December 30, 1000.
Conditions of Life
THE ILLUSTRATED 11EE.
Altered b y Machinery
This Imb been a most materialistic cen
tury, an ago of mechanism. Wo have pro
gressed wonderfully In our capacity for lux
uiy, extravaganco, comfort. Otio hundred
years ago our forebears wore content to
live by hand, as It were. Now wo llvo
chiefly by complicated machinery. A cen
tury of progress has created demands which
forced the dormant Inventive skill of tho
world to put forth Its best efforts. Tho
world tins made more progress in material
things In tho last 100 years than It did In
all tho centuries preceding. Civilized man's
mode of exlstcneo has been totally uttered
by his Inventions.
Tho world has gono patent mod. In tho
United States ulone thero were 61:3,533 pat
ents granted In tho sixty-two years from
1837 to lS'JS. During Us existence the pat
ent olllco has received moro than $ 10,000,
000 In fees. On currlagcs and wagons moro
than 20,000 pntents have been granted; on
stoes and furnaces, 18,000; on lamps, ga
fittings, harvesters, boots and shoes and
receptacles for storing, 10,000 each. The
total of patents for tho civilized world Is
easily twlco that of tho United States.
Thanks to theso hundreds of thousands of
contrivances, what wero luxuries to our
forebears of 1800 aro commonplace of ex
lstcneo to all classes, rich and poor, In
1900.
With tho Invention of tho steam cnglno
tho world shrunk at a bound to a twentieth
of Its former size. Us vast distances ceased
to bo formidable. Where tho lumbering
stagocoach or tho plodding caravan took
weeks tho Hying express covers tho dis
tance In a few hours. The trip across this
continent used to bo a matter of life and
death. Now it Is a matter of $100 and take
your caso as you go. Without tho railroad
a close-knit nation, thousands of miles
bread, such as this country, would h&ve
been an Impossibility. In 1825 tho first
steam railroad was opened between Stock
ton and Darlington, England. A year later
a similar experiment was tried at Qulncy,
Mass., whero tho engine hauled stone for
a distance of four miles. Tho first possen
gor road In this country was tho Baltimore
& Ohio, opened in 1830 with a mlleago of
fourteen miles. Today thero aro 210,906
miles of railroad in this country, 163,216 In
Europe, 20,834 in South America, 31,102 in
Asia, 9,978 in Africa and 14,384 in Aus
tralia. Early llinlory of HallroiiilliiK.
Early In tho history of railroading f.volvo
miles an hour was considered recklessly
fast. In January, 1899, a train on tho Bur
lington route, in a run from Siding to Arlon,
2.4 mlleB, did tho dlstanco In one
minute and twenty seconds, or at tho rate
of 108 miles an hour. Tho Emplro Stato
Express made a record of 112 miles an hour
In May, 1893.
Marino travel did not make so wonderful
an advanco in speed through tho agency
of steam as did land travel, but tho progress
In comfort and safety was greater. In 1790
John Fitch constructed a steamboat and
was considered a raving luuatlc. This opin
ion was confirmed when bis experiment
proved a failure. Soventcen years later
ilobert Fulton, anothor so-called visionary,
backed by Joel Barlow and Robert T. Liv
ingston, built tho steamboat Clermont. Sho
was soon dubbed "Fulton's Folly," and
when sho started for Albany on August 11,
1807, all Now York was out to witness her
failure. Sho went to Albany In the as
tonishing tlmo of thirty-two hours, return
lng in two hours less. Now, when a gigan
tic ocean liner, with lifeboats as largo as
tho Clermont, crosses the Atlantic In less
than six days, wo read tho news In a
bored sort of a way, displeased that steam
ers should bo so slow. Fulton's experiment
led, years later, to tho building of the Sa
vannah, which actually crossed tho Atlan
tic, to tho great astonishment of tho entlro
world.
Communication botween man and man
was ns expensive as It was slow In the
old dnys. It cost a shilling to get a letter
anywhuro when the century began and a
shilling In those days represented far
moro than It now does. Now 2 cents will
carry a letter to tho Philippines or around
tho corner. Then tho mall matter handled
was too insignificant for statistics; now
thoro nro 75,000 postofllces In this country
handling postal matter of all kinds per
annum of 6,570,310,000 pieces.
