. Age limit prevails in some States. In a democracy, it is not surprising to find the doctrine sometimes asserted that juries in criminal cases are judges both of law and fact. In certain civil cases, the jury is a crude but powerful engine for holding corporations to strict responsibility for the citizens’ safety, although excessive or unfounded verdicts are to be deplored. Much of the old law of deodands has force to-day in subtler form. A feature to note in passing is the duty imposed on the judge to answer before the jury points of instruction framed by counsel.

IV. CIVIL PROCEDURE.—Twenty-nine States and Territories rejoice in escape from puzzling classifications by substitution of simple statements. Extreme separation of law and equity had made the old condition worse. Equity might often soften legal principles, or law lend vigor to equity. Much of this has now been done; had been done, in fact, in Pennsylvania, from early days. Its enforcement of equitable rights through remedies at law was largely followed in the English Judicature Act of 1873 abolishing forms of actions at law and interblending law and equity. This statute has been copied largely in British colonies. England abolished the cumbrous system of real actions in 1834, and substituted simpler remedies for assertion of title.

The simplicity of present procedure is accompanied by ability to reach decision more promptly, and an old reproach has been greatly lessened.

V. CODIFICATION.—The New York Revised Statutes of 1828 embraced nearly the entire civil procedure, and in 1848 a “Code of Procedure” was adopted, although the original draftsman, David Dudley Field, complained bitterly of changes. Forty-two States now have more or less complete codes of practice; and criminal codes likewise are numerous. Codification of the branches of substantive law may be anticipated. Something of this is going on in England. The Bill of Sales Act, the Employers’ Liability Act, the Bills of Exchange Act, the Public Health (Scotland) Act of 1897, the Land Transfer Act of the same year, are instances. In Pennsylvania, there are codelets like the Evidence Act of 1887, or the Building Law for Philadelphia of 1893. Instances could be multiplied. A code intended for all the States on Negotiable Instruments has been prepared by commissioners, and has been adopted in New York, Connecticut, Colorado, and Florida. In Great Britain there has not been general codification, whereas the continental systems run largely that way, even in substantive law, being based on the Roman law.

VI. CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE.—The grand jury is no longer grand in many States; indeed, less than twelve members suffice in some; and their service may even be dispensed with under some Western constitutions. Individual malice has been avoided by the creation of public prosecuting attorneys. “Standing aside jurors” resulted from 33 Edward I., denying government challenge except for cause. It has been generally abolished, and the prosecution equalized by a number of peremptory challenges. Pennsylvania retains the old practice. Prisoners may now testify, but refusal is not to weigh against them. The statute 7 William III. allowed counsel in treason cases, but England did not extend the privilege to trials for other felonies until 1836. The courts in mitigation permitted counsel to prompt prisoners with questions. Penn’s charter gave prisoners privileges of witnesses and counsel, and this is now universal in American constitutions. Many States provide counsel for prisoners without means, some with compensation. “Standing mute” has become equivalent to a plea of not guilty. Unanimity in a verdict is essential to conviction of crime above misdemeanor, except in Utah, and there it is limited to capital cases. In civil and in minor criminal cases about a dozen constitutions in the far West or Southwest either recognize verdict by proportion of jury or else empower the legislature so to do. England refuses criminal appeals, but in this country they are allowed. The courts of this country have never been subservient to military passion, and all friends of the great French Republic must rejoice at the courage of the Court of Cassation in the Dreyfus case. The English law inflicted death for 160 crimes, some great and many otherwise, about the period of our Revolution, and in 1819 this number had become 200. American jurisprudence never had such stain of blood, yet 10 crimes were punishable with death in Massachusetts, and 20 in Delaware, at the time of the Revolution, and the pillory, stocks, shears, branding-irons, and lash were busy. Horrible prisons existed, filled with every foulness and immorality. The older penitentiary system has been modified in 20 States by the parole system under police supervision, and in 4 the policy of indeterminate sentences within fixed limits and ages has been adopted. Bertillon and other methods of identification have greatly lessened crime in England. The law of deodand, whereby the value of an object causing accidental death was forfeited for charities, was abolished in England in 1846. Societies to prevent cruelty to children, or to animals, attest the advance of refinement and humanity.

