i! ^9) M mm 9 -^G^^^m CCTJtSWTS, Lansing Improvement Association, History of Lansing, Natural Advantaoks, Climate and Health, Water power, Timber, Coal and other Fuels, Lumber, Building Stone, Clay, .... Soil, Grains, Fruits, etc., Railroads, .... How to reach Lansing by railroad, Lansing as a Tradk Centkr, BusiNKSs Entrrphisks, Jobbing Trade, Wooden Manufacturers, Iron Interests, . Leather interests, . Financial, .... Banking and Money, Insurance, Public Institutions, New Capitol, State Offices, Public Schools, State Library, Library and Literary Association Public School Library, State Reform School, State Agricultural College, . Odd Fellows Institute, Churches Newspapkks Republican Journal, Mineral and Magnetic Well, Paob. 3 3 6 6 8 8 10 12 13 13 13 14 15 16 19 19 19 20 21 22 22 22 23 23 27 28 29 30 30 31 33 34 36 37 37 37 38 IXalalJSXS^ikTSONS. The New Capitol, . Railway Map of Michigan, Agricultural College, . Odd Fellows Institute, Mineral Spuing Hotel, . Lansing House, Frontispiece. Between 2 and 3 . 33 35 . 39 Third page of cover. LANSING, CAPITAL OF MICHIGAN: ADVANTAGES, NATtJEAL AND ACQIIIKED, A CENTER OF TRADE AND MANUFACTURES, HOW IT IS TO BECOME THE COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL, AS WELL AS THE POLITICAL CAPITAL OF A GREAT STATE. Published under the auspices of the Lansing Improvement Association. 1 8 T 3. LANSING : W. S. GEORGE & CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 1873. THE LANSING "t^ IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION "I Has for its special object the building up of the Manufac- turing and Jobbing Interests of this city. OFFICERS, J. J. BUSH, President. A. N. HART, Vice President. E. W. SPARROW, .... Sec'y and Treas. k EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. J. S. TooKER, Mayor, J. Robson, Secretary, T. Gale Merrill, A. E. Cowles, C. W. Butler. All Correspondence addressed to the Secretary of the Executive Committee will receive prompt attention. »>« «»' I < L ^ nsr s I N" G CAPITAL OF MICHIGAN f HE City of Lansing and Capital of Michigan is situ- ated on Grand River, and is a part of the township of Lansing, the northwest corner town of Ingham County, in town 4 north, of range 2 west. It is 84 miles from the City of Detroit, by the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad ; 38 miles north of Jackson, by the Jack- son, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad, and GO miles south of Sag- inaw by the same road. It is about 50 miles south of the cen- ter of the Lower Peninsula. Its exact location is 42 degrees 56 minutes and 28 seconds north latitude, and 84 degrees 32 min- utes and 40 seconds west longitude from Greenwich. The city, as first platted, was two miles in length north and south, by one mile east and west. It was laid out upon a liberal scale, the main avenues being seven, and the other streets five rods in width. Eleven acres were reserved for grounds upon which to build a Capitol. Seven and a half squares were reserved for public purposes, in addition to Capitol square. Of these, blocks 78, 79, and 81 are two blocks north of Capitol square ; 139 and 140 are two blocks south ; and between these two last named blocks, four and a half acres, comprising block 125 and half of 124, were reserved for a grove. Block 115, upon which the old State House now stands, was also reserved. LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. This school section was located upon Grand Kiver, just below its confluence with Cedar River. Tlie Grand River, at the city of Lansing, is something over 50 miles from its source, and the Cedar River has a course of about 50 miles. Grand River rises in Jackson county, floM'S through the city of Jackson and Eaton Rapids to Lansing. Its course through the city is for a mile and a quarter in an easterly direction, then nearly north for one mile and a half, then westerly until it leaves the city limits. In this horse-shoe is located section sixteen, upon whicli stands the Capitol, and the main busi- ness center of the city. Another business center is located in the northern portion of the city, upon the east bank of Grand River, known as North Lansing, where a number of the manufacturing establishments are located, as well as many stores. The State also gave to every religious denomination a lot upon which to build a church, which was reserved to them for a limited period of time. Many denominations took advan- tage of this donation, and several church buildings are now standing on the lots originally given by the State, among which are the Free Will Baptist, the First Baptist, the Central Methodist Episcopal, and the Universalist. The city is well lighted with coal gas furnished by a stock company composed largely of its business men. The works were built in the summer and fall of 18?3, are first-class in all their appointments, and of sutBcieut capacity to supply at least 15,000 inhabitants. Main pipe has been laid on most of the principal streets, and street lamps of the latest and most approved pattern erected by the city throughout the extent of the pipe. The business of the company is constantly and rap- idly increasing. The i^opulation of the city and township of Lansing in 1845 was 88; in 1850, 1,^29; in 1854, 1,550. The