French trade, instead of two, and that the customs tariff, which by the previous treaty was one third less than at the coast-ports, should be further reduced.

A treaty of friendship between Portugal and China has been under discussion for twentyfive years, without a definite result, until a protocol was signed at Lisbon in March, 1887, and a treaty was concluded at Pekin in June. By this treaty the Chinese secured the cooperation of the Portuguese authorities in the suppression of opium-smuggling. In accordance with the provisional treaty, the Governor of Macao, on April 1, 1887, put into force the same measures in regard to the opium-trade that were established at Hong-Kong.

Retrocession of Port Hamilton. In January, 1887, negotiations were concluded for the transfer of Port Hamilton, which the English had seized upon during the Russian war scare, to China, and shortly afterward the British naval commander formally surrendered the place to Chinese occupation.

Frontier Negotiations with Russia.-After the conclusion of the boundary treaty with Russia in relation to the Amoor region, on Nov. 4, 1860, the boundary was marked off, and since it followed the course of rivers for the most part, there have since arisen few difficulties. At the coast the bank of the river Tiumen formed the Russian boundary for seven miles, the opposite bank being Corean territory. The Russian Government requested recently a delimitation of the frontier, and Chinese and Russian commissioners were appointed, and a protocol has been signed which, besides some trifling changes, declares the mouth of the Tiumen and the Gashkiavetch Gulf, which is an inlet of the estuary, to be Russian, and includes an arrangement for the navigation of the river, according to which vessels under the Chinese, Corean, and Russian flags have the exclusive right to ascend the river, unless the contracting powers agree to extend the right to other nations.

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. The "Quadrennial Book" of the American Christian Convention gives as connected with that body 1,327 ordained and 209 unordained ministers, with 1,662 churches. The entire number of members is about 122,000. Eight colleges, institutes, and seminaries are under the charge of the Convention or of churches affiliated with it.

The Christian Church, a body in the Southern States, holding principles similar to those of the American Christian Convention, has 75 churches, 127 ministers, and 18,000 members.

The Christian Union Churches, which exist chiefly in Ohio and States west of it, comprise 15,000 churches, with 500 ministers and 120,000 members.

A joint Committee on Union of the American Christian Convention and the Christian Union Churches met in Covington, Ohio, July 26th. Dr. N. Summerbell was elected chairman. The following report, drafted by a sub

committee appointed for the purpose, was unanimously adopted:

The Committee on Union from the "General Council of the Christian Union," and from the "American Christian Convention," met at Covington, Ohio, July lutions on union, passed by both bodies, it appeared 26, 1887. After full and frank discussion of the resoplain to all that we in aim and spirit practically are one people; and we find no valid reason why we should be separate. In the discussion, and in this report, it is unanimously agreed that it is a fundamentquestions of biblical interpretation, that "the Church al principle of Protestantism, and a well-established and the State should be separate," and that true liberty and efficiency of service in the Church are best obtained by a congregational form of government; local church that all matters of business, service, and and, therefore, in the absolute independency of the worship, shall be decided by each local church for itself.

Therefore, your committees in joint session agree and recommend the union of the two bodies upon the following principles: The Holy Bible our only rule of faith and practice. Christ the only Head of the Church.

Christian character the only test of fellowship. Individual interpretation of Scripture the privilege and duty of all.

The union of all the followers of Christ without controversy.

Each local church absolutely independent in gov

ernment.

And, further, we agree and recommend that in the united body the individual believer be known as "a Christian" ; that all the churches retain their present local names; conferences and councils be known hereafter as assemblies of Christians, and that the general body, head and representative of the union herein sought, shall be "The General Assembly of Christians in America."

And, lastly, we agree that this basis be presented to the various conferences and councils, and through them to the local churches for their ratification and adoption.

CITIES, AMERICAN, RECENT GROWTH OF. This subject is continued from the "Annual Cyclopædia" for 1886, and will be further continued, with other cities, in the volume for 1888.

