RACINE, r5-sen'. A city and the county-seat of Racine County, Wis., 23 miles of Milwaukee and 62 miles north of Chicago, on Lake _Michigan, at the month of the Root River, and on the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Chicago. Milwaukee and Saint Paul railroads (Slap: Wisconsin, F 6). It has a pleasant site, some 40 feet above the lake, and is regularly laid out. Among the institutions of the city are Saint Luke's Hospital and the Taylor Orphan Asylum, a public library with more than 7500 volumes, and several other libraries, two of which belong to Racine College ( Protestant Episcopal) and Saint Catherine's Academy (Roman Catholic). The post-office, erected at a cost of $100,000, is one of the finest edifices in the city. Racine possesses a good harbor, and is connected by steamship lines with other lake ports. Its trade is chiefly in farm produce and in the principal manufac tured products. As an industrial centre, Racine ranks second among the foremost cities of the State, the ouput of its various manufactoritss in the census year 1900 having had an aggre gate value of $12,503,000, and the invested cap ital having amounted to $16.753,000. The lead
ing manufactures imlude agricultural imple ments, carriages and wagons, foundry and machine-s6hop products, boots and shoes, leath er, trunks and valises, steel springs for ears and carriages, hardware, lumber products, etc. Settled in 1834, Racine was incorporated as a village in 1843, and in 1848 it obtained a city charter. The government, under a revised charter of 1891, is vested in a mayor, elected every two years, and a unicameral council. Of the administrative officers, the fire and police commissioners are appointed by the mayor, and the school board by the mayor with the consent of the council. Population, in 1890, 21,014; in 1900, 29,102.