470 



MAINE. 



Fur burial expenses of honorably discharged 

 soldiers and sailors of Maine. 



For the better protection of the rights of widows 

 and widowers in the real estate of deceased hus- 

 bands and wives. 



For the establishment of traveling libraries and 

 the lending of papers, books, and documents from 

 the State Library. 



Prohibiting the taking of smelts in tidal waters, 

 except by hook and line, between April 1 and 

 Sept. 1. 



For discontinuing schools and conveying school 

 children to other schools in certain cases. 



For limiting the rate of interest on loans on 

 personal property. 



Authori/.ing the admission of women as at- 

 torneys. 



For annexation of the city of Deering to Port- 

 land. 



Liquors. The report of the Liquor Commis- 

 sioner gave the amount paid for liquors through 

 the State agency as $35,109.01; gallons of whisky 

 used, :{.7i4: of brandy, 289; of gin, 644; of alco- 

 hol. 3.04-J: rum. 2,490; of wine, 538; of cherry 

 rum. 14(i. 



Military Affairs. The history of the Kenne- 

 bec arsenal dates from 1827, when $15,000 was 

 appropriated for the erection of a depot for mili- 

 tary stores. In 1899 the military stores w T ere 

 valued at $150.119.44, and the estimated value 

 of the post was $143,700. The expense to the 

 State for the Spanish-American War was $12,000, 

 including bounties. The Legislature authorized 

 a loan of $100.000 to pay the bills against the 

 State for equipments, etc., of which amount $86,- 

 000 will be repaid by the United States Govern- 

 ment. The total number of Maine men who died 

 in the war was 56. The number of pensioners 

 in the Togus Soldiers' Home on June 30 was 

 2.207: absent on furlough, 434; sick in hospital, 

 326; sleeping on floors, 141. By an act approved 

 March 3, 1899, $30,000 was appropriated for bar- 

 racks and furniture. The contract for the new 

 building calls for the completion of the work by 

 June 20. 1900. 



Mines. A copper mine has been opened at 

 Marion. The McFaul-Vose copper mine, at 

 Smith's Mills, is the latest to yield quartz ore 

 heavily charged with copper, 10 surface samples 

 showing 3.97 per cent, of copper. In the Pittston 

 gold mine, at 18 inches below the surface, the 

 ore assayed $17 a ton, with silver enough to pay 

 for the work. A mine of lead and silver was 

 discovered at Solon in the spring, and yielded 

 $60 in lead and $100 in silver to the ton. A 

 shaft 60 feet deep was sunk, and a vein of Galena 

 ore mixed with quartz 5J feet wide was found. 



Peddlers. The number of registrations for 

 1899 was 185; number of county licenses 90, 

 against 100 last year; State licenses 100, with 

 150 last year. The change in the law, allowing 

 a taxpayer to peddle certain goods in his own 

 town and its vicinity, has reduced the number 

 of necessary licenses. 



Pulp and Paper Mills. There were 30 pulp 

 mills and US paper mills in the State in Decem- 

 99, comprised in 37 different plants. The 

 operatives employed number 5,902, with an aver- 

 age daily wage of $1.62. The daily output in 

 ,'-nT 2.400,000 pounds, and in 1899 it was 

 K) pounds; cost of wood used, $2,500,000- 

 imount of paper of all kinds produced daily, 600 

 tons; amount of ground-wood pulp, 735 tons- of 

 sulphite pulp. 330 tons; of soda pulp, 110 tons; 



Jther board, 60 tons; total yearly output, 550,- 



) tons-, annual receipts, $17,916,000; total capi- 

 ?*ted, $30,000,000; total amount paid for 



labor yearly, $5,000,000. Poplar wood is used 

 by 3 companies and the rest use spruce mainly, 

 though small quantities of fir, pine, and hem- 

 lock are also used. To make a ton of sulphite 

 pulp requires 1,000 feet of spruce, while ground 

 pulp requires 800 feet. 



Quarries. In the 4 slate quarries at Monson 

 and 3 at Brownville there were many men at 

 work in August with good wages. In the mill 

 at Portland more than 1,000 articles are manu- 

 factured from slate. In Monson the quarry has 

 reached 150 feet in depth, and pieces of slate 

 have been taken out measuring 10 X 15 feet. 

 The lime supply of Knox County is apparently 

 inexhaustible, there being over 100,000 acres of 

 limestone land in the county. Several of the 

 quarries are putting in machines for hoisting the 

 limestone. At one quarry a new stone wharf 

 has been built out 50 feet from the old wooden 

 wharf, giving 20 feet of water at medium tide. 

 From Knox County last year 1,700,000 casks of 

 lime were shipped. 



Railroads. The number of miles of railroads 

 in operation Nov. 30, 1899, was 1,905.25, of which 

 154.17 miles were narrow gauge. There were 

 added during the year ending June 30, 1899, 122.90 

 miles, and since that time 33.4 miles have been 

 completed. The gross earnings of the steam roads 

 operated in the State were $8,723,218.62, and the 

 number of passengers carried 4,908,971, a gain of 

 12,906 during the year; amount of freight carried, 

 0,539,200 tons, a gain of 892,824 tons. There 

 were employed upon the steam railroads 7,036 

 persons, and the wages received were $3,242,411.31. 

 The mileage of street railways June 30, 1899, was 

 240.20, a gain of 71.48 in the year. After June 

 30 there were constructed 27.96 miles of road, 

 making the total mileage of street railways on 

 Nov. 30 268.16 miles. There were employed upon 

 the street railways 864 persons, an increase of 

 139 over 1898. The wages paid amounted to 

 $390,250.50. The gross earnings were $1,090,- 

 417.69, and the operating expenses $686,419.96, to 

 carry 18,496,374 passengers. There were 2 fatal 

 accidents, and 7 persons were injured. 



Shipping-. About 50,000 tons of new ship- 

 ping were launched in Maine this year, Bath 

 alone furnishing 40,009 tons. The fastest craft 

 ever built in Maine was launched May 29 the 

 torpedo boat Dahlgren. It is 147 feet long and 

 16 feet 4| inches broad, and has a displacement 

 of about 146 tons. In the year ending June 30, 

 1899, there were lost at sea 78 vessels, with a 

 total tonnage of 24,076; loss to vessels and cargo, 

 $3,626,235; number of persons on board, 469; 

 number of lives lost, 204. 



Lumber. The amount of lumber cut in the 

 winter of 1898-'99 in the Moose river region was 

 15,470,000 feet of saw logs and 6,150,000 feet of 

 pulp logs; in the Moosehead lake region, 24,900 

 feet of saw logs and 9,400,000 feet of pulp logs; 

 in the Dead river section, 23,050,000 feet of saw 

 logs and 1,800,000 feet of pulp logs; in the east 

 branch and the Kennebec, 13,850 feet of saw logs . 

 and 7,050,000 feet of pulp logs. The amount of 

 dry pine surveyed at the port of Bangor between 

 Jan. 1 and July 1, 1899, was 10,853,623 feet; of 

 green pine, 708,983 feet; of spruce, 41,037,731 feet; 

 of hemlock, 8,488,475 feet; total, 61,053,821 feet, 

 against 48,322,706 feet in 1898 and 53,663,275 feet 

 in 1897. 



The Tramp Chair. The town of Oakland at 

 its spring election voted to purchase and use a 

 peculiar chair invented for the punishment of 

 tramps. Its chief peculiarity is in the formation 

 of its door, which is so constructed that it fol- 

 lows the lines of the chair itself so closely that 



