USA > New Hampshire > The statistics and gazetteer of New-Hampshire. Containing descriptions of all the counties, towns and villages statistical tables with a list of state officers, etc. > Part 48
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403
GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STATE.
Agriculture. As we have said, much of the territory of New- Hampshire is unfit for cultivation, being broken in the northern section by lofty mountains, while in the southern portion a large majority of the inhabitants are engaged in manufacturing.
The best farming district of the State, or where more of the peo- ple are engaged in agriculture than all the other professions, is in the Connecticut River valley, or the towns bordering on that river, being twenty-five in number, and extending from Hinsdale, on Massachusetts line, to Clarksville in Coos County. Six of these towns, respectively, do a manufacturing business of over $ 350,000, annually, two of them amounting to over $1,200,000 each; but the main business is agriculture, through this valley. In 1870 these twenty-five towns contained a population of 40,463 inhabitants, and the area of improved land, including pastures, was 375,820 acres. The intervals and meadows are very rich and productive, but in many places are narrow, and the widest points do not ex- tend more than one mile from the river to the hills, which general- ly rise quite abrupt, making the finest pastures in the country. The first fifteen towns, from Massachusetts up as far as Bath, pro- duce large crops of corn, but the towns above that point, are too far north to make it a lucrative business. These fifteen towns an- nually produce over 247,000 bushels of corn, or more than one- fifth of the corn produced in the State. The hill pastures are ex- cellent for sheep, and this valley contains two-fifths of all the sheep grown in the State, viz. 94,923, the whole number being 248,760. The total value of all kinds of agricultural products annually raised, is $ 3,759,203, or $ 92.90 to each inhabitant of the valley. It must be remembered, although this is one of the best farming districts in the State or country, still there is a large amount of . manufacturing done, but less in proportion than the rest of the State. Many men who are rated as farmers do considerable me- chanical work during the year. The whole amount paid for me- chanical labor, annually, is $1,327,000, or about $ 32.84 to each person in the district. The number of persons engaged in profess- ional services, trade, and transportation, is 2,500, earning $ 1,500, 000 annually, or $ 37.00 to each person. The total amount annu- ally received for labor, including farm productions, is $ 6,581,203, or $ 162.79 to every man, woman and child in the valley, on the New-Hampshire side of the river.
Probably there are but few districts of this area of territory,
404
GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STATE.
where farming is the principal occupation of the inhabitants which can equal this district in its resources. For the information of the New-Hampshire farmers a few comparisons will be given of other rich farming districts in this country, to show that there are but few localities where the people earn more money than in the Connecticut Valley, and if possible to dispel this false idea that more money can be earned in the West than in New England.
Madison County, in Illinois, which contains the city of Alton, is considered and is one of the best farming districts in the State. In 1870 there were 44,131 inhabitants in the county, and 357,000 acres of improved land, annually producing 1,207,181 bushels win- ter wheat, and 2,127,540 bushels corn, being six times the amount of wheat and nearly double the number bushels of corn raised in the whole State of New-Hampshire. The total value of agricul- tural productions of all varieties was $ 3,727,000, or $ 84.41 to each person in the county. It annually pays for mechanical labor $ 586,591, or $ 13.29 to each inhabitant. The number of people en- gaged in professional services, trade and transportation is 2,700, and annually earning $ 1,620,000, or $ 36.82 to each person. The total amount annually received for labor of all professions and includ- ing agricultural productions, is $ 5,913,789, or $134.52 to every in- habitant, and being $ 28.27 less for each person in the county than in the twenty-five towns in the Connecticut Valley. If the people of Madison county now have a surplus left over their expenditures, and their receipts were as large as in the New-Hampshire district, it would annually increase this surplus $1,247,583, or enough to build and equip forty miles of railroad. These statements are no fiction, but are taken from official statistics and show conclusively that the great farming districts in Illinois do not compare with the agricultural district in the Connecticut Valley, in its resources from labor.
Windsor County, in Vermont, is the largest agricultural county in the State. It contains a population of 36,063, and has 398,106 acres of improved land, with an annual production of $ 3,479,098, or $ 96.18 to each person. There is annually paid for mechanical labor, $ 655,495, or $18.19 to each person. 2,200 are engaged in professional business, trade and transportation, who annually re- ceive for their services, $ 1,320,000, or $ 36.90 to every inhabitant in the county. The total amount annually received for labor, inclu- ing farm productions, was $ 5,454,593, or $ 151.28 to each person ;
405
GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STATE.
and $ 11.51 less than the Connecticut district in New-Hampshire.
