416 



MAINE. 



decrease of $4,603,722.5;] from assets of 1897 ; gross 

 liabilities, $98,070,580.35. a decrease of $5,176,539.- 

 71 since 1897; number of men employed, 5,852; 

 wages of men, $2,811,287.47; gross earnings of the 

 narrow guage for the year, $166,414.46 ; expenses of 

 operating. $126,586.93; income from 4 roads, $43,- 

 24!>.57 ; deficit of 3 roads, $5,422.34 : 1 three-foot 

 gauge not in operation : number of miles of street 

 railways in operation Nov. 30, 1897, 161 ; number 

 of miles buHt during 1898, 52.23 : total mileage of 

 street railways. 213.2:!: number of men employed, 

 725, an increase of 125 in 1898; wages received, 

 $325,000 ; number of passengers carried, 14,651,165, 

 against 13,961,980 in 1897; gross earnings for the 

 xvar $819,956.06. against $770.614.19 in 1897. 

 Nearly 8,000 persons in the State were supported 

 by the operation of the railroads in Maine, receiv- 

 ing $3,200,000 in wages. 



Industries. In 1898 there were 16 cotton mills 

 in the State with 869,437 spindles and 51 woolen 

 mills with 347 sets of cards. Of the 10 cotton mills 

 that reported, the capital invested was given as 

 $12,558.500: cost of material, $3,905,748 ; value of 

 product, $7,445,394; number of weeks in operation, 

 47.2 ; average number of hands employed, 9,583 ; 

 total wages paid, $2,596,131; increase of capital 

 during the year, $470,000 ; decrease of cost of ma- 

 terial, $402,271 ; decrease in total wages paid, $107,- 

 770 ; decrease in value of product, $346,032 ; decrease 

 in average weekly wages of men, 14 cents ; of women, 

 18 cents ; increase in average weekly wages of chil- 

 dren, 1 cent ; decrease in number of men employed, 

 38 ; increase in women employed. 275 ; increase of 

 children, 37. The report from 22 woolen mills 

 showed an increase in capital invested of $341,995 ; 

 increase in cost of material, $327,925 ; increase in 

 total wages paid, $147,996; increase in value of 

 product, $823,512; decrease in average weekly 

 wages of men, 43 cents ; decrease in average weekly 

 wages of women, 23 cents; increase in average 

 weekly wages of children, 13 cents ; increase in num- 

 ber of men employed, 184 ; in women employed, 53 ; 

 decrease in number of children, 4; increase in 

 average number of employees, 233. 



The number of buildings erected in 1898 was 72, 

 against 95 in 1897; total cost, $675,100; number of 

 persons employed, 2,024. The number of foundries 

 and machine shops was 170; number of plants for 

 manufacture of general furniture, 6 ; of chairs as a 

 specialty, 5 ; of spring beds, 4 ; of cabinetwork, 30 ; 

 of upholsterers, 40 ; number of workmen in furni- 

 ture-making, 700; capital invested in the manufac- 

 ture of furniture. $500,000; daily wages of men, 

 $1.75; of women, $1.25. There were 15 boot and 

 shoe shops; capital invested, $853,500; cost of ma- 

 terial, $2,195,612; value of product, $3,515,939; 

 total hands employed, 1,881 ; total wages paid, $819,- 

 774. The percentage of raw material in textile 

 fabrics has varied little since 1880, while in boots 

 and shoes it fell from 66.6 per cent, in 1880 to 56.1 

 in 1890, and increased to 62.5 in 1897. The per- 

 centage of wages in textiles showed a steady increase 

 from 1880 to the present year, while in boots and 

 shoes it increased from 22.9 per cent, in 1880 to 29.8 

 per cent, in 1890, and declined to 23.3 in 1897. The 

 percentage of margin in textiles declined constantly 

 from 1880 to 1897, while in boots and shoos it in- 

 creased from 10.5 in 1880 to 14.2 in 1898. The num- 

 ber of two-hundred spools turned out each year is 

 estimated at 750.000,000; spool bars exported. 13,- 

 500.000 feet, at an average price of $18.50 per 1.000 

 feet ; total amount of spool bars manufactured, 35,- 

 000.000 feet ; value of spools made during the year. 

 $1,000,000. 



