MAINE. 



497 



said. Length, about one mile; gauge, four 

 feet eight and a half inches. 



The Bridgton and Saco River Railroad Com- 

 pany was organized in 1881, but its line was 

 not located till 1882. At the close of the year 

 it had nearly completed the whole line from 

 Bridgton Center to the Portland and Ogd ens- 

 burg Railroad in the town of Hiram, a distance 

 of fifteen and a half miles. Gauge, two feet. 



STATISTICS. The number of establishments 

 devoted to the lumbering industry are 848, em- 

 ploying 9,839 men, and the total value of all 

 products in 1880 was $7,933,868. Maine holds 

 the rank of seventh State in the Union in the 

 value of her lumber products, the States of 

 Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, 

 Ohio, and Indiana, in the order named, taking 

 the lead. 



Maine stands at the head of the great fish- 

 ing industry of the country. In 1880 the num- 

 ber of persons employed in the industry was 

 12,662 ; the number of vessels engaged was 

 606 ; the capital invested was $3,454,302 ; the 

 value of fishing products in marketable condi- 

 tion was $3,739,224. The value of the same 

 products in 1870 was only $979,610. 



It is estimated that the number of the inhab- 

 itants of Maine who are largely dependent 

 upon the fishing industry for a livelihood will 

 not fall short of 48,000 men, women, and chil- 

 dren, which is equal to about 7 per cent of 

 the population, and when to the result of this 

 labor are added the expense of transportation 

 and profits of handling, and the product is in 

 the hands of the consumer, it represents an 

 industry of nearly $7,000,000. 



The gathering and storing of ice is compara- 

 tively a new industry in Maine, but is a profit- 

 able one, and gives employment to many. The 

 ice harvest on the Kennebec River and vicin- 

 ity, in the year 1880, amounted to 1,000,000 

 tons, an increase of 750,000 tons over 1870. 



The following table, giving the tonnage of 

 vessels launched, exhibits the ship-building of 

 the State for four years : 



VOL. xxii. 32 A 



The total catch of the Maine fishing-fleet 

 during the year 1882, a total fleet -of 289 ves- 

 sels with a crew of 2,785 men, 71 being on the 

 Grand and Western Banks and 218 on the New 

 England shore and George's Bank, was 73,806 

 on the former grounds, and 221,911 on the lat- 

 ter, being a total of 195,717 quintals. The to- 

 tal catch of mackerel for the New England 

 fleet was 349,674, of which 119,547 is credited 

 to Maine vessels. The following statement 

 represents the fisheries according to their 

 value: Herring-fishery (including the sardine 

 industry), $1,043,753; mackerel-fishery, $659,- 

 304; cod-fishery, $656,753; lobster-fishery, 

 $412,076; hake-fishery, $278,336; haddock- 

 fishery, $225,393. The entire lobster catch of 

 Maine for the year is found to be 14,234,182 

 pounds, of which 4,739,808 pounds were sold 

 fresh, and 9,494,284 pounds were put up by 

 the 23 canneries located in different parts of 

 the State. The fishing industry of all kinds of 

 Maine includes 600 vessels, of 17,632-65 ton- 

 nage, with 8,110 fishermen and 5,920 boats. 

 There are 2.961 curers, packers, and factory 

 hands, and a total of 11,171 persons engaged. 

 There were 202,048,499 pounds of fish taken, 

 of a total value of $3,614,178. The total cap- 

 ital invested is $3,375,994. 



In 1882 the sales of liquor at the various 

 authorized agencies in the State amounted to 

 $58,817.42. The sales in the principal cities 

 and towns were as follow : Auburn, $2,398.80 ; 

 Bangor, $8,036.10; Bath, $2,730.83; Bruns- 

 wick, $1,574.85; Bethel, $3,044.94; Farming- 

 ton, $1,462.26; Gardiner, $1,199.40; Hallo- 

 well, $1,001.68; Hartland, $1,294.27; Lewis- 

 ton, $3,834.05; Machias, $2,962.17; Portland, 

 $19,500.86; Eockland, $2,005.14; Waterville, 

 $1,638.77. 



PARTY CONVENTIONS. The Republican State 

 Convention met in Portland on the 13th of 

 June, and nominated the following ticket : For 

 Governor, Frederick Robie, of Gorham. For 

 Representatives to Congress, Thomas B. Reed, 

 of Portland; Nelson Dingley, Jr., of Lewis- 

 ton ; Charles A. Boutelle, of Bangor ; Seth L. 

 Milliken, of Belfast. 



The platform adopted contained the follow- 

 ing resolutions : 



1. The right of every qualified voter to cast his bal- 

 lot and have it honestly counted is a fundamental 

 principle of republican 'government which must be 

 maintained by law impartially enforced. The major- 

 ity thus determined must rule and the minority must 

 submit. 



2. Free schools must be maintained and universal 

 education secured as the basis of national security and 

 prosperity. 



3. American industries and labor should be pro- 

 tected against the unjust competition of the product 

 of cheap foreign labor by a protective tariff. 



4. American shipping and ship-building should be 

 encouraged by the modification of our navigation laws 

 so as to discriminate in favor of, and not against, our 

 shipping interests, and by such other assistance as the 

 Government may properly render a great national 

 interest. "We protest against the persistent efforts 

 of the friends of free trade, or misnamed "revenue 

 reform," to grant American registry to foreign-built 