As for "hurry messages" or "rush" lot
tors, they woro unknown. Prior to tho
experiments of Samuel F. D. Morao, In
ventor of tho tolcgrnph, signaling was done
by means of fires on mountain tops, or
by waving flags. Morao revolutionized this
In 1837, when ho announced tho success of
his oxporlmonts. Tho first telegraph line
In this country was opened In 1844. In
1S99 thero wero 904,633 miles of wlro in uso
in this country; 71,393,137 messages were
sent that year. Now wo aro on tho thresh
old of nn era when oven wires will no
longer ho nccossnry and when wo will bo
nblo to talk or to telegraph to Boston or
New Orleans or perhaps even London with
out any vlalhlo connection botween the re
ceiving and tho sending Instruments.
Tho year 1800 know no telephone. A hun
dred years Inter sees 772,989 miles of tolo
phono wlro In uso, connected with 465,180
stations and answering 1,231,000,000 calls a
year. When tho century was new It took
six weoks to get news from Europe Today
It takes six seconds. Today thero aro 170,
950 miles of submarlno cables all laid
plnco tho first cnhlo. Field's great achieve
ment wns laid in 1857.
Eloctrtclty has como to tho aid of stoam
In trafflc. Edison must bo credited with
tho construction of tho first successful elec
tric road, that which ho operated In 1880
at his home at Metilo Park, N. J. Slnco
then electric traction has developed to iuch
an extent thnt now thero aro moro than
1,000 such street enr lines In operation In
tho United States, with a capitalization of
$1,700,000,000. Tho samo cloetrlc power,
only dimly known beforo tho wonderful
century, now lights our cities. In the
United States thoro aro 500,000 arc lights
and nbout 20,000,000 Incnndeiiccnt lights
tho latter being equivalent In llght-glvlng
capacity of 320,000,000 candle tips such as
they used In 1S00.
While tho railroads have served to diffuse
the population from ono end of tho land
to the other another Invention has served
to ccntrallzo It tho elevator. Bccauso of
It tho huge skyscrapers, the Immense flat
houses and tho great factories bavo been
mndo feasible. Formerly when Shanks, his
mare, was fashionable, peoplo had to climb
stairs. This tended to low buildings and
tho consequent Bpread of population. Tho
elevator has changed all that. Huge cara
vansaries teeming with human bolngs, ac
commodate as many ns formerly could bo
crowdod Into respectable towns. The clo
BRITISH ARMORED TRACTION TRAIN READY TO START FOR THE FRONT.
mndo and hand-sot, leaned either all one
way or In nny direction most comfortable.
It mny have been supoflntlvu work for
tboso days, but nowadays new typo Is enst
'I ehelle,' In tho slang of the circus, i
don't know where tho word comes from,
but In doing tho turn tlio gymnast sw
us far ns ho can on ouu trapeze, IctB go,
Senator Mark Manna, pretty little Miss
Ruth, will go back and forth between the
snlons of Cleveland anil Washington.
Nellie Ornnt SartorlH' eldest daughter,
vator makes practical tho centralization of while being set; pnper comes In rolls from throws a somersault and catches tho other, vlvn rccaB "pretty Miss Nelllo" nu she
which Is tho basis two or four miles long; presses run off 80,-
000 complete nowspapcrs an hour. The
press, which is tlio most poworrul agent
of progress, 1b In Itself typical of tho ad
vance of tho century.
commercial Interests,
of our great cities.
Arc tif Steel In Herts
Tho science of applied mechanics has
reached n stugo where further Improve
ments seem Impossible, yet every day now
Inventions and Improvements on old, aro A.rillOrCll Tl'tlCtiOll Xl'tllllS
recorded at tho patent office. In other
times they built houses of wood and brick. Armored traction trains have been found
Now they construct them of steel and useful by tho British forces In South Africa
Iron. And so carefully are tho plans de- to sufficient extent to establish them as a
v eloped that tho architect can say how fixturo In wnrfaro. They run on nny ren
mnny bolts will bo required In tho con- aonnbly smooth roadway, and, though they
sirucuon oi a SKy-scraper, now mucn cacn travel slowly, they can carry great loads
tho danger depending on the dlstanco ho
travels through tho ulr. The Englishman
was n slow-spoken, rather stupid llttlo
fellow, who had been brought up In i.
ring and wan as nearly destttuto of emotion
is anybody 1 ever saw. His habits were
excellent, like those of most professional
athletes, and he did his work with u uu
ehaulcal precision that almost excluded the
possibility of n mishap. Ono night his
helper got drunk and 1 went with lilm to
must have looked when (ieneral (Irant and,
Indeed, a whole nation of admirers used to
cnll her "Llttlo Sunshine." Vivian Sartorls
has wavy brown hair that peoplo frequently
describe as black, because they see It In it
room whero thero nro moro shadows than
sunlight. Sho has, big, gray eyes, set In an
ollvo skin and shaded by well-eurved brows.
