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30,000 volumes. In 1863 Miss Sylvia A. Howland bequeathed to the city $100,000 for the increase of this library and the support of liberal education, and an equal sum for the introduction of water. There are 27 religious societies, a domestic missionary society with two free chapels, a young men's Christian association, a Roman Catholic hospital, an orphan asylum, and a “Union for Good Works.” New Bedford has long been the chief seat of the American whale fishery, which was pursued here as early as 1755. In 1765 four vessels were engaged in it, and at the revolution from 50 to 60, most of which were destroyed during the war. The business revived, but was again prostrated by the war of 1812. In 1818 it received a fresh impulse, and continued to nourish till 1853-'4, which was the culminating point of its prosperity. At that time there were 410 whalers, of 132,966 tons, in the district, and the imports were 44,923 bbls. of sperm oil, 118,672 of whale oil, and 2,838,800 lbs. of whalebone. The panic of 1857, the destruction of 30 whalers by confederate cruisers during the civil war, the wrecking of 24 at one time in the N. Pacific in 1871, and the substitution of other articles for the products of the fishery, proved disastrous, and it is rapidly on the decline. In December, 1873, the vessels engaged in it in the United States numbered 171, of which 128, of 35,261 tons, belonged in New Bedford. The proceeds were 30,961 bbls. of sperm oil, value $1,251,109; 25,729 of whale oil, $413,555; and 150,598 lbs. of bone, $162,645; these constituted about three fourths of the entire importation. The other imports in 1873 amounted to $160,000; exports, $32,350; duties collected, $36,000; entries, 62; clearances, foreign 33, domestic 136. The loss occasioned by the decline of the whale fishery has been partly compensated by increased attention to manufactures. The principal establishments are the Wamsutta cotton mills, with a capital of $2,000,000, running four mills with 86,000 spindles, and producing in 1873 goods to the value of $2,500,000; the Potemska mills, for print cloths, erected in 1871, with a capital of $500,000, 2,000 looms, and 22,500 spindles, and products in 1873 of about $1,000,000; the Gosnold iron mills, copper works, cordage factory, twist drill works, glass works, tannery, Prussian blue works, four oil and candle works, paraffine manufactory, five shoe factories, two manufacturing photographic establishments, gas works, kerosene oil works, two flour mills, and three paint mills. The aggregate value of the manufactured products in 1873 was about $8,000,000. The valuation of property in 1874 was: real estate, $11,665,400; personal, $11,719,900. There are four national banks, with an aggregate capital of $3,200,000; two savings banks, with deposits in 1874 of $10,021,921; one fire and one marine insurance company; two daily and two weekly newspapers, and a weekly shipping list. There is a line of steamers to New York, and one to Martha's Vineyard. The New Bedford railroad was formed in 1873 by a consolidation of roads running to Framingham, Mass., and was extended to the water front of the city. Large amounts of coal are brought here for distribution, and return freights extensively taken to points south. A branch road from Fairhaven, on the opposite side of Acushnet river, communicates with the Old Colony road, and affords an additional route to Boston and Cape Cod.—New Bedford was originally part of Dartmouth, from which it was set off as a town in 1787. It received a city charter in 1847. It was at one time the wealthiest city in the United States in proportion to its population.
NEW BERNE, or Newbern, a city and the capital of Craven co., North Carolina, the port of entry of the district of Pamlico, on the S. W. bank of the river Neuse at its confluence with the Trent, 40 m. from its mouth, and on the Atlantic and North Carolina railroad, 107 m. by rail S. E. of Raleigh; pop. in 1850, 4,681; in 1860, 5,432; in 1870, 5,849, of whom 3,829 were colored. Ocracoke inlet affords communication with the sea. There are lines of steamers to New York, Baltimore, and Norfolk. The city has a considerable commerce, principally coastwise. The chief articles of trade are cotton, lumber, naval stores, and fish. The value of foreign commerce for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $12,212; entrances and clearances, 13, of 1,021 tons; entrances in the coastwise trade, 179, of 31,807 tons; clearances, 80, of 17,992 tons; belonging to the district, 67 vessels, of 1,412 tons. There are several turpentine distilleries, founderies and machine shops, grist and saw mills, manufactories of carriages, agricultural implements, &c. The city has an academy, several good private schools, a national bank, a daily and three weekly newspapers, a monthly magazine, and Baptist, Christian, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic churches. It was at one time the capital of the province of North Carolina.—During the civil war New Berne, which was defended by intrenchments and breastworks, was captured by Gen. Burnside, after a severe fight, March 14, 1862. Sixty-nine cannon and much ammunition were taken, and the city suffered considerably by fire.
NEWBERRY, a N. central county of South Carolina, bounded N. in part by the Ennoree and Tiger rivers, E. by the Broad, and S. by the Saluda; area, 616 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 20,775, of whom 13,318 were colored. The surface is rolling, and the soil fertile, especially near the streams. It is traversed by the Greenville and Columbia and the Laurens railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 41,914 bushels of wheat, 152,232 of Indian corn, 27,701 of oats, 14,072 of sweet potatoes, and 9,836 bales of cotton. There were 1,259 horses, 1,754 mules and asses, 2,379 milch cows, 3,109 other cattle, 2,801 sheep, and 6,967 swine. There were 9 manufacturing establishments. Capital, Newberry Court House.