Wood Novelty. The wood novelty business in 

 Maine is prosperous. Of the 21 plants, all but one 

 are busy. The product is mostly sold out of the 



State, and Maine people are employed in the fac- 

 tories. 



Brick making. The season was unusually se- 

 vere upon the brickmakers of Maine ; net price of 

 brick, $5 a 1,000; number of men employed in the 

 53 yards that reported, 507; output, 54,500,000 

 bricks. 



Shipping. The amount of shipping in the State 

 was $2,372 999. There were 29 vessels built in Bath, 

 aggregating 28,689 tons. 



Summer Resorts. The number of guests re- 

 ported by 97 hotels and boarding houses was 108,- 

 736; from outside of the State, 48,942; amount re- 

 ceived from guests outside of the State, as given by 

 70 houses, $386,096; paid for help by 73 houses, 

 $76,552, an average of $1,049 per house. 



State Institutions. The Maine State College 

 received from the State for instruction the sum of 

 $22,000; for investigation in agriculture and the 

 sciences, $15,000; endowment fund, $231,000. 



The whole number of boys committed to the Re- 

 form School since its opening is 2,216 ; average num- 

 ber in 1898, 136; number committed during the 

 year, 45 ; number of boys in the institution Nov. 30, 

 1898, 142 ; appropriation for 1898, $50,500. The re- 

 ceipts from the farm were $7,497.21. 



The number of patients that have been under the 

 care of the Insane Hospital since its opening is about 

 9,000; number discharged as recovered, 3.000; 

 number discharged as improved, about 3,000 ; num- 

 ber admitted during 1898, 234 ; number under treat- 

 ment during the year, 947; number remaining Nov. 

 30, 1898, 733 ; number of patients maintained en- 

 tirely by the State, 87 ; entirely by their own means, 

 53 ; aided in part by the State, 598. A convenient 

 carpenter's shop has been built during the year, also 

 an engine and boiler house. The disbursements 

 from the Coburn fund for amusements was $1,265. 

 The balance on hand in the Library fund, Nov. 30, 

 1898, was $3,230.05. 



The assets for the State Prison on Nov. 30, 1897, 

 were $88,068.72 ; liabilities, $6,442.16 ; total assets 

 for 1898, $81,626.62 ; number of prisoners, 218 ; of 

 insane, 12 ; number sentenced during the year, 90. 



Education. The whole number of persons in 

 the State between the ages of four and twenty-one 

 was reported to be 210,341 ; whole number of dif- 

 ferent pupils registered during the year, 132,139; 

 number of schoolhouses, 4,162 ; built during the 

 year, 99, at a cost of $171,694: number of male 

 teachers in summer term, 405 ; in winter, 921 ; fe- 

 male teachers in summer, 4,226; in winter, 3,719; 

 average wages of male teachers per month, exclud- 

 ing board, $40.64 ; female teachers per week, $6.47 ; 

 whole amount of school money raised by towns, 

 $744.667; total school resources, $1,389,044; ex- 

 pended for common schools, $1,277,628; paid by- 

 towns for school superintendence, $56,270. 



There were 56 free public libraries in January, 

 1898, with 205.400 volumes; number of different 

 libraries reported, 262 ; total number of volumes. 

 677,700. Fifteen libraries have an endowment fund 

 of $10,000 or more each. 



Live Stock. The State assessors reported the 

 number and value of live stock as follow : Horses, 

 132,592, value $6,108,956 ; three-year-old colts, 3,466, 

 value $131,403 ; two-year-olds, 3.500, value $98,681 ; 

 one-year-old, 2,469, value $50,505; cows, 137,444, 

 value $896,550 ; oxen. 8,898, value $398.992 ; three- 

 year-old cattle, 26.642. value $508,164; two-year- 

 olds, 40.621, value $545,273; yearlings. 42,254, value 

 $3,071,513; sheep, 238,519. value $584,066; swine, 

 37,551, value $202,901 ; total value, $11,832,904, as 

 against $11,319,817 for 1897. From 1879 to 1889 

 the number of horses increased 14,796, and colts in- 

 creased 9,665 ; from 1889 to 1893 horses increased 

 18,710 and colts 3,397 ; from 1893 to 1896 horses in- 



