The New York herald., 1869-02-22
MASSACHUSETTS.

Things fn Massachusctts-The City Of Law
rencc-Ihe beginning, Rise and Growth
Of Its AIanuiactIrek-Sfatisii OF the Cot.
ton Mills.
LAWRENCE, Feb. 10, 1862
The city Of Lawrence is great manufacturing
place. The success OF the first power loom In Anle
rca, which was set in motion at Waltham, twelve
miles from Boston, lity years ago, when plain cot
ton goods sold for thrty-three cents per yard at
auction, when the sellers would have been satisfied
with twenty-five cents at private sale impeel all
.'enterprtsng'' men who had funds TO buy up all
the waterfalls on eligible streams ard order them
to be damned. The Merrimac river became an OBJ
ject OF much interest. ana Lowell Nashua and
Manchester sprung into existence in a very little
while. Mir. Daniel Saunders, who was born In this
immediate vicinity, commenced purchasing land
and falls above, below and about where Lawrence
now is, with view to building dam and let
ting mill powers ana selling land In lots TO
SUIT purchasers, and in 1544 he and Samuel Law
renee, John Nesmlth and Edmund Bartlett obtained
q charter from the Legislature OF Massachusetts to
build dam With locks, canals, fshways, &C. This
after having purchased about one hundred farms
OF various sizes, 1t being all they wanted to com
mence with, and under the charter the Essex Com
pany was duly organized in April, 1s45, by the choice
OF Abbott Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, william
turgis, lgnatius Sargent and Charles s. StOrroW as
directors.
Mr. storrow was agent and treasurer, and forth
with he commenced laying ont the present city,
Tie stone Tor the dam was to be quarried III New
Hampshire and the lumber for other purposea-such
as shops, houses and SO on-was To come from Name
In September, 1915, the first stone OF the dam was
laid, and this was tile commencement OF the best
dam, considering what dam ought to be- that there
Is. PROBABLY, III the world. 1t is OF granite, over
1000 feet Ia length thiryve feet thick the base
and twelve anu haf feet at the top, and backed ND
with gravel to within few feet OF tie crest II is
water OF the river mas been rushing ever since the
n0od; the overffUw OF waste wafer IS 300 feet wide
anu the fall Is twenty-slx 1eet. The granite blocks
OF which 1t ~ composed were hammered on the bel
ana laid IN hydraulic cement. The cost OF the dam
was about S25O,00o. There IL canal on each side
OF the river and Dy these the mills supplied with
water, which runs or into the river below the dam.
The canal on the north side runs parallel with the
river bank 400 feet distant, and Is a little over a
nile long 1t Is lUl feet wide the upper end and
sixty where II deboucnes into the river, and twelve
feet in DEPTH the water being regulated BY neaus OF
gates at the head OF the canal so that whether the
RIVER be nigh or low the supply Of water is always
the same In the canal. Wth iGs walls aud the locks
at lis moith this canal cost 100000.
ON tue belt OF land between the canal and the
river are located the mills, among whicn are the
PacInc, the Atlantic queer names Tor fresh water
institutionsl tue leinherton, the Everett and the
Washington nils-lamous throughout the republic
FOR the quality OF the goods they produce as well aS
the imnen5ity OF their size-besiGcs braid ml,s
i0undrics, machine shops and various other hives OF
industry ali propelled by the water OF the MerrInac
which affords 5,u00 cubic 1eet OF water per second
and sometimes ten times as much. The power Is
100 mil powers, and u mill power IL thirty cubic
feet Of water pei second with q head and fall OF
twenty-five feet which gives q seventy -horse power
anu al the particulars are calculated TO an
alImntb, as sailor would Say. Mill own
ers buy the land on winch they build and
pay Tor the use OF the water by the year.
as you do for the Cr0ton iii the HERALD establish
ment; but only Tor sixteen hours ia each day of
twenIy-fonr. About tree-quarlers Of the mill power
o. the Essex Company have been disposed OF, ana IN
future the power Will be largely Increased by means
o. communication with lakes III New Hampshire OF
which reservoirs viii be made. and the canal on
the south side OF the river, which was finished last
year, and ON which nouring mid Is dong q good
business with seven run OF stones, will be lined with
other factories through Its entire length.
The raciIic Mills, the main building OF which IL
eight hundred feet long Dy seventy-two wide and six
stories high ABOVE the basement, employ aoouG 400
hands, with capital OF s250o,0oO. They pay taxes
oil valuation Of S2,650,010 and manufacture all
sorts OF cotton, woOllen, worsted aud mixed abrcs
besides braids Of all c0Ors and descriptions. Last
year tney declared dividend ia July OF twelve per
cent ana IN January Of this year the same. by which
the stockholders received twenty-f0ur per cent fcr
the year 1868. Besides this, 1t took the council
medal, valued at $1,000, at the great worlds far In
Paris IN spite OF competitors. AZ the best regulated
mil IN TIE world. The Washington Mills also
received silver medal at the same time The
ton Is S5,Cj 100; but the facc affords the largest
dress goods which. when of new patterns anu
designs are renewed continually and the goods are
"a iAsn..