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Re. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
AND REMINDER 
Vol. XIII 
Manchester, Mass., Friday, August. 13 
———$—— 
No. 33 
Salem--the Historic and Mercantile Center of the 
North Shore 
By KATHERINF GAUSS 
Washington Street, Salem, 
THERE are few cities on the American continent today 
so filled with historical and mercantile interest as the 
old city of Salem. From earliest times it has been known 
to the remotest parts of the earth, and in its early history 
Salem stood at the head of the East Indian trade. Like 
many other cities it has suffered from business depres- 
sions and disasters (like the Salem fire of a year ago), 
but through it all the old town has retained an assurance 
that, as the center of Essex county, she has a field of 
trade to which she must give her best at all times, in spite 
of local calamities. At the present time the old city ‘s 
very much alive, is teeming with activity. New indus- 
tries are being pushed with zeal and the successful prose- 
ciition of its varied industries gives to its retail business 
a strength and virility that is most gratifying, justifying 
a maintenance of stocks of merchandise that draw not 
only the local buyers, but attract into town fron all the 
surrounding territory a host of purchasers who find satis- 
faction. 
Building is going on in all parts of the city and the 
bare places and empty cellars are fast being covered, 39 
that shortly it will be scarcely evident that the flames so 
recently passed over such a large territory. The dwelling 
houses are a credit to their owners and the latest improve- 
ments and devices have been installed. Factories have 
gone up, almost over night, and are already running 
again, in better shape than ever. ‘The great steam cotton 
mill is constructing a plant that covers a large section of 
the point and will be well up before the snow of the 
winter season flies. And so throughout the town the hum 
of busy life reaches the ear of all who listen. 
Essex street is the main thoroughfare of Salem and 
here are the stores that have made modern Salem famous. 
From Washington square to North street, with Wash- 
ington street as the arms of the cross, is the section of 
the city that is keeping alive the old-time prestige of 
commercial prosperity. Although of a different nature, 
the business interests of today are quite as important as 
the foreign commerce of a century ago. Today the retail 
merchant of the city is handling with the same degree of 
enterprise and discernment, the business that is attracted 
here by virtue of her favorable location, as in those other 
days when Salem men sought out places for trade in the 
far east. Then Salem merchants sought trade in foreign 
lands, now the modern business man seeks people in other 
places to come to Salen to trade. 
The merchants of this city carry stocks in trade that 
cannot be equalled in any store outside of the Hub, and 
in many cases the specialty shops in the town out-distance 
the larger shops of other places, in their particular line 
cof merchandise. ‘Two large department stores carry 
everything for the adornment of the person or the furnish- 
ing of a home. A unique Dollar store carries a multitude 
of things at the small prices of a cent to a dollar, and 
this, with the two five and ten-cent stores, gives one an 
opportunity for economy in small articles. Another pop- 
ular store carries complete stocks of men’s and women’s 
clothing, absolutely up-to-date in every respect. And 
across the street is a lovely old antique shop, where one 
may buy old and reproduced articles of every description. 
Then, too, Salem has one of the largest jewelry houses in 
-the country, and is certainly known the world over for its 
