America in 1911: Part 2

Part 2 (images 101 to 200) of Jules Huret's l'Amérique Moderne, published in 1911.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

A review at the Capitol, in Washington. -- Though in general not very inclined to the military profession, the American enjoys military parades from which he draws his unwavering confidence in the future of his country.

West Point. The Library. -- The American army is not just solid and well trained: it has elite groups that have received a complete military instruction at the special school of West Point.

West Point. Math class. -- Like our polytechnicians in France, the students of West Point are broken not just by their military exercises, but also by the toughest of problems of higher math.

West Point. Civil Engineering course. -- It's at West Point where most of these daring American engineers are made, whose creations show a science that always defeats the most difficult of problems.

West Point. Design class. -- The study of design, very advanced in America, is obligatory at West Point. It especially attracts the students of the school destined to become engineers.

West Point. A Gymnastics performance. -- For the young American, who loves sports and familiar with all bodily exercises, gymnastics is not a tedious obligation but rather a true recreation.

Field work. -- In the American army practical training is as complete as the theoretical. Volunteers and regular troops are trained here in the toughest fortification work.

A volunteer camp. -- With frequent exercises, maneuvers and camping in plain air, American volunteers are trained just as perfectly as Europe's regular armies.

One of the batteries of the school of West Point. -- Situated picturesquely on the banks of the Hudson, the American military school possesses cannon batteries of all calibers for firing practice.

American cavalry. -- Almost entirely composed of volunteers, the American cavalry is commanded by brilliant officers.

Infantry in column. -- During marches American volunteers are given the greatest amount of freedom. The independent nature of the American does not bend easily to the rules of a discipline.

An embarkation. -- The rapidity with which the American voluntary cavalry is mobilized is surprising. Each cavalier, owning his own mount, knows in advance what he needs to do.

Service in the field. -- Like the infantry and cavalry, American field artillery is given frequent exercises. This photograph shows general Bates on the line of combat.

Firing exercises. -- The largest part of the instruction for volunteers is reserved for firing, at which they excel. The Americans are justifiably proud of the known superiority of their shooters.

A cadet review at West Point. -- In full dress, lined up impeccably, the cadets of West Point have a most impressive martial allure.

Target shooting. -- Instructors and students in alternation, the cadets of the American military school are trained in firing in the most varied of positions.

Light artillery. -- Just as in Europe the artillery material for the field is as light as possible. Each battery has six pieces.

Smith College. -- In the small city of Northampton (Massachusetts), Smith College was founded in 1875. The pretty buildings of the school are spaced along wide lawns planted with beautiful trees.

Spring Festival. -- Every year at the beginning of the beautiful season a festival of flowers is organized in the gardens of Smith College. The older students join with the new ones on this day.

Smith College. The dormitories. -- Large and pretty villas in colonial style, the dormitories don't have the aspect of gloomy barracks of a too-large number of lycées in France.

Smith College. Entrance. -- It is by a long path with splendid trees on the sides that the visitor reaches the school buildings and the dormitories of this model college.

A football team. -- The students of Smith College have four hours of exercises each week. All sports are practiced at the University: football, tennis, hockey, rowing, swimming, etc.

The Navy. -- Admirably commanded and trained, the American navy is ready for all eventualities. The large raids it has carried out in recent years shows the point at which its organization has been perfected.

Boston. Old State House. -- The oldest monument in Boston. This old building, built without any pretension, dates to 1751. They worked to respect its original primitive form when it was restored.

Boston Park during the winter. -- Bostonians are very proud of their park, location in the heart of the city. In the distance you can see the State House where the golden cupola is illuminated at night and can be seen from all points of the city.

Church of the Trinity. -- Trinity Church, finished 30 years ago, is one of the most beautiful religious buildings in the United States. The imitation south Roman style rules here. The bell tower is 64 meters high.

The Library. -- The Bostonians wanted to decorate the stairs of their library with the largest modern painting, and they chose Puvis de Chavannes. The paintings of the master are framed in marble.

The Library. -- The public library of Boston shows in the center of the photograph. It cost 13 million. The front is copied from that of the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris. On the right, New Old South Church.

School of Cuisine. -- At the School of Cuisine they do not just learn to cook roasts and make soups, but also to understand the nutritive value of foods, the way to set the table, and to serve at the table.

School of Cuisine. -- The School of Cuisine in Boston is a practical institute. They take in young girls from the country who want to learn to serve, and the daughters of millionaires that want to learn how to command.

Institute of Technology. -- This one institute comprises the areas of the five large technical schools in France: the Polytechnique, Ponts et Chaussées, École des Mines, École central, and École d'Architecture.

Institute of Technology. The laboratory. -- This school is provided with a complete range of scientific material. The photograph shows just one part of the laboratory, the one reserves for water analysis.