This valley has the capacity of maintaining a population of 100, 000, when the inhabitants are fully aware that they have the best and finest farming district in the Union. A railroad passes through or near every town except three in the district. In 1872 the people gave in under the law, $ 1,714,607 as money on hand or at interest, and in stocks, and the State treasurer returned to their credit $ 1,246,199 as deposited in the various savings banks in the State. The towns belonging to the Connecticut valley in New- Hampshire, are Hinsdale, Chesterfield, Westmoreland and Wal- pole in Cheshire County : Charlestown, Claremont, Cornish and Plainfield in Sullivan County ; Lebanon, Hanover, Lyme Orford, Piermont, Haverhill, Bath, Monroe, and Littleton in Grafton County ; Dalton, Lancaster, Northumberland, Stratford, Columbia, Colebrook, Stewartstown, and Clarksville in Coos County.
There are other fine farming districts in the State, but none as extensive. There are ten or twelve towns in the vicinity of Win- nipiseogee Lake, the larger portion of the number lying south of it which are good agricultural towns. One of these towns, (Sanborn- ton) in proportion to its population, is the best farming town in the State, being $ 172. to each person in town, in its agricultural pro- ductions.
The number of acres of improved land, in the State, is 2,334,483 ; wood-land, 1,047,690 acres; value of farms, $ 80,589,313; farming implements, $ 3,459,943 ; total amount annually paid for labor on the farms, including board, $ 2,319,164; total value of all farm productions, including betterments, $ 22,473,547, or $ 70.67 to each inhabitant in the State. The number of persons from ten years of age and upwards, engaged in farming, is 46,593, averaging $ 482. 54 to each person thus employed. For fuller details, see agricul- tural tables.
Manufactories. As has been seen in the foregoing pages, the people are largely engaged in manufacturing, and it is increasing rapidly in all sections of the State.
It should be remembered that in looking over the value of goods annually produced in the various towns and manufactories, the amount of receipts vary largely from the sum paid for labor, whol- ly through the value of the raw material before it is worked. In cotton goods, labor is about one sixth the value of the whole goods after they are manufactured, boots and shoes over one quarter,
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GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STATE.
woolen, nearly one sixth, furniture and carriages, one third, leath- er tanned, one ninth, lumber, one fourth, flour and meal, one thir- ty-second part, stone dressed, over one half, and cotton prints, one twentieth. For instance, they pay in the cotton and print manu- factories in Dover, for labor, $ 570,000, and annually produce goods viz. prints and cotton cloths, to the value of $ 4,687,000; in the stone yards and ledges at Concord, they pay $ 350,000 for help, and sell stone to the amount of $ 700,000. It will also be seen, in towns where grist and lumber mills are the principal manufacto- ries, that the pay is rated small, for the reason that men are not employed through the season, or all the time, consequently, they are only paid for labor done.
Cotton Manufactories. The manufacturing of cotton goods, of various kinds, exceeds that of any other business in the State, the sales amounting to 242,955,000 yards valued at $ 30,612,000. The value of goods manufactured, has increased over $ 8,000,0000 with- in four years. (See tables.)
Boots and Shoes. This branch is the next largest business in the State. 4,867 males, and 846 females are employed, who annually receive for their labor, $ 2,721,000 and manufacture 9,588,000 pairs men's and women's boots, shoes and brogans, valued at $ 11,706, 000. Much of the stock for these shoes is cut out in the large boot and shoe manufacturing establishments in Massachusetts, and sent into New-Hampshire to be worked into boots and shoes. The larg- er portion of those, made in Rockingham County, come from these manufactories. (See Rockingham County, also tables.)
Woolen Goods. Woolen goods come next in the amount of re- ceipts, viz. $ 9,222,0.00, annually. All kinds of woolen fabrics are manufactured, such as carpets, horse blankets, beavers, tricots, cas- simeres, flannels, of all varieties, delaines &c. In Franklin are man- ufactured fancy shirting flannels, of the finest quality, there being nearly thirty different styles or patterns. The above cotton and woolen goods do not include cotton and woolen hose manufac- tured.
Iron and Machine Work. Next in order is the iron and ma- chine work, which amounts to over $ 7,500,000 annually. This branch of business has increased very rapidly since 1870, especial- ly in Manchester and Nashua.
Lumber. This business is an important branch, and is increas- ing from year to year, but the worst feature of it is, that the raw.
