Gazetteers of States 



3 6 9 



designation. Its dimensions, however, 

 are small only as compared with the 

 gigantic proportions of the Caroline and 

 the Augusta, for it has a span of 211 feet 

 4 inches, and the under side of the arch 

 is 142 feet above the bottom of the 

 canyon. The crown of the arch is 18 

 feet 8 inches thick, and the surface or 

 roadway 33 feet 5 inches wide. The 

 slenderness of this aerial pathway and 

 the fact that the canyon here opens out 

 into a sloping valley beyond rendered 



it possible for the camera to give a 

 proper impression of loftiness. Indeed, 

 judging from the photographs alone, 

 one might suppose this to be the highest 

 of the three bridges, whereas in fact it 

 has but little more than one-third the 

 altitude of the wonderful Augusta arch. 

 It was comparatively easy to reach the 

 top of this bridge, and among Long's 

 notes I find the following : ' Rode our 

 horses over. I am the first white man 

 who has ever ridden over this bridge.' ' 



GAZETTEERS OF THE STATES 



A SERIES of useful gazetteers of 

 the different states is being pub- 

 lished by the U. S. Geological 

 Survey. Within the past month there 

 have appeared four bulletins in the se- 

 ries — gazetteers of Virginia, Maryland, 

 Delaware, and Texas — each prepared 

 by Mr. Henry Gannett. Each bulletin, 

 handsomely illustrated, gives a brief 

 description of every geographical feat- 

 ure in the state, and, as an introduc- 

 tory chapter, a general description of 

 the state. 



Virginia was one of the first states 

 of the Union to be settled. At the 

 time of the first census, taken in 1790, 

 it had a population of nearly three- 

 fourths of a million and was the most 

 densely inhabited of all the states. In 

 1900, with a population of 1,854,184, it 

 was the seventeenth state in number of 

 inhabitants. Of the total population, 

 only 14.6 per cent were found in cities 

 and the remaining 85.4 per cent were 

 classed as rural. This proportion of 

 rural population is much greater than 

 that of the country at large. Another 

 interesting fact in connection with the 

 population is the statement that the 

 white race increased in the decade be- 

 tween 1890 and 1900 at the rate of 16.9 

 per cent, while the negroes increased at 

 the rate of only 4 per cent. This small 



rate of increase among the negroes is 

 certainly not due to any falling off in 

 natural increase, but indicates a move- 

 ment of the negro population away from 

 the state, probably southward. 



Virginia is preeminently an agricult- 

 ural state. The total area of farms in 

 1900 was 19,907,883 acres, but the aver- 

 age size of the farms was only 118. 6 

 acres, which is considerably less than 

 the size of the average farm of the 

 United States. Tobacco is the most 

 important of Virginia's agricultural 

 products. Kentucky and North Caro- 

 lina are the only states that exceed 

 Virginia in the production of that im- 

 portant weed. 



As a manufacturing state, Virginia 

 does not take high rank ; but in view 

 of her rich deposits of excellent coking 

 coal and iron it is probable that her man- 

 ufactures will greatly increase. The 

 coal production in 1901 was 2,725,873 

 short tons, and the amount of coke pro- 

 duced was 907,130 short tons. In that 

 same year 448,662 long tons of pig iron 

 were smelted within the state. Manga- 

 nese ore to the amount of 4,275 tons 

 was mined. 



Maryland was one of the thirteen 

 original states, and has the distinction 

 of having ceded to the general govern- 

 ment, as the site of a capital, an area of 