Shu Is English In coloring and health, but
In everything else, especially slnco her
mother nBked congress to restore her eltl-
took his long swing, for tho purpose of fonshlp, sho Is American. Wash ngtonluus
holding back tho bar while ho got ready n.iopicu ner as a eiui.i oi tno nnuon.
sirucuon oi a SKy-scraper, now mucn cuun travel slowly, they can carry great loads. t0 nunci, himself nt0 space. As i initio miss nannn, mo youngest uuugnior
beam can support, whero each piece of Iron Tho accompanying plcturo shows ono of busying myself with the ropes I heard him ot tno senator, Is never described nB a homo
belongs. Wooden bridges liavo been sup- theso trains In Capotown. South Africa.
planted by hugo steol structures. Even ready to start for tho front. Tho mova-
stono towers are being abandoned for tho bio sides, which nro of sufficiently heavy
lighter stoel. Tho ago of steel 1b hero. armor to resist rlflo or artillery Arc, havo
Our vast factory systems, employing gUn ports through which tho defenders of
thousands of v orkera and furnishing nec- tho train may return tho enemy's Are. Tho
ossnrlcs and luxuries allko at prices that locomotive Is protected by extrn heavy
would havo mado tho citizens of 1800 gasp armor. Tho train in tho plcturo hns two
with amazement, havo grown out of the heavy field guns in tow.
substitution of machinery for tho hand tho
sewing machine, the steam loom, the ring
framo and hundreds of other Inventions.
Wo do not yet grow crops by machinery,
but no sooner has tho fruit of tho earth
reached maturity than it is In tho grasp
of Btccl and steam, to be turned to human
needs almost without tho touch ot human
hands.
Photography is a product of tho last hun
dred years. To havo ono's plcturo "took"
in yo olden times required considerable
money and moro patience, for it took Bomo
tlmo to paint the portrait. Daguerro's da
guerreotypes, tho forerunner of the photo
graph, hewed tho way for tho development
in this lino of the last ten years. Photog
raphy and color printing together havo
been among tho mightiest educational in
fluences tho world has ever known. Ap
pealing to tho brain direct through the oyo
they havo taught moro swiftly and moro
gronn, and, booking nrouud, was thunder
struck to seu lilm ns white iia a sheet and
trembling llko n man with tho nguo.
'What's wrong, Fred?' I whispered. 'Oh,
Lord I' ho said between his teeth, 'I'm Just
In n funk, nn awful funk!' I was so as
tonished I could hardly credit my senses,
body. Sho Is nn outdoor girl In tho fullest
sonso of tho term. Two years ago sho es
tablished her fame as a Diana by chasing
down a wildcat on her father's premises
in Thomnsvlltu, On.
Senator and Mrs. llanna happened to be
entertaining a largo house party at the
In a Blue Funk
"Joo Stark, the iricK cyclist, who was
killed doing a high dlvo In New York tho
other day, traveled for a season with
Davis' circus," said a young man to tin
Now Orleans Times-Democrat. "I was with
tho show at tho samo time, on tho business
staff, and I got to know Joe very well. I
see by tho papers that his death was duo
to a miscalculation of over thirty feet in
tho dive, and tho reporters nro wondering
how In tho world ho could have mado such
a blunder. To anyone acquainted with per
formers of his class, however, tUo thing
Is no mystery. They aro all subject to
queer spells of panic that como without
any particular reason and unfit them
temporarily for business. It a man po"
slsts In doing his net at such a tlmo tho
consequences are altogether a matter nt
but I realized that something would havo tlmo, among thorn tho president and Mrs.
to bo done to prevent a fiasco that would McKlnley.
ruin him In tho business. 'Protend you'vo Tho boundaries of the senator's pro
sprained your arm,' I said, 'and leave tin? sorves, among the Auest In Oeorgln, aro
rest to me. Now, lot's got down, quick.'
Ho was so unnerved ho could hardly de
scend tlio ropo ladder, and tho audlcnco
begun to buzz with surprise I sent him to
tho dressing tent nnd snld a few words to
tho ringmaster, who mndo a llttlo speech
explaining that 'Mr. had Injured his
arm climbing to tho platform and w
bo obliged to omit his usual finale.' Later
on I found tho poor follow lying on hid
costume trunk sobbing llko a child, but
next morning ho wns nil right and I never
know him to havo nnothcr seizure.
guarded as carefully as may be, but o'j
cnsslonally wildcats and other small ani
mals from tho adjacent plno woods find
their way In. Llttlo Miss Ruth becntnu
awaro that a largo wildcat had been seen
trespassing, and, nothing daunted, she
planned n campuign against his life with a
success that marks her a typical child of
Senator Mark llanna.