Allentown, a city, and the capital of Lehigh County, Pa., on the west bank of Lehigh river, 18 miles above its confluence with the Delaware. In relation to the surrounding cities, it is almost the mathematical center, Wilkesbarre and Scranton lying 85 miles to the north, New York 90 miles to the east, Philadelphia 60 miles to the south, and Harrisburg 85 miles to the west. Transportation to the north, south, east, and west is amply afforded by the Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh and Susquehanna, the Philadelphia and Reading, and the Perkiomen railroads, and the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's canal. Allentown dates from the middle of the eighteenth century. The first house was erected by William Allen in 1753, and nine years later the town was founded by him upon a grant of 3,000 acres from Joseph Turner, to whom it had been assigned by Thomas Penn. In 1838 its former name, Northampton, was changed to Allen's Town, in honor of its founder. The population, numbering 25,000, is composed mainly of Pennsylvania Germans and natives of German and Irish descent. The Lutheran and Reformed

denominations predominate.

Allentown, although the center of a rich mineral and agricultural district, depends mainly upon its varied manufactures, the most important of which are of iron and iron products, silk, furniture, cigars, linen thread, boots and shoes, barbed wire, leather, hosiery, brick, and lime. Its public buildings are substantial and commodious. Muhlenberg College and Allentown Female College afford accommodation for higher education. Allentown enjoys many advantages, chief among which are its natural drainage, its water-supply, its proximity to limestone, iron, cement, and slate formations, and its rich agricultural surroundings.

Amsterdam, a city of Montgomery County, N. Y., on the north side of the Mohawk river, 33 miles west of Albany. The population in 1870 was 7,706; in 1880, 11,710; in 1888, 17,403. It is a thriving manufacturing center, and was incorporated as a city in 1885. The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad passes through, leaving 1,042 car-loads of freight, and receiving 600 car-loads monthly. It is touched on the south side of Mohawk river, at Port Jackson, by the West Shore Railroad and the Erie Canal. In 1882 a system of water-works was constructed at a cost of $271,221, which is one of the best in the country, having a pressure in the principal business center of 133 pounds to the square inch. In 1887 were laid 742 miles of sewers, under the separate system, at a cost of $80,000. The work will be continued until the city is completely sewered. Street-cars traverse the principal streets, and electric lights have been introduced. The free schools occupy four buildings, one erected in 1884 at a cost of $12,000. There are 13 religious societies, and 11 churches, 4 erected in 1887. Three lines of stages connect the city with outlying villages. There are 3 national banks, 1 private bank, 1 savings-bank, 3 daily newspapers, 5 weeklies, and 1 monthly, a Children's Home, a Young Men's Christian Association, and a Board of Trade. One carriage-spring manufactory employs 125 hands. There are also 1 burial-case manufactory, 2 planing-mills, 3 machine-shops and foundries, 1 paper-mill, 2 paper-box factories, and 2 dyeing establishments. The broom industry employs $300,000 capital and 600 hands, with a daily output of 15,000 brooms and broom-brushes. The Amsterdam Linseed Oil Works, established at Galway in 1824, removed to Amsterdam in 1857, consume 750,000 bushels of flax-seed yearly, producing 1,700,000 gallons of oil, and 15,000 tons of oil-cake. The works employ 100 men. Carpet manufacturing employs 275 looms and 2,100 persons, with an annual output of 4,000,000 yards. In the manufacturing of knit goods there are 15 firms, with 112 sets of machinery, and 25,176 spindles, producing 2,980 dozens of garments daily, and employing 2,190 hands. The total value of manufactured products is $8,500,000. The total assessed valuation of the city is $7,000,000.

