The transportation facilities of Pittsburg in clude the Pennsylvania. Vanderbilt, and Gould systems of railways. the independent Pittsburg. Bessemer and Lake Erie. and 111011'1o. Rochester and Pittsburg roads, and the rivers. The Penn sylvania system includes. from the east. the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. the Buffalo and Allegheny Valley division. the Pittsburg, Virginia and Charleston, the lialtiinore and Ohio. and the \Vest Penn: from the west, the Pittsburg. Fort Wayne and Chicago. the Erie and Pittsburg. the Cleveland and Pittsburg. the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis, and the Pittsburg and Western roads, with their branches. The Vanderbilt system reaches the city from the west by way of the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Railroad, while the Gould interests are penetrating to the city through an extension of the Wabash from the west. The most ex tensive freight yards are at Pitcairn on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Versailles on the Bal timore and Ohio, McKee's Rocks un the Pittsburg and Lake Erie. Conway on the Pittsburg. Fort Wayne and Chicago, Sheridan on the Pitts burg, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis, and at Twenty-eighth Street on the Buffalo and Al legheny Valley division. The Pennsylvania sys tem has a large union station at Tenth and Liberty streets. used by all its roads except the Baltimore and Ohio and the Pittsburg and Western. The Pittsburg and Lake Erie also has a fine new station on the South Side.
The rivers are of great importance commer cially. The -Monongahela runs through the richest coal fields of the Pittsburg district, and is improved throughout its entire length. In ISO7 the Federal Government purchased seven locks and dams from the Monongahela Naviga tion Company for $3,761,615. It already owned two locks and dams above these, and Congress soon afterwards authorized the construction of six more at a cost of $1,200,000 to give slack water navigation from Pittsburg to Fairmont, IV. Va., a distance of 130 miles. Three locks and dams, to cost $1,500,000. are under con struction on the Allegheny River, which will give 22 miles of slack-water navigation. On the Ohio River. Davis Island dam, constructed at a cost of $940.000, affords a harbor for the city.
Six dams are being constructed at an estimated cost of $5,525,000, and five more have been authorized by Congress. The project contem plates the creation of a nine-foot stage of water between Pittsburg and Cairo, Ill., at an ultimate cost of $50,000,1100. The traffic on these rivers is consisting chiefly of coal and manu factured iron. Of the 0,500,000 tons of freight on the rivers each year, 5,500,000 tons are coal. Pittsburg has 144 steam vessels, with a total tonnage of 39.476, on its marine register, but the barges, in which most of its shipping is done, are not registered. Their tonnage is estimated to be in excess of 2,500,000 tons. Considerable business in lighter freights and passengers is done on the Monongahela and Ohio rivers by fast packets. The Allegheny is devoted chiefly to lumber-rafting.
The export trade of Pittsburg is large and is growing rapidly. Coal is tieing shipped by river to New Orleans, and by rail to New York and Philadelphia for export. Manufactured iron and steel also are exported in immense quantities.
UoVERS M ENT. The government of Pittsburg- is vested in a mayor and a bicameral city coun cil. The title of the chief executive was changed from mayor to recorder by an act of passed in 1901, regulating the government of sec ond-class cities, and his powers were much en larged, but in 1903 the former title was re stored. He now appoints, with the consent of Select Council, the city treasurer, assessors, di rectors of the departments of public works. public safety, eharities, and the department of law, and five police magistrates. Councils elect their own presiding oflieers and the city clerks. The comp troller is chosen by popular vote. The city has a pension fund for the benefit of veteran em ployees of the police and fire bureaus, and a dis ability fund for the assistance of those killed or injured while on duty. The police admin istration is, under the director of the department of public safety, in the hands of two coordinate bureaus, police and detective. The fire depart ment is under the control of a chief engineer. Its equipment is excellent, but the water supply at present is inadequate, and insurance rates are accordingly high.