Principal Railway Countries, 1887. +-------------+-------+ | Countries. |Kilo- | | |meters.| +-------------+-------+ 25,000 Kilometers |Italy | 11,759|»» | 50,000 |Australia | 15,297|»»» | | 75,000 |Canada | 19,883|»»»»| | | 100,000 |British India| 22,665|»»»»| | | | 125,000 |Austria- | | | | | | | 150,000 | Hungary | 24,432|»»»»| | | | | | 175,000 |Russia | 28,517|»»»»|» | | | | | | 200,000 |France | 31,208|»»»»|»» | | | | | | | 225,000 |Great Britain| 31,521|»»»»|»» | | | | | | | |250,000 |Germany | 39,785|»»»»|»»» | | | | | | | | | |United States|241,210|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»»»|»»» | +-------------+-------+ The most prominent fact is impressed by the very long line representing the mileage of the United States. A second impressive fact is that the United States has more than six times the mileage of any other country. A third, that there are but five other countries that have even a tenth as much railway. RAILWAY MILEAGE OF THE UNITED STATES. _Total Annual Mileage and Increase._--On page 429 is given a chart which, beginning with the 23 miles of 1830 and ending with the 156,082 miles of 1888, delineates our ever-increasing total mileage. It also portrays the fluctuations in the number of miles built annually. This latter study is the more interesting, especially during the last twenty-five years, which cover the periods of extreme activity. _Mileage Compared with Area._--The shaded map on the same page pictures the railway mileage of each State as compared with its total area. The eleven States bearing the deepest shade (5) are those having the larger proportions of mileage to area. Of these, New Jersey stands first, having almost exactly one-fourth of a mile of railroad for each square mile of land. The proportion of total area occupied by this mileage is measured to the eye by the accompanying diagram. [Illustration: Mileage to Area in New Jersey.]