Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/513

NEW IBERIA. and common brick, wagons, and carts. The water-works and electric-light plant are owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 3447; in 1900, 6815.  NEW INN HALL. See .  NEW IRELAND. See.  NEW JER′SEY. A middle Atlantic State of the United States. It lies between latitudes 38° 56′ and 41° 21′ N., and between longitudes 73° 54′ and 75° 33′ W. It is bounded on the north by the State of New York, which also bounds it for some distance on the east, being separated from it by the Hudson River, New York Bay, and Staten Island Sound. The remainder of the eastern boundary is formed by the Atlantic Ocean. On the south the State is bounded by Delaware Bay. The whole western boundary is formed by the Delaware River, which runs eastward in a sharp angle nearly to the middle of the State, and separates it from Pennsylvania. New Jersey is one of the smallest States of the Union, only three others, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut, having a smaller area. Its extreme length is 167 miles, and its average width 50 miles. Its area is 7815 square miles, of which 7525 square miles, or 4,816,000 acres, are land surface.

. The northern and southern divisions of the Atlantic slope meet in New Jersey on a line running west from Newark Bay. The former division is characterized practically by the absence of the coastal plain and by the less definite demarcation of the (q.v.). The latter division is characterized by the well-defined presence of both. Though the State lies wholly within the Atlantic slope, it is crossed in the northwest by several ranges of the Appalachian system. There are four distinctly marked topographical regions running in parallel bands across the State from southwest to northeast, coterminous with and closely dependent on the outcropping bands of geological formations. (See paragraph Geology.) The first, beginning at the northwest, is the Kittatinny range and upland valley. This range is an extension of the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, and runs in a continuous ridge into New York, reaching in High Knob, near the boundary, a height of 1799 feet. The second region includes the Highlands, an outlying Appalachian range consisting of semi-isolated, plateau-like masses, rising to a height of 1200 to 1400 feet. The third band is the Piedmont plain, nearly as wide as the first two combined. It is for the most part, an undulating plain ranging in elevation from the sea level in the marshes of the Hackensack Valley in the east to over 500 feet in the west. It is, however, diversified by bold trap-rock ridges extending in a northeast and southwest direction, such as the Palisades along the Hudson and the First and Second Mountains. The fourth region constitutes the coastal plain and includes the entire southern half of the State south of a line running from Trenton to Newark Bay. It is a gently undulating plain, sloping south and eastward. It is nowhere more than 400 feet, and in large part is less than 100 feet above sea level. It is trenched by river-valleys, and here and there diversified by isolated hills such as the Navesink

Highlands. It is bordered on the coasts by salt marshes fringed along the Atlantic by shallow coast-lagoons inclosed by outlying sand beaches.

The western slope of the State is drained by short tributaries into the Delaware River, but by far the greater portion drains directly into the Atlantic Ocean or its inlets. The principal rivers are the Passaic and Hackensack, flowing into Newark Bay; the Raritan, flowing through Raritan Bay into Lower New York Bay; the Mullica and Great Egg, emptying into the Atlantic lagoons; and the Maurice, into Delaware Bay. Lakes are confined chiefly to the northern section. There are several beautiful mountain lakes in the Highlands, the largest being Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake, the latter lying partly in New York State. The most noted natural features are the Falls of the Passaic River at Paterson, the Palisades of the Hudson, and the Delaware Water Gap.  . The particular element affecting the climate of New Jersey is the ocean. Since the extreme northern portion is also the most elevated and the extreme southern portion is low and surrounded by water, the slight range in temperature due to difference in latitude is accentuated, so that there is a variation of 8 degrees between the mean annual temperature of the north and the south. The former is 46° and the latter 54°. The mean winter temperature is 35° in the south and 25° in the north, and the mean summer temperatures, respectively, 75° and 67°. The mean annual rainfall is, in general, between 44 and 50 inches in the greater part of the State. In the extreme eastern portion it is over 50 inches, and in the south along Delaware Bay it is less than 42 inches. As a whole, the State is quite healthful, and the sandstone belt is considered particularly favorable to persons inclined to lung diseases. There are numerous summer and winter health resorts. (q.v.), in the heart of the pine woods, is one of the most popular winter resorts in the Northern States, Atlantic City, Asbury Park, and Cape May, although essentially summer resorts, are also popular winter resorts for invalids. Other well-known summer seaside places are Long Branch, Elberon, and Ocean Grove.

For flora and fauna, see paragraph under .

. The geology of New Jersey is very intimately connected with its topography. The outcrops of the rock formations cross the State from the southwest to northeast in bands closely coincident with the topographical regions described above. Beginning at the northwestern corner, we find the Kittatinny Mountain and valley, consisting of Paleozoic slate, limestone, and sandstone, and these formations also extend into some of the western valleys of the Highlands. The Highlands themselves, however, consist of the still older Archæan gneiss, granite, and mica-schist. The Piedmont plain is also called the Red Sandstone Plain, as it consists mainly of the Triassic red sandstone, with scattered intrusions of trap-rock. In the coastal plain the surface deposits consist wholly of unindurated materials. In the north there is a band running from Staten Island Sound southwest to Camden, composed of Cretaceous marls, sands, and clay, while the entire remaining portion is covered with Tertiary clays and sand finally fringed by the modern sand bars along the