Sho and her cousin, Howard, accompanied
by trained hounds, mado what may be
called a daylight start. Through sandy
fields nnd thick mud. tlio votinir woman
"You may rest assured Joo Stnrk met his cnn8utl tho cat untll fl,my ho wnB run up
death through Just such an uunccountnblo
collapse. It probably took him ns ho stnrtcd
to tnako his dlvo and prldo forbado lilm to
hold back."
a troo. Then sho fired tho shot thnt brought
him to tho ground.
An hour lator, whllu the family and tholr
guests wero at breakfast, Miss Ruth walked
in with her wildcat and established her
wldoly than is posslblo to any other agency, chanco and tho majority of tho accidents TlU'CC WilSlliniltOll liUllS f(l,no 10 1,10 111,0 ot aL'0,'K'l'B Dlnnn.
To sclenco their aid has been inestimable, within my recollection havo been attrlbut- Tno mBt ot thla trio of buds. Mi
No man enn Judge ot tho lnfluenco of tho
printing press, which did not reach any
considerable development before 1800. Ia
1800 the principal dally papers were pub
lished in Boston and Now York City. Thoy
wero marvels of staid conservatism. They
permitted no news younger than a week to
crcop Into their columns. As for the paper
on which they wero printed, respect for
ago prevents a description. Tho type, hand-
nblo to that cause.
"Whtlo I was in tho show business I
witnessed several striking Instances ot this
mysterious loss of ncrvo, perhaps tho most
remarkablo being that of a little English
man who did a very sensational act on
Tho blood of distinguished stntcsmon
distinguished In curiously different wnys,
It Is true Hows In tho veins of thrco of
this year's beauties.
Tho grauddnughtur of General Grant will
tho flying trapeze. Ho had two bars bus- charm representatives and olllcinls in the
Mary C.
Washington Bond, tho grent-grandnloco of
tho father ot his country, Is also a pro-
nouncod brunette She Is pnlo, with n pal
lor mndo striking by heavy masses of dark
hair and wldo open black eyes, shaded
with heavy lashes.
Although Miss Bond hns been but llttlo
pended at opposite sides of tho ring, about cnplthl city, tho great-graudnlecu of George seen In socloty, she Is nlrcady famous for
forty feet from tho ground, nnd finished Washington will ninko l,er bow on thu
his performance with tho feat that Is called Island of Manhattan, and tho daughter of
... , ... .... fmww. dStVSlSr. r -
BIRD5EYE VIEW OF THE MAN-API CHICAN EXPOS I I IUN BUFFALO, MAY I, TO NOV I. 1901.
GROUNDS HALF A MILE WIDE. MILE AND A QUAOTKU LOKlO - JO ACRES
copynifiMT fooo uX THE pam-am i: hi cam cxpoamon co.
her beauty. Peter Mario, In his "Col
lection of Amorlcnn Beauties," Bolcetod nor
for ono. Sho appears thero ns a lovely,
smiling creature, holding a fleocy voll ot
whlto over her dark locks. Sho has on an
old-fashioned sntln gown, short-wnlfltod,
low-nocked nnd short-sleeved, caught In
front with a bunch of field flowers.
A Brutal Picture-Taker
Indianapolis Sun: Thu photographor had
Just completed all arrangements for tho
salo of his studio, when tho pretty young
miss ot seventeen summers tripped In.
"I wnnt my plcturo taken," oho sim
pered. "Do you think iny face will break
tho camorn?"
"Not this camera," said tho photographor.
Just as slmperlngly, "It Is provided with
douhlo oxtra strong lenses."
Of courso tho miss ot seventeen summors
Immediately flounces out nnd goes to tho
rival photogrnphor, who, whon sho springs
the Joku about her faco and tho camera,
Joins with her In n hearty laugh.
Where Snow is a Rarity
Somo years ago In tho month of Docom
ber a Jowoler of Sydney, Now South Wales,
Australia, paid a -man to collect a frolght
car full of snow In tho moiiii'alns and de
liver as much of It to lilm as ho could.
On Chrlstmns day In tho Jowoler's window
was a hugo snowball, resting on a deep
iron tray, nnd whon tho news spread about
tho city tralllo was blocked for several
hours untll tho novol sight had molted.
Mon who had not Boon snow for forty
years, whon thoy emigrated from tho "old
country," hobbled out among tho crowds
nnd peoplo swarmed and struggled to got
a gllmpso of whnt thoy looked on ns n
sort ot eighth wonder of tho world.