city was organ- ized in 1859, and its population by the census of 18G0 was 3,085, and of the township 407. The population of the city LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. in 18G4 was 3,573, that of the township remaining nearly sta- tionary, having fallen off 28 from the census of 1860. In 1870 the population of the city was 5,243, and of the township, 823, — a total of G,06G. By that census the township contained 183 voters, and the city 1,230. The population divided by wards, in 1870, was as follows: First ward, 1,329; second ward, 1,156 ; third ward, 1,591, and the fourth ward 1,165. Of the total population of the cit3', 4,403 were native born ; 838 were foreign born ; 77 were colored, and there was one native Chinaman. There were 1,065 dwellings and 1,091 families. From the location of the Capital up to 1871 the growth of Lansing was slow, and did not come up to the expectations of the early settlers. The reason was due to several causes, among which was its inaccessibility, the first railroad having been built from Owosso to Lansing in 1862. The country was sparsely settled about it, and the lands heavily timbered, making it anything but inviting to settlers. Much of the land about the city had been taken up by speculators from other States, who refused to sell at reasonable prices. But the strongest element against the growth of Lansing was the con- stant fear among many of its inhabitants of the removal of the Capital to some other site. Many attempts were made to effect this object, and it was not until the Legislature of 1871 voted §1,200,000, to be raised by taxation in six years, for the purpose of building a State House, that the question of Lan- sing's retaining that position permanently was regarded as finally settled. Since that time the growth of the city has been rapid, and the present population, as taken by actual canvass in April, 1873, is 8,556. The future of the city may be regarded as secure. LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. NATURAL ADVANTAGES. CLIMATE AND HEALTH OF LANSING AND VICINITY. To those contemplating residence in a place, a consideration of first importance is that relating to its sanitary character. Concerning city or country, one of the first questions should he, Has it a healthful climate? If not, human skill cannot preserve life to its full and natural limit. This question of climate embraces many subjects, one of the most important being that of temperature, which, under ordi- nary circumstances, is of itself sufficient to determine the probabilities, if not the possibilities, of human progress in any locality. It has been shown that a great jDroportion of all the large and prosperous cities of the world have been built lip within very narrow limits of average annual temperature, namely: between 45 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Outside these limits of annual temperature, human progress has seemed to be at a disadvantage. Having to contend to an unu- sual extent with natural obstacles dependent npou climate, a study of the result shows, tbat cities are not easily formed and maintained under such circumstances. The average was 47°.ll Fahrenheit, being within the limits above stated as proven to be favorable. In this respect our city is well located. The actual temperature, however, is still more favorable than this average would indicate, both to human welfare and to the plant life upon which man's happiness in part depends. The meteorological tables of this country show that the tem- perature of Michigan is more uniform in both winter and summer than is usual in this latitude, or on this isothermal line, — that neither the heat of summer nor the cold of winter is so intense as in such other regions. This is undoubtedly LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. due to the fact that, except on the south side, the State is sur- rounded by large bodies of water wliich serve to equalize the temperature, and also the humidity of the atmosphere, which, as is well known, is very favorable to the life and health of man, and to the vegetable productions upon which he depends for food. However good the natural climate of a locality may be, man may, and often does, render the conditions bad artificial- ly. Much of the excessive mortality in cities may fairly be attributed to massing together the inhabitants by means of narrow streets and alleys, crowded tenements, and to deficient drainage. From such conditions result hundreds and thou- sands of deaths, and untold suffering of mind and body. But such are not the conditions in Lansing. Her founders were wise in providing that all the streets should be broad. Sev- eral blocks in different parts of the city are also reserved from sale, and intended for use as public parks. Wide streets, open parks, the high and airy location, upon either bank of "Grand" river which courses through the city, all combined, render it impossible to crowd people so closely together as has been done in some cities, to their great injury ; while the character of the soil, the height of the city above the river, and other topo- graphical conditions, are such as to render it possible to have an excellent system of sewerage, as there now is of surface drainage. The