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Penn westward to the Schuylkill river, and therefore possesses excellent drainage facilities. The river, which is unnavigable and winding at this point, forms the western boundary of the city for more than 4 m., and is spanned by three public See also:

bridges and a number of railway bridges. Neversink See also:

Mountain (878 ft. high), lying to the S. of the city, and Mt. Penn (800 ft.), are See also:

PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure resorts in the neighbourhood. On the neighbouring mountains are several summer hotels and sanatoria. Within the city is Penn See also:

COMMON

Common, containing 50 acres, reserved by the Penns for the use of the See also:

TOWN

town when it was first laid out, and since 1878 used as a public See also:

park.

See also:

MINERAL

Mineral See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

Spring Park, containing 63 acres, lies on the outskirts of the city. Other parks are maintained by the See also:

street railway companies. In Penn Common are a See also:

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

monument erected to the "First Defenders," to commemorate the fact that the "Ringgold See also:

LIGHT

Light See also:

INFANTRY

Infantry," the first volunteer See also:

COMPANY

company to See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report at See also:

Washington for service in the See also:

CIVIL

Civil See also:

War, came from this city; a monument to See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

President See also:

MCKINLEY, WILLIAM (1843—1901)

McKinley, and one to the volunteer See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire companies of the city. Among interesting landmarks are the Federal See also:

Inn (1763), in which President Washington was entertained in 1794, and which has been used as a banking See also:

house since 1814; the old county See also:

GAOL, or JAIL

gaol (1770), used as such until 1848; and the site of the " See also:

HESSIAN

Hessian See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

Camp," where some of the prisoners captured during the War of See also:

Independence were confined. Charitable institutions are numerous; among them are the Reading See also:

HOSPITAL (Lat. haspitalis, the adjective of hospes, host or guest)

Hospital (1867), St See also:

Joseph's Hospital (1873), Homoeopathic Hospital (1891), the See also:

Home for Widows and Single See also:

WOMEN

Women (1875), the See also:

Hope See also:

RESCUE (in Middle Eng. rescous, from O. Fr. recousse, Low Lat. rescussa, from reexcussa,reexcutere, to shake off again, re, again, ex, off, quatere, to shake)

Rescue See also:

MISSION

Mission (1897) for homeless men, the Home for Friendless See also:

CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

Children (1888), St Catharine's See also:

FEMALE

Female See also:

ORPHAN

Orphan See also:

Asylum (1872), $t See also:

Paul's Orphan Asylum for Boys, and the House of the See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

Good Shepherd (1889). Other institutions _ are the public library, which from 18o8 to 1898 was a subscription library; the Berks County See also:

Law Library; the Berks County See also:

HISTORICAL

Historical Society; and the See also:

HARMONIC

Harmonic Maennerchor, organized in 1847 and one of the See also:

OLDEST

oldest singing See also:

SOCIETIES, LEARNED

societies in the See also:

UNITED

United States. Lying within the See also:

rich agricultural region of the See also:

Lebanon and Schuylkill valleys and near vast See also:

FIELDS, JAMES THOMAS (1817-1881)

fields of See also:

ANTHRACITE (Gr. avOpaE, coal)

anthracite See also:

COAL

coal and See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron ore, Reading possesses unusual business and See also:

INDUSTRIAL

industrial advantages. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry is the manufacture of iron and See also:

STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel. There are large shops of the Philadelphia & Reading railway here. The See also:

TOTAL

total value of factory products in 19o5 was $30,848,175 (in 'goo it had been $32,682,061), and the most important of these were the products of steel-See also:

WORKS

works and See also:

ROLLING

rolling-See also:

mills; the products of railway repair shops; foundry and See also:

machine-See also:

SHOP

shop products; hardware, See also:

HOSIERY

hosiery and knitted goods; cigars and cigarettes, and See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt hats. Otherimportant manufactures are bicycles, See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick and other See also:

clay products, brooms, brushes, and See also:

cotton and woollen goods. Reading was surveyed and laid out as a town in 1748, in accordance with the plans of See also:

Thomas and See also:

Richard Penn, sons of See also:

William Penn, and was named Reading after the county town of See also:

Berkshire, See also:

England.

The first settlers were mostly Germans, but the direction of municipal affairs until the out-break of the War of Independence was in the hands of the See also:

ENGLISH

English-speaking inhabitants. As the latter were largely of Loyalist sympathies during the war, the See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the See also:

LOCAL

local See also:

government then See also:

fell into the hands of the See also:

German inhabitants. - German was See also:

long used in Reading; Pennsylvania German (or " Dutch ") is still spoken in the surrounding See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country; and several' German See also:

PERIODICALS

periodicals are published in the city, including among them the weekly See also:

ADLER, FELIX (r851- )

Adler since 1796. During the War of Independence Reading was an inland See also:

DEPOT (from the Fr. depot, Lat. depositum, laid down; the French accent marks are usually dispensed with in English)

depot for supplies for the See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

army, and prisoners of war were sent here in large See also:

numbers. The development of the town See also:

DATES

dates from the opening in 1824 of the Schuylkill Canal, from Reading to Philadelphia. This was followed in 1828 by the See also:

Union Canal, See also:

RUNNING

running westward to Lebanon and See also:

MIDDLETOWN

Middletown, and in 1838 by the entrance into Reading of the Philadelphia & Reading railway. The See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of these means of communication hastened the development of the natural resources of the region, and Reading See also:

early became an industrial centre. A See also:

SYSTEM

system of See also:

WATER

water-works, established in 1821, was acquired by the See also:

MUNICIPALITY

municipality in 1865. Reading was incorporated as a See also:

borough in 1783, and was chartered as a city in 1847. See M. L. See also:

Montgomery, See also:

HISTORY

History of Reading, Pennsylvania, and the Anniversary Proceedings of the Sesqui-Centennial (Reading, 1898).

End of Article: READING

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