Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/673

WILMINGTON on the bar now in progress are completed, the depth of water will be materially increased. The principal articles of shipment are lumber, turpentine, rosin, tar, pitch, spirits of turpen- tine, shingles, and cotton. Wilmington has long been the leading market for naval stores in the world. The value of imports from for- eign countries for the year ending June 30, 1875, was $151,925 ; of exports to foreign ports, $3,015,069. The chief items of export were 3,553,606 gallons of spirits of turpentine, valued at $1,201,888; 14,623 bales of cotton, $938,501; 289,340 barrels of rosin and tur- pentine and 14,142 of tar and pitch, $710,108 ; and 6,809,000 ft. of boards, &c., and 2,960,000 shingles, $149,107. The number of entrances was 171, tonnage 46,074; clearances, 235, ton- nage 61,958; entrances in the coastwise trade, 277, tonnage 149,475 ; clearances, 210, tonnage 129,249 ; belonging to the port, 66 vessels, ton- nage 5,597. The shipments to domestic and foreign ports in 1875 amounted to about $10,- 000,000. There are three banks, marine rail- ways, a cotton compress company, a cotton factory, five saw and planing mills, a rice mill, four flour and grist mills, nine turpentine dis- tillers (running 29 stills), an iron foundery, and a sash and blind factory. The principal char- itable institutions are a seamen's home and a marine hospital. There are 12 academies and schools, a library, five newspapers (three daily), and 22 churches. Wilmington was laid out in 1733, under the name of Newton. The name was changed in 1739. It was incorporated as a borough in 1760 and as a city in 1866. Du- ring the civil war, and especially in 1864, it was the principal confederate port accessible to blockade runners. Although 50 blockading vessels were cruising off the adjacent coast, 203 vessels succeeded in entering the port, and 194 in leaving it, during the 15 months ending Dec. 81, 1864, while about 60 were captured or run ashore. New inlet, the principal en- trance to Cape Fear river, was protected by Fort Fisher, an earthwork of great strength, and beyond it the narrow and intricate chan- nel was filled with torpedoes and commanded by forts and batteries. In December, 1864, a combined naval and military expedition un- der Admiral Porter and Gen. Butler was sent against Fort Fisher. After an unsuccessful at- tempt to injure the fort by the explosion of several hundred tons of powder from a vessel, followed by a severe bombardment, the troops returned to Hampton roads. The fleet re- mained behind to cooperate with a new and stronger military expedition. This, number- ing about 8,000 men, was committed to Gen. Terry. It reached its destination Jan. 12, 1865, and on the next day began to debark under cover of a heavy fire from the fleet. The bom- bardment was kept up until the afternoon of the 15th, when the fort was assaulted and taken. Of the garrison, 2,300 strong, 2,083 surrendered, the remainder being killed or wounded. The Union loss was nearly 1,000; WILSON 649 besides which, on the next day, the magazine of the fort was accidentally blown up and more than 200 men were killed or wounded. Wil- mington was now useless as a port for blockade runners, but was still held by a confederate force. Gen. Schofield had in the mean time been sent to North Carolina with 23,000 men. Moving up the bank of the river, he turned the fortifications commanding the city, which was abandoned Feb. 21. The Union loss in this operation was about 200, that of the confed- erates about 1,000, including prisoners. WILMOT, John. See ROCHESTER, earl of. WILNi, or Vilna (Pol. Wilno). I. A W. gov- ernment of Russia, in Lithuania, bordering on Kovno, Courland, Vitebsk, Minsk, Grodno, and Suwalki; area, 16,411 sq. m.; pop. in 1876, 1,087,705, comprising chiefly Lithuanians, who form the bulk of the peasantry, Jews, Poles (greatly reduced in numbers since the insurrec- tion of 1863), and Russians. The surface is generally flat. The most important rivers are the Niemen and its tributary the Viliya or Wilia. Iron ore is the most valuable mineral production. The climate is severe in winter, but in summer it is warm and damp. Forests, moors, and morasses abound. The exports in- clude grain, hemp, flax, timber, honey, wax, and spirits. II. A city, capital of the govern- ment, beautifully situated in a hilly region on the Viliya, 400 m. S. W. of St. Petersburg; pop. in 1867, 79,265, comprising over 25,000 Jews. It has two suburbs, and is the seat of a Greek and a Catholic bishop. The Catholic cathedral has a marble chapel and the silver coffin of St. Casimir; there are about 22 other Catholic churches, including the immense St. John's and the magnificent St. Peter's, about a dozen Greek churches, places of worship for Reformed and Lutherans, several synagogues, a mosque, and many convents. There are two gymnasiums, religious seminaries, a museum with a public library, and a theatre. It car- ries on a considerable trade, mainly with the Russian and Prussian ports on the Baltic, with which it is connected by rail, but its manu- factures are insignificant. The university,, founded in 1570, was closed in 1832. Wilna dates from the 13th century, and was the capi- tal of Lithuania, In the 16th century it had a population estimated at 1,000,000, but in 1835 it had declined to 35,000 ; lately it has rapidly increased, and railway traffic has produced ad- ditional commercial activity. WILSON, the name of four counties in the United States. I. A N. E. county of North Carolina, drained by the Mackason river; area, about 550 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 12,258, of whom 5,073 were colored. The surface is un- dulating or hilly, and the soil fertile. It is intersected by the Wilmington and Weldon railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 8,690 bushels of wheat, 212,770 of Indian corn, 10.588 of oats, 12,288 of peas and beans, 36,- 352 of sweet potatoes, 5,225 bales of cot- ton, and 1.854 tons of hay. There were 481