1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 7 



of developing these tracts is progressing under the skilled 

 and intelligent direction of the park commission, and 

 already several have been transformed into beautiful resorts, 

 where rich and poor alike may enjoy the pure air and see the 

 beauties of nature without trespassing on private grounds. 



Connected with the sewer department is the purification 

 plant. The people living along the Blackstone River, into 

 which the city sewage empties, appealed to the Legislature 

 to compel the city to purify the sewage before allowing it to 

 enter the river. Accordingly our engineer was sent abroad 

 to investigate the matter. After considering different 

 methods, he finally recommended chemical precipitation. 

 The works are now complete and in operation. From three 

 to four million gallons of sewage are daily successfully 

 treated, and the dirty water is changed into clear, bright, 

 and to all appearance pure, water. Worcester has the only 

 large plant of the kind in the country. Lime is the principal 

 chemical used. When this is first applied, the water 

 becomes inky black, but as it passes on from tank to tank, 

 six in number, the foul matter settles, until in the last the 

 water flows away perfectly clear. 



Worcester owes its phenomenal growth to its varied 

 manufacturing interests, which require all grades of laborers, 

 from the most highly skilled down to the least. The 

 population is continually on the increase, for there is always 

 a demand for labor in one branch of business or another. 

 Among the largest manufactories are the Washburn & Moen 

 Company, employing 3,500 men, and making all grades of 

 wire ; the Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, and the 

 Whittall Carpet Factory. There are also manufactories 

 where envelopes, iron and wood working machinery, fire- 

 arms, water meters, cutlery, ice and roller skates, and many 

 other articles of merchandise, are made. Agricultural 

 implements are also manufactured to a great extent. One 

 firm alone, the Ames Plow Company, manufactures nearly 

 every kind of tool used on the farm. This house has sent 

 out 225 different kinds of plows within the past forty years. 

 Another firm, the Richardson Manufacturing Company, has 

 sent out this year 7,000 mowing machines, 3,000 hay 

 tedders, and 1,000 manure spreaders. It is estimated that 



