to this business in the country.  About seventy-five trains arrive and depart daily.  The advantage thus given to Worcester over other towns in the county was great, and the results were striking and immediate, as may be seen by reference to the figures of population above given.  The facility of communication thus afforded caused capitalists to settle here, and manufactures rapidly sprang up and flourished, drawing to this spot thousands of laborers, who otherwise would have gone elsewhere.  At the present time the chief interests of the city centre in its manufactures, which embrace almost every variety of articles made in iron, steel, and wire cotton and woollen fabrics, leather, wood, and chemicals.

[Illustration:  Free public library.]

Among the multitude of manufactured products it is almost useless to attempt to specify any particular ones.  The same is true of the manufacturing establishments and corporations.  Mention may be made, however, of the Washburn & Moen Wire Works, which give employment to about three thousand operatives, established in 1831, and having a capital of two million dollars.  The power used in manufacturing is almost exclusively steam, but water is used somewhat in the outskirts, where streams have been dammed to make reservoirs.

Connected with the growth of Worcester it is interesting to note that the increase in the population has been largely from the ranks of the laboring classes.  The manner in which the city is built shows this to the most casual observer.  There are but few large estates or imposing residences, surrounded with extensive grounds.  The great majority of the houses are made of wood, are of small size, and stand in small enclosures.  As mechanics have prospered they have bought land, and built such houses as were suitable to their means, obtaining loans of the savings-banks, which they have paid off gradually.  This has been especially the case the last few years, during which time the city has extended in every direction in the manner indicated; and it is said the greater part of the deposits in the savings-banks, as well as their loans, have been made by and to people of the laboring class.  This shows a general prosperity, and indicates a permanency of population not seen in many cities.  During the last twenty years many people who began life with the most modest means, or with none at all, have become wealthy; and in almost every such case their prosperity has been due to their connection with manufacturing interests.

[Illustration:  The present antiquarian hall.]