America in 1911: Part 4

Part 4 (images 301 to 400) of Jules Huret's l'Amérique Moderne, published in 1911.

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

University of Stanford. The Library. -- Not as rich in documents as the one in Berkeley, it still has 75,000 volumes and 22,000 brochures. Its reading room can hold 300 people.

Tacoma. The harbor. -- A manufacturing city with more than 40,000 inhabitants, Tacoma is the center of an active commerce. It is located in a very picturesque location limited to the west by a pristine forest.

California. -- The practical spirit of the Americans has transformed the once sterile lands of California into a sort of terrestrial paradise where the rarest flowers and the most exquisite fruits abound.

California. -- The state of California exports more than 7 million cases of oranges per year, with 50 oranges per case. The Chinese and Japanese are the ones that pick them for one dollar a day.

In California. -- In the Californian region the trees from the north and the tropics prosper equally. In the same way in the public gardens the most different specimens of the human race encounter each other.

A pineapple field. -- One of the most active products grown around San Francisco. This exquisite fruit that comes from the tropics has lost nothing of its aroma in moving to the plains of California.

In California. Agriculture. -- In order to develop their vast territory, the Americans have had to turn to industry, and formidable machines have been built to break down and work the soil.

In California. Agriculture. -- Thus the machine takes the main stage in the different phases of harvesting. It's the machine that cuts down the yellow waves of corn, which cuts down the grain and rolls the sheaves.

Seattle. -- A recently founded city, Seattle is the storehouse for Alaskan gold deposits. Its port which sends out 1000 ships each year has a large refitting basin. It's the center of a commerce in coal.

In California. -- In California as in New Zealand, the rabbit is one of the most terrible enemies of agriculture. The ravages of these rodents have led farmers to organize true scenes of carnage.

The Valley of Death. -- American mountains, especially on the Californian side, contain mining treasures that have begun to be developed. It's not rare to encounter endless trails of carts with heavy convoys of coal or borax.

The seven Cheyenne waterfalls. -- In the region around Colorado Springs these seven staged waterfalls rushing down 150 meters make up one of the rarest attractions on the route towards Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City. The Tabernacle. -- More or less at the center of the city on the area that is sacred to the Mormons (Temple Block) the Tabernacle was constructed where the unsupported arch is one of the largest in the world.

Salt Lake City. The Tabernacle. -- This enormous building in oval form is 76 meters long, 45 meters wide and 21 meters high. It rests on 44 pillars of sandstone and capped with a roof that resembles the shell of a turtle.

Salt Lake City. The Wasatch Mountains. -- On a large plateau (1331 meters high) where the "Salt Lake City" is located, a city of 53,531 inhabitants and capital of the State of Utah, founded in 1847 by the Mormons.

Salt Lake City. Inside of the Tabernacle. -- 12,000 people, 8,000 seated, can take their place in this gigantic hall, where the acoustics are excellent both for preaching as well as music.

Salt Lake City. The Temple. -- Constructed entirely of granite from 1853 to 1893, thanks to 4 million dollars, this grandiose building of 56 by 30 meters rises 64 meters into the sky with the angel statue that Mormons venerate on the top.

Salt Lake City. Mormon children. -- Due to polygamy, the Mormon family increases at a prodigious speed. 

Sermon at the Mormon school. -- During religious instruction the popular figures of the founders of Mormonism are evoked: John R. Winder, George A. Smith, Rudger Clawson, Abraham O. Woodruff, John Henry Smith, Francis M. Lyman, Heber J. Grant, Joseph F. Smith, John W. Taylor, Marriner W. Merril, Hyrum M. Smith, Reed Smoot, George Teasdale, Matthias F. Cowley, Anthon Lund.

The joys of polygamy. -- American humor takes on Mormonism in these two old caricatures that show in two phases the new wife being set up in the home.

Salt Lake City. City and County Building. -- This ample building which corresponds to our city halls in France dominates Washington Square with its grandiose architecture.

Salt Lake City. Business College: Bank Class. -- Instead of dry theory, the students of the Commercial School work in succession at real counters where they carry out the operations.

Salt Lake City. Business College: Director's Office.

Salt Lake City. Business College: Telegraphy Class. -- The students familiarize themselves with all the equipment of the systems they will one day be called to operate.

Salt Lake City. Business College: Carpentry  Class. -- Future carpenters learn the secrets of their art in a workshop equipped with all possible tools.

Salt Lake City. Business College: female section. -- Students are trained in all the trades to assure the material future of the young girls.

Salt Lake City. Brigham Young (1801-1877). -- First governor of the territory of Utah, he proclaimed the dogma of polygamy there in 1852. On the left is the gallery of his wives. On the right, his statue on the Pioneer Monument.

At the gates of the salt desert. -- The more you approach the City of the Mormons the more rarified the vegetation becomes.

Yosemite Valley. The Sentinel. -- This vertigo-inducing cliff rises 2135 meters like a watchman, and is one of the most gripping curiosities in the canyon of Yosemite.

Area around Glenwood Springs. -- The hanging lake is one of the most well-known sites in this area, a hot spring that attracts the rheumatic and those with gout.