VII. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.—In England, treason and felony, except petty larceny and mayhem, were punishable with death. The fiction by which males who could read were supposed to be of the clergy saved first offenders, who escaped with branding. In the eighteenth century, the fiction was forbidden, and death imposed on additional offenses, so that 160 crimes were so punishable. In 1826, the efforts of Sir Samuel Romilly and Sir James Mackintosh, and later of Sir John Russell, resulted in a more merciful spirit, and since 1861 murder, treason, and firing of the great dock yards, have been the only capital offenses. The American colonies were more humane, yet Massachusetts punished 10 and Delaware 20 crimes with death. Since the Revolution imprisonment has been the general penalty. In Maine, Wisconsin, and Colorado capital punishment has been abolished altogether; in Rhode Island, except where murder is committed by a life prisoner; in Michigan, except for treason. In some States, as in Ohio, the jury may avert the death penalty. New York and Iowa, after experiments, restored capital punishment. The federal law imposes death for murder, piracy, robbery on the high seas, rape, treason. The introduction of degrees of murder has reduced the number of executions. In New York, electrocution has been substituted for hanging. Capital punishment has been abolished or qualified in the Argentine Republic, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Holland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland (in eight cantons), and in Venezuela.

VIII. POLICE POWER.—The citizen of the present day is protected by the police power to a degree which, perhaps, would have seemed marvelous a century ago. The sale of food is governed both in quality and quantity; building laws prescribe yards for light and air, height and thickness of walls, and forbid wooden buildings in many populous centres. Explosives are placed under strict regulations. Health laws protect from impurity of food and from pestilence, establish quarantines, deny the importation of rags, cattle, etc., likely to breed disease; medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing are protected from ignorance; immigration laws exclude persons or races deemed uncongenial or objectionable; railroads are subjected to provisions promoting safety, comfort, and impartiality of service; lotteries, gambling, threatening letters are forbidden; game laws preserve the various species from extinction; women and children are guarded by special laws. Almost the entire body of this division of law is new to this century, and much of it is recent.

IX. MARRIED WOMEN.—In 1800, a husband could appropriate his wife’s personal property not held in trust, and use her realty while he lived. Except for necessaries or for her separate estate, she could not contract. Her emancipation began in 1839, in Mississippi, and now her property, under the statutory interests secured to her by laws generally prevailing, is hers free from control or interference. This statutory estate includes property inherited, or derived by purchase or gift, or in some States by labor. The wife’s power to contract has been extended, and in some States has little restriction beyond perhaps inability to become surety. Before this era, some States, acting on a London custom, had allowed feme sole traders in cases of mariners’ wives, or of desertion or neglect.

X. CHILDREN.—Regulation of the labor of children in hours and employments is usual, debarring them from workshops and factories at certain ages and from occupations dangerous to their morals, as in theatricals, circuses, rag picking, mendicancy, street music. Laws prohibit their entrance into gambling, or worse, houses, into pool rooms, or unaccompanied into dance or concert halls, roller rinks, vaudeville theatres. Minnesota excludes them from criminal trials. Sale of liquor to minors is prohibited. Numerous recent statutes prohibit sales of cigarettes, cigars, or tobacco, and Utah and West Virginia forbid sales of opium. Oregon and Rhode Island prohibit their public use of tobacco. New Hampshire, Indiana, and Connecticut forbid children over three in almshouses. North Carolina makes it a misdemeanor to leave a child under seven, and unattended, exposed to fire. Prohibiting employment inconsistent with school attendance is usual. Compulsory education exists in twenty-nine States and two Territories, and largely throughout Europe and the colonies. Fourteen is the more frequent limit of age. Children’s welfare now determines their custody, rather than the rights of either parent. Laws in some States protect children more or less from wills made before their birth by parents. Many States provide that bastards may inherit from their mother or from each other, and she from them, and that their parents’ marriage legitimates them.

