y
about before plunging into the struggle for existence. In Brooklyn he
soon meets with a fellow-countryman and gets a roof over his head. A
pleasant, well-to-do railway employe from Stockholm takes pleasure in
showing him about and impressing him with his knowledge of America.

"This town must be old," says Gunnar, "or it could not have grown so
large."

"Old! No, certainly not. Compared to Stockholm it is a mere child. It is
barely three hundred years old, and at the time of Gustavus Adolphus it
did not contain a thousand inhabitants. But now it is second only to
London."

"That is wonderful. How can you account for New York becoming so large?
Stockholm and Bremen are pigmies beside it. I have never seen the like
in my life. There are forests of masts and steamboat funnels in all
directions, and at the quays vessels are loaded and unloaded with the
most startling speed."

"Yes, but you must remember that the population of the United States
increases at an extraordinary rate. During last century it doubled every
twenty years. And remember also that nearly half the foreign trade of
the Union passes through New York. Hence are exported grain, meat,
tobacco, cotton, petroleum, manufactured goods, and many other things.
It is, therefore, not remarkable that New York needs 36 miles of quays
with warehouses, and that more than seventy steamboat lines sail to and
from the port. And, besides, it is a great industrial town. Think of its
position and its fine harbour! Eastward lies the Atlantic with routes to
Europe; westwards run innumerable railway lines, five of which stretch
right through to the Pacific coast."

"Tell me something about the railways," exclaims Gunnar, who wants to go
out west at the first favourable opportunity.

"Yes, I can give you information about them, for I have been working on
several lines. As far back as 1840 the United States had 2800 miles of
railway, and twenty years later 30,000 miles. Now it has nearly two
hundred and forty thousand miles of rails, a strip which would reach to
the moon or ten times round the equator. The United States have more
railways than all Europe, though the population is only a fifth that of
Europe; but the area is about the same."

"How do you explain this rapid development of railway enterprise?"

"Well, the fact is that at first the aim was to fill up the gaps between
the waterways. Rivers were relied on as long as possible, and the first
railways were built