Area around Glenwood Springs. -- The overflow of the hanging lake.

Glenisle. -- Located on the route from Denver to Leadville (Colorade and Southern Railway Line) in the Platte Canyon, Glenisle's location is particularly privileged in terms of scenery.

Around Rock Island. -- A number of notable sites used for excursions mark the area of Rock Island, an important center for railways and a city of 19,493 inhabitants on the east bank of the Mississippi.

Garden of the Gods. The rickety boulder. -- In the Cheyenne Canyons there is no more justifiably famous location than the Garden of the Gods, a terrain of 240 hectares bristling with boulders in strange configurations.

Ophir Loop. -- Before reaching the height of Kenosha (3,041 meters) the railway after Denver makes an immense turn into the Platte Canyon.

South Canyon (Cheyenne). The Columns of Hercules. -- The grandiose altitude of these herculean pillars that flank this famous gorge produces a most gripping effect.

Boulder. -- A small center of miners and students, the University of Colorado has 894 registered students. Boulder has developed at the mouth of the Boulder Canyon.

Grand River Canyon. -- Leaving the third tunnel at 400 meters in length, the railway reappears and makes its way again along this marvelous gorge with abrupt walls generally reaching 600 to 800 meters.

Indian encampments in Colorado. -- Various Indian tribes populate the Colorado region, among others the Apaches, Papago, Navajo and Utes. These peoples for the most part live in tents.

Navajo Indians. -- Ink black hair, bony figures, slanting eyes, amber color, the Indians of America clearly belong to the Mongol race.

A Navajo Indian woman. -- Certain industries among the savage peoples are done by the women. Such is the case with the Navajo where skilled workers fashion carpets with vivid colors.

Mokri Indians. -- Like other Indian tribes, the Mokri are very sensitive to music. They often gather together and play a primitive flute for which they have a strong fondness.

Grand River Canyon. -- The route that usually follows the river sometimes has to go through the heart of the rock.

Ouray. -- Nestled in a fold of the Rocky Mountains at 2355 meters of altitude, Ouray is known for the richness of its mines, the abundance of its hot springs and the excellence of its climate.

A view of Ouray. -- In spite of its altitude Ouray is a temperate place to live, thanks to the mountains Hardin and Hayden whose massive rocks stop the glacial winds from the North.

Ouray. Hot springs. -- Ouray only has about 2000 inhabitants, many of whom are miners. Nevertheless, during the spring, rich vacationers from Denver arrive to live in one of its districts.

Ouray stagecoach. -- Robust wagons with six horses climb the tough slops of the Rocky Mountains to bring tourists from the plains to Ouray.

A trench in the snow. -- During the winter months access to Ouray is particularly difficult. Sometimes the stagecoach has to open a passage through the snow avalanches that obstruct the route.

A dangerous turn. -- Cut into the flank of the mountain throughout almost its entire length, the route to Oray sometimes offers an impressive view.

The cliffs of Box Canyon. -- The stagecoach of Ouray often goes through romantic sites with a savage beauty.

Mule convoy in the mountains. -- The difficult situation in Ouray gives rise to needing to use the backs of mules to bring merchandise and supplies the population needs.

Mount Potosi. -- In the mountainous region that the Potosi dominates over, human industry grows its conquests day by day. Today the grandiose beauty of the landscapes is traversed by elevated trains, carrying minerals.

In the Rocky Mountains. A difficult passage. -- There are certain regions in these mountains that have to be crossed on the back of mules. The passage sometimes becomes entirely impossible to get through in the winter at certain points obstructed by the snow.

Seekers of gold. -- Very abundant in gold mineral, the Rocky Mountains attract a cosmopolitan, resolute and unscrupulous population eager to seek out the precious metal.

The Revenue Tunnel Mine, close to Ouray. -- The mineral development that this photograph shows is one of the oldest in Colorado, having existed for thirty years.

The Mines of Red Mountain. -- The mass of Red Mountain is one of the most active and abundant mining centers in North America.

Ouray Congress Mine. -- Mining development spaced through the Red Mountain form an inhabited center of the same name. This tiny town is located at an altitude of 3500 meters.

Marshall Pass. -- Marshall Pass is one of the most elevated passes of the main ridge of the Rocky Mountains. Despite the abundance of snow in winter, a narrow railway makes its way through during all seasons.

Ute Pass. Near Manitou. -- This picturesque passage between the colossal walls of the Rockies abounds in mineral springs.

Mountain landscapes. -- The way through the Rockies provides the tourist unforgettable sensations by the infinite variety of views the mountains present.

An escape into the valley. -- While the train climbs and wheezes up the route, you look down to see the immense valley, green and fertile, where the Denver and the Rio Grande flow.

A mine in the Rockies. -- The Rocky Mountains, especially in the northern states in America, abound in mines of silver and gold.

Pittsburgh. -- In the industrial war with the Old World, the gigantic city of iron takes the front. It threatens the best-tooled centers in Europe with its formidable production.

Hemp. Preparation workshop. -- There is no industry in Europe that does not have a corresponding one across the sea.