XI. REAL ESTATE.—Ownership of land is no longer embarrassed by joint tenancies, nor need conveyancing resort to cumbrous fine and recovery; while transfer has been further lightened by title companies pending the adoption, likely, of the Torrens system of registration and certificate. Democracy has rejected distinctions of sex or age in inheritance, and the half-blood may share in many States after certain degrees. Disability of aliens to hold lands has been removed in some States, in others there are limitations in acres, value, or time, while in some disability ceases on declaration of intention to become a citizen. The English doctrine of tacking, whereby ownership of earlier and later incumbrances cut out intermediate titles, mortgages, etc., is inconsistent with the American recording acts.

XII. COPYRIGHT.—After printing became general, the author received some, if inadequate, protection, in England through the Stationers’ Company, or sometimes through particular privilege; in continental countries, through such privilege. The statute of Anne confined him to such years, etc., as it specified, and the courts have decided with hesitation that there was no copyright at common law. The statutory rights have varied. Since 1831 the copyright period in this country is 28 years, with 14 more if author, widow, or children are living at expiration of first term; and in England since 1842 it is 28 years or author’s life, whichever is longer.

The first known copyright directed to an author was granted by Venice in 1491. In 1791 France allowed copyright to all dramatists, extending it in 1793 to authors in general. Countries in sympathy with France adopted the policy. Prussia in 1794 extended copyright to authors represented by publishers at the Frankfort and Leipzig book fairs. General protection has now come about, aided by consolidation of European states into great nations. International copyright began with separate treaties; and the movement culminated in the Berne Convention of 1887, participated in by Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Hayti, Italy, Switzerland, Tunis, Great Britain, Liberia. Authors resident in any country which was a party to the Convention may have copyright in the other countries. The United States did not join, although it had and since has had treaties with a few nations exchanging such protection. The International Copyright Law of 1891, however, protects foreign authors but not foreign publishers, it being required that the printing shall be done in this country.

XIII. ADMIRALTY.—The difference between the majestic rivers of America and English streams was recognized in the case of “The Genesee Chief,” wherein the Supreme Court rejected the English doctrine that admiralty has no jurisdiction except on the seas or where the tides ebb and flow. This has insured uniformity in the regulations of travel and commerce, and has protected such waters from local interference. International rules to prevent collisions at sea have been joined in by the United States. By acts of 1851 and 1884, Congress relieved innocent shipowners of liability for merchandise destroyed by fire, and provided that liability in case of collision, embezzlement by crew, etc., shall not exceed the owner’s interest. The Harter Act of 1893 provides that on due diligence neither owners nor charterers shall be liable for faults in navigation or in management, nor for perils of the sea, defects in goods, etc., but prohibits agreements relieving from liability for injuries caused by neglect in fitting out, provisioning and manning the vessel, stowing the cargo, or in caring for or delivery of the same. Parliament, in 1890, protected seamen from commercial greed by requiring load lines to be marked on vessels at a height fixed by the Board of Trade.

XIV. CORPORATIONS.—The source of corporate life was formerly the king; to-day, the charters are virtually the general corporation law, and special incorporation is forbidden. For a season, minor amendments for particular companies were tolerated, but constitutions are forbidding even these. Applications for charters must state such particulars as name, nature, and place of business, amount of stock, limit of indebtedness, number and names of directors. Annual reports must be lodged with the tax authorities.

Doctrines respecting corporations have wonderfully changed. The Dartmouth College case held that charters were contracts and could not be impaired; and thereafter, by constitution or otherwise, the States provided that all new charters should be subject to alteration or repeal, although even this does not authorize radical change of corporate character. American law has recognized advantage of freedom in execution of corporate affairs. It has dispensed with the burdensome requirement of seal to contracts, and even in England the corporate seal is unnecessary, unless in unusual transactions. The American courts uphold negotiable notes and bonds given in authorized business. The company is confined to the business for which it was created, although a cautious tolerance exists in respect to related enterprises; and mortgages may be acquired if for debts contracted previously and not as a device. The old theory was that a company could not be held for misfeasance, since it could not authorize its agents to commit wrong; but corporations are now held for many torts sanctioned by them, such as trespass, assault and battery, infringement of patents, negligence, and even fraud and libel. Exemplary damages may be awarded against them. One or another kind has even been subjected to indictment, in cases of nuisance, violation of Sunday law, maintenance of disorderly house, habitual omission of lights or signals, etc. They may be guilty of contempt. They may be punished by penalties and forfeitures.