407
GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STATE.
material is exhaustive, and is fast disappearing. The lumber statistics are hard to sum up between the labor and the lumber pre- pared for market. In some instances the labor is reckoned from the cutting down of the tree, till it is ready for the market, while in many other cases, it commences at the mill, which is not half the expense of the labor. The price per thousand, for lumber standing, (especially in the northern section of the State,) is merely nominal, compared with that of the sawed timber, ready for sale, and the whole increase is in labor, capital, and profit. The labor here given in as $ 1,209,600 annually, falls short, no doubt, more than $ 1,000,000 of the true amount. There are 762 saw mills in the State, representing a capital of $ 3,272,000, employing 3,392 hands, a part, or whole of the year, who are represented, as annually re- ceiving for their labor, $ 1,209,600, and sawing 6,528,000 clapboards, 69,508,000 shingles and laths, and 305,048,000 feet of boards and dimension timber valued at $ 5,174,900. This amount includes lumber sawed, planed, and grooved.
Tanneries. The next important business is tanning leather. The number of tanneries in the State, is 71; capital invest- ed, $ 927,000 ; number of hands employed, the whole or part of the year, is 693 ; annual pay-roll, $ 347,500; value of leather tanned, $ 3,265,100. The currying business and dressed skins, is about $ 1,720,000 annually.
Paper. The paper manufactures have increased their business over fifty per cent since 1870. The receipts, at that time, were $ 1,913,635 ; at the present time it is nearly $ 3,000,000 annually.
Hosiery. The number of persons employed in this business, is 295 males, and 880 females ; value of goods manufactured, $ 2,016, 000. There are but three States in the Union which exceed New- Hampshire in this branch of industry. (See tables.)
Furniture, Chairs, &c. The receipts from this business, are over $ 2,000,000 annually.
The above are some of the most important branches of industry but there are many others that are important, such as flour and meal productions, $ 3,563,400; sash, blinds, and doors, $ 700,000 ; freight and passenger cars, $ 650.000; carriages, of all kinds, $ 1,100,000 ; potato starch, $ 400,000 ; harnesses, $ 500,000 ; granite dressed, $ 1,000,000 ; musical instruments, $ 200,000; agricultural implements, $ 275,000 &c.
The total number of manufactories, of all kinds, in the State, is
408
GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE STATE.
3,389. The steam horse power is now rated at 9,262; the improv- ed water power, 69,254; capital invested, $ 42,562,900 ; males em- ployed, 31,409 ; females, 16,667 ; annual amount paid for labor, $ 19,945,500; value of all goods manufactured, $ 95,995,500. This is an increase, in value of goods, of over $ 24,000,000, since 1870.
Resources. Productions of the soil, $ 22,473,547 ; mechanical la- bor, $ 19,995,500 ; stocks and money at interest, $ 10,454,187; de- posits in savings banks, in the State, * $ 22,132,399 ; stock in trade, $ 8,362,586. The assessed valuation of the State, in 1872, was $ 153,187,177. These assessments are made on a basis of two-thirds of the actual value of the property assessed. For instance, a town having savings bank deposits of $ 150,000, was only placed at $ 100,000 in assigning the proportional tax, which belonged to the several towns to pay as their share of the State tax, on every one thousand dollars raised. This is expressly against the law, provided for in the assessment of property for taxes, but a constant and grow- ing practice goes far ahead of any New-Hampshire Statute Law.
The total number of ratable polls, in the State, in 1872, was 82, 919; total town debts in the State, over available assets, was $ 4, 768,582.73; total tax committed to the collectors was $ 2,610,263. 75; in 1873, it was $ 2,376,495.03; the total State debt, in 1872, was $ 4,138,124.26 ; in 1873, $ 4,132,160.82.
Professional Business, &c. In 1870, there were in New-Hamp- shire, engaged in professional business, trade and transportation, 27,046 persons, or 82 per cent. of the population. This class consists of clergymen, physicians, lawyers, bankers, teachers, of every pro- fession, merchants, peddlers, soldiers of U. S. army, hotel keepers, clerks, book-keepers, day laborers, hucksters, railroad and express managers, and their employees, telegraph operators, sailors, &c. As a basis, call their pay each at $ 600 per annum, and it would amount to $ 16,227,600. This is a low estimate, and might be much higher, if the actual figures could be obtained. The stock and money at in - terest is probably over $ 20,000.000, for it depends wholly on the statement of those persons holding them, and they use the argu- ment that other people are not taxed on the full value of their property.
* It is estimated, that the people of New-Hampshire have over $ 10,000,000 deposited in the various savings banks in Massachusetts. This takes out of New-Hampshire $ 100,000 as taxes, and places $ 75,000 in the treasury of Massachusetts. The people of New-Hampshire have al- ways catered to the interests of the Bay State.
409
RAILROADS.
