PARK'S. The public park system comprises about 500 acres. It includes Lake Park (124 acres) on the lake, laid out with fine drives and bicycle paths: Washington Park (148 acres) with an island-studded lake, a dense growth of timber, picnic and athletic grounds, and a deer preserve; IZiverside, Sherman. Humboldt, :Mitch ell. and Kosciusko parks; and Juneau Park on the lake front. 'Be last eulnInennirates. by its name and :1 monument. the founder of the city: it. has also a statue of Leif Ericson. Statues of \Vashington and Bergh. and a Soldiers• :Monu ment are in other sections of the city. The city water timer. near I.ake Park, marks the North Point Pumping Station. There are also several parks. from 1 to 20 acres in area. in various parts of the city. These smaller resorts arc owned by the wards in which they are situated. Toren Dome Cemetery is worthy of mention ;is one of the most beautiful in the foiled States.
CoMMERCE AND INDUSTRY. ).1i1Walikee is fa vorably located with reference to extensive re sources of farm, tunic. and forest. It enjoys the advantages of water transportation afforded by the Great Lakes, in addition to excellent rail road facilities. Among the railways that enter tie city are the Alilwaukee and Saint Paul. the Chicago and Northwestern, the Wis consin Central. and the Pere :Marquette. The city has bey, me important both as a collecting and a distributing centre, and is noted also for its manufacturing enterprises. Its wholesale trade exceed: ::;:mo.000.000 annually. There is an ex cellent harbor protected by a breakwater. In the shipments eastward there is competition between the lake system of transportation and the rail mails. while a considerable traffic crosses Take Miehifran and finishes its transit east by rail. In the lake eonunerce the shipments far exceed the receipts. The principal commodity received filen the East is coal. which reaches 1\111walikee by way of the lakes. :Milwaukee's foreign trade, which consists chiefly of imports. is compara tively inconsideralde. The following table shows the receipts and shipments of some of the princi pal articles for the year 1900: NVith respect to corn and oats. the city is primarily a distributing rather than a con-tim ing centre. It will be noted, however. that there is a marked ditrerenee between the receipts and the shipments of barley and wheat. .)1ilwatikee tieing a lute eon-mtner of these products in the milling and hreWing industries. Barley is used principally in the rnanilfaeture of beer, whieli is one of the most notable industries of the city. NW other .tnierican city enjoys so high a reputation for its beer. 'Tice value of the malt li?loorc produced in the census year 1900 was 813.899.39u. and of malt $2.317.570. 'The output of the flour and grist mills in the same ye:I r was valued at sa6,357.953. The most imp( r tont industry. and one that is developing rapidly. is the manufacture of foundry and machine shop pro.dnetsx the value of which in 19n0 was :41 495.362. Other large industries :ire tanning. cur rying. and finishing of leather. the value of that product in 1900 being 10,267.533. and the mann. of iron and steel products which were valued at $7,210.213. Slaughtering and meat packing, and the manufacture of clothing, lum ber, and planing-mill products, hoots and shoes, and agricultural implements also are important. The value if all manufactured products aeeord ing to the census of 1900 was ~6.449.
Statistics compiled by local authorities show an immense inerea,e in the output for 1901 and 1902, over that returned by the eensns. The gain in the production of iron. steel. and ma has been especially noteworthy.
CiDVERNMENT. .Milwankce is governed by a mayor :Ind a board of aldermen. consisting of 46 members—two from each ward. Other elective officers are the treasurer, comptroller, attorney, justices of the peace, and constables. The term of all officers. except the city attorney, who serves four years. is two years. The various administra tive boards and heads of department--the board of public works. commissioner of health. chief of fire department, and chief of police—are ap pointed by the mayor with the approval of the board of aldermen. The board of school direc tors i. chosen by four school board commission ers. appointed by the mayor, not More than two of whom can lie of one political party. The mayor also appoints the commissioners of the public debt. The mayor. city clerk, tax commis sioner, and ward assessors constitute a board of review for correction of assessment rolls. The civil service system is under the supervision of a board of civil service The !pointed debt of Alilwankee in 1902 was $7.152,750, and the floating debt $137,010, making a total debt (f $7,2S9.760. The legal borrowing limit is per cent. of the average assessed valuation for five years. The legal basis of assessment is the full value of both personal and real property. but in practice the basis is about 70 per cent. The as sessed valuation of real and personal property in 1902 was $171,881.364. The tax rate was 2.33 per eent. The actual income of the city..inelual ing proceeds from the sole of bonds, was $5.675. 000. The expenditures for maintenance and op eration, including cost of new liuildings, were the main items being $777.516 for schools,. ::4349.3.51 for the police department, for the tire departillenl, $256.1154 for interest on debt. and $160.022 for the water works. :Milwaukee own, and operates its water works, which were built in Iti72. The system has cost $5,001,443 and includes 360 miles of mains.
1'oet:LA.11°N. MilWallkee ranks fifth among the Lake cities and fourteenth in the United States. The population by decades has been as follows: 1840. 1712: 1S50. 20.061: 1160, -15216: 71.440: 1580. 115,357; 1590, 211 IGS ; 1900, 28'5, 31.5. There is a large foreign horn population. amounting in 1900 to 102.6.17. of whom 0.9:i2 were Germans. The negro., ntlinhered only 862.
l'i-Okibly as e:n-ly as 1790. Jean ilaptist an emigrant from France, set t led within the present limits of Milwaukee. where a Potawatami village of this name was then situated. he iked eontimum-ly until his death in 1519. for the greater part of the time being the only white man in the vicinity. In ItilS Sidomon .Juneau came hither and e-d.ahliShed a trailing station. but a town was not laid out until 1835. III 1536 there was a bio. 'boom' and settlers came in considerable numbers: but in the following year a reaction set in and retarded the growth of the village for several years. In 1847, with a population of 12,000, .Thlwaukce was chartered as a city, and Juneau was elected the first mayor.
Consult: Wheeler, of Milwaukee (Thlwaukce. 1801) ; Buck, Pion«T History of Milwaukee (3 vols., ib., 1876-84), the third vol tune of which is entitled Milwaukee Under the Charter.