1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA (see ). During 1910-20 there was a great increase in the industrial developments of Pennsylvania, largely as a result of the World War. From 1914 until American participation in 1917, the Allied Governments expended many millions of dollars among the steel, ammunition and other establishments, bringing to the state a period of prosperity the extent of which was apparent when the Liberty Loans and war taxes disclosed the accumulated wealth. The state maintained its rank as the second state in population and in industry.

The pop. of the state in 1920 was 8,720,017, an increase of 1,054,906 over 1910. The rate of increase, 13.8%, was considerably lower than that of the preceding decade, 21.6%. In 1920 the pop. of the 15 largest cities of the state was: Philadelphia, 1,823,158; Pittsburgh, 588,193; Scranton, 137,783; Reading, 107,784; Erie, 93,372; Harrisburg, 75,917; Wilkes-Barre, 73,833; Allentown, 73,502; Johnstown, 67,327; Altoona, 60,331; Chester, 58,030; Lancaster, 53,150; Bethlehem, 50,358; York, 47,512; and McKeesport, 46,781.

War Period.—Pennsylvania sent 297,891 men into the U.S. army, of whom 53,419 were regulars, 21,350 national guardsmen, and 223,122 drafted. There were 31,063 Pennsylvanians in the navy, 16,872 of whom enlisted in the naval reserve, 13,772 in the regular navy, and 419 in the national naval volunteers. The state was represented by 5,422 men in the marine corps, making a total of 334,376 men and women in the national armed forces. In addition it had 1,600 Y. M.C.A. workers, 147 Knights of Columbus secretaries, and 129 welfare workers under the Society of Friends. In the army Pennsylvania suffered 35,042 casualties, of which 7,898 were deaths. Financially, 559,936 Pennsylvanians subscribed $315,834,950 to the First Liberty Loan; 881,207 subscribed $549,963,700 to the Second Loan; 2,026,973 subscribed $467,758,550 to the Third Loan; 2,349,252 subscribed $812,217,400 to the Fourth Loan; and 1,289,764 subscribed $564,173,200 to the Victory Loan, making a total of $2,709,947,800 for the five loans, a per capita of $312.92 as compared with the per capita throughout the United States of $232.31. The war taxes of the state were: 1917, $589,056,143.20; 1918, $446,811,191. The American Red Cross in its two campaigns in Pennsylvania raised $27,283,990.90 or 10% of the total for the whole country. The Red Cross membership in the state at the close of 1918 was 1,669,758 adults and 1,451,057 juniors, the latter being 86.12% of the school population. Pennsylvania gave approximately $3,000,000 to the war welfare work of the Knights of Columbus. The two Y.M.C.A. drives in the state netted $6,562,516.23.

More than 85,000 men and women were employed in the six Pennsylvania shipyards on the Delaware river in 1918. The Hog I. plant near Philadelphia built no cargo vessels of 7,500 dead-weight tons apiece and 12 transports of 8,000 tons. The Harriman yard at Bristol, of the Merchants' Shipbuilding Corp., built 32 cargo vessels of 9,000 tons apiece; William Cramp &amp; Sons at Philadelphia built four tankers of 10,000 tons apiece and nine steel ships, all but one of which were of more than 9,000 tons. Likewise it launched 35 destroyers during the war period and 13 subsequently. The Chester yard of the Merchants' Shipbuilding Corp. built 28 cargo ships and tankers averaging 8,000 tons apiece and several small naval vessels. The Sun Shipbuilding Co. at Chester built 14 ships averaging 11,000 tons apiece and four cargo ships of 10,000 tons apiece. It also constructed nine mine-sweepers for the navy. The yard for wooden ships of the Traylor plant at Cornwells Heights built eight vessels of 3,500 tons each. The Federal Government spent $46,396,266.80 in housing war workers in the state, $23,021,000 being spent by the Emergency Fleet Corp. for shipbuilders, and $23,375,266.80 by the U.S. Housing Commission.

(Author:Albert E. McKinley)