192 THE WORK OF RUNNING WATER 



and fight for the privilege or else in some way ally them- 

 selves with Spain, so vital to them was the need of this 

 waterway. In the Civil War vast amounts of blood and 

 treasure were spent in fighting for the control of this river. 



The majority of the great cities of this country owe their 

 beginnings to facilities for water transportation. Many 

 of them were first established as forts to control lines of 

 water communication. Some of the most important of them 

 were situated near portages from one water system to an- 

 other. These naturally became trading posts ; and as the 

 white population increased, they developed into important 

 settlements. 



It was reasonable that these places should be among the 

 first to enjoy railway facilities. If it happened they were 

 situated on navigable systems that tapped regions of great 

 natural resources, they became great trading cities. If 

 they had the additional good fortune to be in the midst of 

 great coal fields, manufacturing eventually added to their 

 prosperity. If in addition to all these advantages, they lay 

 in the natural lines of " long hauls " of developing railway 

 systems, they grew with astonishing rapidity. Railways 

 have also mada possible the building of great " inland 

 cities," but seldom is the growth of such cities discussed 

 without the expression of wonder that such great results 

 should be achieved in spite of the lack of water trans- 

 portation. 



The Improvement of Waterways. Two thousand years 

 before Christ the Babylonians connected the Tigris and 

 Euphrates, thus showing that they realized the commercial 

 advantages of improved waterways. More than a thousand 

 years ago China began the extending of her waterways by 



