Providence

the capital and largest city of Rhode Island. It is the second city of New England in population. It is situated at the head of a tidal arm of Narragansett Bay, called Providence River. It is about thirty-five miles from the ocean and forty miles southwest of Boston. The first settlers were Roger Williams and his few associates, who had been expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They arrived June, 1636. A year later a grant of land was obtained from the Narragansett Inidians. The settlement grew slowly, sharing the vicissitudes of other New England towns. It took a prominent part in the opening events of the Revolutionary War. The British schooner, Gaspe, was destroyed here in 1772.

The harbor is a magnificent sheet of water. In the early third of the nineteenth century Providence was a seaport town of importance. Foreign shipping has left it, however, for New York and Boston. The city is now an industrial center. The manufactures are not only varied but of enormous extent. Coal and iron, easily obtained, have led to the building up of a business in the manufacture of iron and steel goods. In this respect, the city is a rival almost of Pittsburg. Locomotives, Corliss engines, boilers, and stoves are the larger articles manufactured. Cables, insulated wire, and rubber and leather belting are made on an extensive scale. Providence leads the Union, if not the world, in the manufacture of files and rasps, screws and fine tools. Of the latter line it is sufficient to say that the Brown and Sharp factories are here. Providence is also one of the great centers of cotton spinning. A single company operates over half a million spindles. The city is noted for its woolens. It is the chief city in the Union in the making of jewelry and silverware. There are between 200 and 300 establishments engaged in electroplating, gilding, engraving, coloring, diemaking, etc. It is said that the treatment of the mere sweepings of the factories in which precious metals are used, an item formerly neglected, yields several thousand dollars annually. Forty-five thousand people earn wages to the amount of $20,000,-000 in connection with the various factories. The total annual value of manufactured goods is not far from $100,000,000. As might be expected, the city is the center of much wealth. The savings banks contain deposits of about $50,000,000. The population in 1900 was reported at 175,597. The state census of 1905 reported 198,635 inhabitants. The city is growing rapidly.

The public library, one of the earliest in America, dates from 1754. It now contains 90,000 volumes. The Providence Athenaeum has almost as many. Brown University, with about 1,000 students and an endowment of $2,000,000, is located here. It was chartered in 1765. It is un-sectarian, but has always been under the control of the Baptist denomination. A complete system of public schools is maintained. A state normal school and the Rhode Island School of Design are located here. The most imposing church building is the Roman Catholic cathedral. The city has numerous parks, eighteen in number. The largest, Roger Williams Park, is a favorite with children. It contains a small lake and is adorned by a bronze statue of the founder of the city and commonwealth.