OHIO 





OHIO 



HIO, one of the north-central states 

 of the American Union, named after the river 

 which borders it on the south and southeast. 

 The name is a contraction from the Iroquois 

 Indian word Ohionhiio, which means beautiful 

 rii'cr. In population, wealth, natural resources 

 and manufactures Ohio is one of the leading 

 states in the Union. It has been the birthplace 

 of six Presidents of the United States, surpass- 

 ing in this respect all other states except Vir- 

 ginia, where eight Presidents have been born. 

 Ohio has acquired the nickname of the BUCK- 

 EYE STATE, on account of the great number of 

 buckeyes, or horse-chestnut trees, which are 

 found there. This nickname came into gen- 

 eral use during the Presidential campaign of 

 1840, when General William Henry Harrison, a 

 citizen of Ohio, was the successful candidate. A 

 cabin made of buckeye logs was a prominent 

 feature of the campaign, which has gone down 

 in history as the "hard-cider and log-cabin" 

 campaign. In a popular song of the period this 

 cabin wa- spcken of as "a token and a sign of 

 the bonn ~ Buckeye State.' " The carnation is 

 considered the state flower. 



Size and Location. In size Ohio, with an 

 area of 41,040 square miles, ranks thirty-fifth 

 among the states of the Union. The state near- 

 est to it in size is its neighbor, Kentucky, 

 which is 442 square miles smaller. Ohio is more 

 than double the size of the Canadian province 

 of Nova Scotia, and it has a population nearly 

 ten times as large. The nearest approach to 

 this state in size among the European countries 

 is Greece, which, as a result of tho additions of 

 territory gained after the Balkan Wars of 1912 

 and 1913, has about the same area and popula- 

 tion. Ohio is irregular in shape. Its northern 

 boundary is formed by Lake Erie, the lake 

 shore extending for a distance of 230 miles. 

 The Ohio River, which in a winding course of 

 436 miles separates it from Kentucky and West 

 Virginia, forms the southern and southeastern 

 boundaries. The greatest breadth of the state 

 from north to south is 210 miles, and the great- 

 est length from east to west is 225 miles. 



Its People. In population Ohio, with 4,767,- 

 121 inhabitants, ranks fourth among thr statrs 

 of the Union. The estimated population Janu- 

 ary 1, 1917, was 5,181,220, nearly double thai 

 of the Canadian province of Ontario, which 

 since 1912 has had an area nine times as large. 

 With an average number of 117 persons to the 

 square mile in 1910, it ranks eighth among tho 

 states in density of population, and has nearly 

 four times as many people to the square mile 

 as the United States as a whole. Of its total 

 population, 63.6 per cent are native whites of 

 native parentage. Of the foreign-born popula- 

 tion, 29.3 per cent came from Germany, a num- 

 ber more than twice that contributed by any 

 other country. The bulk of the other foreign 

 nationalities consists of Austrians, Hungarians, 

 Russians, Italians and Irish. 



In 1910 nearly sixty per cent of the popula- 

 tion lived in towns of 2,500 inhabitants or more, 

 as compared with an urban population of 48.1 

 per cent in 1900. The increase in the town 

 population during the first decade of the twen- 

 tieth century has been very marked, not only 

 in Ohio, but throughout all the states of the 

 Union, most of the provinces of Canada and 

 many countries of Europe. 



Cities. Ohio has a large number of cities. 

 Chief among them are Columbus, the capital; 

 Cleveland, the most populous, and sixth in 

 population among the cities of the United 

 States; Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, 

 Canton, Hamilton, Lima, Lorain, Newark, 

 Springfield, Youngstown and Zanesville, and 

 others of very considerable local importance. 

 (See index at end of this article.) 



Education. The provisions made by the 

 state of Ohio for the education of the children 

 are good, and several important improvements 

 have been introduced since 1914. Adequate 

 compulsory education and child-labor laws are 

 in force. All children between the ages of eight 

 and fourteen must attend school during the 

 whole time the schools are open. Children be- 

 tween the ages of fourteen and sixteen who are 

 not employed and who cannot read or write 



