CITIES, AMERICAN. (HAMILTON, HANNIBAL.) 



129 



sale of a few dozen pairs to one customer was an 

 achievement. Long and tiresome journeys were 

 made in wagons filled with buckskin mittens 

 and gloves. The first load of gloves ever driven 

 into Boston was in 1825, the trip taking six weeks. 

 In 1852 the first sewing machine was introduced. 

 From 1856 to 1801 little progress was made in 

 glove making, but the impetus given to all busi- 

 ness by the war brought other machines into the 

 market, and large quantities of gloves were made. 

 Hamilton, a city of the province of Ontario, 

 Canada, at the western end of Lake Ontario, 44 

 miles from Niagara river, 40 miles from To- 

 ronto, and 185 miles from Detroit ; population, 

 45,414. It is the county town of Wentworth 

 County. The first white settler was Robert Land, 

 who came from Delaware in 1778. In 1813 

 George Hamilton surveyed a portion of his farm 

 into village lots ; in 1833 Hamilton was incorpo- 

 rated as a town, and in 1846 another act of in- 

 corporation was passed, extending the boundaries 

 and making Hamilton a city. Before the era of 

 railways Hamilton, being at the head of lake 

 navigation, had a very large wholesale trade, the 

 goods being received by steamboat and sent to 

 the interior by wagon. The construction of the 

 Great Western Railway, and the inflation of 

 prices due to the Crimean War, caused a period 

 of speculative expansion, followed by a depression 

 of trade which lasted for nearly a decade. The 

 population of the city was 21,855 in 1856, and 

 only 21 485 in 1867 ; but during the twenty-three 

 years succeeding the latter date the growth of 

 population and wealth was steady. The build- 

 ings are of limestone or red brick, quarried or 

 manufactured in the vicinity, though a few of the 

 public buildings are constructed of red or brown 

 stone from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New 

 Brunswick. The assessed value of property is 

 $23,761,370, and the city's debt about $2,700,- 

 000, of which $2,000,000 will mature in 1894, 

 the remainder being chiefly short-term loans 

 for local improvements payable on the termina- 

 ble annuity plan. The tax rate is 19 mills on 

 the dollar. Hamilton lies on a level plain, ex- 

 tending about 2 miles from the mountain on the 

 south to the bay on the north, the average alti- 

 tude being 60 feet above lake-level, and the fa- 

 cilities for drainage being excellent. A ravine 

 has prevented extension to the west, but the 

 level plain eastward is unlimited. The water 

 supply is brought from a point on Lake Ontario, 

 about 7 miles distant, and the sewage is emptied 

 into Hamilton Bay, a triangular land-locked 

 harbor about 21 miles in circumference, sepa- 

 rated from the lake by a sandy beach, admirably 

 adapted and extensively utilized for summer 

 residences and as a place for general recreation. 

 The water is lifted to a reservoir on the mount- 

 ain side by pumps, having an aggregate daily 

 capacity of 14,000,000 gallons, and is distributed 

 through 80 miles of pipes. The trunk sewers 

 are of brick, and those on the side streets of 

 vitrified pipe, the manufacture of which is an 

 important local industry. The streets are paved 

 with cedar block or macadamized, and the 

 sidewalks are of stone, asphalt, and plank. 

 Many of the avenues are shaded with rows of 

 full-grown maple and chestnut trees. The city 

 is lighted with gas and electricity, and a well- 

 equipped fire department keeps the losses by fire 

 VOL. xxx. 9 A 



down to a nominal amount, often less than 

 $10,000 in a year. Hamilton has 2 Dominion 

 Senators, 2 members of the House of Com- 

 mons, and 1 member of the Ontario Legisla- 

 ture. The chief industry is the manufacture of 

 stoves, carried on in 7 large foundries. There 

 are also pipe works, rolling mills, a nail factory, 

 car-wheel works, forge works, engine factories, 

 cotton mills, breweries, a distillery, brass works, 

 tin -stamping works, large clothing factories, 

 screw factory, soap works, canning factories, 

 furniture factories, carriage works, agricultural 

 implement works, a manufactory of silver plate, 

 tobacco and cigar factories, glass works, ship 

 building, wire works, sewing-machine factories, 

 and many minor industries. The schools include 

 a ladies' college, a high school, model schools, 

 and about 20 fine common schools, several of 

 the larger buildings being capable of accommo- 

 dating 1.000 children each. There is a well- 

 equipped free public library, an art school, an 

 historical society, and many literary and scien- 

 tific clubs. ^Night schools are conducted, in win- 

 ter, under the supervision of the Board of Edu- 

 cation. The Roman Catholics and the Church 

 of England have cathedrals in Hamilton, and 

 there are numerous other churches, including 

 two for the colored population. The largest in- 

 surance company in Canada has its headquarters 

 in Hamilton. All the great banks have agen- 

 cies, and there are several wealthy building and 

 loan societies. The suburbs are made accessible 

 by an extensive horse-car system and a dummy . 

 steam railway. 



Hannibal, a city of Marion County, Mo., on 

 the west bank of the Mississippi, 132 miles above 

 St. Louis. The population in 1850 was 2,020 ; in 

 1890 it was 12,846. It is the eastern terminus of 

 the Hannibal and St. Joseph and the Missouri, 

 Kansas and Texas Railroads, the northern ter- 

 minus of the St. Louis and Hannibal Railway, 

 one of the western termini of the Wabash, and 

 the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads, 

 and a station on the St. Louis, Keokuk and 

 Northwestern. It is also one of the most im- 

 portant landings on the river between St. Louis 

 and St. Paul. The railroads have a fine union 

 depot, where 28 passenger trains arrive and 

 depart daily. The river is here spanned by an 

 iron and steel railroad and wagon bridge. Its 

 favorable location, with its shipping facilities, 

 has conduced to a rapid commercial growth. It 

 ranks first on the Mississippi for the production 

 of lime, obtained from the hills that nearly en- 

 circle the city ; and it is second only as a lum- 

 ber market, its yards piling 150,000,000 feet dur- 

 ing the current year. Its manufacturing interests 

 embrace machine shops, foundries, tobacco and 

 cigar factories, stove works, planing mills, pork- 

 packing houses, saw mills, butter and cheese 

 factory, and flouring mills. The manufactured 

 product, with the jobbing interests and the fer- 

 tile country behind it, furnish an immense ton- 

 nage for river and rail distribution. Its flouring 

 product is favorably known abroad as well as 

 throughout the North and East, direct ship- 

 ments being made to Great Britain and Holland. 

 The ice-storage capacity is 50,000 tons, this prod- 

 uct being distributed by rail to southern points. 

 The city contains a city hall, recorder's court, 

 and jail, 2 fire-engine' houses, 3 banks and 



