The water-supply has long been in the hands of the city. The old supply from Rivington be coming inadequate. the corporation under an act of Parliament acquired Lake Vyrnwy. from which it conveys the water through an aqueduct 68 miles long. The work was completed in 1872 at a cost of about $10,000,000, and the new source is capable of yielding 40,000,000 gallons a day. The cleansing of the city of the sewage and gar bage is carried on by the corporation under the immediate supervision of the city engineer. The material gathered is converted as far as possible into fertilizers, the rest being disposed of by combustion. The clinker remaining after com bustion is broken up and made into slabs for side walks. Part of the sewage is conveyed to the municipal sewage farms. on which are raised crops of rye, grass, and all kind: of vegetables. These farms have been thus remuneratively man aged for over twenty-live years. The maintenance of municipal baths date, as far back as 1794, Liverpool having been the first city in England to provide its citizens with cheap bathing facilities.
• It has at present the largest and best-fitted bath ing establishments in England, which are patron ized by more than a million people per year, but with the extremely low prices (one cent upward) the city has not been able to make them self sustaining. The municipal markets, however, more than offset the above losses, yielding on the average an annual net income of some $90.000.
The entire system of docks and harbor im provements of the city is in the hands of the Mersey Dock and Harbor Board. in which are represented the three boroughs Liverpool, Birk enhead, and Bootle. The first Alersey dock was built by the Liverpool corporation in 1703. Sev eral of the docks are inclosed with large ware houses and most of them have half-tide locks and wet basins. The Herculaneum dock contains a remarkable petroleum magazine made of solid rock and having a capacity of 60.000 barrels. Liverpool is one of the half-dozen large English cities having no municipal gas plant. But it ac quired an electric plant in 15'95, which has been enlarged since to provide power for the municipal tramways. The latter have been worked by the city only since 1897: previous to that the lines were leased to a private company at an annual rental which left the city a net profit of nearly S100.000. Liverpool owns and maintains five hospitals for the treatment of infectious dis eases such as smallpox, diphtheria, and typhoid. More than $3.000.000 has been expended by the corporation for parks. and in addition to its nine large parks there are more than twenty small gardens, bringing the total park area up to more than 700 acres.
In addition to its public schools, the city sub sidizes a great number of institutions to provide facilities for technical instruction: there are special centres of instruction for working women and girls; evening classes in commercial and technical subjects; a school of applied art: and departments of electrical engineering. hygive.
and commerce in connection with the University College. Also notable are the Liverpool tollege, Liverpool Institute. School of Art. School of Architecture and Applied Science, Saint Francis Xavier's College. Catholic Institute, and the Liv erpool School of Science. The corporation has recently established a nautical college for the training of officer; and seamen for the merchant marine. The city maintains free public libraries, which are well equipped and accessible to the people in every section of the town. Free lec tures for working people are given in connection with that department. The museums include the Derby Museum. with zoffiogical, botanical, and geological departments and an aquarium; and the Mayer :Museum, containing European awl 1)riental antiquities and an ethnographical Liverpool is known more tor its commerce and :hipping than for its industries. Its foreign trade Lois given it its great importance. It has the largest share of the British trade with America, Australia, India, Africa. and the :Medi terranean Sea, and until very recently stood at the head of 'British commercial ports, but of late years has been outstripped by London. Its growth will be seen from the following table: Liverpool has a larger fleet of merchant vessels than any other seaport in the world. The leading articles of import are cotton (S5 per cent. of all the cotton imports into the country flour and grain, cattle, dressed meat, raw sugar. wild, to bacco, timber, leather. etc.; the combined value of imports reached the enormous total of over 000.000 in 1901. The chief articles of export are cotton goods, linen, machinery, pig iron. etc. As an industrial centre Liverpool is famous for its shipbuilding yards, in which large merchant and war vessels are made. It has also large iron and brass foundries, engine-works, sugar-refin e•ies, breweries, etc. It is a great shipping point of emigrants to America.
The growth of Liverpool in population has kept pace with its commercial progress. In the middle of the fourteenth century there were only about 300 inhabitants. In 1700 the popu lation was nearly 6000; in 1790, about :25,o00; in ISOI, S2,000; in 1S51, 375,000; in 1S91, 629. 54S: in 19111. 1184,947.
The name Liverpool. probably Anglo-Saxon in first occurs in 1190. In 1207 King John granted certain privileges to all settlers in the place, and in 1•29 it received a charter of poration. Before 1900 its growth was insignifi •ant. During the Civil War it was held by the Parliamentarians; was thrice besieged. and was taken by Prince Rupert in 11141. Its commercial prosperity began after the Restoration. During the eighteenth century it grew rich in the slave trade and privateering; later it beeame the great emporium for American trade. The first in por tant steam railroad in the world was opened be tween Liverpool and :\ kinetic:ter in D130.