Boston normal gymnastic school. -- In this school future teachers for the United States are trained. On the top they are playing a hockey game. The middle shows aesthetic dance.

The old cemetery in Boston. -- This old cemetery which dates to the 18th century is located on the main street of the city: Tremont Street. On the left you can still see the crosses of old tombs surrounded by tall houses. The tramways disturb the peace of the dead throughout the day.

The library. A reading room. -- An ingenious system of cards and transmitter cables lets you obtain any work desired within five minutes, from the 90,000 of them that make up the catalog.

Boston. Overall appearance. -- The capital of Massachusetts is one of the oldest cities in the US. It has 650,000 inhabitants and is the most educated city in North America.

Monument to the "massacre". -- Raised to the memory of Americans killed in 1770 by the English guard.

A project for a grandiose monument raised to the glory of America on the banks of Lake Michigan.

Foxboro. Overall appearance. -- Foxboro is a retreat for alcoholics, located close to Boston. Besides those that voluntarily go, others that slide back into alcoholism are sent there for two years of treatment on a judge's orders.

Foxboro. -- Above: the gymnasium where alcoholics have their daily exercise. Bottom left: a bath and shower room. Right: A sick room.

Boston. View of Commonwealth Avenue. -- The main street of the city. This avenue, bordered by a double row of trees, is as long as that of Champs-Elysées, and is more than 70 meters wide.

A football player. -- Football, as it is practiced in the United States, is an extremely brutal game that requires participants to protect the head, the mouth and nose with a hard leather helmet.

University of Harvard. The campus. -- The campus is a sort of central square planted with beautiful trees, around which the main buildings of the famous American university rise, and which serve as a walking area for the students during rest hours.

Running and jumping exercises. -- All physical exercises are held in great honor in the United States. What we consider an effort in France is, for American youth, relaxation and pleasure.

Team exercises. -- With regular sports practice, American youth acquire a flexibility and agility that allows them to carry out very complicated formations.

Baseball. -- Almost as widespread as football, baseball is watched with passion by the American public and the matches between Yale and Harvard are carried out in front of stadiums filled with spectators.

An incident while playing. -- Baseball is just as brutal and dangerous as football. The participants wear masks and protection, but it's not rare for a player hit by the ball to be seriously hurt.

University of Harvard. Entrance. -- Harvard College dates back to 1636 when Boston was founded. Originally a modest seminary, it has successively become the powerful university body it is now.

University of Harvard. The gymnasium. -- The most important monument amongst American universities: the laboratory where 4000 youth from 18 to 25 years old build their muscles.

Football. -- The game consists of taking the ball into the enemy's area, which is marked by a raised goal to indicate it.

Football. -- When a fault has been committed, the referee can order a scrum to take place to decide possession of the ball.

Football. -- It's rare for a game of football to finish in the United States without a number of players being more or less seriously injured.

Rowing -- The participants of the sport train in the handling of the oar using special equipment attached to the floor of the Club.

A team. -- For the races, the boaters of a team use a practical attire that lets them row for long periods of time and without any hindrance.

After the race. -- The team members train daily and, after the race, bring their boat back to the club's hangar.

University of Harvard. -- Every year after classes are finished, the University holds a night festival in the gardens of the college where the families and friends of the students gather.

University of Harvard. Memorial Hall. -- This building with a beautiful style is also called the Hall of Glory. It was raised in honor of the members of the university that died during the War of Secession.

Harvard University. Architecture course. -- Those at Harvard receive a solid education in an equal manner. Many eminent men of the State are honored to have belonged to this university.

Harvard University. Design course. --The teaching at Harvard is very complete: Greek, Latin, and higher math are taught at the same time as design and arts.

Harvard University. A chorus of student girls. -- The robust young American woman finds the time to organize costume parties in between the hours of study and sport, as this photograph shows.

A showing of "Les Plaideurs" at Harvard. -- The students at Harvard hold plays quite frequently, and they take from the selection of great French classics, Corneille, Racine, and Molière.

New arrivals to Harvard are subject to inoffensive hazing showing the American imagination and humor.

Sometimes they make him hold a vigil before a mannequin that looks like a dead body.

At other times they tie him to a pole where he is left to languish: generally the recipient endures it with cheer.

One of the most common pranks is to dress up the new arrivals and display them for hours in ridiculous postures.

They often make him walk along the pathways of the campus, wearing a bucket as a hat.

Rowing at Harvard. -- The rowing hall in Harvard counts no fewer than 60 racing boats. The teams that take place in the matches undergo severe training with a tough diet that lasts for the three months that precede the race.

North America is now the largest nation in the world in terms of railways. The old stone bridge of Baltimore is a rare curiosity.