active board of health of the city have also long maintained a regular and useful system of sanitary police. Some portion of the excessive death-rate in cities, it is believed, should be attributed to the want of harmony between the amount of animal and of vegetable life maintained there- in, — to an excess of the exhalations of living animals, and a lack of oxygen in the free form in which it is naturally sup- plied to country air by the vegetable kingdom; it being a function of animals to exhale carbonic acid, and of plants to absorb the same and to exhale oxygen, which to man and other animals is the life-sustaining part of jiure air. In addi- LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. tion to the other healthful influences ol" a proper amount of shade trees, shrubbery, and plants, in thickly settled localities, there can be no doubt but that the constant supply of free oxygen which growing trees and plants contribute to the atmosphere is an important item in a sanitary point of view. Our people seem not to have neglected to set out shade trees and shrubbery, which, on some of the streets, have already attained sufficient size to add materially to the beauty as well as to the healthfulness of the locality. Considering all these natural and artificial conditions, it would seem that Lansing should exhibit a good record of health, and this appears to be the fact. So far as evidence is at hand, it appears that the local conditions for health at Lan- sing compare favorably with those of any other locality in Michigan— a State where the climate is more than usually favorable to health and life. WATER-POWER. Although in these days of steam, water privileges are not considered so essential to the growth of manufactures, yet the fact of a city's having a valuable water-power may still be regarded as of great importance. The water-power at Upper and Lower Lansing is excellent. That at North Lansing has been utilized, and has become the nucleus of a large manufac- turing interest; that at the Upper Town is equally good and is only waiting for the right men to avail themselves of it. The fall obtained at each of these privileges is nine feet, and the amount of water is only limited by Grand Kiver. TIMBER OF THE VARIOUS SORTS, AND ITS ACCESSIBILITY TO OUR CITY. We are situated in the midst of the finest variety of hard- wood timber of the following sorts, viz.: beech, maple, ash, white-oak, bass-wood, black-walnut, cherry, etc. The finest beech and hard-maple, which exists in great abundance within the immediate vicinity of our city, is now only available for LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. wood, at S2.50 per cord, — a price rendering it of little or no value, at a greater distance than about four miles from our city, yet this timber would be a mine of wealth if properly util- ized. Any amount of it could be furnished for years to come, at from $10 to $13 per thousand feet, delivered, in the city, manufactured into lumber of any shape. Millions of feet of this timber, as well as of oak and ash, can be delivered in our city by teams at a price below what any railroad could afford to move it, although much of it would be on the line of roads leading into our city. Large quantities of oak, ash, walnut, cherry, hickory, and rock-elm are being shipped from our city and the country adjacent thereto, to eastern and western market. Our rock- elm, until recently regarded of little or no value, is now used with the greatest success for chairs and many other purposes where bending is necessary, and is now being shipped to Troy, N. Y., and Boston in large quantities, and doubtless is frequently returned to our State and the West in manu- factured articles. White-wood also exists in this locality, and sells at low prices, — about the same as common pine. Quite a traffic has been and is now carried on in purchasing black- walnut and cherry lumber and shipping it East, with good prof- its to the dealer, but it is of little advantage to our country compared to what it would be if manufactured before being shipped. Another great advantage we possess is our easy access to the extensive pineries of Korthern Michigan. We have direct connection with this great lumber region by means of the two railroads diverging from our city to the northeast and northwest, penetrating the pineries for over one hundred miles each, which will afford freight for said roads for at least a quarter of a century to their utmost capacity. The average number of cars, laden with lumber, passing through our city at the present time will exceed one hundred per day, and must increase very rapidly as the roads are extended 10 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. northerly. A much more extended reference might be made to the advantages of our timber in connection with the man- ufacture of articles composed largely of wood, and especially such as are in constant demand in our own and adjacent States, such as agricultural implements furniture, railroad cars, etc., etc. It is very questionable economy for onr rail- roads to wear out thousands of cars in hauling from and through our city, to distant points, the raw material for build- ing other cars to take their place. These are considerations