How close were these predictions?

In many cases, they weren't far off. Almost makes me wonder if that is an authentic article from 1911.

I think it is. Some of the predictions aren't that close to the mark -- they reflect the situation in 1911 when the Panama Canal was not yet open the U.S. Marines were being used primarily to protect the interests of the United Fruit Co. in Central America. That's why it's predicted that Nicuaragua would, by 2011, be one of the states of the United States. Way off, but understandable given the tenor of the times.

Very cool. Interesting that they thought the state would take care of the sick and the poor. Where did that caring attitude go?

Well, in 1911 that was a fantasy. In 1933, FDR tried to make it a reality. I agree that the state is doing a piss-poor job of taking care of anybody who needs taking care of, but, compared to 100 years ago, it's like night and day today.

I see they had a theory of "peak coal" availability.

HORRORs they countenace and seem to encourage support of phonetic spelling. Dont tell Dave. He will be even more insufferable

The only thing they were really close on was population--they only missed the bottom end by a few millions, because they didn't understand that the birth rate would drop off dramatically. In fact, it only came close because of the post-World War II baby boom. When infant mortality drops, and material security increases, birth rates decline dramatically in industrialized countries. There is still some dispute as to why this is, but there is no disputing the statistics. The populations of Canada and the United States have only continued to increase at significant rates because of immigration.