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Rh dence, the Boston, Hartford, and Erie, the Boston and Albany, and the Old Colony and Newport. By means of the Grand Junction railroad, the main line of the Boston and Al- bany is connected with the Fitchburg, Lowell, Eastern, and Boston and Maine railroads, and with the Grand Junction wharf at East Bos- ton, which greatly facilitates the transfer of freight to and from vessels. There are numer- ous lines of steamers to the principal eastern ports of the United States and British America, while two lines ply between Boston and Liv- erpool. The harbor has 164 wharves, and will afford anchorage for 500 vessels of the largest class. Boston early became distin- guished for her commerce. In less than half a century after the foundation of the place, the Boston merchants traded not only with other parts of America and the leading nations of Europe, but with the Canaries, the coast of Africa, and Madagascar. Their wealth was the subject of remark to all visitors. The first vessel belonging to Boston, of American build, was the bark Blessing of the Bay, built at Mystic for Gov. Winthrop, and launched July 4, 1631. She was of 30 tons, and her first voyage was to Long Island and New York. The first ship built at Boston was the Trial, in 1644, which immediately made a voyage to Spain. The same year a fur company com- posed of Boston merchants was formed. Dur- ing the year ending Dec. 25, 1748, 430 vessels entered the port, and 540 were cleared. A century earlier the arrivals of ships were only about one a month, but even then large quanti- ties of country produce were exported, 20,000 bushels of corn being mentioned among the exports of 1645. After the revolution Boston rapidly attained to eminence in commerce. The number of foreign arrivals was 399 in 1791, and 2,985 in 1857. In 1806 it was 1,083, and but 83 in 1814, the last year of the second war with England. In 1871 Boston ranked next to New York in extent of imports, and third among the cities of the Union in the value of foreign commerce, New York being first and New Orleans second. The total value of the commerce for the year ending June 30, 1871, was $68,063,914, the imports being $53,652,225, domestic exports $12,761,291, foreign exports $1,450,398; 671 American vessels of 266,673 tons, and 2,843 foreign vessels of 569,431 tons, entered from foreign ports; and 566 American vessels of 205,775 tons, and 2,723 foreign vessels of 396,778 tons, cleared for foreign ports; 41 American and 85 foreign ocean steamers entered, and 40 American and 28 foreign cleared ; 788 steamers and 468 sailing vessels entered in the coastwise trade, and 858 steamers and 1,207 sailing ves- sels cleared. There were belonging to the port 876 sailing vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 315,966, and 57 steamers with a tonnage of 22,820 ; 166 vessels of 5,360 tons were employed in cod and mackerel fishing; 25 vessels of 4,732 tons were built during the year. The imports from England amounted to $22,941,679, and the exports to that country were $4, 127,91 6 ; imports from British America, $2,139,473, exports $2,896,827; imports from British India, $4,206,474, exports $285,523 ; imports from Cuba and Porto Eico, $7,325,512, exports $992,784 ; imports from Brazil, $1,042,- 000; from China, $1,953,066; from the Argen- tine Republic, $1,902,752 ; from Italy, $1,740,- 607; from Sweden and Norway, $1,150,070; exports to Chili, $838,237. The leading arti- cles imported, with their values, were : brown sugar, $7,329,133; hides and skins (not fur), $3,158,524; dress goods, $2,188,451; bar iron, $1,962,116; cloths and cassimeres, $1,864,289; molasses, $1,627,502; fruits and nuts, $1,349,- 858; raw hemp, $1,201,148; rags, $854,369; coffee, $698,729; earthen, stone, and china ware, $672,837; indigo, $594,338; spices, $400,000 ; wool, $372,115 ; tea, $245,382. The chief articles of export were: flour, $1,- 467,748; bacon and hams, $653,501; petro- leum, $529,470; household furniture, $301,- 569; ice, 49,085 tons, valued at $202,452. The ice trade is a Boston invention. It was originated by Frederick Tudor, who in 1806 shipped 130 tons to Martinique. For 20 years the losses were great, but success was finally won by talent and perseverance. Mr. Tudor had a monopoly of the trade for 30 years, when, its brilliant success having become known to all, he found competitors. It is believed that but for the ice trade the Calcutta trade of Boston never could have become important. Formerly this trade was very large, but it has within a few years considerably declined. Boston is the only city on the eastern seaboard in which no capitation tax is levied upon immigrants. This impost in other cities varies from $1 50 to $2 50 on each passenger. The number of arrivals in 1871 was 22,904; in 1870, 30,069; in 1869, 26,414; in 1868, 15,128. The domestic trade of Boston is specially large in boots and shoes, wool, cotton, dry goods, clothing, fish, flour, and grain. The annual sales of merchan- dise are estimated at $1,200,000,000. The re- ceipts of wool embrace about one third the en- tire clip of the country, while the average weekly sales amount to about 1,000,000 Ibs. The imports of foreign wool for a series of years, as compared with the imports into New York, are as follows:

TEAKS. BOSTON. iraw YORK. Ibl. Ibs. 1868 17371,818 47,571,920 1864 20,780,124 61,691,879 1865 14,292,412 82,561,580 1866 20,027,958 86,066,176 1867. 12,675,880 19,868,869 1868 10,878,791 18,458,635 1869 19,954,882 21,570,480 1870 15,721,147 12,460,290 1871 88,098,521 89,411,518

The stock of foreign wool on hand in Boston Jan. 1, 1872, was 2,846,800 Ibs. ; 1871, 2,052,000 Ibs. ; 1870, 4,550,000 Ibs. ; 1869, 2,840,000 Ibs. ; 1868, 5,155,000 Ibs. ; 1867, 5,435,000 Ibs. The amount of domestic wool on hand Jan. 1, for a