worthy of so7ne note, at least by manufacturers. COAL AND OTHER FUELS. A question of first importance to any manufacturing city is that of fuel. Unless this can be obtained at sufficiently low prices, it forms an almost insuperable obstacle to the growth of manufactures. A city might have never so favorable rail- road connections, possess capital, public spirit and energy, and yet be altogether impracticable as a manufacturing center, if the cost of fuel was so great as to make the use of steam power unprofitable. In this respect, Lansing again comes to the front with a wealth of wood and coal, accessible and cheap. Being situ- ated in the midst of heavy forests of hard timber, wood, being the most easily and cheaply obtained, has been hitherto the staple article of fuel, and for some years to come it will con- tinue to be plenty at low prices. But in all cases, Avhen it becomes necessary to use coal, it can be obtained in good quan- tities and quality within twelve miles of the city, at the rate of from $4 50 to $5 per ton. We cannot do better, in this connection, than to quote from the preliminary report of the Geological Survey of this State, which has, during the last season, largely directed its labors to the examination of the coal-iields of the Lower Peninsula : "In the records of former geological surveys the approxi- mate extent of the coal-bearins; strata over the surface of our LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 11 State has been indicated as follows: It forms the north part of Jackson county, overlaps the northeast corner of Calhoun county and the northwestern corner of Washtenaw county, and covers parts of Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Ionia, Clin- ton, Shiawassee, and Genesee counties, and the west half of Tuscola. It also covers part of Saginaw, Gratiot, Montcalm, Bay, ]\Iidland, Isabella, and Mecosta counties, and the south part of Osceola, Clare, and Gladwin counties are included within the area in which productive coal beds can be expected. This space amounts to about 10,000 square miles. "In Shiawassee county, twenty-five miles from Lansing, mines are opened at Owosso and Corunna. The coal bed there is three feet thick, and is found at a depth of fifty feet below the surface. The coal is resting on a thick bed of fire clay, which is mined by the Owosso Mining Company, and is said to answer its purpose excellently, tests having been made in some Lake Superior iron furnaces. " A three-feet bed of very good hard block-coal is mined at Williamstown, Ingham county, twelve miles from Lansing, at a depth of from forty to fifty feet below the surface. At Grand Ledge, Eaton county, coal is mined in the bluffs of Grand River, in two beds about thirty feet apart. " The fact that a large portion of Michigan is underlaid by profitably workable coal beds, has been for some time sufii- ciently known, and the question arises : What is the reason that so little energy is shown in opening these buried treasures, while at the same time wc send immense sums to Pennsylva- nia and Ohio for our supply ? We find the answer in a widely spread opinion amongst our own people that Michigan coal is of very poor quality, contains too much sulphur, etc. I will acknowledge that there is some better coal in Pennsylvania and Ohio than we have, but much of that we import is not better than our own. The iron pyrites contaminating our coal is not indiscriminately disseminated through it, but is concentrated in certain seams, which can be easily separated, 13 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. leaving, after selection, a coal sufficiently I'rec from the admix- ture to answer for all ordinary heating purposes. At Jackson, where tiie coul contains tlie greatest proportion of pyrites, the pyritous'part finds a ready sale to the sulphuric acid manufac- tory. The Owosso, Corunna, and Williamston mines contain much less of the impurity, and the coal of Williamston prom- ises to be well adapted for iron furnaces. My constant occu- pation in the field has not allowed me yet to subject the differ- ent coals to a chemical analysis, but from external appear- ances, and from the testimony of parties that have used them, I am satisfied that our coals arc not justly appreciated. "A coal dealer told me of an instance where he offered Cor- unna coal at a low price to certain parties, and could not sell it. Subsequently he offered the same coal to them under the fiction of being Ohio coal, and sold it at an advanced rate,, never hearing them afterward complain of the quality. "Even if Michigan coal should be somewhat inferior to the coal we buy from abroad, the diCference in price is sufficiently large to induce consumers to a trial. A ton of Pennsylvania or Ohio coal is sold in Michigan at about 89, while our own coal can be furnished along the railroad lines of the State at §4 75 to $5 per ton ; and perhaps the price could be still more reduced, if the increase of the coal trade would induce the railroad companies to reduce their rates of freight for this article." LUMBER. Two of the railroads now built, and two others being con- structed run through Lansing into the immense pine forests of northern Michigan, the competition in freights thus afforded maintains