Total Income. The total income of all the people in the State, (including farm productions, $ 22,473,547 ; mechanical labor, $ 19,995,500 ; professional services, etc., $ 16,227,600; interest on deposits in savings banks, $ 1,328,000; on deposits in savings banks out of the State, $ 600,000 ; interest on stocks, bonds, and money at interest, $ 1,200,000 ; ) is $ 61,824,644, or $ 200 to each person in the State, and over $ 748 to eyery ratable poll.
No State west of the Alleghany Mountains has as large a re- source, in proportion to its population, as New-Hampshire, by over $ 15 to each inhabitant, and the great commercial State of New- York is no better. The resources of New-Jersey, between the two cities of New-York and Philadelphia, fall short more than ten dol- lars to each person in the State.
RAILROADS.
Thirty-five years ago there was not a length of railway track in New-Hampshire. At that date no iron horse had ever wound its way beside her river banks or through her mountain passes, and his shrill whistle had never echoed through her deep, dark forests ; but to day nearly every hamlet in the State can hear the clarion sound of the locomotive and see the white, curling smoke as it hovers o'er the track of the swift passing train. New-Hampshire has now, 1874, over 890 miles of railroad, owned by thirty-two corporate companies, and built at an expense of over $ 30,000,000.
As a general thing, the railroads of this State have been under the management of respectable and business men, who have not pocketed the stock nor profits of the roads, at the expense of the stock-holders. It may be true that some roads have been built at a greater expense than what the business on them will pay, and the stocks may have depreciated in value, but the only parties that have made any money by it are the public, and the people in the towns through which such roads pass. There have never been any such bare-faced swindles in this State, in rail-road speculations, as those perpetrated on the noted, staid, and industrious people of Vermont, where the whole expense of the first construction of their roads,
-
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RAILROADS.
has been squandered, or found its way into the pockets of men better fitted to grace the cells of a State's prison than the manage- ment of any railroad.
The following gives the standing and number of miles of rail-road and the towns through which they pass or touch. There may be some errors in stating all the towns, for in many instances it touches the town but a few rods, while in others it lacks but that distance.
Ashuelot Railroad. This road extends from Keene to South Ver- non, Vermont. It leaves Keene and passes through Swanzey, Win- chester and Hinsdale. Distance in New-Hampshire, 23 miles. Miles annually run by passenger trains, 15,995; by freight trains, 32,150 miles.
Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway. This road is leased to the Grand Trunk Railway, of Canada, for the term of 999 years; and leads from Portland, Maine, to Montreal, Canada. It passes in New-Hampshire through the towns of Shelburn, Gorham, Berlin, south-east corner of Dummer, Stark, Northumberland and Stratford on the Connecticut river. Whole distance in the State, 52 miles. Miles run by all trains, 885,313 annually.
Boston and Maine Railroad. Extends from Boston to South Berwick, Maine, 74 miles, thence on the Boston and Maine Exten- sion to Portland. In this State, it passes through the towns of At- kinson, Plaistow, Newton, Kingston, East Kingston, Exeter, South Newmarket, Newmarket, Durham, Madbury, Dover, Rollinsford and Somersworth, distance about 35 miles. Great Falls branch, 3 miles. Annual receipts-from passengers, $ 1,092,600, freight, $ 813,000, mails, $ 14,000, rents, $ 43,000.
Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad. Extends from Concord, through Canterbury, Northfield, Tilton, Belmont, Laconia, Gilford, Meredith, New-Hampton, Ashland, north corner of Bridgewater, Plymouth, south-west corner of Campton, Rumney, Wentworth, Warren, south-west corner of Benton, Haverhill to Wells River, Vermont, distance, 93 miles. This is the longest continued line of road, under one control, in the State, and is well managed.
Receipts- from passengers, $ 231,000, freight, $ 417,000, mails, $ 10,000, express, $ 8,000.
Cheshire Railroad. Extends from Bellows Falls, in Vermont, through Walpole, Westmoreland, south-west corner of Surry, Keene, Marlborough, Troy, Fitzwilliam, south-west corner of Rindge to Winchendon, Mass. Whole length of road, 53 miles ;
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RAILROADS.
in New-Hampshire, about 424 miles. This road is the connecting link between Burlington (through Rutland) and Boston. The num- ber of passengers carried one mile on this road, in 1872, was 6,139, 685 ; tons of freight, one mile, 22,909,589. Total receipts, for the year, from all sources, $ 824,763.34 ; total expenses, $ 640,912.16.
Concord Railroad. Extends from Concord, through Bow, Hook sett, Manchester, Bedford, Merrimack to Nashua, 35 miles. This road has two tracks, and is one of the best lines in the country for the distance, the annual receipts amounting to over $ 1,040,000, and the expenses, $ 688,226. The number of passengers carried one mile, 13,333,060.