A corporation outside its own State cannot exceed either its own charter or the power granted like companies of the other State. Connecting railways are sometimes adopted in each of several States, but the parts remain foreign to each other as respects jurisdiction in the federal courts. Foreign corporations are subject to the police power, but not to interference by the State in their interstate commerce, except Congress so authorizes. Companies not engaged in interstate commerce nor in governmental service may have conditions placed upon their entry into a State, and may be practically excluded by taxation. Property within the foreign State is alone taxable there, but the value of the franchise may be considered. Usually, statements are required showing location of agent, names of officers, etc. Contracts made before compliance are differently regarded, being void in some States, and only until compliance in some others, and in some not void at all where penalty is imposed. Some States seek revenue by lax laws inviting outside companies. Thus, by Delaware law of 1899, companies need not oblige themselves to keep their original books nor hold their meetings there, assessment beyond subscription is forbidden, and taxation is light.

In 1825 and 1827 the free organization of trades-unions and banking associations was authorized, and thus was introduced into English jurisprudence the principle of free association familiar to the Roman Republic. In 1838, but more especially in 1844, limited partnerships with transferable shares were authorized by general law; and in 1862 freedom from liability beyond subscription was somewhat recognized. A form of partnership, société anonyme, has been known in France for six hundred years, and by law of 1867 may be organized without special leave. The managers alone assume full responsibility, and the association bears now a company name. Germany adopted the principle of general incorporation in 1870, as have the greater nations, excepting Russia and Austria.

So early as 1784 New York enacted a general incorporation law for churches, and for libraries in 1796. In 1811, woolen, glass, and some other manufactures were thus favored. The principle widened out, was adopted elsewhere, and became quite general by 1850. Pennsylvania adopted the policy in 1874, although its religious, library and charitable organizations had enjoyed such law since 1791.

XV. RELIGION.—Scorned, lashed, thrown into prison, his tongue cut out, banished to savage woods, such was the fate of the Massachusetts Quaker among the first settlers, and Roger Williams shared little better. A long stride had been taken when, in 1691, the Massachusetts charter proclaimed liberty of conscience for all “except papists.” Then was the brave and gentle Penn securing religious liberty to all confessing one God. Yet much further progress was essential. Roman Catholics were excluded from office except in New York and Maryland; while even in Pennsylvania no Jew could sit in the legislature. Most of the States required some religious test for higher offices; Massachusetts allowed no voters or officials outside of the Congregational church; and church membership was essential in Connecticut and New Hampshire. In 1776 Pennsylvania admitted to the legislature any who believed in God and in a future state of rewards and punishments. Massachusetts threw down the barriers to office in 1780, except that until 1821 the governor should be of the Christian faith; but office-holding was limited to Protestants in North Carolina until 1835, and in New Hampshire until 1877. Jews received the same rights as other sects in Connecticut in 1843, in Maryland in 1825. The Virginia Bill of Rights declared that all are entitled to the free exercise of religion, and a few years afterwards, in 1786, proclaimed further in words written by Jefferson that religious opinions shall never affect civil capacities, and that no man can be compelled to support religious worship. The Lake region was secured from molestation for religious sentiments by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and the Constitution not only secures all from such interference by Congress, but prohibits religious test for federal offices or establishment of religion by Congress. South Carolina made the Episcopal the State church in 1776, but dropped establishment in 1790. Support of religion was likewise abolished in Maryland in 1810, but continued in Massachusetts until 1833; and New Hampshire authorizes public Protestant teachers of religion. Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee exclude clergymen from office. Political hierarchies and polygamy are not within constitutional protections. Courts have declared Christianity part of the common law; but in present law its force is in its principles. Christian institutions, in common with other religious or charitable agencies, are favored in policies and exemptions; and blasphemies, like railings in general, are forbidden. Bible reading in public schools is generally discretionary with the school board, although held illegal in Wisconsin; but religious garbs may not be worn in such schools by teachers. A public hospital may not be erected on sectarian ground.

