THE INDUSTRIAL TITAN OF AMERICA 



403 



Nowhere else in the world can fuel for 

 power purposes be bought more cheaply 

 than at Wilkes-Barre. Black diamonds 

 in unbelievable quantities lie, ready to be 

 mined, directly beneath the city's fac- 

 tories ; and hundreds of millions of dol- 

 lars are invested in the long list of in- 

 dustries that seek cheap power and make 

 good profits here. 



Who that has traveled from Mauch 

 Chunk to Wilkes-Barre on the Black 

 Diamond or the Scranton Flyer has not 

 admired the day scenery on the one or 

 the night scenery on the other? Two 

 railroads hug the Lehigh River from 

 Mauch Chunk to White Haven, through 

 as wild a mountain region as can be 

 found east of the Rockies. From there 

 they reach the top of Nescopeck Moun- 

 tain above Penobscot by diverse routes. 

 Behind the traveler lies a branch of the 

 Lehigh Valley, with its rugged scenery, 

 and in front of him is the wonderful 

 Wyoming Valley, with collieries as thick 

 as hops, and Wilkes-Barre a quarter of 

 a mile beneath him. 



And at night, as the summit of the 

 mountain is passed and myriads of lights, 

 bright and dim, yellow and white and 

 blue, flash up from Wilkes-Barre and its 

 dozens of adjacent towns in the valley far 

 below, the traveler passing that way for 

 the first time well may wonder whether 

 the heavens have of a sudden been in- 

 verted, or whether a great silver lake be- 

 neath him is reflecting thousands of stars. 



HOW ERIE BECAME A PART OF 

 PENNSYLVANIA 



The story of how Erie became a part 

 of Pennsylvania might have served as a 

 tip to the Peace Conference on corridors 

 to the sea. New York's charter defined 

 its western boundary as the meridian line 

 extending southward to the forty-second 

 parallel of latitude from the western ex- 

 tremity of Lake Ontario. It was always 

 assumed that the Pennsylvania-New 

 York line would extend directly into 

 Lake Erie, and that therefore the Erie 

 site and Presque Isle belonged to New 

 York. But the actual survey revealed 

 the fact that there was a small triangle 

 that did not belong to either State. 



Thereupon Massachusetts and Con- 

 necticut both claimed it, on the ground 



that the charter of the Plymouth Corn- 

 pan}- gave them all the land" lying in their 

 latitude as far west as the Pacific Ocean, 

 not previously settled by other Christian 

 powers. After protracted negotiations, 

 New York, Massachusetts, and Connect- 

 icut released their claims in favor of the 

 Federal Government, which, in turn, sold 

 the land to the State of Pennsylvania, 

 giving her a harbor on the Great Lakes. 

 However, Connecticut, in consideration 

 of her release, reserved a tract in north- 

 eastern Ohio. Hence, the Western Re- 

 serve of the Buckeye State. 



Situated between the coal of Pennsyl- 

 vania and the ore of Minnesota, pos- 

 sessed of one of the finest harbors on the 

 Great Lakes, Erie is host to some five 

 hundred manufacturing establishments. 

 It has the largest horseshoe factory and 

 the largest pipe-organ plant in the world, 

 and makes more baby carriages, gas man- 

 tles, and clothes-wringers than any other 

 city. 



It is one of the few industrial cities of 

 America that is resolved not to neglect 

 the esthetic side of its development. In 

 pursuance of that purpose, it borrowed 

 a chapter from the history of Chicago 

 and created a city planning . commission 

 which has laid out a goal for Erie to 

 grow up to. 



CITIES WHICH BOAST SUPERLATIVE 

 INDUSTRIES 



Each of the State's lesser centers of 

 population possesses some industry in 

 which its citizens experience justifiable 

 pride. Harrisburg, in addition to enjoy- 

 ing the distinction of being the Common- 

 wealth capital, is one of the principal rail- 

 road centers of the East, while one of its 

 suburbs indicates in its name, Steelton, 

 the nature of its industrial interests. 

 Johnstown, likewise, is an iron and steel 

 center. 



If quantity and quality of the manu- 

 factured product signify, Allentown is the 

 world's cement capital, for two-fifths of 

 America's output is produced within a 

 radius of 20 miles of this beautiful city 

 of homes, which is also noted for its silks. 



Walk from one end of its main street 

 to the other in the summer-time and 

 every lamp-post you see supports a basket 

 of flowers. Think of a bouquet-studded 



