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the latter $30,000 were spent in the past year. The increase of total value of all city property in 1888 over 1887 was $3,427,020-141 per cent. Gadsden, the county seat of Etowah County, Ala. population in 1889, about 6,000. It stands on the western bank of the Coosa, at the southern terminus of that range of mountains which, beginning in Lookout, at Chattanooga, runs unbrokenly southwestward for 90 miles, and for all that distance is impassable to wheeled vehicles. This range abounds in hematite iron ores, both red and brown; limestone for flux is near at hand, and coal and coke are only a few miles away from Gadsden. The transportation facilities are already abundant, and additions are in prospect. The "Queen and Crescent" through route passes (at Atalla) within five miles of Gadsden, with which it is connected by a branch. The Rome and Decatur Railroad gives connection with the system of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia, while the Anniston and Cincinnati Railroad connects at Anniston, 28 miles southwest, with the extensive systems of the Georgia Pacific and the Richmond and Danville Railways. Steamers on the Coosa between Gadsden. and Rome, carrying the United States mail to twenty-seven post-offices, make schedule time every day in the year. These lines give Gadsden transportation facilities and freight rates that put it upon an equality with other manufacturing points in the South. In the mountains east of Gadsden, immediately on the line of the Anniston and Cincinnati Railroad and in close proximity to Coosa river, are vast beds of brown ores. The company that owned the principal mineral properties and the town site built a furnace, which was blown in " Oct. 14, 1888. It has a capacity of 125 tons of iron each 24 hours, and furnishes employment, at mines and furnace together, for 300 men. A second furnace, lately completed, turns out 40 tons of charcoal iron a day. Its owners operate a short railroad and steamboat and barge line, and burn their own charcoal. Their ore is mined within half a mile of the furnace, and is worked direct from the mine. The Elliot Car Works have a capacity of 12 cars a day and employ from 250 to 300 men. This company is part owner of the Round Mountain ore bed, which is widely noted as giving an iron of peculiar excellence for car-wheels. There are also several smaller factories, foundries, lumber and wood-working mills, flouring mills, and brickyards. The river and railroad centering here pass through good agricultural lands, and two cotton warehouses, with a capacity of 15,000 bales, have been provided. The site of the business portion is level, and the town is handsomely built up, everything being modern, new, and fresh. One of the finest hotels in the South has been erected by the Improvement Company. A motor line runs to the suburbs and to the Nochalula Falls, which are formed by a mountain torrent leaping 94 feet from the top of Lookout Mountain into an alpine gorge about 200 feet wide, with perpendicular walls 60 to 100 feet high for nearly a mile below the falls. The recess behind this cataract would shelter 5,000 persons. The streets and many buildings are lighted by electricity. There are water works and an ice factory. A fine park and drive have been made around Lake George, which affords opportunity

for boating, and chalybeate springs form a further attraction.

