128 



CITIES, AMERICAN. (GENEVA, GLOVERSVILLE.) 



teachers and 3,100 pupils. The city library con- 

 tains 10,000 volumes. There are 5 banks (3 of 

 which are national) having capital and surplus 

 of $700,000; 2 daily and 4 weekly newspapers 

 and 3 monthly periodicals ; and 19 churches, of 

 which 4 are Swedish, 2 Catholic, 2 colored, and 

 1 German. 



Geneva, a village of Ontario County, ISew 

 York, at the foot of Seneca Lake ; population in 

 1890, 7,346. The most desirable part of the vil- 

 lage for residence is on a high bluff on the west 

 shore, overlooking the lake, with a view not un- 

 like those on the Rhine. Geneva is on the Au- 

 burn branch of the New York Central Railroad, 

 the Fallbrook Coal Company's road, the Lehigh 

 Valley, the Geneva and Lyons, .and the Geneva 

 and Buffalo (now being constructed). Here also 

 begins the Seneca and Cayuga Canal, which con- 

 nects Geneva with the canal system of the State. 

 It has 3 fine steamers on the lake. Geneva is 40 

 miles from Watkins, 51 from Rochester, and 340 

 from New York city. Its fine paved streets are 

 lined with handsome stores, and the broad ave- 

 nues, lined with plats of grass and stately trees, 

 abound in beautiful residences. Electric lights 

 are generously distributed, and an abundance of 

 pure water is carried to all parts of the town. 

 An admirable system of sewerage and an effi- 

 cient board of health make Geneva one of the 

 most healthful places in the State. Among 

 its natural advantages is the Geneva Mineral 

 Spring. Many barrels of this water are shipped 

 weekly. Geneva is the seat of Hobart College, 

 erected in 1822. There are three public schools, 

 with fine buildings, and another in course of 

 erection. The Delancey Divinity School, the De- 

 lancey School for girls, and the Quincey School, 

 besides a Roman Catholic parochial school, and 

 two observatories complete the educational equip- 

 ment. There are several fi:ie hotels, and a large 

 sanitarium, which is visited yearly by hundreds 

 of patients. Geneva is the seat of the State Ex- 

 perimental Farm, which occupies a beautiful site 

 west of the village. There is a board of trade, and 

 a well-equipped fire department, with a system of 

 fire alarms. The Thirty-fourth Separate Compa- 

 ny, or Folger Guards, are to have a new armo- 

 ry, and the site has been selected. The Geneva 

 nurseries form the greatest industry here. Hun- 

 dreds of thousands of trees are shipped yearly, and 

 the largest dealers in the world are located here. 

 There are three banks and a loan association. 

 The Manufacturers' Accident and Indemnity 

 Company, with a reserve fund of $50,000, em- 

 ploys a large corps of clerks, and is growing rap- 

 idly. The manufactories include stove works, 

 a Cereal Company, boiler works, a canning fac- 

 tory, optical-instrument works, and a malt house. 

 Three weekly newspapers are published. 



Gloversville, a city of Fulton County, N. Y., 

 on the Cayadutta, a branch of Mohawk river, 

 8 miles north of Fonda. It is connected with the 

 Xi-w York Central and Hudson River Railroad 

 by the Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Rail- 

 road, by the Johnstown, Gloversville and Kings- 

 borough horse-car line, and also by a plank road. 

 The route of the New York Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 road has been surveyed through the city. The 

 city is among the foot-hills of the Adirondacks, 

 and statistics show that it is one of the most 

 healthful localities in the Union, the claim being 



made that the death rate is lower than any other 

 city of New York. Sixteen miles up the hills 

 from Gloversville is Sacandaga Park, on Sacan- 

 daga river. This comprises about 100 acres well 

 laid out and surrounded by numerous cottages 

 for summer occupants. The climate of this re- 

 gion is mild and healthful, the mercury seldom 

 rising above 85 or falling below zero. 'The ear- 

 liest settlements in this locality were made about 

 the close of the eighteenth century. The small 

 hamlet was called the " Stump City " until 1828, 

 when, on the occasion of establishing a post-of- 

 fice, it was named Gloversville. In 1830 it had 

 but 14 houses. It was incorporated as a village 

 in 1851 and as a city Feb. 19, 1890. The popu- 

 lation by the United States census of 1880 was 

 7,163 ; by the census of 1890 it was 13,796. The 

 60 or 70 miles of streets in the city are substan- 

 tially paved with cedar blocks, curbed with heavy 

 flagging stone, and lined with shade trees. The 

 water supply comes from mountain streams, and 

 is led into 5 reservoirs, about three miles from 

 the city, by the gravitation system. The reser- 

 voirs have an elevation of 250 feet above the 

 business center of the city, and they have an 

 aggregate capacity of 13,500,000 gallons. The 

 water rates are iow. The fire department has 

 an electric fire-alarm system. The police de- 

 partment is well organized. Two plants furnish 

 electric light for the streets and business houses, 



and also power for manufacturing. The asses 

 valuation of the city is $4,000,000 ; and as there 

 is no municipal debt, the taxes are moderate. 

 There are 2 banks, 3 large hotels, and several 

 building and loan associations. The city con- 

 tains 14 churches and a Young Men's Christian 

 Association, which has a building of its own. 

 The public-school system is on a substantial 

 basis, and higher education is cared for in the 

 Union Seminary. The free library, founded by 

 the Hon. Levi Parsons in 1880, contains 9,000 

 volumes, with a circulation of over 40,000 vol- 

 umes per annum. Two daily newspapers, 2 

 semi-weeklies, 3weeklies, and 2monthlies are pub- 

 lished, Gloversville is best known for its facto- 

 ries of gloves and mittens, of which there are 117. 

 In addition to these, there are 17 glove and shoe 

 leather factories, together with manufactories of 

 carriages, glove and shoe dies, sewing machines, 

 patent medicines, roofing materials, wood and 

 paper boxes, wagons, and buttons. There are 

 also machine shops, forges, engine shops, planing 

 and saw-mills, and knitting mills. More than 

 $2,000,000 is invested in the glove industry. The 

 manufacture of gloves in Fulton County began 

 at Kingsborough in 1809, when a leather-dresser 

 from Massachusetts came here to teach his art. 

 The first skins used were those of deer, which 

 the manufacturers of tinware received in ex- 

 change. The leather-dresser made a few pairs 

 of rough mittens, which he bartered among the 

 farmers and woodmen along the Mohawk. All 

 of the gloves and mittens were cut and made by 

 women, and were plain and rough, without any 

 attempt at decoration. The mitten was marked 

 out with a pencil, after a paper or wooden pat- 

 tern, cut with shears, sewed by hand, and the 

 seam pounded. The mitten was then placed be- 

 tween two boards, and the maker sat on them 

 while making another pair. The disposal of the 

 manufactured product was no easy task, and the 