Contoocook River Railroad. Extends from Hopkinton, through Henniker to Hillsborough Bridge, distance, 15 miles. Receipts, $ 44,000, expenses, $ 30,000.
Concord and Portsmouth Railroad. Extends from Concord, through Pembroke, Allenstown, Hooksett, Manchester, Auburn, Candia, Raymond, Epping, South Newmarket, Stratham, Green- land and Portsmouth, distance, 58 miles. This road is run in con- nection, with and under the management of the Concord Railroad, and its cars are run over their track through Hooksett.
Dover and Winnipiseogee Railroad. Extends from Dover, through Rochester, Farmington, New-Durham to Alton Bay, where it con- nects with Steamboats to various points on Lake Winnispeo- gee. The whole length of road is 282 miles. It is under the management of the Boston and Maine Railroad.
Eastern Railroad, in New-Hampshire. This, with the Eastern Railroad of Massachusetts, and the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth, connects Boston with Portland, distance, 107 miles, That portion in New-Hampshire is 16 miles, and extends through Seabrook, Hampton Falls, Hampton, North Hampton, Greenland, west cor- ner of Rye, and Portsmouth.
Peterborough and Shirley Railroad. The length of this road, in New-Hampshire, is about 92 miles, and extends from Massachusetts line through Mason, south border of Wilton to Greenville. It is managed by the Fitchburg Railroad.
Manchester and Lawrence Railroad. Extends from Manchester, through Londonderry, Derry, Windham, Salem, to Lawrence, Mas- sachusetts-26 miles. The distance in this State, is about 22} miles. Receipts of the road, $ 177,000; expenses, $ 76,000. It is managed by the Concord Railroad.
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RAILROADS.
Manchester and North Weare Railroad. Extends from Manches- ter, through Goffstown, north-east corner of New-Boston, to Weare, 19 miles. It is under the management of the Concord Railroad.
Merrimack and Connecticut River Railroad. Extends from Con- cord, through Hopkinton, Warner, the southern portion of Sutton to Bradford, 27 miles. Receipts, $ 131,000 ; expenses, $ 101,000. It is managed by the Northern Railroad. This road together with the Sugar River, and Contoocook Valley Railroad, have been formed into one corporation, called the Concord and Claremont (N. H.) Railroad.
Monadnock Railroad. Extends from Winchendon, Mass., to Peterborough, 152 miles. Its length, in New-Hampshire, is 134 miles, and extends through Rindge, Jaffrey and Peterborough. This is a new road with no through connection on any of the great lines, but it now pays more than the running expenses.
Mount Washington Railroad. This road extends from the base of the White Mountains, to the summit of Mount Washington. about three miles. It has been built at an expense of nearly $ 200, 000, and now pays more than running expenses. The track is un- like any other road in the world, and, together with the invention of the brakes to hold the train, is a novelty in itself and worthy of a visit to the mountains. Fare-up, $ 3. up and down, $ 4.
Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad. This is a new road, and the first cars went over its track in the summer of 1873. It forms a con- necting link, which gives a direct railroad communication between northern and central New-Hampshire, with Providence, New-Bed- ford and other cities in that section of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is nearly twenty miles in length, about five of which are in New-Hampshire.
Nashua and Lowell. Extends to Lowell, fourteen miles, five and a quarter of which is from Nashua to Massachusetts line. It has a double track and is one of the best managed roads in the State. Cost of road, $ 737,000; annual receipts, $ 603,000; expenditures $ 521,000. It may be necessary to state, that the Wilton, Stony Brook, Salem and Lowell, and Lowell and Lawrence railroads are managed by the Nashua and Lowell, and the above is the total re- ceipts and expenditures, of all these roads.
Nashua and Rochester. A new road now being built, and nearly finished. It extends from Nashua, through Hudson, north- ern part of Pelham, Windham, Derry, Hampstead, Sandown, Fre-
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RAILROADS.
mont, Epping, Lee, Barrington to Rochester, about forty-eight miles.
Northern Railroad. Extends from Concord, through Boscawen, Franklin, Andover, Wilmot, Danbury, Grafton, south-west corner of Orange, Canaan, north-west corner of Enfield and Lebanon to White River Junction, in Hartford, Vermont ; length of road, 69} miles. The Bristol Branch, owned by the Northern, extends from Frank- lin, through Hill to Bristol, thirteen miles. Annual receipts, $ 706,000; expenses, $ 545,000. Passengers carried one mile, 8,060, 748 ; freight carried one mile, 25,057,849 lbs.
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