of drawing by means of holes in a draw-plate of varying diameter, when it is cleaned and wound upon drums. In the process of drawing, the wire frequently has to be freshly annealed; while for many purposes, as piano-wire and the spokes of bicycles, the material used has to be a highly-tempered steel. The wire used for bed-springs is chiefly of brass, since it does not rust from moisture as iron does. For cooperage purposes, in connection with wooden hoops in strengthening barrels, the wire used is coppered steel. Telegraph and telephone wire is now made of a bimetallic wire, combining steel for strength and iron or copper for conductivity.
Wirt, William, was born at Bladensburg, Md., Nov. 8, 1772. He began to practice law in 1792 at Culpeper Court House, Va., but within a few years moved to Charlottesville and thence to Richmond. In 1803 appeared his Letters of a British Spy. He took part in the prosecution of Aaron Burr, and was attorney-general of the United States from 1817 to 1829. In 1832 he ran for the presidency on the ticket of the anti-Masonic party. Wirt is now best remembered as the author of the famous Life of Patrick Henry. He died at Washington, D. C., Feb. 18, 1834. Consult Life by J. P. Kennedy.
Wiscon′sin, a north-central state of the American Union, whose area, including Apostle Islands at the western end of Lake Superior and the islands at the mouth of Green Bay in Lake Michigan, is 56,040 square miles, its length being 300 miles, while its greatest breadth is 290 miles. It is bounded on the east by Lake Michigan, on the south by Illinois, on the north by Lake Superior and upper Michigan and on the west by Minnesota and Iowa, the greater part of the latter boundary being formed by the Mississippi River.
Cities and Population. Its capital is Madison (population 25,531). The other chief cities are Milwaukee (373,857); Superior (40,384); Racine (38,002); Lacrosse (30,417); Oshkosh (33,062); Sheboygan (26,398); Green Bay (25,236); Eau Claire (18,310); Marinette (14,610); Fond du Lac (18,797); Appleton (16,773); Ashland (11,594); Janesville (13,894); Wausau (16,560); Manitowoc (13,027); Kenosha (21,371); and Beloit (15,125). The population of the state was by the census of 1910 2,333,860. Foreign nationalities are largely represented, the larger number being German and Poles (German, Austrian and Russian); while there are many Bohemians, Norwegians, Danes, Russians, Austrians, Irish, English and Scotch besides English and French Canadians. Denominationally the Roman Catholics are the leading church; the other churches embracing Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians. The Indians number 10,957.
Surface and Climate. Wisconsin consists, in the main, of a level or gently undulating plain, sloping slightly on either side of a height of land (1,500 feet in elevation) and running southward about the middle of the state; while in its northern section there is a line of low-lying hills, the Penokee Range, stretching parallel with Lake Superior and about 30 miles south of it, thence trending northeastward into the northwestern peninsula of Michigan and cutting off the northeastern corner of Wisconsin from Lake Superior. The chief drainage on the west and northwest is by St., Croix, Stillwater, Chippewa, Black and Wisconsin Rivers into the Mississippi: the Menominee, Oconto and Fox (the latter draining Lake Winnebago) fall into Green Bay; and Milwaukee River into Lake Michigan. Rock and Desplaines Rivers flow south into Illinois. Wisconsin has a continental climate, with a rather long and severe winter, though the extreme heat of summer is tempered by the influences of the lakes on its northern and eastern flanks. While there is considerable forest, the cultivated region is large and the land fertile, most of the surface being covered by the clay gravel, marl and sand of the glacial drift, with a fairly deep layer of rich vegetable-mould.
Natural Resources. These consist of the product of the forest, the mines and the agricultural lands. The yield in 1910 of the chief cereals was as follows: oats 69,136,000 bushels; corn 51,188,000; wheat 3,659,000. Barley yielded 22,429,000 bushels, potatoes 24,700,000 and hay 2,260,000 tons. The chief timbers are white pine, hemlock and spruce, though the extent of the cuttings of these has largely denuded the forests. There still are considerable limestone, sandstone and granite in the quarries while the yield from bricks, tiles and other clay-products continues to be large. The iron in the mines principally is red hematite, of which there was an output in 1910 of 1,149,151 long tons. Mineral waters, moreover, are a valued product, yielding $1,132,239 in 1910. In addition to the agricultural operations and the resources from husbandry, stock-raising is largely carried on. The number of dairy-cows in Wisconsin in 1910 was 1,471,591; while of other cattle there were 1,206,569 head. Of horses there were 614,654, of sheep 929,783 and of swine 1,809,331. The dairy products amount to about $30,000,000 annually.
Manufactures. The state's development as a manufacturing one is creditable to the enterprise and industrial activities of its people. There is room for increase, if we may judge from the volume of capital invested (in 1909 this was $605,657,000),
