Rhode Island

rod i'land, one of the New England States. It is situated on the Atlantic coast between Connecticut and Massachusetts. It is the smallest state in the American Union. It is divided into five counties. The extreme length from north to south is forty-eight miles; the extreme width, about thirty-six miles. The area is 1,250 square miles. The population in 1910 was returned at 542,674, an average of 434 people per square mile. About one-third of the inhabitants are of foreign birth. Among these English, Irish, and Canadians predominate. There are also many Swedes, Italians, and Hebrews. The eastern part of the state is intersected by the arms of Narragansett Bay. The island from which the state takes its name is a body of land about fifteen miles in length and three miles in width. It contains the city of Newport, the most noted summer resort in North America.

Granite is the underlying stone of the country. The mineral wealth consists chiefly of granite and limestone quarries. Mines of coal and iron have been worked to a limited extent. The state reaches its greatest altitude, about 800 feet, in the northwestern corner. There are several rapid streams of some volume, affording valuable water power. The agricultural interests of the state are not extensive. So much of the fertile land has been occupied by manufacturing villages and suburbs that the area under cultivation has diminished. Hay, forage, garden truck, and dairy products are the principal results of agricultural activity.

The state was once noted for its shipping, but this industry is now confined to the coastwise trade. The ocean liners have deserted the harbors of Rhode Island for Boston and New York. The state has in all about 200 miles of railway. It is also pretty well covered by a network of trolley lines. The fisheries are of importance. The shellfish and fish products of Narragansett Bay and the immediate coast are valued at $1,000,000 a year.

Directly or indirectly, the majority of the inhabitants of the state are engaged in manufacturing. Rhode Island was the first state to engage in cotton spinning. American methods of making cotton yarn and clothing, as well as most of our machinery, originated in Rhode Island. The production of cottons, woolens, and silks is still the leading manufacture of the state. Rhode Island is also a noted center for the manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, electrical apparatus, paper, jewelry, silverware, locomotives, engines, carpenter's tools, and cutlery. Boats are built at Bristol.

The first permanent settlement in the state was made in 1636 by Roger Williams. In 1647 the various settlements in this region were united under the name of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations. This is still the legal name of the state. Owing to its small size, and the apprehension that it would be overridden by the rest of the states, Rhode Island was the last of the thirteen original colonies to give its assent to the Federal Constitution. It took no part in the election of the first president. It ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790, more than a year after Washington's inauguration. Rhode Island was the first colony to limit the length of time a slave might be held; the first state to abolish human slavery. For a century or so the legislature met alternate seasons in Providence and in Newport. In 1900 Providence was made the capital of the state. The new state house is located in this city.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources:

See Baptists; Williams; Roger; Hutchinson; Anne; Providence, etc.