Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/705

Rh trade with foreign ports since 1867 (years end- ing June 30) is shown in the following table :

YEARS. Exports. Imports.

1867... $22,101 601 $885 530 1868 22,611,973 566,225 1869 20 541 450 511 297 1870 22,422,631 1 447516 1871 1872 21,874,708 13 954 6GO 1,811,614 1 761 657 1873 . . 12249866 1,097,164 1874 10,282,734 886,411

Of the exports in 1874, $9,384,820 consisted of cotton. The entrances from foreign ports during the year ending June 30, 1874, num- bered 53, with an aggregate tonnage of 33,- 667; clearances to foreign ports 41, tonnage 32,509. The coastwise entrances were 135, tonnage 48,373 ; coastwise clearances, 123, ton- nage 45,115. In 1873 80 sailing vessels of 7,586 tons, 30 steamers of 7,316 tons, and 22 barges of 1,475 tons, belonged to the port. Steamers run regularly to Montgomery and other points on the Alabama, Tombigbee, and Black Warrior rivers. The principal manu- factories are two of sash, doors, and blinds, one of paper, several of carriages and cabinet ware, two cooperages, a brewery, three saw mills, and four founderies and machine shops. There are two national banks, with a joint capital of $800,000; two state banks, with $1,000,000 capital ; two savings banks, and nine insurance companies. Mobile is divided into eight wards, and is governed by a mayor, with a board of councilmen of one member and a board of aldermen of three members from each ward. It has a municipal court and an efficient fire department and police force. The United States courts for the southern dis- trict of Alabama are held here. The principal charitable institutions are four orphan asylums, the city hospital, the United States marine hos- pital, and the Providence infirmary. The med- ical college of Alabama was established here in 1859, and in 1873-'4 had 9 professors and 85 students. The number of public schools in the entire county in 1873-'4 was 71 (42 white and 29 colored), with an attendance of about 4,500. The boys' and girls' high schools and a number of the lower grades are held in the Barton academy in the city. There are seven Roman Catholic schools and academies, a He- brew school, and a number of private schools and academies. Two daily newspapers are published. There are 30 churches, viz. : 5 Baptist (2 colored), 4 Episcopal, 1 German Lu- theran, 1 Jewish, 10 Methodist (6 colored), 3 Presbyterian, and 6 Roman Catholic. In the immediate vicinity of Mobile are the college of St. Joseph at Spring Hill, under direction of the Jesuits, and the academy of the Visita- tion, Summerville, conducted by the sisters of the Visitation. Mobile was the original seat of French colonization in the southwest, and for many years the capital of the colony of Louisi- ana. In 1702 Le Moyne de Bienville trans- 565 VOL. xi. 44 ferred the principal seat of the colony from Biloxi to a point on the river Mobile supposed to be about 20 m. above the present city, where he established a fort which he called St. Louis de la Mobile. At the same time he built a fort and warehouse on Isle Dauphine, at the en- trance of Mobile bay. Many of the first set- tlers were Canadians. In 1705 an epidemic, supposed to be the first recorded visitation of yellow fever, carried off 35 persons. The year 1706 was noted for the "petticoat insurrection," a threatened rebellion of the women, in consequence of dissatisfaction with the diet of Indian corn. The colony frequently suffered from famine, as well as from the attacks of Indians, although relieved by occasional sup- plies from the mother country. In 1711 the settlement was nearly destroyed by a hurricane and flood, in consequence of which it was re- moved to its present situation. In 1723 the seat of the colonial government was transferred to New Orleans. In 1763, by the treaty of Paris, Mobile, with all that portion of Louisi- ana lying E. of the Mississippi and K of Bayou Iberville, Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, passed into the possession of Great Britain. In 1780 the fort, the name of which had been changed to Fort Conde, and subsequently by the British to Fort Charlotte, was captured by the Spanish general Don Galvez, and in 1783 its occupancy was confirmed to Spain by the cession to that power of all the British posses- sions on the gulf of Mexico. On April 13, 1813, the Spanish-commandant, Cayetano Perez, sur- rendered the fort and town to Gen. Wilkinson. At that period the population, which in 1785 had amounted to 746, was estimated at only 500 (exclusive of the garrison), half of whom were blacks. In December, 1819, Mobile was incorporated as a city. On Jan. 4, 1861, the state authorities of Alabama took possession of the United States arsenal at Mount Vernon, 35 m. from Mobile, and soon afterward garrisoned Forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance of the bay, though the state did not secede until the llth. Mobile was not seriously attacked until the summer of 1864, when the city had been en- compassed with three lines of defensive works, while ten batteries commanded the channel below the city, which was also obstructed with rows of piles, and a small confederate fleet, car- rying 22 guns and 470 men, was anchored under the guns of Fort Morgan. On Aug. 5 Admiral Farragut, with 18 vessels, carrying 199 guns and 2,700 men, entered the bay under the fire of the two forts, which he returned while passing, but without stopping. He was assisted by 1,500 soldiers, under Gen. Gordon Granger, who were intrenched on Dauphine island, within half a mile of Fort Gaines. Farragut's leading vessel, the Tecuinseh, struck a torpedo and in- stantly sank, carrying down her captain and 112 men. The flag ship Hartford, with the admiral in the rigging, then took the lead, and after an engagement lasting an hour passed the forts and steamed into the bay, followed by