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TOWNS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



C'jmpamtive Mortalitij. Ratio per 1,000 Whites m the City of Charleston, S. C. 



and in other Cities. 



FIRE DEPARTMENT. 



In the Fire Department of the city there was a substitution, in 1881, 

 of paid for volunteer service. The service is performed under the direc- 

 tion of a Board of Firemasters. There are six steam fire engines, two 

 reserve steam fire engines, and two hook and ladder trucks, with one 

 hundred men and a sufficient force of officers, horses, fuel, wagons, &c. 

 The fire alarm telegraph has thirty miles of wire, and ninety-three signal 

 boxes, in six separate and distinct metallic circuits, connected only 

 through a rej)eater at the central office. 



PUBLIC GROUNDS. 



On the extreme southeastern front of the city a massive stone wall, ten 

 feet in width and fifteen hundred feet in length, rises immediately from 

 the waters of the bay ; a broad, smooth drive separates it from the hand- 

 some private residences of the city that, with their gardens, occupy this 

 quarter. The view covers the spacious harbor, with its shipping, forts 

 and islands, stretching seaward to the southeast, where the unbounded 

 ocean terminates the horizon. It is known as the Battery, and forms a 

 seaside promenade scarcely surpassed anywhere. From the southern 

 terminus of this promenade a walk, twenty-five feet broad, extends for 

 eight hundred feet along the southern shore line of the city. Opening 

 on this walk are the entrances to the White Point gardens, covering- 

 eight acres of ground, beyond which is again the broad, smooth drive, 

 with the handsome private residences and beautiful gardens. Wash- 

 ington Square, adjoining the City Hall, centrally located, covers one 

 and a quarter acres, with its shade trees. Marion Square, in front of the 

 Citadel, is a well kept parade ground, of nine and a half acres. Hamp- 

 stead, Wragg, and Aiken Malls, are lands belonging to the city, making 