Halifax, the capital and metropolis of Nova Scotia; population in 1881, 36,096; in 1889, estimated at 41.000. Halifax was settled in 1749 and incorporated in 1841. It is about midway of the Atlantic coast of the province, on Chebucto Bay, one of the finest harbors on the continent, is built on a peninsula 44 miles long and to 24 miles wide, and covers about 8 square miles. Its streets run at right angles and are generally well shaded. Its common contains 235 acres. Point Pleasant Park contains 186 acres, and has beautiful drives and scenery. The public gardens contain 17 acres, recently improved at a cost of more than $60,000. Halifax is the winter port of Canada for English mails and shipping, and an important British military and naval station. The extensive properties of the War Department and the presence of war ships in the harbor and of imperial troops throughout the city are necessarily a prominent feature, and mark this as the most English city in America. The citadel, an immense fortification two hundred and fifty-six feet above sealevel, commands the city and the harbor. York Redoubt across the Northwest Arm, George's island within and McNab's island at the entrance of the harbor, Fort Clarence, on Dartmouth side, and Point Pleasant, are all strongly fortified. Other properties of the War Department throughout the city are estimated to be worth $1,500,000. Halifax is the headquarters of the imperial forces in British North America, and the principal station of the North American and West India squadron of the royal navy. About 2,500 troops are generally stationed here. It is also the seat of a bishop of the Church of England, and of a Roman Catholic archbishop. There are 38 churches-12 Anglican, 4 Roman Catholic, 8 Presbyterian, 7 Methodist, 6 Baptist, and 1 Universalist. The principal educational institutions are Dalhousie College and University, which has 9 professors and 3 instructors in its Arts faculty, and 2 professors and 5 lecturers in its Law faculty; Halifax Medical College, with 11 professors, 4 lecturers, and 1 extra mural lecturer; the Presbyterian Theological Hall, with 3 professors; Halifax Ladies' College and Conservatory of Music, with 12 teachers: Academy of the Sacred Heart, with 14 teachers; and Halifax Business College. There are also numerous private schools. The city schools are the Halifax County and City Academy, which has 5 teachers, and 20 common schools, with 114 teachers. The total number of pupils attending city schools is somewhat over 7,000. The compulsory education law is to be enforced hereafter, and the school attendance will probably be increased. Five newspapers are published daily, 3 tri-weekly, and 7 weekly; besides 1 bi-monthly and 1 monthly periodical. There are 8 banks, 15 hotels, 3 public libraries, several reading-rooms, and numerous charitable institutions, among which are the Mount Hope Asylum for the Insane (Dartmouth), the county poor-house, Halifax School for the Blind, Halifax Deaf and Dumb Institution, Halifax Dispensary, the Protestant Industrial School, Home for the Aged, House of Industry for girls, Women's Home, Orphan's Home, Infant's Home,

and Victoria Hospital. The last-named building is being enlarged at a cost of $55,000. The Young Men's Christian Association owns a spacious building valued at $40,000. Among the more important public buildings are the Dominion Building, which cost $120,000; the new city hall, $130,000; the Provincial Building, recently modernized; the Government House; and the court-house. A new granite dry-dock

erty in the city is $21,562,603; of exempted property, Nov. 1, 1889, as follows: Churches. $611,000; charitable, $183,500; industrial, $600,000; educational, $202,000; to which should be added the cost of city school buildings, $193,000; miscellaneous, $805,000; much city, Government, and imperial property remains unestimated. The city debt, Nov. 1, 1889. was $1,950,000 (including the cost of water-supply, $802,000,

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has been built at a cost of $1,000,000; a new Dalhouisie College building. $80,000; and the Church of England Institute, $16,000; and a new city school building is being erected at a cost of $16,000. Electricity is used for lighting, and will soon be adopted as the motive power on the seven miles of street railway. There were reported at the Immigration Office 15,053 immigrants for 1888, and 10,937 for the first ten months of 1889. The imports for the year ending June 30, 1889, amounted to $6,940,342, of which $2,216,179 worth were entered free. The value of home consumption of imports was $6,521,848; the total duties collected, $1,836,089.81. During the same year vessels entered this port as follows: From foreign ports, 1,049, having 618,446 tonnage, 22,671 men, and 226,451 tons of cargo; and 3,404 coast wise vessels, having 284,475 tonnage and 20,377 men. Of vessels that cleared, 1,414 were for foreign ports, having 603.105 tonnage, 26,774 men, and 168,608 tons of cargo; 3,095 were coast wise vessels, having 317,396 tonnage and 3,095 men; and 481 were fishing vessels, having 36,320 tonnage and 6,630 men. The assessed valuation of taxable prop

and of school buildings $193,000). Halifax is the chief eastern terminus of Canadian railways, has regular steamship communication with both sides of the Atlantic, and is an important cable, telephone, and telegraph station. Its manufactures, except of sugar, rope, cotton, and skates, though numerous, are not extensive. As a watering place, it offers a salubrious air, fine scenery, bathing, and historic associations.

