UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



IXITED STATES' CONTROL OF THE 



PACIFIC OCEAN 



In the upper map the trade routes on the Pa- 

 cific are shown. The smaller map shows graph- 

 ically how the United States navy could defend 

 Pacific waters from its bases in that ocean. 



for railroad construction and is therefore the 

 line of least resistance from the south-central 

 region to tidewater. In recent years the traffic 

 of all the Gulf ports has increased with great 

 rapidity. 



New Orleans, commanding the southern gate- 

 way of the continent, is naturally the metropo- 

 lis of the South and the second seaport of the 

 United States, measured by its exports and im- 

 ports. Galveston, lying at the head of the Gulf 

 of Mexico, has become by virtue of this loca- 

 the commercial outlet of Texas and of the 

 Southern states, as far as Denver, and is tin 

 greatest cotton-exporting city in the world. In 

 manner Mobile and Pensacola are the com- 



jrcial ports of the coal and iron district about 

 Birmingham, and of the Mississippi Valley as 

 far north as Cincinnati. Mobile, in fact, oc- 

 cupies inu'-h the same position in the eastern 

 as Galveston does in the western part of the 

 Gulf. Key West is built on a coral island lymj; 

 far out at sea, but this has now been linked to 

 the mainland by a wonderful railroad built on 

 oncrete arches in the open sea (see page 

 From Key West train ferries can readily 



carry freight and passengers to Havana without 

 transshipment. It is bHu-v.-.l ti \Vest 



will therefore become an important mail and 

 passenger port for trade with Cuba and 

 haps with the other West India Islands. It is 

 tin- most southerly city of the United States 

 for trade with the West Indies, Central America 

 and the Panama Canal. 



A bridge across a great river draws traffic as 

 surely as does a gap in the mountains, espe- 

 cially if the distance is long between bridges. 

 For this reason Memphis, built on a bluff winch 

 furnished a convenient abutment for the south- 

 ernmost bridge, has become a great r.u! 

 and commercial center. Other points where 

 railroads converge are Louisville, at the falls of 



