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36 its public works and institutions, its homes and churches, and high degree of culture were things to boast of. The fine water system, with the great reservoir at Fairmount on the Schuylkill, had been completed. The city fire plugs gave sufficient pressure to reach the tops of the highest buildings, and the fire-fighting volunteer hose companies did efficient work.

Eleven daily newspapers kept the city posted. Of the meeting houses and churches, there were nearly a hundred in 1825, representing the Catholics and the various Protestant denominations—Presbyterians, Methodists and Episcopalians were most numerous, in the order named. Those were the days when chains were stretched across the streets in front of the churches during Sunday services. The charitable institutions included the notable and splendidly conducted Pennsylvania Hospital; three dispensaries affording aid to the poor in their homes; two almshouses; several asylums for orphans, women, the deaf and the dumb, and lunatics; numerous humane and soup societies, benevolent orders had lodges, and other helpful organizations. The Franklin Fund provided loans to assist "young,