Atlantic City, a health-resort on the Southern New Jersey coast, about 65 miles southeast of Philadelphia, with which city it is connected by rail. Atlantic City is built on an island known as Absecom Beach, a ridge of sand about half a mile wide and ten miles long, five or six miles from the main-land. The population in 1880 was 5,477; in 1885, 7,942; in 1887, estimated at 10,000. Atlantic City is altogether a health resort, having no manufacturing industries whatever. It is supplied with excellent water from the main-land, has a complete system of underground drainage, and has three banks and two newspapers. The streets are regularly laid out, lined with shade-trees, and graded and graveled. There are about one hundred hotels and boarding-houses, one third of which are open all the year. During Lent, Atlantic City is thronged with fashionable visitors from Philadelphia and New York. The city is governed by a Mayor and Common Council, has a Board of Health, a Board of Trade, a dozen churches, fifteen different secret societies, ten physicians, as many lawyers, and a public-school system that employs more than thirty teachers. The city is lighted with gas and electricity. A board walk, or elevated beach promenade, extends along the beach front a distance of about three miles, which at all seasons is a favorite resort for promenaders. Building operations are extensively carried on during the autumn and spring. Absecom Lighthouse is the only Government building. There are many cottages and summer residences.

Eradford, a city in McKean County, Pa., on Tuna creek, a tributary of Allegheny river, 125 miles by rail north by east from Pittsburg, and 62 miles south by east from Buffalo. The population in 1870 was 400; in 1880, 9,127; and in 1887, was estimated at 12,000. Four systems of railroad enter the city, one of which operates three diverging lines, and a horse-car railroad traverses the main streets, running to the suburb of Tarport. The manufacturing interests comprise three large oil and gas well supply-works, a large tooth-pick factory, and numerous smaller industries. The growth of the city has been remarkable, as it had a population of only 500 in 1875 when the petroleum development around it was begun. It is the center of the great Bradford oil-field, which contains 100,000 acres of productive territory, on which over 15,000 wells have been drilled, at a cost of $38,000,000. About 14,000 of these are still producing an aggregate of 22,000 barrels a day. The field has already produced nearly 145,000,000 barrels of oil, which has been sold for over $100,000,000. The transactions in the Bradford Oil Exchange since its organization in 1879, have averaged 1,500,000 barrels daily, and on one day reached an aggregate value of $3,000,000. The value of sawed lumber taken from the adjacent forests reaches $3,000,000 annually. Six newspapers-3 daily, 2 Sunday, and 1 weekly-are published, and a monthly magazine devoted to

oil and natural gas. The city has been heated and lighted with natural gas since 1879, and was the first place where fuel-gas was systematically supplied and generally used. Two companies are piping gas to the city from the Kane district, 30 miles distant.

Chicopee, a township in Hampden County, Mass., incorporated as a town in 1848, when its territory was the north part of Springfield. It is about six miles square; its population numbers about 12,000. The assessed value of property is $5,844,065. Its railroad communication is by the Connecticut River road. A horse-railroad to connect with the Springfield line has been surveyed, and is to be built in 1888. Its leading manufacture is cotton. Two companies have a combined capital of $2,200,000, with 191,000 spindles and 4,673 looms; hands employed, 2,800; value of product, about $3,200,000, consisting of sheetings, shirtings, flannels, and fancy goods. The Ames Company manufactures general machinery, bicycles, tricycles, tools, and bronze statuary; capital, $500,000. The manufacture of agricultural tools is a large industry, with several shops. There are two shops for the making of society swords and military goods, including army swords. Other manufactures are pistols, rifles, shot-guns, knitting - machines, locks, factory reeds, and bobbins. There are three large brickyards, established within a few years. There are three Catholic churches and eleven Protestant congregations, a town hall costing $100,000, a free public library of 10,000 volumes, and two high-school buildings with philosophical apparatus; one national bank, and two savings-banks. There is a complete system of sewerage, with water-works for domestic and fire purposes. There are three post-offices -Chicopee, Chicopee Falls, and Willimansett.

