figures became obsolete, it was allowed to become “out of print,” and now in response to a considerable number of requests a new book is presented, following to some extent the old lines, but entirely recompiled and rewritten. Immense masses of Government material have been digested with painstaking care by competent statisticians, and the result will, in the judgment of the Editors, fully warrant the expenditure of considerable effort and results in the production of a unique book. It is perhaps necessary to call attention to the fact that there are certain inconsistencies in the tables. In procuring the figures, for example, from different bureaus and departments of the Government, with reference to any subject, it is found that statistics vary in certain particulars. These differences are due to the different methods of tabulation or to different points of view. In many cases these discrepancies are noted in this book, to prevent the reader from forming erroneous conclusions. These cases must not be regarded as errors, and an attempt has been made to give, wherever possible, the date of the figures and the authority. Every available space has been taken up with useful information, whether germane to the chapter or not. The The debt for advice and help is a heavy one. compilation of this or any similar one would be impossible without the co-operation of many Government officials. Our thanks are especially due to Dr. Falkner, late Assistant Director of the Census, and to the Hon. E. Dana Durand, Director of the Census; the Hon. O. P. Austin, late Chief of the Bureau of Statistics and now AssistantChief of the new Bureau of Domestic and Foreign Commerce, and to Mr. N. Eckhardt, Jr., of his office; to the Hon. Eugene Tyler Chamberlain, Commissioner of Navigation; to Captain T. M. Potts, of the United States. [iv] Navy; to Major J. D. Leitch, U. S. A., Secretary of the War College Division; to Mr. C. F. Talman, of the Weather Bureau, for his condensed chapter on the weather; to Senator Wm. Alden Smith; to Mr. Slason Thompson, of the Bureau of Railway News and Statistics; to the Hon. S. B. Donnelly, Public Printer; to Dr. J. A. Holmes, Chief of the Bureau of Mines; to the Hon. Frank H. Hitchcock, Postmaster-General; to Dr. A. F. Zahm; to Dr. W. W. Share; to Dr. Geo. F. Kunz; to Mr. Perry B. Turpin; to Dr. F. L. Hoffman, Statistician of the Prudential Life Insurance Co.; to Captain J. L. Jayne, U. S. N., Superintendent of the U. S. Naval Observatory; to Captain A. W. Lewis, of the Associated Press; to Mr. E. Justice, of the North German Lloyd Steamship Co.; to the painstaking assistants, Miss Henrietta von Tobel and Mr. Albert S. Regula; and to a host of other friends whose help was invaluable. A number of interesting comparisons in line are from Prof. A. L. Hickmann's Geographical-Statistical Universal Atlas and Philips' Chamber of Commerce Atlas. Acknowledgment is made for matter from The American Almanac and Year Book, The World Almanac and the Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book, The Statistical Abstract of the United States, and the publications of the Census. Many items are credited where used. New York, October 15, 1912. |