Helena, the capital of Montana, and county seat of Lewis and Clarke County, the commercial, financial, and railroad center of the State, situated at the eastern foot of the Rocky mountains, 12 miles from Missouri river. The population, by census of 1880, was 3.600; in 1889 it was about 20,000. Originally a town site of 160 acres, Helena was founded in 1864 by miners in "Last Chance Gulch," on both sides of which the city is built, and from which $20,000,000 of gold has been taken. The city was three times destroyed by fire (in 1867, 1872, and 1874) and was incorporated in 1881, with an area of 9 square miles. The Northern Pacific Railroad reached Helena in 1883, and the Manitoba and Montana Central was completed in 1887, entering the city

by way of the Great Falls of the Missouri and the cañon of the Prickly Pear. A short rail extension to Butte City connects with the Union Pacific. There are 11 local roads. Twenty-two passenger trains arrive and leave daily. There are 4 telegraph and 2 express companies. Telephone communication is maintained with the surrounding mining districts, within a radius of 50 miles, as well as with Deer Lodge and Butte City. The total mineral production of Montana in 1888 was $41,000,000, of which $24,666,000 was gold and silver, and in 1887 the production of the Territory in these metals was greater than that of either of the three leading States. The out-put of the United States Assay Office at Helena for the fiscal year 1888 was $1,344,094.59, of which $1,316,608 was gold. The largest gold bar ever made, weighing 7,000 ounces and worth $101,385.50, was cast by that office in 1889. In East Helena, a suburb, there is a $1,000,000 smelter, turning out daily 60 tons of silver bullion, and there are two reduction works. The assessed valuation of Helena property is $9,000,000, and that of the county $4,000,000. In 1888 $3,055,000 were expended in buildings and improvements. The capital, surplus, and undivided profits of five banks were $8,300,000. There are thirty miles of graded streets and avenues, with board sidewalks, one street railway, and one steam-motor line. Water is supplied by mountain streams, and the water works of three companies aggregate in cost $600,000. Gas and electricity are employed in lighting. The slope of the city from south to north affords excellent drainage, and $280,000 have been appropriated for a general sewerage system. A fire department, owning three engines, has a salvage corps, watch-tower with alarm bell, and electric signals. The post-office receipts are $39,000 yearly. The Catholic and Episcopal denominations have each a hospital, and the Catholic a reformatory institution. The public schools have 21 teachers and 859 pupils. The school buildings are of brick, with all modern appliances. St. Vincent's Academy, for girls, and St. Aloysius parochial school are Catholic, and there is an Episcopal parish school. One of the two business colleges is also a normal training school. The libraries are the Terrritorial Law library, that of the Historical Society, and that of the Young Men's Christian Association. Three daily and numerous weekly newspapers are published. There are nine hotels, and the city has a Chinese quarter. The Territorial fair has been held annually at Helena, and it is also the seat of a United States land office. To the north lies the fertile valley of the Prickly Pear. Lumber and coal are near. Granite, marble, porphyry, sandstone, and limestone are found within city limits and within ten to twenty miles. Sand for mortar is washed down in flumes from placer mines. The court house, of native granite and sandstone, cost $200,000, and has been used for the Capitol. By the act of admittance of the State, 182,000 acres of land were given by Congress for public buildings at the capital. There are many beautiful residences and fine parks. A steamer runs eighteen miles to the famous cañon of the Gates of the Rocky Mountains. Four miles from the city are the Hot Springs, a health resort, with a new hotel costing $100,000, and bathing-pool