Cohoes, a city in the northeast corner of Albany County, N. Y., at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, nine miles north of Albany and three miles from Troy. Two railroads and two canals pass through the city, and three horse-railway lines lead to Troy, Lansingburg, and Waterford. The city has within three years expended $90,000 for additional water-works, consisting of a new reservoir, holding 70,000,000 gallons, new pumping apparatus, and street-mains. An electric-lighting plant, operated by water-power, was established in 1887. The hydraulic canals of the Cohoes Company, which supply power for all the mills, have recently been permanently improved by vertical stone embankments. The cotton-cloth mills operate 266,000 spindles, and produce 85,000,000 yards of cloth, valued at over $3,000,000, and consume 27,000 bales of cotton annually. The same mills in 1876 operated 258,000 spindles, and produced less

than 80,000,000 yards of cloth. Twenty-five mills, operating knitting machinery and employing the equivalent of 205 standard (40inch) sets of woolen cards, produce annually knit underwear of the value of $4,600,000, and consume 16,450 bales of cotton and 3,360,000 pounds of scoured wool. In 1876 there were 17 knitting-mills, with 118 like sets of cards, and the annual production was valued at $3,426,000. A rolling-mill, which in 1876 turned out 6,900 tons of rolled iron, worth $355,800, has been enlarged so as to produce the past year 11,500 tons, worth $575,500 and tube-works, which ten years ago turned out annually steam, water, and gas wrought-iron piping, valued at $100,000, have been enlarged so as to produce the past year $750,000 worth. The manufacture of special knitting machinery has been nearly doubled in ten years, while that of axes and edge-tools has remained about the same. The population in 1875 was 17,482; in 1880, 19,416; in 1887, estimated at 22,000.

Erie, a city, port of entry, and county-seat of Erie County, Pa., on Presque Isle Bay, Lake Erie. It is 88 miles southwest of Buffalo, N. Y., 530 miles from New York city, and 450 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Population in 1870, 19,646; in 1880, 27,730; present population (estimate based on city census taken in 1885) 37,000. Erie is the terminus of the Philadelphia and Erie and the Erie and Pittsburg Railroads, and is traversed by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, and the New

York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroads. The streets are broad, and are laid out at right angles, and many of them are paved with asphalt. Horse-cars run through the principal streets. The manufactures are extensive and diversified, consisting of iron and brass, cars, stoves, boots and shoes, engines and boilers, machinery, pumps, organs, flour, sashes, blinds, woodenware, etc. The capital employed in

1886 was $7,814,000; number of men, 4,642; value of product, $10,585,000. There was a considerable increase of manufactures during 1887. The harbor is one of the finest on the lakes, being 5 miles long, 14 miles wide, and land-locked. In 1887 nine vessels in the foreign trade entered and six cleared, with a total tonnage of 2,337. The coast wise arrivals were 832, with tonnage of 709,141; cleared, 845, with tonnage of 720,606. The principal receipts by lake are grain and iron-ore; the principal shipments, coal and general merchandise. The grain is handled by three large elevators. A new custom-house, court-house, and post-office building is nearly completed, at a cost of $250,000 (see illustration). A new city hall is also approaching completion and will cost $150,000. The State Soldiers' Home was recently completed at a cost of $240,000. St. Peter's (R. C.) Cathedral, nearly completed, is the finest church edifice in the State, and will cost $300,000. The city water-works were enlarged during the year, the present pumping capacity being 6,000,000 gallons daily, to a height of 237 feet in the reservoir, two miles from the lake. The city has recently been connected with the natural-gas wells of the oil region by a pipe-line about 70 miles long, and during the year gas very largely took the place of coal for fuel for domestic use and to some extent for manufacturing. Erie is itself on the edge of the natural-gas belt. It has had several wells for twenty-five years or more; but the pressure is light and the supply insufficient and uncertain. The city has 4 national banks, 1 savings-bank, 31 churches, 3 daily and 8 weekly newspapers, and 2 monthly publications. Two new railroad projects, which are likely to be consummated, are the Ohio River and Lake Erie road, of which Erie will be the northern terminus, and a short line connecting Erie with the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio Railroad.