The English corporation and test acts excluded from office all without the established church, until 9 George IV.

XVI. SUMMARY OF ADVANCE.—Increased respect for the rights of others, both individually and as nations, characterizes the law of this century, and may be perceived in every direction. It has created a new international law, developed democratic institutions at home and abroad, almost revolutionized criminal jurisprudence, extended the police power in every direction, and secured freedom of conscience and separation of church and state. It has emancipated woman, thrown a protecting care over children, and favored charities, asylums, houses of refuge. Imprisonment for honest debts has been abolished, and the wretched sight of debtors imprisoned for paltry sums no longer reproaches society. Homestead and exemption laws preserve the family. Honest bankrupts are again lifted up in hope. The legal means of settlement and recovery of rights has been greatly expedited. England has followed America in making lands assets for payment of debts; and claims against the State have received recognition in some of the States and under act of Congress, and likewise in England. Barriers excluding persons as witnesses have been broken down, first in Connecticut in 1848, next in England in 1851, and now there is little exclusion unless the adversary has died. Something had been done before in compelling answers to written interrogatories, but with a weakness and lack of logic that should have ridiculed the whole exclusion. Promotion of uniformity of laws has engaged the attention of State commissioners, who have drafted a code concerning negotiable instruments which has been adopted in four States. Constitutional amendment has afforded an entire race opportunity to develop from the low estate of slavery into such condition as the future shall manifest. Questions of civil rights, due process of law, and of equal protection and privilege, are constantly bringing State laws before the federal courts, as do questions of interstate commerce. Anti-pool and anti-trust enactments mark both federal and State law, and lately have broken up the alliance of the trans-Missouri transportation companies. Inheritance and succession taxes were imposed in Pennsylvania in 1826, and now are found in some dozen States. The progressive feature, or increase of rate with increase of estate, has been sustained by high authority. Congress has imposed such taxes, but its power to do so is in dispute before the United States Supreme Court.

In the early days of the republic property requirements existed both for office and for voting. New States came in with manhood suffrage established either by law or custom. Original States threw open the polls,—Maryland in 1810, Connecticut in 1818, New York in 1821, Massachusetts in 1822. The white labor of Virginia was denied the suffrage in 1830, but gained it in 1850. Similar movement in England is marked by the Reform Bill of 1832; and now manhood suffrage is universal in Germany, France, and Greece, and wellnigh so in England.

EVOLUTION OF BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS

BY MICHAEL J. BROWN,

Secretary of Building Association League of Penna.

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

“Do not forget to pay your dues to-night,” is an expression familiar to the occupants of fifty thousand Philadelphia homes, one hundred and fifty thousand Pennsylvania homes, and six hundred and fifty thousand households in the United States. This means that nearly seven hundred thousand families are contributing towards gaining homes of their own through Building and Loan Associations. The entire membership is nearly seventeen hundred thousand, of whom fully four hundred thousand are women and children.

The picture “Paying their Dues” is a representative one, and in Philadelphia there are four hundred and seventy-five such gatherings every year. The Philadelphia associations generally meet once every month, but in some parts of the State, and in other States, many societies meet weekly, so there are fully ten thousand such gatherings every twelve months in the United States.

The women have shares in their own right, and the children are either paying dues for their parents or for themselves, the father or mother acting as trustee. The boys and girls know exactly what nights the associations meet, and are generally on hand with their money long before the officers are ready to receive the funds and give receipts in the pass books.

What is the meaning of these gatherings? To enable every member to become his own landlord—to purchase homes for themselves, by paying their money into a joint concern for a few years until each one has saved enough, with gains added, to buy a home, and in the meantime the entire receipts being loaned to the members to gain homes in advance of the final reckoning or maturity of the shares.

