Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/813

 MONTREAL 795 of Friends, 1 New Jerusalem, 1 Christian Ad- vent, 1 Unitarian, and the St. George's Hall congregation. The principal benevolent in- stitutions are the Hotel-Dieu and St. Patrick's hospitals, attended by the sisters of St. Joseph, the Protestant house of industry and institu- tion for deaf mutes, the infant school, Provi- dence Sacre Cceur, the lying-in and Providence asylums, the dispensary, the eye and ear in- firmary, the Protestant and the Catholic Mag- dalen and orphan asylums, the Catholic benefit society, and the charities under the immediate charge of the sisters of charity. First among the educational establishments is the university of McGill college, which embraces the largest school of medicine in British North America, a faculty of law, normal and model schools, a high school, and a chair of English literature. The college de Ste. Marie is directed by the Jesuits, and the Montreal college by the Sulpi- cians, who have charge also of the grand semi- naire and the ecclesiastical seminary at St. Sul- pice. Besides these are the colleges of Ste. Therese and the Assomption. In 1873 there were 9 daily, 2 tri-weekly, 2 semi- weekly, and 17 weekly newspapers published in the city, with 9 monthlies and 3 semi-monthlies. The most important monetary establishments are the Montreal bank, founded in 1818, capital $12,000,000 ; the Merchants' bank of Canada, $6,000,000; bank of British North America, $4,867,000 ; City bank, $1,200,000 ; Banque du Peuple, $1,600,000; and Molson's bank, $1,000,000. Most of these have handsome edi- fices. The principal business streets are St. James, McGill, Notre Dame, Commissioner, St. Paul, and the main thoroughfares of St. Law- rence, Quebec, St. Ann, St. Joseph, and St. Antoine suburbs. Most of the leading whole- sale dry-goods and hardware houses are in St. Paul street. Of late years some of the narrow and tortuous streets have been widened, but many more remain in their original condition. The Bonsecours market, a fine Doric edifice, contains the city council chamber, corporation offices, and a concert room which seats 4,000 people. A more commodious market is pro- jected, to cost $2,000,000. The court house, built at an expense of $300,000, is a lofty and spacious Ionic building about 120 ft. long. It contains a law library of 6,000 volumes. Back of it is the Champ de Mars, a fine military pa- rade ground. In 1870, on the withdrawal of the British troops from Canada, this and all other imperial property in the city was pre- sented to the Dominion government. In 1860 a crystal palace was opened for the exhibition of the products of the provinces. The mer- chants' exchange, in St. Sacrament street, is a handsome structure in the modern Italian style, with numerous offices and a reading room. The old government house, in Jacques Cartier square, and Nelson's monument, are objects of interest. The geological museum, the university of McGill college with its mu- seum, and the museum of the natural history society, are among the most complete institu- tions of the kind on the continent. The city is well lighted with gas, which was first used here in November, 1837. Water is obtained from the St. Lawrence, about 1^ m. above the Lachine rapids, where the elevation of the riv- er is about 37 ft. above the harbor. It is con- ducted to the outskirts of the city through an open canal 5 m. long. At the end of this is a wheel house, from which the water is dis- charged through submerged archways under covered frost-proof passages extending above and below the building. There are two iron wheels, which force the water 206 ft. above the harbor, through a pumping main 2f m. long, into a reservoir with a capacity of 15,000,000 gallons. The works, which cost about $1,800,- 000, were begun in June, 1853, and water was admitted in September, 1856. The climate of Montreal is subject to great extremes, the sum- mers being hot and the winters severe. The thermometer ranges from 90 above to 30 be- low zero. In the beginning of the present cen- tury vessels of more than 300 tons could not approach the city. In 1809 the first steam- er, the Accommodation, was launched on the river. About 1854 the Montreal ocean steam- ship company was formed. Its first vessels were employed in the transport service to the Crimea, and it was not till 1856 that they com- menced the regular mail service, which was fortnightly till 1859, when it was made week- ly. The harbor has been much improved of late years. Ocean steamships of 3,500 tons can now enter it, and a fine basin has been con- structed, capable of accommodating three first class steamships. The river frontage is nearly 3 m. long, extending from the Victoria bridge to the village of Hochelaga. The wharves are more than a mile long, and of solid masonry, surmounted by a massive stone wall extending from the entrance of the Lachine canal to below the Bonsecours market. The Victoria bridge crosses the St. Lawrence from Point St. Charles at the head of the harbor to St. Lambert on the opposite shore, a distance of about 2 m. It was begun July 20, 1854, and completed in the autumn of 1859. (See BRIDGE, vol. iii., p. 275.) This bridge belongs to the Grand Trunk railway of Canada, and affords an unbroken line of communication with the United States. The custom house is massive and capacious, and has a fine tower. In 1855 the arrivals from sea were 188 vessels, of 47,- 394 tons, and the clearances 135, of 27,493 tons. The following tables show the business of the port for four years : Shipping. YEARS. ENTEBED. CLEABED. Vessel!. Tonnage. Vessels. Tonnage. 18TO 1871 340 346 435 422 228,121 247,313 811,567 807,453 410 441 497 527 243,167 274,184 828,533 854,911 1872 1873