Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/745

 SCIENCE AND CITIZENSHIP 729

dence may be gathered from almost any of the innumerable reports on new railway enterprises which are common documents, not only in the great cities of America, but also in the capitals of western Europe. The following extract is taken from a typical document of this sort. An eminent engineer is reporting on a proposed railway from Oklahoma into Indian Territory. He records and surveys centers of population, actual, incipient, or prospective, along the route of the projected line, taking one center after another in the following fashion :

Chickasaw is the recording town of the Nineteenth District. Population claimed, 8,000. The town site has an area of 1,246.19 acres, and is located in the valley of the Washita River, surrounded by rich farming lands, where corn, wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables, fruit, and berries grow in abundance. Horses, mules, and cattle are raised.

It is an incorporated city with a city government, and is the recognized jobbing center of the southwestern section. Contains, among others, the fol- lowing industries :

Chickasha Cotton Oil Co.; capacity, 120 tons per day.

Chickasha Milling Co.; capacity, 800 barrels of flour per day.

Two elevators; capacity, 100,000 bushels.

Chickasha Iron works.

Choctaw Mill and Elevator Co.

Traders' Compress Co.; about 30,000 bales.

Electric planing mill.

Steam brick plant.

Wholesale grocery, hardware, furniture, saddlery, and harness stores, and general

merchandising.

The city is provided with electric-light plant, ice plant, two telephone exchanges, water-works and sewerage, gas plant (under construction).

It will be noticed that this engineering conception of the city does not envisage a single culture institute not even a church or public house. This, however, is an omission rectified in a docu- ment issued by the Seward Chamber of Commerce in August, 1905, descriptive of the growing towns and cities of Alaska. Of Seward itself the document says:

Although but one year old, it contains general stores of every kind, hotels, ten saloons, a bank capitalized at $50,000, a daily newspaper, four churches, a flourishing public school, an electric-light plant, and a telephone exchange.

Of a place called Fairbanks we are told :

The city had a population of 7,500 on July I, 1905, and was equipped with every modern convenience, such as telephone, electric light, water-works,