LA CROSSE, 14 krOs', Wis., city and count'-seat of La Crosse County, on the Miss River and the Chicago, Milwaukee Paul, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Chicago and Northwestern and several other railroads, 200 miles northwest of Mil waukee, and 130 miles south of Saint Paul. La Crosse is the centre of the farming, manufac turing and dairying trade of western Wisconsin, southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. There are manufactories of boots and shoes, sashes, doors, blinds, automobile parts, gasoline en gines, tents and awnings, plows, agricultural implements, boilers and heavy machinery, ex tensive carriage works, rubber mills, cracker and knitting factories, etc., large flour mills, pearl button factories, steel and corrugated roofing works, woolen mills, a large tannery, mammoth cooperages, five large breweries, affording a market for 150,000 bushels of bar ley and 100,000 pounds of hops per annum; extensive cigar manufactories and various other industries. Sand, gravel and limestone are found in the neighborhood: The manufac tures are valued at $20,000,000 annually. The
city has five banks. La Crosse has a public library, the Washburn, containing 25,000 vol umes, two business colleges, a high school, pub lic school buildings and several Catholic and Lutheran parish schools. The city has a fine city hall, a Federal building, a convent, asylum for chronic insane, Saint Francis, the Lutheran, and La Crosse hospitals, opera houses, weather bureau station, four parks, a wagon bridge over the Mississippi, etc. There are numerous church edifices.
La Crosse was first permanently settled in 1841 by Nathan Myrick, John M. Levy and others. It became a village in 1851 and was incorporated as a city in 1856. Under a revised charter of 1891 the government is administered by a mayor, elected every two years, and a council of 20 aldermen, one-half elected bi ennially. The council appoints the minor offi cials. The city owns and operates the water works, and has electric light and street rail road plants. Pop. 31,367.