618 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



State 52 barns, 4 shoe-factories, 5 dry-goods 

 stores, 60 dwellings, 4 grocery-stores, 4 lodg- 

 ing-halls, 11 hotels, 4 livery-stables, 9 saw, 

 shingle, and stave mills, 4 woolen and 2 cotton 

 mills. The city of Concord has, in later years, 

 enjoyed immunity from conflagration in a 

 marked degree by providing an abundance of 

 water at 120 feet head; a full service of hy- 

 drants, steam fire-engines, private force-pumps, 

 electric alarm-boxes, etc. The chief engineer 

 reports, for 1886, for the principal fire precinct, 

 extending a mile and a half from the business 

 center, containing 12,000 population and many 

 public buildings, that the tire losses aggregated 

 only $237.50 ; insurance received, $62.50. In 

 the out villages and rural portions of the city's 

 other 60 square miles of territory the total es- 

 timated loss was but $10,337.50. Of this loss, 

 $5,450 fell on farm-buildings beyond the reach 

 of means for extinguishment. The insurance 

 received was $6,087.50. Under the foreign 

 insurance companies' rule, the premiums paid 

 amounted to more than $70,000 annually. 



The number of life-policies issued in 1885 

 was 2,282; amount insured, $3,349,822 ; poli- 

 cies in force, Dec. 81, 1885, 7,801 ; amount in- 

 sured, $13,328,130; premiums received in 1885, 

 $341,965; losses and claims paid, $308,984. 

 The amount of life-insurance done in the State 

 exceeds that of the previous year in number 

 of policies issued, amount written, and sum of 



premiums received. The claims paid also show 

 an increase. The annual tax assessed on in- 

 surance companies of other States, April 1 

 1886, amounted to $3,478.81. 



Steam-Railways. The forty-second annual 

 report of the Railroad Commissioners gives 

 the following information : Gross earnings of 

 the steam-railroads, reporting in 1885, passen- 

 ger department, $7,954,851.56 ; freight depart- 

 ment, $8,482,236.98 ; rents for use of roads, 

 $1,042,710.12; other sources, $509,341.44; to- 

 tal amount, $17,989,140.10. Gross expenses, 

 $11,692,167.07 ; gross net income, $6,296,- 

 973.03. Compared with previous reports, a 

 large apparent increase is shown. This is ex- 

 plained by the business of the Eastern and Bos- 

 ton and Lowell systems being included in the 

 returns. The capital stock of the roads ex- 

 pended in New Hampshire is approximated at 

 $23,000,000. Of thirty-five corporations re- 

 porting, twenty-six paid dividends varying 

 from 2 to 10 per cent. Average for all roads 

 reporting, 4.40 per cent. A good financial year 

 for the railroads of the State is reported. No 

 injurious effects have resulted from the con- 

 solidation policy adopted three years since. 



The following table shows the mileage, cost, 

 and equipment of the railroads in New Hamp- 

 shire for the year ending Sept. 30, 1885. The 

 taxable valuation in 1886 was $14,671,832; 

 and the tax assessed $208,340.62 : 



