Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/326

318 CHARLESTOWN but has since been much improved and enlarg- ed, and contains 650 cells, with 14 solitary ones for punishment, a chapel, hospital, school room, workshops, storehouses, &c. This insti- tution, which is one of the best of its kind in the country, is conducted on the congregate system, the convicts working together in shops during the day, but being separated at night. The labor is let to contractors, the prisoners being employed in shoemaking, blacksmithing, bronzing, in the manufacture of brushes, chains, iron bedsteads, spring beds, and in foundery work. There is a library of over 3,000 volumes, a Sunday school with an aver- age attendance of over 100, and an evening school attended by 140 prisoners. The whole number of convicts in prison during the year ending Sept. 30, 1872, was 703, of whom 160 were received during the year; discharged, 122 ; died, 19 ; in prison at the end of the year, 662, of whom 382 were natives, 180 foreigners, Charlestown Navy Yard. and 40 were colored ; 62 were serving out a life sentence. The number of officers was 38. The total expenditure during the year amount- ed to $134,560 21 ; the total receipts reached the sum of $149,195 44, of which $126,010 23 were the earnings of convicts ; net income of the prison, $14,635 23. The net income aver- ages about $20,000 a year. The price obtained for the labor of each convict averages 99 cents a day. The number of convicts in prison Feb. 15, 1873, was 585. The navy yard, established in 1798, is on the N. side of Charles river, at the E. extremity of the city ; it is enclosed by a higli wall of great strength, and covers about 60 acres. The yard contains several dwell- ing houses, numerous storehouses, ropewalks, machine shops, ship houses, cannon founderies, &c. The dry dock, which was opened in 1838, is 341 ft. long, 80 broad, 60 deep, and cost $670,- 000. Some of the best ships of the national marine have been built at this yard. Bunker Hill monument, 221 ft. high, conspicuously situated on Breed's hill, itself 75 ft. above the sea, commands an extensive view of the sur- rounding country, and is much resorted to by visitors. (See BUNKEK HILL.) Charlestown forms a part of the Boston customs district, and is a place of considerable business. The principal manufactories are 2 of steam boilers, 3 of cabinet ware, 1 of cameras, 1 of sashes, doors, and blinds, 1 of masts and spars, 1 of pumps and blocks, 1 of shoe bindings, 1 of soap, 1 of soap stone, 1 of tr.bles, 2 of varnish, 1 of wooden ware, 1 bookbindery, 1 brass and copper foundery, 1 brewery, 1 distillery, 4 leather-currying establishments, 2 grist mills, 1 iron foundery, 9 establishments for dressing and coloring morocco, and 1 tannery. The Charlestown gas company has a capital of $400,000. There are 2 national banks, with $650,000 capital; 2 savings banks, with de- posits in 1871 amounting to $4,738,649 ; and 1 fire insurance company. Charlestown has been connected with the ice trade from an early pe- riod, and great num- bers of vessels are an- nually laden with that article at its wharves. The city is divided into 3 wards. The govern- ment is vested in a mayor, a board, of aldermen consisting of 3 from each ward, and a common council of 6 from each ward. The police department consists of a chief of police, a captain, a lieutenant, 31 police- men, and 14 substitutes and special policemen. The fire department is under the charge of a chief engineer, 4 assistants, and a secretary. There are 2 steam engines, 5 hose com- panies, and a hook and ladder company. The city is supplied with water from Mystic lake in Medford, 5 m. distant. It was first introduced in 1864. Among the charities are the Charles- town poor's fund, founded by Richard Russell in 1674, and now amounting to about $23,000, the Winchester home for aged and indigent women, and the Devens benevolent society (organized in 1819 under the name of the female benevolent society). Other institutions worthy of mention are the children's home association, the young men's Christian associa- tion, and a working men's trading association. The schools are under the charge of a board, consisting of the mayor, a secretary, treasurer, superintendent, and 6 members from each ward. They have under their management a high school, 5 grammar, 38 primary, and 3 intermediate schools, and a select school.