CELEBRATION OF THE SESQUI-CENTENNIAL. 289 the city; yet much is due to the enterprise and energy of the men who laid its foundation, pledging their fortunes in support of its prosperity. 43. It soon became apparent that Maryland would attract the trade of the great valley of the Mississippi, and then her citizens carved out for her a highway through the Alleghany, or Appalachian, chain of mountains, with a courage and persistence which commanded the admiration of the world. They ceased not to labor until Baltimore was connected by railroad with the Ohio River. 44. When this great work was done, the commercial position of Maryland was made permanent for all time to come; and barriers were soon broken down to admit trade westward from the shore of the Atlantic, as well as eastward from the empire of China. 45. In 1880 the sesqui-centennial, or one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, of Baltimore was celebrated in that city, continuing more than a week, in the month of October. There was during the whole time a general holiday in the city, and almost everywhere throughout the state. 46. Representations of the growth of Baltimore and Maryland appeared in each day's procession; and competent witnesses declared that no civic or triumphal processions in Europe ever exceeded those in Baltimore for numbers and grandeur of display. 47. The administrative ability manifested by the mayor and police in the government of the city, during the presence of unreckoned thousands in motion, was without a parallel in the history of governments, and it wiped away for ever the old aspersion which bestowed upon the city the unjust and slanderous misnomer of "Mob town." Harmony and good feeling prevailed among the people; no arrests were made except to prevent pressure of crowd upon crowd; and an unfriendly encounter was not heard of during the memorable week of rejoicing. 48. The processions and the multitudes of spectators on the sidewalks afforded a striking illustration of the good humor of Maryland crowds, and the patience with which policemen's orders may be obeyed. 49. Old Baltimore and old Maryland, that had been so rapidly receding into history, were again brought vividly before the view, and there was seen in procession a representation of the horse, the driver, and hogshead of tobacco, as they made their way along some old rolling road laid out in the royal days of old Maryland. 50. Following after similar representations of labor in the olden time, came exhibits of skilled labor its laborsaving appliances, its scientific economies, its precise methods, and the amount of capital invested in material and appliances, as well as the present immense capacities for the transportation and distribution of products in demand. 51. It was estimated that eighty thousand strangers visited Baltimore on the first day of the celebration; and, considering some of the large and unwieldy tableaux in procession, it is highly creditable and pleasing that there were no accidents. The zeal, the energy, and the intelligent comprehension of their duties exhibited by the municipal committees deserves generous recognition. They furnished Baltimore and its thousands upon thousands of visitors with such a spectacle as never before was witnessed in any American city, and "if in the future the enterprise of the Monumental City should be called in question, here is a record of achievement that will be a perpetual refutation of the slander." 52. In October, 1881, the first Oriole celebration took place in Baltimore, lasting three days. On the tenth, the introduction of the permanent water supply from the Gunpowder River into the city by means of a costly tunnel was formally completed. A fountain and cascade were prepared at Monument Square, and the water was turned on PRINCE FREDERICK DESTROYED BY FIRE. 291 by Mayor Latrobe in the presence of an immense crowd. On the eleventh, at night, a procession of allegorical ta bleaux on floats paraded some of the principal streets. 53. During the celebration the French and German guests to the Yorktown centennial were entertained by the city. On the night of the twelfth a ball was given in their honor at the Academy of Music, and a brilliant display of fireworks took place at Druid Hill Park. 54. The legislature met on the 4th of January, 1882. The house of delegates at this time consists of ninety-one members, the counties being represented according to their population as shown by the census of 1880, as the constitution of the state requires. An act was passed providing for a new registration of voters throughout the state. 55. Provision was made for marking the boundary line between the states of Maryland and Virginia, in conformity with the award of the arbitrators, to whom were submitted the controversies which had existed for over two centuries. The line agreed upon by the arbitrators had been accepted by Maryland and Virginia, and confirmed by the Congress of the United States, and it only remained to erect durable monuments to fix this line. 56. An act was passed providing for the preservation, arrangement, publication, and sale of ancient documents pertaining to Maryland. The Maryland Historical Society was made the custodian of all the records, archives, and ancient documents of any date prior to the acknowledg ment of the independence of the United States by Great Britain. Two thousand dollars were appropriated to aid in their publication, and the society is allowed to sell the publications at cost price, and add the proceeds to the publication fund. 57. On the 3d of March, Prince Frederick, the countyseat of Calvert County, was almost entirely destroyed by fire, With the court-house, many valuable records, some of them dating as far back as 1650, were destroyed. These papers were invaluable on account both of their legal and historical importance. The few books and papers saved were destroyed by a subsequent fire in the building in which they had been stored. 58. Enoch Pratt, Esq., a wealthy citizen of Baltimore, offered to erect, at his own expense, a building on Mulberry Street for a free circulating library, to cost $250,000, and to give to the city of Baltimore the sum of $833,333.33, provided the city would appropriate annually $50,000 for the support of "The Enoch Pratt Free Library." The offer was accepted, and the library will in due time be opened. 59. This generous gift provides for the city of Baltimore what had previously been wanting-a circulating library free to all. For the convenience of readers, it is proposed to establish branch libraries in different sections of the city. With the Johns Hopkins University, the Peabody and Historical Society's libraries, for students and scholars, and the Mercantile, Maryland Institute, and Enoch Pratt circulating libraries, for the reading public generally, the citizens of Baltimore have ample means of continuing the education afforded by her public and private schools. CHAPTER XXXI. 1882-1900. Population - Fires. - Presidential Elections. - Standard Time. Electric Light.-Earthquake Year.-Annexation of the "Belt.". Arbor Day.-Johnstown Flood.-Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.Acts of Assembly -Commerce of Baltimore.-Governor Brown's Administration.-Election of Lloyd Lowndes as Governor.-Contest between the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.-Governor Lowndes' Administration.-Presidential and Congressional Election. 1. THE decade ending with the year 1890 is not distinguished by any remarkable events. Population increased about fifteen per cent., the census of 1880 giving 934,632, and that of 1890 1,070,000. The increase is larger, in proportion, in the city of Baltimore and other centres of population than in the rural districts. The population of Baltimore City is reported to be 434,151, an increase of 101,833 in ten years. It is now the seventh city of the United States as regards population, coming after New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston and St. Louis. 2. The more general use of improved labor-saving machines in agriculture has made country life more pleasant, if not more profitable, than heretofore. Some large farms have been broken up into smaller holdings, and many tracts, formerly planted in corn, are now devoted to peaches, berries, tomatoes and other market vegetables. The profits of the farmers are, however, much reduced by the crops having to go through the hands of middlemen before reaching the consumer. It is one of the purposes of the “Far |