120 by 300 feet. Water is conveyed six miles at a temperature of 150°. The industries embrace foundries, machine-shops, saw and planing mills, brick works, and breweries. The latitude of Helena is 46° 30'; longitude, 112° 4′; altitude, 4,256 feet; annual mean temperature, 48°. Houston, the county seat of Harris County, Tex., in the eastern part of the State, 50 miles northwest of Galveston, on the bank of Buffalo Bayou, at the head of tide-water and navigation. A ship channel, 200 feet wide and 12 feet deep, from the Gulf of Mexico, through Galveston Bay, to the city is under construction by the United States Government. At present vessels of nine feet draught pass up Buffalo Bayou to within a few miles of Houston. The facilities for transportation promised by this undertaking have led to the extension of railroads, bringing the produce of western Texas to Houston as a shipping point. More than 5,000 miles of railway reach tide-water at this point, and two lines of Mexican railway also have their base here as the nearest available connection with Atlantic ports. No great engineering difficulties exist in the construction of the channel, and its completion will greatly facilitate the coast wise trade of the United States and commerce with Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. The city was founded in 1836, and has had a steady growth. Its population in 1887 was estimated at 35,000; in 1889 it was 42,000. Its taxable wealth in 1889 was $11,400,000. In 1887 there were $750,000 invested in public works-gas, water, and electric lights; $2,750,000 in manufactures: $300,000 in shipping; and $1,400,000 in banks (including surplus). The deposits in national banks Dec. 31, 1887, were $1,789,191.68. The manufacturing interests have advanced. Two cotton-seed-oil mills have been erected, at a cost of $500,000, and there are five cotton presses, which for the year 1887 handled 748,036 bales. The repair and manufacturing shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company have been erected here, a car-wheel foundry, and also a large brewing establishment. The Live-Stock Association of Texas selected Houston as a central market of the cattle-growing interests, and the construction of a refrigerating plant of $500,000, to which the city contributed $255,000 was resolved upon in March, 1887. There are several foundries, soap factories, a fence-wire, a broom, and a plow factory, and other industrial enterprises. The total value of manufactured products and sales of merchandise for 1888 was $23,250,000. Houston is the center of twelve lines of railway, the tonnage of which for the year ending Sept. 30, 1887, was estimated at 2,229,295 tons. It is also a postal center, and the erection of a post-office building has been authorized by Congress. Houston is the chief distributing point for groceries, provisions, hardware, and agricultural implements in southern and eastern Texas, and is one of the chief marts in the State for cotton, lumber, hides, and agricultural products. The lumber interest is large, as the city lies on the edge of the great pine forests of eastern Texas. In 1887, 346,690,000 feet were shipped. Truck-farming is profitable. The city has a street railway and a complete system of water works; artesian water is obtained at a depth of 150 to 200 feet. streets are wide, and the drainage good. The

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public-school system is unusually good. The public buildings are the Market, Masonic Temple, court-house, and Cotton Exchange. The two last named have been built within a few years. There is a free library, controlled by a lyceum society, and here also is the Texas Geological and Scientific Association. Harris County contains fine agricultural and grazing lands.

Huntsville, a city and the county seat of Madison County, Ala., in the northern border of the State, 10 miles north of Tennessee river and 98 miles west of Chattanooga, 640 feet above the sea-level. The population in 1889 was about 9,000, largely recruited from the North. The cotton yield of the county is 23,000 bales annually, but the farmers are engaging extensively in raising stock and the growth of corn, wheat, clover, grasses, vegetables, and fruits. The annual corn crop is estimated at $1,500,000; the cotton crop, about $1,000,000; peas and beans, 50,000; potatoes, $100,000; horses, cattle, and sheep, $1,000,000. The largest fruit nursery in the United States is in this county. Immense forests of hard woods are tributary to the city, and the lumbering and woodworking industries are prominent. There is limestone near, and iron, lead, and silver ores have been found; but little mineral development has yet taken place. A direct road will soon connect it with Gadsden, and another with Birmingham. A dummy line runs out to Monte Sano, a watering-place three miles and a half northward. Turnpikes run to Tennessee river landing, and radiate in other directions. A cotton factory is running over 10,000 spindles, and in 1887 declared a dividend of 22 per cent. Besides this, Huntsville has a cotton compress and one of the largest cotton-seed-oil mills in the South, several saw and planing mills, a broom factory, wagon and carriage factories, and many minor shops. A tobacco house is in progress. Huntsville's streets were macadamized fifty years ago, and are shaded with aged and handsome trees. She has many fine old houses, as well as some new ones, and new business blocks. A good hotel has been built. The Federal building will cost $100,000. The churches are mostly of brick or stone, and there are a boys' institute and two girls' seminaries, in addition to the public schools. The town is lighted by gas and electricity, derives its water from a cold spring in the hills that yields 1,250,000 gallons an hour, and has an opera house, telephones, a market, and a paid fire department.

