2 RURAL NEW YORK 



Great Lakes and tlie upper Mississippi Valley of the 

 Central West lies through the center of the State. At 

 the eastern terminus of this lowest divide, between the 

 east and the west, which is the chief thoroughfare for 

 transcontinental travel, stands New York City, the 

 metropolis of the American continent and the leading 

 American port. 



At the entrance to the magnificent harbor of the 

 city, on Bedloe's Island, is the Statue of Liberty, 

 which was a gift from the people of France to the peo- 

 ple of America. It is at once the symbol of friend- 

 ship, of equality, of opportunity, and a token of as- 

 piration. It may well be called the symbol of Amer- 

 ican institutions and of the spokesmanship relation of 

 New York State and City to the remainder of the 

 nation. 



Situated at the western extremity of this low divide 

 on the eastern shore of Lake Erie and a short distance 

 from the tremendous falls of Niagara, is the City of 

 Buffalo, the second in size in the State. It guards the 

 western gateway to this artery of travel and its devel- 

 opment is based primarily on the industries and ex- 

 change that have grown out of the shifts in transport 

 that naturally arise at this point, from the junction of 

 lakes, canal and railroad conveyances. 



The median latitude of the State is the forty-third 

 parallel north, which is the same as Milwaukee in 

 Wisconsin, Boise in Idaho, Vladivostok in Siberia, 

 and Madrid in Spain. The median longitude is the 

 seventy-sixth meridian west, about the same as that 

 of Philadelphia and Cape Hatteras. 



