There is probably no parallel in history of this act of the United States in which a nation, after having won so rich a territorial prize in war, eventually turned it over to its people for free government.
The New Trains
One of the most significant railway trials ever held in this or any country was that recently made between New York and Chicago, by the special train of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the “Twentieth Century” of the New York Central.
Although the two trains went by widely separate routes, they covered the required distance, over nine hundred miles, in the same time to the minute—19 hours and 57 minutes.
This is three minutes less than the schedule time allowed, and is fully three hours faster than any speed previously made over the same course.
As these new trains are now regularly on the schedules of their respective roads, the race will hereafter be an every-day occurrence, and we may look forward even to the lowering of this record.
Foreign Immigration
During the month of May the total number of immigrants arriving at New York was between 85,000 and 90,000.
This exceeds any monthly record for the past twenty years. The majority of the new arrivals were from Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia. In a count of 51,000 immigrants it was found that 14,000 could neither read nor write.