106 



CITIES, AMERICAN. (BAERE, BENNINGTON, BRAINERD.) 



factories of hand-made files. Shipbuilding and 

 repairing, carried on by 3 firms, realized in 1887 

 $75,000. Next to lumber, the largest industry 

 is the manufacture of boots, shoes, and slippers, 

 the product in 1887 being $1,000,000. Five slip- 

 per factories employ 600 hands during the busy 

 season, with a weekly pay roll of nearly $5,000, 

 and 1 five-story factory of men's boots produces 

 more than $350,000 yearly. Five tanneries have 

 an aggregate product of $160,000, and there are 

 3 paper-box factories. Among other establish- 

 ments are 2 iron foundries and machine shops, 

 steam-boiler works, 2 large stove foundries, 1 

 shoddy and wool-carding mill, grist mills, salt 

 and plaster works, 5 cigar factories, 5 bottling 

 works, factories of clothing with annual produc- 

 tion of $300,000, 5 carriage factories, and 1 of 

 carriage trimmings, a wholesale coffin and casket 

 factory, brickyards, 3 granite - working and 4 

 marble yards, and potteries. The permanent ice 

 houses on the river and in the city have a stor- 

 age capacity of 230,000 tons. The total value of 

 wool, skins, furs, etc., shipped was $200,000, and 

 of hay and country produce $ 100,000. 



Barre, the fifth town of Vermont, in Wash- 

 ington County, 6 miles southeast of Montpelier, 

 on a branch of Winooski river. It increased in 

 population from 2,060 in 1880 to 6,812 in 1890. 

 It is principally known for its granite industries, 

 the granite deposit being found in a range of 

 hills, and extending 3 miles with a width of half 

 a mile. The quarries are 3 or 4 miles from the 

 village, which was incorporated in November, 

 1886, and there is a railroad connecting with the 

 shops where the granite is worked. Quarrying 

 of any sized block is allowed by the nature of 

 the deposit, which is in layers of varying thick- 

 ness. Blocks 10 feet square and upward are ob- 

 tained, and shafts of any length. Barre granite 

 is of two varieties, light and dark, remarkably 

 clear and even in texture, and susceptible of the 

 highest polish, while the contrast afforded by the 

 polished and hammered surfaces inakes 'letter- 

 ing and designs stand out in bold relief. One 

 of the 6 quarrying companies owns quarries cov- 

 ering 230 acres. About 1,500 men were em- 

 ployed in 1890 in connection with the business, 

 which is carried on by 19 firms, turning out vast 

 quantities of monuments and monumental work, 

 shipped to all parts of the United States. There 

 is also a factory of hay forks, rakes, diggers, etc. 

 One national bank has a capital of $100.000, and 

 there is a savings bank and a trust company, 

 with total resources of $500,000. The town has 

 a fine system of water works, a graded school 

 system, a seminary, and a town hall which cost 

 $30,000. Its altitude is 515 feet above sea level. 



IJcii n hiii't on. a town of Vermont, one of the 

 county seats of Bennington County, in the south- 

 western part of the State, 55 miles south by west 

 of Rutland, and 35 miles northeast of Albany, 

 N. Y. By the census of 1890 it had a popula- 

 tion of 6,391. It has an altitude of 641 feet 

 above sea level, and the surrounding scenery 

 is magnificent. From Mount Anthony, on 

 which there is an observatorv, the Adirondacks, 

 100 miles away, can be seen on a clear day; 

 and in ascending the mountains the Benning- 

 ton and Grlastonbury Railroad makes a devia- 

 tion of 8 miles to attain a height of 1,600 feet. 

 Other railroads are the Fitchburg to Troy, the 



Bennington and Rutland, and the Lebanon 

 Springs. The town is the site of the State Sol- 

 diers' Home, which with its grounds and build- 

 ings covers about 200 acres. It was a gift to 

 the State from the heirs of Trenor W. Park. It 

 has a fine fountain which obtains its supply from 

 springs on Bald mountain and throws a stream 

 187 feet high. The water for the town is ob- 

 tained from mountain springs 3 miles distant, 

 and there are 33 fire hydrants. The various re- 

 ligious denominations are represented, and there 

 is a large, fine hotel. The Bennington graded- 

 school district was organized and chartered in 

 1870, and there is, in addition to a high school, 

 a fine public-school house, which with its grounds 

 covers 3 acres. Two national banks have a capi- 

 tal of $200,000, and there is a savings bank. 

 Two weekly newspapers are published. The 

 town is essentially a manufacturing place, and 

 about one third of the inhabitants are engaged 

 in the mills and shops. It lies also in a fine 

 farming district. The manufactures include 

 woolen mills turning out fine dress fabrics, 

 cloakings, and cassimeres, 6 knitting companies, 

 one of which employs 200 persons, and two oth- 

 ers 150 each ; factories of knitting machinery, 

 light hardware, powder-mill, pulp and paper- 

 making machinery; yellow ochre, crystallized 

 quartz, and mineral soaps ; steam governors and 

 water wheels; wooden specialties, knitting-nee- 

 dles, and other minor industries. There are also 

 fulling mills, marble and granite works, and a 

 planing mill and sash, door, and blind factory. 



Brainerd, a city of Minnesota, county seat of 

 Crow Wing County, near the geographical cen- 

 ter of the State, on Mississippi river, 115 miles 

 from Duluth, 138 from Minneapolis, and the same 

 distance from Fargo, N. D. In 1880 the popu- 

 lation was 1,865 ; in 1890 it was 5,703. It is one 

 of the most important stations on the Northern 

 Pacific Railroad between Duluth and the Red 

 River of the North, and has shops of that road 

 employing 800 men, with a monthly pay roll of 

 $60,000, the entire plant being valued at more 

 than $2,000,000. The Brainerd and Northern 

 Railroad, partially built and constructing to the 

 international boundary line, completed 100 miles 

 in the season of 1892. The city has an altitude 

 of 1,209 feet above the sea, and is built on a level 

 plateau 55 feet above the river. A dam across 

 the Mississippi, just north of the city, gives 25,- 

 000 horse power at low water, the back water 

 covering 2,500 acres, while the overflowage cov- 

 ers the bottom lands of a large lake and gives 

 boomage for 1,000,000.000 feet of logs. There is 

 a sewerage system furnishing thorough drain- 

 age ; and water works of the Holly system, draw- 

 ing from the river, have 15 miles of mains and 

 72 fire hydrants. The volunteer fire department 

 consists of 5 companies, and has an electric alarm 

 system. Contracts were let for 4 miles of elec- 

 tric street railway in 1892, to be in running 

 order by Dec. 1 of that year, and the city is 

 lighted by electricity. The paving with cedar 

 blocks and granite curbs of one of the principal 

 streets was undertaken in 1892, and numerous 

 brick blocks were built. There are 6 school 

 buildings, a high school which cost $50,000, a 

 large Catholic parochial school, 15 churches, an 

 opera house with a seating capacity of 1,000, a 

 county courthouse of brick and fire'proof, a jail, 



