MARVELOUS STATISTICS.

One of the most enjoyable reports of the evening was that of Isaac E. Lyon, upon a subject that would seem to be the driest that could be had. It was as follows:—

Last year's committee on statistics made such a complete report of the solid facts of Amsterdam that this year's committee is obliged to go out of the beaten track and offer you a gingerbread report. If any member is dissatisfied, he can take last year's report, add ten to twenty per cent. to it lor our normal growth, and be happy.

Amsterdam, located in the Mohawk Valley, beautiful for situation, is about midway between the equator and the north pole. To be exact, it is less than 150 miles south of the dividing line.

The census of 1900 gave the United States 140 cities of 10,000 inhabitants or over. Amsterdam was the 205th city. If we had 1,436 fewer inhabitants, it would be the middle city.

Amsterdam's population in 1813 was 150. Since then it has doubled seven times, an average of once every twelve and one-half years. To continue this growth will give us in 1925 a population of 76,000; in 1950 a population of 304,000; in 1975 a population of 1,216,000.

This is ab-so-lute-ly sure to take place, provided every man now a member of this Board of Trade will remain here an active, working member until 1975.

Amsterdam has two pearl button factories. One of them is the largest manufacturer of pearl buttons in the world. They export to Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Mexico, Cuba, Germany, Brazil, and Argentine Republic. During the past six months they averaged 16,076 gross of buttons daily, i.e., 2,314,944 buttons per day, or 694,483,200 pearl buttons per year.

In this item alone Amsterdam gives work to over a million hands daily—in buttoning them in the morning and unbuttoning them at night.

The output of the Amsterdam carpet mills is 10,200,000 yards a year, equal to 5,800 miles. This would carpet a stretch from Amsterdam to St. Petersburg, via London, with a small strip left over long enough to reach from Amsterdam to Buffalo.

The Amsterdam trolley line, the seventh longest in New York state, called for short the Fonda. Johnstown, and Gloversville Railroad, carried 3,888,198 passengers for the year ending June 30, 1905. This is the equivalent of the combined population of Chicago, St. Louis, Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, Washington, and Fall River.

Our knit goods manufacturers use annually 18,401,250 pounds of cotton and a vast amount of wool, making 2,676,300 dozen, or 32,115,600 garments. They could supply the underwear for the inhabitants of a nation of 8,000,000.

Our broom manufacturers use 16,700,000 pounds of broom corn and make about 465,000 dozen, i.e., 5,580,000 brooms, and 160,000 dozen, i.e., 1,920,000 brush brooms annually.

What city on the face of the earth renders more assistance in making this world a clean place to live in than does Amsterdam in this item alone? "Our output of brooms exceeds that of any other city in the world."

We believe more money was spent for school buildings in Amsterdam during the past fifteen years than in the entire 5,894 years preceding—including the years before the deluge.

Our pasteboard factories make 6,000,000 boxes yearly.

Our paper mill produces 6,000,000 pounds yearly, and necessitates the loading and unloading of 600 freight cars, or a train four and one-half miles long. It makes 300 feet of newspaper two yards wide per minute, equal to seven miles one yard wide per hour, or 50,000 miles a year. This would reach twice around the globe.

The streets of Amsterdam if made continuous would reach from here to Albany, then turn and go on to Troy.

Our city has nearly one church for each thousand inhabitants.

Amsterdam is a most attractive place for men with families, as it has such diversity of manufactures that all working members can find employment, and this is one of the causes for its being such a thrifty city. Although we have a population of but 23,943, the Amsterdam Savings Bank has 10,221 open accounts, with deposits of $3,625,391.

The output of the oil mills is 3.000,000 gallons of linseed oil per year. This would fill a canal twelve feet wide and one and one-quarter miles long to a depth of five feet.

It is interesting to know that our freight depot is 700 feet long, and there were handled through our freight department 536,176,000 pounds of freight. This would make a train that would reach from Amsterdam to Chicago, back to New York, and then back to Amsterdam, or a distance of 2,309 miles, or would make 464 trains of seventy-five cars each, or 34,820 cars carrying 268,088 tons of freight.

Our packing house prepares in a year 2,400,000 pounds of dressed pork, 360,000 pounds of sausage, cure and smoke 840,000 pounds of ham. Three hundred cars were placed on their side track during the past year.

The Hudson River and Automatic Telephone Companies answered during the year 3,515.000 local calls and 135,000 toll messages. Owing to a delay, we are unable to present the statistics of our spring manufactories, but we understand that one of them is the largest of its kind in the United States.

The gathering of these statistics was so absorbing that one of the committee slipped his trolley, and before we could get him in running order the machine ground out two verses. These, we discover, can be sung to the fine German air of "0 Tannanbaum." the identical one to which James Ryder Randall set the words of his Confederate song, "My 'Maryland":—

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!
Thy ceaseless looms forever hum.

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!
From far and near the orders come,

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!
For products of the weaver's drum,
Or case with knit goods loaded plumb.
For Amsterdam is "coming some."

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!

CHORUS.

For Amsterdam is "coming some."
Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!

Thy peopled streets stretch mile on mile,

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!
Thy carpets set the nation's style,

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!
Thy buttons served the rank and file.
Thy merchant kings with plenty smile,
Thy Board of Trade their house beguile,

Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!

CHORUS.

For Amsterdam is "coming some."
Amsterdam! My Amsterdam!

A resident of' Amsterdam at a dinner in a large city in another state was called on to tell what Amsterdam was noted for. Ignoring all these statistics, he affirmed that Amsterdam was famous for the beauty of its women. We will close our report by quoting from him:—

"The typical woman of Amsterdam is prettier than an evening star in the glow of a summer sunset, more inspiring than a thousand songs. She is our hope, our romance, our vine and fig tree, the light which enables us to see a million miles beyond the North Star."

All of which is respectfully submitted.

ISAAC E. LYON,
JOHN BARTHOLOMEW,
JULIAN DU BOIS.
JAMES B. GARDINER.
DAVID D. CASSIDY. JR.