The members have well learned the principle that money makes money if well used, that if many pay rent for the benefit of the few, through the building association the many may combine together so as to put the rents into their own pockets.

II. THE SYSTEM.

For convenience, “a share” is the payment of $1.00 a month, five shares $5.00, and so on. The final value of a share is arbitrarily fixed at $200. The money received is promptly loaned to the members, on which the borrowers pay $1.00 per month interest on every $200 borrowed, until the final value of $200 is reached, which occurs in twelve years or less.

Payments $144.00 Gains 56.00 ------- Final value $200.00

A member may have borrowed $2000 from the association on ten shares of stock ($200 being the limit loaned on each share), and the shares having matured, or become worth $2000, his loan of $2000 is canceled and his home is free. The member who has not borrowed receives $200 in cash for every share he holds.

The building association in its simplest form, and as it existed in Philadelphia for many years, took all its members in at one time, and the members paid from $2 to $20 each every month until the shares matured. At maturity all the borrowers received canceled mortgages, and the non-borrowers cash for their shares, and the society then closed its affairs. Hundreds of such associations have wound up their affairs successfully.

Very many associations are now working on the permanent plan; that is, they admit new members every six months or every year, the first set being the first to mature, and so on, one set going out every year and a new batch coming in.

Each series is a separate association so far as the dues are concerned, but the total gains are divided so as to give each dues dollar invested a like rate per cent per annum for the time of investment. There is really no positive or final division of profits. The gains are kept in a lump sum, and the division is on paper only for the purpose of showing the progress made towards maturity. When a set of shares matures, its portion of the gain is taken from the accumulated profits and divided to the stock that has reached its final value.

Some associations count all the loans as assets and all the dues and gains as liabilities. In such societies the borrower pays interest on his full loan until the end, and gets credit for profit on his dues until one account cancels the other.

Other associations, at the end of each year, deduct the dues paid in from the loans and charge interest on the net amount only of the loan. By the latter system the borrowers’ payments decrease every year, but it requires a longer time to finally cancel the loan than by the former system.

When there is a demand for money, and more than one member is anxious to secure it, the funds are offered at auction, and the member who bids the highest premium secures the prize.

The bidding is generally done by offering so many cents per share per month above the required interest. If a member secures $2000 at 10 cents per share premium on ten shares, his monthly payments are:—

Dues per month $10.00 Interest per month 10.00 Premium per month 1.00 ------ Total $21.00

These payments continue until the shares mature. The dues are the contributed capital, and the interest and premiums are the gains.

III. THEIR EARLY HISTORY.

Their early history in England seems to date back as far as 1781. In Mr. Langford’s “Century of Birmingham Life” mention is made of certain proposals for establishing a society for building on lands belonging to William Jennings, Esq. The society was organized by rules or articles, similar in some respects to those employed by the building societies of to-day.

Dr. John Henry Gray, in his “History of the Laws, Manners, and Customs of the People of China,” describes some money-lending societies which seem to partake in some measure of the character of building associations, at least in their coöperative and equitable features. He tells us that these societies are called “Lee Woee,” and were instituted by a person named Pong Koong, an official of great wealth, who flourished 200 B.C. during the Han dynasty. The money was loaned to members and returned in monthly installments with interest. Each member was compelled to contribute to the fund a sum equal to that which he contributed at the first meeting. One of the rules was, “Each member shall deposit in a lottery box, placed on a table, a tender or bid for the money, setting forth the rate of interest which he is disposed to pay on the amount in question; that the tenders shall be taken out of the box by the president, and the highest bidder takes the loan.” When two bids were alike the first bidder took the loan. A fine was charged for non-payment of dues.

IV. AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS.

There is no evidence other than that Frankford, now a part of Philadelphia proper, saw the first building society that was organized in the United States. It was called the “Oxford Provident Building Association,” and was started in 1831, sixty-eight years ago. It closed its affairs in June, 1841. The second Frankford society, of the same name, was organized in February of 1841, and ran out in August, 1852. Isaac Whitelock was president, Samuel Pilling treasurer, and Isaac Shallcross secretary, of the first association; and Henry Taylor president, Isaac Shallcross secretary, and William Overton treasurer, of the second association.