Evansville, a city and port of entry of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, on the Ohio river, midway between Louisville, Ky., and Cairo, Ill. The population in 1870 was 21,300; in 1880, 29,248; in 1887, 46,800. Seven railroads radiate from it to Chicago, to Brazil, Ind. (in the block-coal field), to Peoria, Ill., to St. Louis, to Nashville, to Louisville, and to Princeton, Ky. The latter is intended to run to Memphis, Tenn., and Florence, Ala. There are three horse-car lines, a transfer railroad track through the city, and a belt railroad, and a suburban railroad to Newburgh, Ind., will be built in the spring of 1888. There are steamboat lines to Louisville, Cincinnati, Cairo, Nashville, Florence, Ala., Memphis, St. Louis, Vincennes, and Bowling Green. The city is one of the largest hard-lumber markets on the continent, and also a grain and leaf-tobacco market. It is situated over inexhaustible beds of bituminous coal, there being six mines within the city limits, employing 900 miners. The Government has a fine building for post

office, customs, and court purposes, and a $500,000 county court-house is being erected. There are 17 public school-houses, 39 churches, and a handsome city hall. In 1887, 67 steamboats were registered here. There are 395 manufactories in the city, the principal products of which are: engines and boilers, mowers and reapers, sugar-mills, sorghum-evaporators, plows and stoves, chairs and furniture, bricks, drain - pipe, earthenware, cotton and woolen goods, bent-wood boxes, hames, horsecollars, iron-railing, wire-screens, doors, sash and interior house-fixtures, hard and soft lumber, flour, meal, hominy, and grits, barrels, brooms, carriages, wagons, burial-caskets, beer, wash boards, wooden butter- dishes, segars, staves and heading, spokes and hubs, mattresses, monuments, artificial ice, hoes, ginger ale, crackers and cakes, overalls, blank books, architectural iron, and tin and galvanized-iron work. The total value of manufactured products for 1887 was $13,957,000. The amount of capital invested is $30,750,000, and the number of people employed in these industries is 10,800. Among the new manufacturing industries established during 1887, were fruitcanning works, malleable-iron works, veneermills and a hames factory.

Gloucester, a city and port of entry of Essex County, Mass., on the peninsula of Cape Ann, thirty miles north-northeast from Boston, to which it is connected by a branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad; there is also a line of steamers running to that port. It has a fine, safe harbor which is used as a refuge from the storms by the large fleet of fishermen and coastwise vessels. It is the largest fishing-port in the United States, employing 419 vessels and boats, aggregating 28,348.97 tons of the finest crafts afloat, most of them being fast sailors and able sea-boats. The number of men employed is 5,000. There are 43 fitting-out establishments. The city comprises eight distinct villages, viz.: Magnolia, East Gloucester, West Gloucester, Riverdale, Amesquam, Lanesville, and Bay View (the two last-named are extensively engaged in granite-quarrying, shipping large quantities of excellent stone), and lastly the "Harbor," which comprises the central wards. There is a fine city hall, a public library building, custom-house, water-works, electric lights and gas, with all the modern improvements. A new high-school building is in process of erection, and there are several fine churches, among which is the elegant St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church, built of Cape Ann granite, with a convent and parochial school attached. The last census, 1885, gave a population of 21,703; it will now exceed 23,000. Is a noted summer resort with fine hotels and boarding-houses near the sea; two large tracts of land, one at Eastern Point of 400 acres, and Willoughby Park at Coffin's Beach, West Gloucester, 150 acres, have recently been purchased and are being laid out for first-class summer company. Coflin's Beach

is the finest on the coast, about 2 miles in length and 600 feet in width from high to low water mark, clear, hard sand. There are several manufactories, including anchor-works, a twine-factory, 3 fish-glue factories, 1 bootand-shoe manufactory, several oil-clothing establishments, etc. There is a daily and weekly newspaper. The horse-car tracks extend to East Gloucester, and other extensions are soon to be made. The town has an extensive foreign commerce, mostly with the Provinces, and imports salt from Trapani, which is used largely in the fisheries. For the year ending Oct. 1, 1887, there were 17 vessels of an aggregate tonnage of 1,137-67 tons lost from this port, together with 123 men, leaving 25 widows and 59 fatherless children.