Hemp. Weaving shop. -- The textile industry employs women for the most part whose natural dexterity is increased tenfold thanks to these machines.

Steel. -- The deep perspective of this workshop, teeming with artisans of all ages, gives an exact enough image of the tools and richness of personnel that most American factories employ.

Steel. -- It's in these immense workshops that a population of workers turns, files, polishes the thousand detached pieces that will then take their exact place in the complicated organism of powerful machines.

Electric planes. -- These powerful and quick pieces of equipment that save time and work show the application of generators as the driving force for the industry.

Stearin. -- With a container full of molten wax, the worker moves on to the alignment of the molds where the candles take on their definitive form. The rapidity of the operation is extraordinary.

A pile driver. -- This untiring worker, automatic and gigantic in size, has a force of 2500 km, but adjustable to 1 kg thanks to an ingenious mechanism. It is not unique in this factory, which has 25 others of equal force and output.

Oil wells in the sea. -- This richness has singularly aided in the industrial expansion of America. Each state by the diversity of its subterranean treasures contributes to the prosperity of the country. This patch of oil is Summerland, 6 miles from Santa Barbara in California.

Weaving. -- The threads are wound automatically on gigantic spools, at a rate hardly sufficient to feed the devouring consumption of the machines they are destined for.

A forge. -- This immense hall with cars laden with material for each forge gives a clear enough idea of the intense metallurgical life taking place across the sea.

Packaging butter. -- In Chicago all the movements are done with a marvelous speed and uniformity. The cubes of butter of equal size are packaged and stickered after being tested.

Quenching of steel. -- Quenching at an American cutlery business. These tanks await the blades to which they will give the wanted resistance and suppleness.

A broom factory. -- The Americans do not concern themselves with brooms being made blindly. Here the choice of branches, their assembly and adjustment is done automatically.

Technological Institute of Pittsburgh. -- The large industrial city is equipped with all the latest technical perfections. A special machine functions here to test the resistance of materials.

Steam boiler. -- This series of steam boilers - perhaps the most formidable in existence - have 11,000 horsepower together. The motor force employed by the whole factory only reaches 8,000 horsepower.

A perforator. -- This extremely ingenious machine is equipped with 21 drills that can punch 21 holes in a plate at one time. On top of this two plates at a time can be bored into.

Bridges in America. -- The Americans have become masters of the art of engineering, especially concerning the construction of metallic bridges.

Schmidt Bridge. -- This metal bridge between two mountains has admirable boldness and lightness.

Pueblo. -- The city of Pueblo located on the banks of the Arkansas at 1,423 meters in altitude, is a commercial and manufacturing village of about 30,000 inhabitants.

Bridge under construction. -- This photograph shows the detail of the construction of a bridge. Thanks to the cables cast over the river, the central deck will be placed as a single piece.

A city forms. -- The cities in America develop with a stupefying rapidity. Here the large buildings poke out already over the low and modest uniformity of the first constructions.

A provisional theater. -- One of the first concerns of the Americans when they found a city is to set up a makeshift theater, often in the open, in anticipation of the construction of a more permanent building.

The St. Louis Expo. -- The French pavilion at the St. Louis Expo was a very exact replica of Petit-Trianon of Versailles.

St. Louis Expo. -- The central pavilion of this expo had a monumental aspect, with its grandiose dome and two wings encompassing a beautiful waterfall and multiple water jets.

The Mississippi. -- This magnificent river, nicknamed the Father of the Waters, is the largest in north america.

Crocodiles. -- On the banks of the Mississippi towards the mouth abound alligators of the largest size. They sleep in groups on the sand.

Driftwood. -- Forests being operated on are in great number on the banks of the Mississippi. The transport of wood is done using rafts that go down the river down to the embarkation point.

A pontoon on the river. -- On the wharves of Saint Louis the heaviest cargoes can make their way onto ships that bring them across the river.

St. Louis. The port. -- The river in front of St. Louis is of imposing size and the movement of the boats brings a great deal of animation to its quays.

Kansas City. -- This very important city, the second largest in the state of Missouri, is a very active manufacturing center. There you can see very beautiful gardens, such as the Pasco or Washington Park.

A ranch. -- In the immense plains of the far west an infinite number of herds are placed under the surveillance of gardiens universally known under the name cowboys.

Types of cowboys. -- Cowboys, violent and noisy and pugnacious, are the best of riders who carry out equestrian feats that are truly stupefying.

Throwing a lasso. -- When a cow is running away, the cowboy unrolls his lasso. The long cord cleaves the air and with a stunning precision takes down the body of the tamed beast.

Training. -- The horses cowboys use are remarkable for their intelligence and docility, but that only takes place through a tiring and difficult training.

The cowboy. -- The cowboy is the true king of the far west. His picturesque regalia, strange customs, bad personality and insane bravery have made him famous in both worlds.

State Street, Chicago. -- State Street goes through the city in all its length, parallel to the large Michigan Avenue. It is one of the most commercial streets in Chicago.

Chicago seen from the lake. -- On the banks of the lake rise buildings with an imposing architecture. The most important of them is the Auditorium, a hotel and a theater at the same time, with a tower reaching 82 meters.