The Holmesburg Building Association was organized in January, 1842, and closed its business satisfactorily to the members, June 25, 1853. John B. Duff, a lumber counter by trade, was instrumental in organizing the first building society within the compactly built up city of Philadelphia, in the year 1847. The name of the society was the “Kensington Building Association.” The society issued five hundred shares of stock in one series, and wound up its affairs in ten years and two months after it was organized. The first advertisement of any building and loan association, so far as can be ascertained, appeared in the Philadelphia “Public Ledger,” February 5, 1847, and called for a meeting of the “Kensington.” Mr. Duff died in 1883, and a few months before that event he presented to the writer a document now known as “The Old Yellow Poster.” It is the call for the first building society in Old Philadelphia, a copy of which is herewith presented.

Mr. Duff seldom, if ever, held forth in public, but his efficient work was done by taking individual cases and converting them to the benefits of obtaining homes for themselves. Frequently he has been seen on a pile of lumber with chalk in hand, demonstrating a problem in building society arithmetic to converts to this system of saving.

There has been scarcely a great mind in the country that has not moved the lips to say some good word for the building society cause. Henry Ward Beecher in a sermon said,—

“I think that a young man who places before himself not a speculation, not a fortune, but some object that he means to achieve, who selects a particular piece of property that he would like to own, and aims steadily at acquiring it and works diligently for it, and saves for it, will be almost sure to succeed. I will say that every young man in a city, either through the instrumentality of a building association when there is one, or independently, when such an association does not exist, and when at last, having toiled and waited patiently, the debt is paid and the piece of property is earned, is a great deal richer than the assessor knows him to be. The assessor goes around and puts a valuation upon his property for the purpose of taxing it. But, ah, those habits of industry and self-control; those wise measurings, which we call economy,—all these the man has gained over and above the property. He has saved himself from a thousand temptations. He has protected himself against remorseless vices, which would have gnawed out his marrow. And though you call it merely amassing property, it may be amassing manhood. It is one step on the upward way.”

State officials who closely examine the workings of these societies never seem to tire in their praise. Superintendent Kilburn, of New York, in his last annual report, refers to the conservative and honestly managed building association as follows:—

“During the past year associations of this class alone have returned to withdrawing members dues and profits amounting to $8,014,039. During the same period no less than fifty-seven associations were engaged in the payment of matured shares, and $829,752 were paid to members who had faithfully continued payments through a series of years, and at last saw their confidence justified. But these sums are of small consequence when we consider the comfortable homes that have been erected, and the families that have been permanently and comfortably housed through the facilities for frugality and thrift, for self-denial and saving afforded by them. My attention was recently called to a village of the State in which it was said that nearly one-third of the houses had been erected through the agency of a small local association.

“Nor is this an exceptional case, unless the element of proportion be taken into consideration. In nearly all the cities of the State, and in many of the large villages, there are associations that are models of their kind, and are worthy of the admiration and support of every good citizen.

“Their educational influence, too, can hardly be over estimated. The workingman who joins such an association takes part in the administration of its affairs and learns his first lesson in finance from those of larger experience, and, who perhaps, touches elbow with the lawyer, the merchant, and the minister as they discuss the safety of an investment, or proper amendment to the articles of association, and will not lend a ready ear to teachers of socialism, of class hatred, or of financial heresies.”

As shown elsewhere, the members of the New York societies have over $37,000,000 invested. The Building Association League of Pennsylvania, an organization of twenty-six years’ standing, composed of the most active associations in the State, some years ago proclaimed a “Declaration of Principles,” from which we quote:—

“The local building societies of the State of Pennsylvania are true coöperative organizations, transacting no business with the public, and not amenable to laws affecting financial institutions that have dealings with the public. They encourage thrift among the wage-workers, help to create taxable property in its best form—real estate, educate their members in business methods and teach them both how to save and how to invest money.

“By this service they have created a state police of tens of thousands of home owners, more efficient for the protection of life and property than a standing army.

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