BURLINGTON 



1006 



BURMA 



BUR'LINGTON, IOWA, the county seat of 

 Des Moines County, and a railroad, manu- 

 facturing and trading center. The population 

 of 24,324 has varied but slightly since 1910. 

 The city, covering an area of about twelve 

 square miles, is situated on bluffs along the 

 west bank of the Mississippi River. Orchard 

 City is the descriptive local name. About it 

 lies a rich agricultural country^ From the 

 bluffs in Crapo Park, a playground of 100 acres 

 in the southern part of the city, is a superb 

 view of the river and the surrounding country. 

 Near the town are coal fields and limestone 

 quarries. 



Burlington is in the southeast corner of the 

 state. Chicago is 206 miles northeast, Des 

 Moines, the state capital, is 166 miles north- 

 west, and down the river 221 miles is Saint 

 Louis. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 

 Railroad has large shops here. East of the 

 city the railroad crosses the Mississippi over 

 a fine iron bridge which affords a splendid view 

 up and down the river. Other railroad lines 

 running into Burlington are the Toledo, Peoria 

 & Western, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 

 and the Muscatine North and South. There 

 is an extensive river commerce in raw mate- 

 rials, and modern steamboats are replacing the 

 old side-wheelers that made the river famous 

 in pioneer days. 



The important industrial establishments in- 

 clude manufactories of engine works, farm 

 implements and furniture; pearl button and 

 soap-making plants are among the smaller 

 enterprises. A Federal building costing $100,- 

 000, constructed in 1890, a large Y. M. C. A. 

 building, a city library, the Tama building, 

 bank buildings and churches are of special 

 architectural note. The city has a commission 

 form of government, adopted in 1910. 



History. At the suggestion of Lieutenant 

 Zebulon Pike, the explorer of the Pike's Peak 

 region, a fur-trading post was established on 

 the site of Burlington in 1829. The first per- 

 manent settlement, made in 1833, was called 

 Flint Hills, from the Indian word Shokokon, 

 but was soon renamed after Burlington, Vt. 

 In 1838 a city charter was granted by the ter- 

 ritory of Wisconsin, and Burlington was the 

 meeting place of the territorial legislatures of 

 Wisconsin from 1836 to 1838, and of Iowa from 

 1838 to 1840. Robert Jones Burdette, the 

 humorist and preacher, once a citizen of Bur- 

 lington, was locally known as "The Hawkeye 

 Man" because of his clever work when associate 

 editor of the Hawkeye. T.M.H. 



BURLINGTON, VT., one of the leading lum- 

 ber markets in the United States, the largest 

 city of the state in population, and the county 

 seat of Chittenden County. It is situated on 

 the northwestern border of the state and on 

 Lake Champlain, forty miles northwest of 

 Montpelier, the state capital. The city has a 

 good harbor and is a port of entry. Besides 

 its water transportation it has the service of 

 the Central Vermont and Rutland railways, 

 and electric lines operate north and south. In 

 1910 the population was 20,468; this had in- 

 creased to 21,247 in 1914. The city's area is 

 ten square miles. 



The country around Burlington is famous 

 for its picturesque mountain scenery, and the 

 city is especially favored by being built on 

 ground which rises 300 feet above the lake. It 

 thus commands a fine view of water, mountain 

 and valley. The city itself is beautiful, with 

 wide, shady streets, handsome homes and fine 

 public buildings; the city hall, county court- 

 house, Federal building and library cluster 

 around a square in the center of the city. The 

 superior educational advantages of Burlington 

 attract students from a large territory. Here are 

 located the State University of Vermont, state 

 agricultural and medical colleges, Saint Jo- 

 seph's and Saint Mary's academies, Bishop 

 Hopkins Hall (for girls), Vermont Episcopal 

 Institute (for boys), and the Fletcher-Carnegie, 

 Billings and Burlington Law libraries. Besides 

 the Mary Fletcher Hospital, it has several fine 

 sanitariums, asylums for orphans and homes 

 for the aged and destitute. It is the see of a 

 Roman Catholic archbishop and of an Episco- 

 pal bishop. Large cotton and woolen mills are 

 in operation here, and the manufacture of 

 stone and lumber products and proprietary 

 medicines is extensive. Great quantities of 

 lumber are shipped from Canada through this 

 point. 



The first settlement on the site of Burling- 

 ton was made in 1773; it was organized as a 

 town in 1797 and incorporated as a city in 

 1865. During the War of 1812 it was a mili- 

 tary post. The city for some years was the 

 home of Ethan Allen (which see), one of the 

 most conspicuous figures in the history of Ver- 

 mont; his burial place is in Greenmount Cem- 

 etery. 



BUR 'MA, the largest and most easterly 

 province of British India. To those who read 

 of it, it becomes a land of romance, with its 

 "tinkly temple bells," the mist on its rice fields, 

 and its pagodas, "lookin' eastward to the sea"; 