On the Baltimore-Ohio line.

A street in Philadelphia. -- Well situated on the Schirylkill [sic] and the Delaware, Philadelphia is the third-largest city in the United States in terms of population, reaching 1.5 million.

Philadelphia. Baldwin Factory. -- The largest American factory for locomotives. It manufactures about 2,000 of them per year, employing about 15,000 workers. The offices include 20 engineers and 100 designers.

Baldwin Factory. -- A 5 ton electric crane in the workshop where cylinders are made.

Baldwin Factory. -- The machine shown here planes the largest of cylinders automatically.

Baldwin Factory. Wheel workshop. -- In this immense hall are stored wheels of all models, allowing them to be repaired immediately after an accident. Above the hall a mobile crane raises and places the wheels.

Baldwin Factory. Installation of a locomotive. -- The locomotives that leave the American factory are 5 meters in height on the rails and weigh close to 140,000 kg. A locomotive of an ordinary model costs 60,000 francs.

Baldwin Factory. The locomotive room. -- Despite the enormous development of its railways, they are not enough to feed this enormous factory. This one here supplies locomotives all over the world.

Baldwin Factory. -- The assembled locomotives are brought to this circular hall which can hold sixty of them. That is where the final tuning and inspection of them is done before delivery.

The "Liberty Bell". -- This famous bell was the one that rang out proclaiming the Independence.

Colossal statue of Franklin. -- Philadelphia has raised several statues to its great fellow citizen.

Valley Forge. -- 24 miles from Philadelphia, on the Reading to Williamsport line, there is still the farm that served as headquarters for Washington during the tough winter of 1777 to 1778.

Racing field. -- Passionate followers of all sports, Americans set up race courses in all their cities. The one in Philadelphia always brings in a large crowd to its events.

Grove Park. -- This park located not far from Philadelphia on the Reading line, is a place for walks for the residents of the city that find all sorts of attractions there on Sunday.

The Ohio in Cincinnati in winter. -- Like most rivers in North America, the Ohio usually freezes over in the winter and the ice imprisons the steam boats even before they have the chance to line up against the quays.

Cincinnati under the snow. -- The winters in Cincinnati are generally very tough. The city gets its name from the order of the Cincinnati, who left behind their farms, as Cincinnatus did in Rome, to defend the homeland.

On the Tennessee. -- The railway that goes from Cincinnati to New Orleans penetrated into the Tennessee Valley, full of summer residences, at the feet of the Cumberland Mountains.

The banks of the Ohio. -- The Ohio is one of the most powerful tributaries of the Mississippi. Its waters are constantly crisscrossed with liners, cargo boats that come to dock at the quays of Cincinnati, and leave again towards the sea full of merchandise.

The way to travel. -- America is the country where people travel the most. Pullmans, parlor cars, drawing rooms, all luxurious and comfortable, incessantly crisscross the colossal network of the great Republic.

In the snow. -- Since they have to cross immense regions covered with snow in winter, American trains are covered with special machinery and powerful snowplows.

A switch room. -- On American railways, the interweaving of the rails is so tangled at certain main bifurcations that it requires an entire perfected system of switches.

Railways. -- Not far from Georgetown the line climbs the mountain using the famous Loop, then turns back and passes over a bridge raised over the route it has just passed.

Works of art. -- Located in the arid and savage region of Texas, the Pecos Bridge 2,280 feet over the two abrupt banks of this river is no less than 321 feet long.

Through the Rocky Mountains. -- The railway that passes through the Rockies snakes through gorges and runs alongside streams, amongst a marvelous landscape.

Through the Rocky Mountains. -- Nothing is more impressive than traveling for hours through the capricious meanderings of the mountains or crossing the suspended bridges.

American high speed rail. -- The rapid train from New York to Chicago runs the 980 miles that separate the two cities in 18 hours, at an average speed of 90 mph.

On the back of a Pullman. -- On all American railways the wagons have corridors, and one can go from one end of the trait to the other. At the back there is a comfortable observatory platform.

Bridge over the Deansburg. -- The Canons region is one of the most picturesque regions in the world. The train runs for hours through a chaos of rocks that seem to have been lifted up by some sort of Titan.

The Palisades. -- At 1476 meters of altitude, the railway moves through a narrow region called Palisade to then move down into the rich mining district of Eureka.

The Echo Canyon. -- The Echo Canyon gives its name to the sonority of the cliffs that reflect and amplify sounds.

Castle Gate. -- The canyons of Colorado, one of the most amazing natural wonders of the world, show unexpected, tormented and savage views throughout the 349 kilometers of their length.

Pullman cars. -- The powerful Pullman Company owns and makes use of some 2500 cars, amongst them 500 of the luxurious type. The number of commodity wagons is more than 12,000.