Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/145

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BOSSXJET 123 BOSTON BOSSUET, JACQUES BENIGNE (bos- ii-a'), a French theologian, born in Dijon, Sept. 27, 1627. At the age of 15 he entered the College of Navarre, where he studied Greek and the Holy Scrip- tures, read the ancient classics, and in- vestigated the Cartesian philosophy. In 1652 he was ordained priest, and made a canon of Metz. In 1670 he was ap- pointed preceptor to the Dauphin, and in 1681 he was raised to the see of Meaux. He drew up the famous propositions adopted by the assembly of French clergy, which secured the freedom of the Galilean Church against the aggressions of the Pope. He opposed Quietism, and prosecuted Madame Guyon; and when his old friend Fdnelon defended her he caused him to be exiled. He died in Paris, April 12, 1704. BOSTON, the largest city of New Eng- land, the capital of Massachusetts and the county-seat of Suffolk co. It is situ- ated at the Boston harbor and at the mouths of the Mystic and Charles rivers. It is also on the New York, New Haven and Hartford, and the Boston and Maine railroads. It has regular steamship com- munication to all important domestic and foreign points. The city has an area of 47.81 square miles. The city includes Boston proper, and the suburbs of East Boston, South Boston, Roxbury, Dor- chester, Charleston, Brighton, West Rox- bury, and other outlying communities. Within a 50 mile radius of the city more people live than in any other similar area in the United States with the exception of New York. Old Boston or Boston proper occupies a peninsula of about 700 acres of uneven surface and contained originally three hills, known as Beacon, Copp and Fort. From these hills the place was called by the early settlers Trimountain, later changed to Tremont. Extending about two miles along the harbor and separated from Boston proper by an arm of it, is South Boston, con- taining large docks and warehouses. The city is connected with Charleston and Cambridge by several bridges. The harbor is an indentation of Massachu- setts Bay, embracing about 75 square miles, with numerous arms, and contain- ing many islands. The population of the city, according to the census of 1920 was 748,060. The estimated population of the metropolitan district in 1920 was 1,824,746. Within this metropolitan dis- trict are included Cambridge, Lynn, Wal- tham, Somerville, Maiden ::nd other cities. Boston has one of '.he finest natural harbors of the world, with a water frontage of more than 40 miles, most of which is in active use for commercial purposes. In the older portions of the city the streets are narrow and irregular, but since 1872, when the city was visited by a destructive fire, much has been done toward straightening them. The newer section built on recovered land on the Back Bay and the Fenway are far more regular and handsome in ap- pearance. The financial center of the city is State street. The retail center is on Washington, Tremont, and Winter streets. On High and the neighboring streets are the boot and shoe markets. The wholesale dry goods establishments are on Franklin, Chauncey, Summer, and neighboring streets. The suburbs of the city are exceedingly attractive because of their natural beauty and notable buildings. Boston is the center of the largest shoe and textile manufacturing com- munity in the world. It is the com- mercial metropolis of New England and is the greatest wool and leather market in the United States. It has also a large commerce in grain, cotton, iron, steel products, sugar, flour, hides and leather, and meats and dairy products. The manufactures include boots and shoes, foundry and machine-shop products, musical instruments, machinery, cloth- ing, iron ware, books, brass goods, con- fectionery, rubber goods, and many others. It is also the greatest fish market in the world. There were in 1917 2,- 653 industrial establishments. The value of the products of industry in 1918 was $522,646,032. The capital invested in the same year was $281,497,115. The average number of wage earners em- ployed was 88,763. The total amount paid in wages in 1917 was $68,002,939. The value of the exports of the city in 1919 was $334,554,031, and of the im- ports $299,364,999, or a total trade of $633,919,030. Boston ranks second among the cities of the United States as a ship ping center and has an important sea- port. It ranks fourth in the total ot foreign trade, in the amount of bank clearings, assessed valuation, and popu- lation. It ranks eighth in the value of the manufactured products. The chief exports are iron and steel products, meat and dairy products, breadstufFs, boots, shoes, and leather, metal, cotton and cot- ton products, rubber products, paper, chemical products, and dyes. The chief imports are wool, cotton, hides and skins, fiber products, sugar and molasses, chem- icals, drugs and dyes, leather and fish. In 1919 Boston was the richest commu- nity per capita in the United States. The total assessed valuation of the city in that year was $1,528,165,778. Brston is noted for its magnificent