Junction City, the county seat of Davis (or Geary) County, Kan., near the geographical center of the United States, 138 miles west of Kansas City. The population is about 6,000. It is the northern terminus of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad, and the southern terminus of the Junction City and Fort Kearny Railroad, near the confluence of Smoky Hill and Republican rivers, where they unite to form Kansas river. The town was laid out in 1858, on a site chosen for its natural advantages-easy grades for road-making, abundance of pure water, excellent natural drainage, and salubrity of climate. The rivers that border the town on three sides are noted for their even flow of water. They seldom overflow or run low. Junction City is in the center of the great limestone region of

the State, and the fine stone quarries near the town are easily worked. Two test borings have proved the existence of salt beneath the city in great purity. Junction City is legally ranked as "a city of the second class.' It has water works that supply 500,000 gallons a day of pure well water. The town is lighted by electricity, operated by water power, and a company is organized to locate and build a system of street railroads connecting with Fort Riley, three miles distant, to be operated by electricity. There is a telephone system, a board of trade, a building and loan association, 2 banks, 2 railroad stations with repair-shops, 4 good hotels, 2 steam grain elevators, 3 grain warehouses, a butter and cheese factory, a canning factory, 2 grain and flouring mills, a pressed-brick factory, a marble yard, an iron foundry and other manufactures. Four weekly papers are published. There are 4 school-houses with a capacity of 1,200 pupils, employing 17 teachers, and 2 private schools, 10 churches, a city hall, an opera house which cost $35,000, 4 public libraries, and an efficient fire department.-FORT RILEY is practically a suburb of Junction City, and the exclusion of all trade, manufactures, and the usual avocations of civil life from the post must cause it to remain so. The military reservation consists of 20,000 acres, including portions of the valleys of the Republican, Smoky Hill, and Kansas rivers, with wide stretches of variegated uplands. The valleys are exceedingly fertile, with numerous groves of forest trees, and well watered by the rivers and small tributaries supplied by springs. This reservation was selected by a committee appointed by Congress in September, 1852, and was first occupied in May, 1855. It was at first named Camp Center, on account of its position in the American Union, but by general order of the War Department, June 27, 1855, the name was changed to Fort Riley, in honor of Gen. Bennett Riley, of the United States Army. Prior to 1887 the approximate sum of $500,000 was spent in the construction and repair of buildings, thus maintaining it as an important military post. In January, 1887, an act of Congress authorized the Secretary of War to establish upon the military reservation of Fort Riley a "permanent school of instruction for drill and practice for the cavalry and light artillery service for the army of the United States." Since that date elaborate plans have been prepared, and the work of construction has proceeded rapidly. Up to October, 1889, $800,000 had been expended, and the superintending officer estimates that it will require $500,000 more to complete the improvements. The principal structures now completed or under contract are as follow: Five artillery barracks costing $46.250; 5 artillery stables, $57,495; 5 gun-sheds, $40,000; 12 cavalry barracks, $115,950; 12 cavalry stables, $156,000; 1 large mess hall, $33.000; water works, $43,000; iron bridge and approaches on Kansas river, $16,000; guardhouse, $5,000; construction and grading of roads, $25,000; 1 barracks, 2 administration buildings, 62 sets of officers' quarters; and sundry store-houses, shops, and outhouses, cost not definitely ascertained. The post is lighted by electricity and heated by steam from one central furnace, and is supplied by reservoir pressure

with pure well-water. The capacity of the water works is 1,000,000 gallons a day. A complete sewerage system has been constructed. All improvements are planned and constructed in the most substantial manner. Fort Riley is to be the largest and most important military post on the Western Continent, and will probably be made headquarters for the breeding of the various grades of cavalry and artillery horses and a general recruiting station for the United States Army. The expenditures for labor are now about $300,000 a year, exclusive of pay of officers and men and cost of supplies. It is estimated that the cost of maintaining the post when in full running order, including pay and all supplies and expenses, will approximate $1,500,000 a year. The latitude of Fort Riley is 39° 4′ north; longitude 96° 47' west; altitude, 1,300 feet above the sea.

