The great silent power was applied first to the telegraph, and then was soon used in connection with other inventions. It was early employed by the New York police system (1856), and then adapted to house- and streetlighting. The first electric lamp was used in 1876,

and the incandescent lamp in 1880. The first business firm to use electricity for illuminating purposes was in New York City (1881), and then it was employed in a mill at Newburg. The first hotel to adopt it was the Blue Mountain House in the Adirondacks. The New York Herald was the first newspaper to introduce it (1882), and the same year a part of the metropo lis was lighted by it, and then Lockport adopted it. By

1890 the 7 electric-light plants (1880) had increased to 650, and 57 steamboats and 10 electric roads were using the power. For police patrol 5 cities were employing electricity, and 36 for fire-alarms. Electric welding and smelting began. Electricity is also found to be helpful for heating and domestic purposes, and serviceable for physicians, surgeons, and hospitals. Every city, village, and home is made happier by the great discovery. It was early seen that the great falls of Niagara might be used for vast industrial purposes. The Niagara Power Company put up a plant of 27,000 horse-power, and another corporation has one of 100,COO horse-power. The first practical test of the hydraulic tunnel, which cost $4,000,000, made by the second company, was a success (Jan. 25, 1894). The marvelous lighting effects at the Pan-American Exposition were derived from that source. It is hoped that in time the tremendous power now wasted may be utilized for factories, light, street-cars, and railroads.

The Canals have continued to be a source of profit to the state and a convenience to the public. The railroads have been strong competitors, but under free tolls (1882) the canal trade continues to be enormous. Wheat is carried from Chicago to New York for four cents a bushel, and corn for a little less. The price from Buffalo to New York is three and two cents. In 1900 more than 3,350,000 tons were carried on the canals. Various routes have been suggested for a great ship canal connecting the Great Lakes with the ocean, but the project remains for the future. The Harlem ship-canal was opened June 17, 1895, with a land and marine parade, banquet, and fireworks. It opens up

navigation directly from Hudson River to Long Island Sound. Congress appropriated $2,700,000 for the work. On March 24, 1900, the mayor of New York City cut the earth in front of the City Hall, and work on the rapid transit railway began. In a few years this underground railroad will carry passengers " to Harlem in fifteen minutes." It will cost $35,000,000. The Hudson tunnel, connecting Jersey City with Greater New York, begun in 1873 and long delayed, will be completed in due time.

Commerce. New York is the greatest commercial state in the union. In 1900 there were nearly 5,000 licensed vessels, 185 being new ones. This is three times the number in any other commonwealth. The canal traffic, mostly of agricultural, forest, and mining products, amounts to $96,000,000 (1897). In 1898 24,426,000 bushels of corn were carried east from Buffalo. No other state has better advantages for traffic by water than New York. The increase in trade has been phenomenal. In 1836 at Buffalo 1,240,000 bushels of grain were received; sixty years later the amount was 214,355,000 bushels. Through Lake Champlain the trade is large in coal, stone, iron ore, and lumber. The commerce at New York is truly gigantic. Only a few centuries ago the great emporium was but a point on Manhattan Island; to-day it is the best mart of the world.

Trade. Before the Revolution the trade of New York was inferior to that of the Carolinas, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, or New England. The English Board of Trade reported to Parliament that

they have no manufactures in the Province of New York worth mentioning." To-day the Chamber of Com

merce, founded in 1768, chartered in 1770, and reorganized in 1784, controls much of the world's commerce, establishes laws and usages, and regulates the value of money. The Marine Society, chartered in 1770 and revived in 1786, extends sea-trade and cares for sailors and their families. From the time the "Empress of China" made her first trip to the east (1784), New York's foreign trade has increased until 37 per cent of all exports and 63 per cent of all imports of the nation pass through her ports (1900). She pays 70 per cent of all tariff duties. In 1900 the imports reached $562,000,000 and the exports $606,785,000-more than all the other ports of the country combined.

New York a Center of the World.-Greater New York is the great depot to and from Europe. Of the 312,000 travelers and immigrants to this country in 1899, 243,000 landed at New York. Lines of steamships run to and from her port to all parts of the world-17 to Great Britain, 4 to Germany, 6 to France, 2 to the Netherlands, 2 to Belgium, 4 to the Baltic, 2 to Spain and Portugal, 8 to the Mediterranean, 36 to China, Japan, India, and the East, 4 to Central America, and 15 to Mexico and the West Indies. Cables carry messages from New York City to 85 points over the world for from 25 cents to $1.58 a word.

Banking Institutions.-The business of the state is carried on largely through banking organizations. There were 337 national banks in operation in the state in 1900 with a capital of $97,337,000. The New York Clearing House, composed of 64 banks with a capital of $74,222,000, "cleared" nearly $52,000,000,000—an average daily business of $171,000,000. All other

cities in the nation "cleared" but $26,000,000,000. The Empire State leads in savings banks. Governor Black said, "Our savings banks are, and have long been, a source of pride." They show the thrift of the common people. The $354,000,000 deposited in 1880 more than doubled in twenty years, when the depositors numbered 1,806,000, and 43 per cent of such deposits in the country were in New York. Wall Street is a financial giant. Supplementing the banks are hundreds of building and loan associations over the state. They numbered 300 in 1900, 86 being in the metropolis. The Sub-Treasury in New York City does far more business than the Treasury at Washington.

It

The Insurance Business has become enormous. now covers a wide field—fire, life, water, live stock, personal property, tornadoes and hail, plate glass, wages, strikes, and many other things. About two hundred and fifty companies are doing business in the state, with assets of nearly $2,000,000,000. A superintendent of insurance overlooks the whole system.

Retrospect. In reviewing the commercial progress of the century now past in this state it is apparent that New York enters the new century with a record for achievements unparalleled in all history. Her steam, electric, and cable railroads for freight and travel cover the state like a network and enable the cities to extend in all directions. Her canals and improved watercourses furnish excellent highways for cheap transportation. Her steamships run to all corners of the earth. Her banks, factories, and business corporations of various kinds show an unsurpassed prosperity. Her trade amounts to more in one day now than it did in a year a