HEALTH AND RECREATION. 31 



all parts of the country, particularly the Middle West, and there are 

 colonies of summer residents, not only from Boston, Worcester, 

 Providence, and other New England cities, but also from New York, 

 Chicago, Hampton, Va., St. Louis, and Milwaukee, and there is a 

 contingent of regular visitors from Atlanta, Memphis, Peoria, and 

 Kansas City. 



In the year 1899 the New Hampshire State Bureau of Labor col- 

 lected the following statistics of summer business. The increase 

 since that time is probably more than 20 per cent. The figures are 

 for the State as a whole, and considerably more than half of the 

 business is probably in the White Mountains. 



Table 15. — General summary of the summer-resort business. 



Capital invested in summer property $10, 442, 352 



Total wages paid $539, 901 



Cash received from railroad fares (estimated ) $600, 000 



Cash received from stage fares $63, 275 



Casn received from steamboat fares on Lakes Winnepesaukee, Asquam, 



Sunapee, and Newfound $60, 369 



Increase in cash received at hotels and farm houses in 1899 over 1898. . . $402, 341 



Cash received from the summer people $4, 947, 935 



Number of different guests remaining one week or longer 58, 222 



Number of transient guests remaining less than one week 95, 706 



Number of persons occupying cottages 20, 352 



Total number guests and in cottages 174, 280 



Number of towns and cities where guests are taken 204 



Number of farm houses where boarders are taken 1, 621 



Increase in number of guests in 1899 over 1898 8, 093 



Number of male help employed 3, 297 



Number of female help employed 9, 057 



Total number help employed 12, 354 



A few of the large hotel companies, in order to protect their inter- 

 ests, have acquired tracts of forest land. The sum of these amounts 

 to about 28,000 acres, which are managed primarily for their beauty, 

 and constitute practically a forest reserve of this size. Of this forest 

 land two hotel companies own 10,000 acres each. One tract is 

 located in the broad level valley of the Ammonusuc River, imme- 

 diately under Mount Washington and the Presidential Range. It has 

 been carefully studied and mapped, and considerable forest planting 

 has been done, both for beauty and for a future forest crop. Some 

 logging, also, has been done in the least conspicuous places. For a 

 time a trained forester was employed to care for the extensive forest 

 nursery, and to oversee the plantations. The tract of the other hotel 

 company is located in the Franconia Notch. Still another large 

 timber tract, containing a very beautiful natural forest park, belongs 

 to a hotel company, in the valley of the Mad River, at Waterville. 

 These afford an excellent beginning in forest preservation. 



Many of the attractive forests in the White Mountains belong, 

 however, to the lumber companies, and several of the most attractive 

 ones have been cut over during the last four years. 



[Cir. 168] 



