462 



MAINE. 



for aid was made by its trustees and friends, 

 and thereby about $7,000 have been secured. 

 This is in addition to the $13,500 contributed 

 from private sources and expended on buildings 

 now in use. The new private subscription has 

 been used, under the direction of the trustees, 

 to build the foundations, walls, and roof, and 

 to finish the exterior of a substantial edifice of 

 granite and brick. 



Reform School. The health of the boys for 

 the past two years has been remarkably good. 

 The average number in the school has been 

 about one hundred. The law of the last Legis- 

 lature, providing for the establishment and 

 maintenance of a mechanical department at the 

 Eeform School, in which boys can be instructed, 

 has been complied with. Instruction in this 

 department began Dec. 21, 1883, under the 

 charge of a competent mechanic, in a building 

 erected for the purpose, equipped with benches, 

 tools, and machinery, and capable of accommo- 

 dating twenty-four boys. The results, and the 

 proficiency made by the boys, in this depart- 

 ment, seem to vindicate the wisdom of the law 

 establishing it. 



Insane Hospital. This institution has a sub- 

 stantial structure of granite and brick, which 

 is complete with all the modern improvements 

 that science and experience have devised. It 

 is the growth of the public contributions of 

 forty-four years. The State has now provided all 

 that seems necessary for the wants of its insane 

 for many years. The trustees have built dur- 

 ing the past two years two new pavilions, ca- 

 pable of accommodating about 100 patients, 

 and giving an opportunity for a better classifi- 

 cation. The necessity for a full completion of 

 the buildings required an expenditure of $13,- 

 443.44 in excess of the appropriation of $40,- 

 000. The receipts of the hospital for 1884 were 

 $100,000, and the disbursements $97,000. The 

 present resources are $51,291.84, and the lia- 

 bilities $30,513.58, leaving the net resources 

 $20,778.26, as against $18,116.63 in 1883. The 

 number of patients Dec. 1, 1884, was 460, the 

 same number as in 1883, but the whole num- 

 ber under treatment during the year was 667, 

 of whom 207 were discharged. 



Home for Soldiers' Orphans. The appropriation 

 for the Bath Military and Naval Orphan Asy- 

 lum for the past two years, amounting to $14,- 

 000, was fully expended for the orphan children 

 of the soldiers and sailors of the State. There 

 are fifty -two children under its care. The num- 

 ber of orphans coming under the provisions and 

 requirements of the present law as competent 

 for admission is constantly diminishing. 



State Prison. The State Prison at Thomaston 

 appears to be in better condition, so far as cost 

 is concerned, than for many years. From 1858 

 to 1880 the average annual cost of the prison 

 to the State was upward of $22,000. In 1880 

 it was $24,551; in 1881, $16,754; in 1882, 

 $14,742; in 1883, $10,510; in 1884, $9,200. 

 The earnings of the convicts in 1884 wo'jld pay 

 the salaries, pay-roll, and all the incidental ex- 



penses of the prison, amounting to $17,350 

 leaving only $9,200 for the State to pay. 



At present but two departments of work are 

 carried on within the walls harness and car- 

 riage making. The total net assets of the 

 prison at the close of 1883 were $91,435.35, 

 and at the close of 1884, $102,672.61. 



The number of new convicts received in 1883 

 was 70 ; discharged, 44 ; total number at the 

 end of the year, 160. The number received in 

 1884 was 52 ; discharged, 49 ; total number at 

 present, 163. 



Manufactures. There was an increase of 

 spindles in the cotton -mills in the State in 



1883, as compared with 1880, of 90,261, and 

 of employes, 3,039. During 1884, 6,852 spin- 

 dles were added. At the beginning of the 

 year, woolen manufacture generally was very 

 depressed, but later in the season there was 

 marked improvement, and the mills of the 

 State did a lucrative business. The amount of 

 starch manufactured in 1884 was larger than 

 ever before, the product being 7,385 tons. Sev- 

 eral new factories were erected. The granite 

 business was well sustained; the product of 

 the State quarries was increased over the pre- 

 vious year ; and the yield of lime-kilns nearly 

 equaled the large product of 1883. The lime 

 manufactured in Knox county amounted to 

 1,495,852 barrels in 1883, and 1,478,996 bar- 

 rels in 1884. The manufacture of leather still 

 remains in a very unsatisfactory condition, and 

 that of lumber has fallen off somewhat; the 

 cut of logs on the principal waters being about 

 17 per cent, less in 1884 than in 1883. Boot 

 and shoe manufacturing made a marked im- 

 provement in 1883, and maintained its pros- 

 perous condition during 1884. 



Shipping. In this interest Maine has been of 

 late years more favored than most other States. 

 According to the census of 1880, the number of 

 vessels of all rigs, including steamers, owned in 

 the State, was 2,674, having a capacity of 509,- 

 284 tons; according to the returns received 

 from collectors of customs for the year ending 

 Sept. 30, 1883, the number of vessels was 2,- 

 899, having a capacity of 626,122 tons; and 

 for the year ending Sept. 30, 1884, the num- 

 ber of vessels was 2,868, having a capacity of 

 628,954 tons. This shows an increase of ca- 

 pacity for 1883 over 1880 of 18,837 tons; an in- 

 crease for 1884 over 1883 of 832 tons, and an 

 increase for the four years of 19,669 tons 

 which is an average of 4,917 tons per annum. 

 There appears to have been a gain of 3,145*37 

 tons in fishing-vessels belonging in the State in 



1884, as compared with 1880 an average of 

 786-34 tons per annum. The tonnage of vessels 

 of all rigs built in Maine annually since and 

 including 1880 is as follows: 1880, 35,847'15; 

 1881, 58,992-93; 1882, 75,084-91; 1883, 74,- 

 708-13; 1884, 46,401-87. 



Polls and Estates. By returns from nearly all 

 the cities, towns, and plantations of the State, 

 't appear;? that there was an increase of taxable 

 polls for the year ending March, 1883, of 2,036, 



