THE WHITER PITTSBURGH 433 



estate sales were over $70,000,000. The present population of Greater 

 Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh and Allegheny) is conservatively placed at 

 over 550,000. 



The figures of the total output of furnaces, mills and factories are 

 so enormous as almost to set present estimates at defiance. Such a 

 wonderful era of prosperity, such wonderful opportunities for swift 

 acquisition of riches have never been witnessed in the world before ; and 

 certain resulting effects have been witnessed which might have been 

 foreseen. That these effects are not at all surprising — that they are 

 not widely prevalent, and might reasonably have been expected to be 

 much greater, can be easily shown. The habit appears to have become 

 chronic among professional paragraphers to assume a necessary decay 

 of manhood as a resultant of accumulated wealth. But Goldsmith 

 would have been the first to declare himself merely a licensed poet; that 

 he molded no prophetic verse. 



In view of the city's far-reaching reputation for grime and unlove- 

 liness, it would seem well to mention a fact that is cause for general 

 surprise to visitors, namely, the beautifying of streets and parks, and 

 the construction of fine driveways in the suburbs. The natural beauty 

 of western Pennsylvania can only be realized when one leaves the 

 business part of the city and plunges into the districts adjacent, where 

 conditions are found that suggest what must have existed before man's 

 transforming had converted the earth to his own uses. It is doubtful 

 whether any community, east or west, has done so much in so short 

 a time, to make the surrounding country accessible. In various direc- 

 tions about Pittsburgh fine, hard, smooth macadam roads extend for 

 many miles. Even roundabout some of the suburban towns, as Sewick- 

 ley, twelve miles down the Ohio, one can travel by carriage or automo- 

 bile over excellent roads for long distances through a region showing 

 diversified scenery of great beauty. 



Fine parks were never more essential anywhere than in Pittsburgh ; 

 and it is mainly owing to the munificent generosity of Mrs. Mary E. 

 Schenley, whose gifts to the city amount to about ten million dollars, 

 that the great need has been supplied. Schenley Park is situated ac- 

 cessibly, and consists of seven hundred and fifty acres. The topog- 

 raphy lends itself admirably to landscape gardening. Nobler or finer 

 trees can not be found anywhere, and the bold hills, small streams and 

 deep valleys have been made use of in an artistic way. Highland 

 Park lies on the hills overlooking the Allegheny Eiver, in the north- 

 east environs of the city. The carrying out of the artist's plans has 

 caused the construction of winding shady drives; and the features in- 

 clude an artificial body of water known as Lake Carnegie. Reservoirs 

 which supply the eastern division of the city with water are located 



vol.. i/xxii. — 28. 



