THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



valleys, and feel their way like fingers of fate up 

 between the hills. The postal authorities promise 

 now that within four years they will have covered 

 every square mile of the United States with free 

 mail service; while well within that time it seems 

 probable that no reputable farmhouse will be with- 

 out its telephone. This is an evolution that consti- 

 tutes a revolution. Urbanism spreads out into 

 suburbanism, and suburbanism widens to cover the 

 larger part of the country, because the advantages 

 of contiguity are no longer suflBcient to overcome 

 the advantages of individual living. The close con- 

 tact, the smoky air, the pinched freedom of action, 

 the deprivation of orchard and garden, no longer 

 seem tolerable; because they are unnecessary. 



The mischief of packing population began with 

 the introduction of steam power. The steam age 

 began about 1830. Many of those now living re- 

 member its inauguration; some will see its close. 

 In 1891 Professor Orton, our most eminent author- 

 ity on coal and kindred subjects, said in a brilliant 

 monograph: "The age of coal is nearly ended, and 

 with it the reign of steam." All known deposits of 

 anthracite coal in the United States, the Pittsburg 

 seam alone excepted, he aflSrmed, would be ex- 

 [41 