Grand Rapids, a city of Michigan, at the head of navigation on Grand river, thirty-two miles from Lake Michigan. It is the county-seat of Kent County. Nine railroad lines have their termini in or pass through the city, and prior to Jan. 1, 1887, $250,000 had been invested in real estate requisite for the erection of a $500,000 union depot. Two systems of street-railway, with nearly thirty miles of track, one of them a cable-road, connect the outlying districts with the factories and business center of the city. The State Soldiers' Home is one mile north of the city, on the river-bank, and the State Masonic Home, one mile east of the city, on Reed's Lake, a beautiful sheet of water, a favorite summer resort, especially since its selection as the regatta course of the Northwestern Regatta Association. Two raceways, one on either side of the river, furnish waterpower for a score of factories and mills. The chief industries are furniture, pianos, flour, mill-machinery, carpet - sweepers, felt boots, leather, beer, bricks, plaster, stucco, wagons, carriages, sleighs, staves, brushes, wooden ware, clothes-pins, soap, barrels, coffins, and electric supplies. The value of manufactured products for 1887 was about $45,000,000, and the business of its wholesale and jobbing houses about $20,000,000. The city has a public library, a free law library, two electric-light, two water, and one gas company, twenty-three public schools, five national and two savings banks, with $2,300,000 capital stock and $5,500,000 deposits; sixty churches, ten private schools, thirty-five publications, and many benevolent and social organizations. The population in 1870 was 16,000; in 1880, 33,000; in 1884, 42,000. A new city hall, costing $300,000, was completed in 1887, and a site purchased for a $200,000 building for a county court-house and other county offices. The cempletion of several railroad lines has materially aided the rapid growth of the city during the past few years.

Hamilton, the second city, in respect of population, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is beautifully situated on the southern shore of Hamilton Bay, the westerly arm of Lake Ontario, forty miles from Toronto and forty-three

miles from Suspension Bridge. The population in 1861 was 19,096; in 1871, 26,716; in 1881, 35,961; and in October, 1887, 51,384. Three railroads enter the city, and two more, the Ontario Southern and Niagara Central, are in course of construction. A new building for a custom-house and post-office has recently been erected, together with several fine new schools. A new city ball is also being built. The chief manufactures are stoves, bridges, tools, agricultural implements, nails, boots and shoes, furniture, tobacco and cigars, carriage wood-work, engines and boilers, locomotives, hats, clothing, clocks, and glassware. It is the trade-cen. ter of the great fruit-growing district of Niagara, and fruit and vegetables are largely canned here. Hamilton does a large wholesale trade in groceries and clothing. The city is rapidly growing, and being admirably situated in respect of railroad and water communication, finds favor in the eyes of manufacturers. Hamilton beach, a narrow strip of land that separates the bay from Lake Ontario, is a noted summer resort, and is called the "Long Branch of Canada."

The

Hudson, a city of Columbia County, N. Y., on the eastern bank of Hudson river, 28 miles below Albany. It is on the line of the Hudson River Railroad, and is the terminus of the Chatham and Hudson branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad. During the navigation season four lines of steamboats touch daily each way. It was the third city incorporated in the State, receiving its charter April 2, 1785. In 1790 it was made a port of entry, and at that time had more shipping-tonnage than New York city, chiefly whalers. population in 1880 was 8,670; it now (1888) exceeds 10,000. The city is one mile square, surrounded by thickly-settled villages and a rich farming and fruit growing country. The principal business is manufacturing and produce-shipping. Within the past six years four large knitting-mills have been erected. Among the other manufacturing industries are iron furnaces, steam fire-engines, paper car-wheels, bridge-works, planing-mills, sash-and-blind factory, box factories, etc. The city has one of the most perfect systems of water-supply in the State, the Hudson river being its source. A fine high-school building has just been completed at a cost of $30,000. Although the city for half a century advanced but little in popnlation or business, it has taken a fresh start within the past ten years, and is now rapidly increasing.

Indianapolis, the capital of the State of Indiana, and the county-seat of Marion County, on the west fork of White river, almost exactly in the center of the State. Its population in 1870 was 48,244; in 1880, 75,056; and in 1887 was estimated at 110,000. It is the terminus of fifteen railways, and within a radius of two hundred miles has more railways and telegraph lines than any city of its size in the world. The most recently constructed roads are the Indian