Laramie City, the county seat of Albany County, in the southeastern part of Wyoming Territory, on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad and on the east bank of Big Laramie river, 57 miles from Cheyenne, 573 from Omaha, and 163 from Denver. The town site was chosen in 1868, and the city incorporated in 1873. The population is about 7,000. On the east and west lie mountains rich in ores, and to the north and south stretches a plateau of 2,000,000 acres devoted to stock-raising and agriculture. The latter industry has received an impetus from the introduction of irrigation. The Pioneer Canal, the first irrigating ditch in the Territory, pours its surplus into the river three miles north of the city. Water flows through the streets on either side in summer. The floating debt is $16,000; the bonded debt, $40,000; assessed valuation of property, $1,500,000 rate of taxation, 8 mills. Spring water for domestic purposes is supplied in abundance by water works. Artesian water is also used, reached at a depth of 150 feet. The drainage is excellent, from the slope of the land and nature of the soil. Four miles of sewers were constructed in 1888. There is a fire department, telephones, and electric lights. There are eight churches. The public-school system was established in February, 1869. There is a handsome main building of dressed brick and stone, costing $30,000, having an attendance of 800 pupils, and another known as the West Side. There is also a Roman Catholic school. The building for the University of Wyoming, located here, was completed in 1887 at a cost of $75,000. It is of native stone, and has an assembly hall capable of seating 800 persons. The course of education is free, and open to both sexes. There are two banks, with an aggregate capital of $200,000; a loan and trust company, with capital of $190,000; and a land and improvement company for Albany County. One daily and two weekly newspapers are published, and there is an opera house and two hotels. The city is a supply center for miners, ranch men, and timber, for a radius of 200 miles. The resources of Albany County are rich. South of Laramie 13 miles lie the Soda Lakes, covering 100 acres, and containing 50,000,000 cubic feet of chemically pure crystallized sulphate of soda in deposits 9 to 12 feet thick. The salts are held in solution by spring water at the bottom, and the

amounts removed are soon replaced. The soda works were built in 1886 at a cost of $500,000. There is a railroad to the lakes. Building stone abounds, and red and brown sandstone quarries are within three miles of the city. Timber is within fifty miles, and there are two large planing mills. Clay and glass sand abound, and glass is manufactured at the rate of 42,000 boxes a year. A bed of gypsum of 1,000 acres lies almost along the railroad track, and plastermills will soon be built. There are a tannery, a brewery, a flouring mill, two bottling works, a soap factory, brick and lime kilns, large machine and repair shops, a rolling mill and spike mill, and Burnetizing works of the Union Pacific Railroad. It is the seat of the Territorial fish hatchery, and also of a United States penitentiary. The court-house and Laramie Club are notable buildings. There are handsome residences and business blocks, and fine ranches and stock farms are to be seen in the adjoining country. The altitude is 7,187 feet.

Lewiston, a city of Androscoggin County, Me., the second city in population in the State, on the left bank of Androscoggin river, thirty miles northeast of Portland, on the line of the Maine Central and Grand Trunk Railways. The population in 1870 was 13,602; in 1880, 19,083; in 1889, estimated at 25,000. Three railroads touch the city, and horse-car tracks are laid through the principal streets. The city owns and maintains the water works and electric-light plant. It also owns, in connection with Auburn (a city of 13,000 inhabitants, on the opposite bank of the river) six miles of railroad, connecting at Lewiston Junction with the Grand Trunk Railway. The best primary school-building in the State has been built during the year, at a cost of $50,000; and a new Roman Catholic Church is approaching completion, which will cost about $150,000. Bates College has just completed one of the finest laboratories in New England, and is about to erect an observatory on Mt. David, at a cost of $30,000. Lewiston has one of the finest and most complete city buildings in New England, which was erected at a cost of $300,000. In addition to the electric-light plant owned and maintained by the city for its own use, two other electric-light companies, which run by water power, furnish light and power. are eighteen cotton and woolen mills, with an invested manufacturing capital of $9,000,000, operating 300,000 spindles, the annual consumption of cotton being 27,000,000 pounds; the number of males employed in the mills is 4,000; the number of females, 3,300; total monthly disbursements of manufacturers, $225,000; production of cotton and woolen goods yearly, 54,000,000 yards. The water works net the city a good yearly surplus; and the railroad is self-sustaining. The school system is most thorough. A board of trade, with 300 members, recently established, is finely located and in a flourishing condition.

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Lexington, a city, and the county seat of Fayette County, Ky.; population about 20,000. It is in the center of the blue-grass district, which is noted for its extraordinary fertility and the perfection to which the blue grass (Poa sylvestris) comes. This fertility is due to the fact that the soil is made from and overlies a blue

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