a very healthful lumber market, and the different grades of hard and soft w^ood lumber can always be obtained at prices ranging from §12 to $30 per M., car lots. BUILDIXG STOXE. A superior sandstone, light gray, and variegated in color, is LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 13 found ill sulficicnt quantities in the bed and banks of Grand River, about a mile above its junction with the Cedar, to make it of great value in the future building of the Capital City. The quarries have not been worked extensively as yet, for the reason that stone buildings are too expensive for a new country ; but the time must come when they Avill be extensively and profitably worked. CLAY. There is, in and near the city, an inexhaustible amount of clays of the best quality for pottery, drain tile, and brick, and all these articles are being manufactured more or less exten- sively. The far-famed white brick of Milwaukee are being, and can be, duplicated here to any extent, while we can also furnisli the cherry brick, so deservedly popular with many. Mr. Geo. B. Hall, who is supplying the brick for the new Capitol, is also shipping large quantities to Jackson and other towns, and there is no good reason why, with our abuudant and cheaji fuel, our direct and competing lines of railroads to Chicago, we may not send to that extensive and growing city millions of brick every year, at remunerative prices. They are now being furnished on the yards at from $5 to IG per thou- sand. The demand for drain tile is just commencing, and must increase rapidly. Some tests made by practical manufacturers have shown that we have good fire-clay in large quantities, which is only awaiting to be called into economic uses. SOIL, GKAIXS, FliUIT, ETC. Lansing is situated in the midst of as rich an agricultural district as there is in the country. The soil is a gravelly loam, with a mixture of phosphates which has made Michigan famous as a wheat-growing State. All the products of this latitude are raised in surpassing richness and abundance, while from over, the bosoms of our inland seas which wrap us about as a mantle, come the moistening winds, moderat- 14 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. ing the temperature of tlie whole State, and giving ns the fruits almost of a tropical clime. Lands within 15 miles of the city range in value from Slo to 840 per acre for tim- bered, and from $25 to $75 for improved farms. There is no better chance to realize fortunes from the advancement of real estate than is now offered in the farming lands about Lansing; their advancement must be commensurate with the growth of the city. RAILROADS. The importance of railroad facilities to the manufacturing interests of a community, is apparent to all. It is essential that cheap transportation should be furnished for all outgoing and incoming freights, and equally important that this should extend to and reach the different markets and important towns and cities of the country, thereby affording the best opportunity for the purchase of needed goods and ready sale at remunerative prices for the agricultural and manufactured products of the country. In this respect Lansing is confess- edly equal to any city in the State, or v/est. With the rail- roads already completed, and those to be built within the next twelve months, she has five actively competing lines connect- ing with all parts of, the country and offering the very cheap- est rate of freights for goods out of or into the city. This answers the demands of all manufacturers, — cheap transporta- tion. The three roads from the north uniting here, make of LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 15 Lansing the great central interior city for the lumber inter- ests of the State, and as a point for the easy collection of the Yarious kinds of Michigan lumber, she is without a rival. An examination of our railroads leading south will show the very best facilities for distribution throughout the entire southern country. We have three distinct and independent lines connecting- with Chicago and the west. The Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan road, with its con- nections across Lake Michigan to the northwest, clearly indi- dicate that it is soon to become an east and west trunk line.. The early completion of the Chicago & Lake Huron railroad will constitute another great east and west through line, giv- ing to Lansing the advantage of at least two great east and west thoroughfares, and the day is not far distant when the roads north and northwest will be the means of uniting the minerals of the upper country with the coal fields in the vicinity of Lansing, which are considered the best in thet State. Our roads are so located that they furnish within the city limits, from sixteen to twenty miles of railroad front for manufacturing purposes, all of which is well supplied with an abundance of water for steam power. Thus has Lansing, by its natural situation and the energy of its citizens, secured to itself the required advantages for a large and prosperous manufacturing city. HOW TO GET TO LAXSI;N^G BY RAILROAD. Coming from the South and West — Leave Michigan Central Railroad at Battle Creek, and take Peninsular Eailroad. Coming from the South — Leave the Michigan Central Rail- road at Jackson. Coming from the East — Take Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad at Detroit. Coming from the North and East — Leave Detroit & Mil- waukee Railroad at Owosso. IC LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. Coming from the North and "West— Leave the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad at Ionia. Passengers from East or West, take Northern Central Mich- igan Railroad by way of Jonesville. LANSING AS A TRADE CENTER. It is a popular fallacy that the great cities are the true and only centers of the jobbing trade of this country. That if the country merchant wishes to stock up for the retail trade, he must go to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or Chicago in order to buy cheaply. This, as trade has been heretofore, is practically true. There have been, in fact, no other places where goods could be found in variety and quantities which the trade demands. But there is no good reason why this should bo so. A commercial center is the result of a combi- nation of circumstances pointing to it as a convenient depot of supplies. A general, when he establishes his base of sup- plies, has reference always, as a first consideration, to the easa and cheapness of transportation in reaching the base,and in dis- tributing from thence to his army. This is the law of commer- cial centers. If a general proposed to quarter his army upon the country he was occupying, he would show poor qualities for his command if he should gather the products of that country and ship them to a distant city for storage, to be reshipped to him, at double cost of transportation, as he should need them. And yet this is what the people of the West and South have been doing always. There may have been some excuse for it LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 17 in the earlier days, but the West is now no longer a wilderness. It owes it to itself, as the very heart of this great country, to take its position as the life and center of trade. "We raise the raw materials; we grow the timber, furnish the iron, copper, and lead that are the crude germs of our multiform trade and commerce. We ship these, at extortionate rates of carriage, to the East, a thousand miles, where they are handled over two or three times, and returned to us in some new form for our use, with from 100 to 500 per cent added for transportation and manufacture. While we are waiting for them to be man- ufactured and returned 1o us, a large part of our active pop- ulation is kept idle and unproductive, so that when the goods do come they have no means to buy with, and are obliged to resort to credit. Our direct loss in this transaction is the whole cost of trans- portation, and the time of the idle men who ought to be employed in their manufacture. The indirect losses, resulting from our dependent position and the corrupting influence of idleness upon society, are infinitely greater. The remedy for this is in the establishment of depots of supplies and manufacturing centers — in fact, bases of com- mercial operations, — throughout the West, contiguous and central to the territory naturally needing a common center. These centers cannot be written or talked up. They grow up out of the needs of the people, being the result, as before stated, of the law of easy and cheap transportation for col- lecting and distributing the products of trade. In this regard, and as affording a natural center of trade for Michigan, no city in the State can offer superior advantages to Lansing. Two of the great competing trunk lines to the Atlantic seaboard have important branches running through it. It has only 84 miles to lake transportation, by way of the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan E. E., and is on the line of the railroad from Port Huron to Chicago. 3 18 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. One special advantage of Lansing is its central location in the State. Another is the difference in the expense of doing business in a comparatively small town as compared with a populous city. The difference in rents, taxes, insurance, cost of living, etc., all having to be made up by adding to the price of goods. It is a well known fact in trade, that half at least of the failures result from the enormous expenses, we may say extravagance, of carrying on the business. Field, Leiter & Co. of Chicago, are said to have paid $52,000 a year for the rent of their store before the great fire; and the Boston Square Dealing Clothing Store in the same city, are said to have taken a five years' lease of their new store at S25,000 a year. These arc only single items in the long catalogue of extrava- gant but necessary expenses attending the transaction of a large business in a great city. In Europe it is different. Some of the greatest commercial houses of England and the Conti- nent keep only an ofhce with samples in London, Paris, Ber- lin, or Vienna, at a nominal rent, while their warehouses, where their goods are stored ready for shipment, are in the country, where ground rents and values are cheap. The railroads have made Lansing the hub of the Michigan wheel, in -which they are the spokes. Goods can be brought to this city as cheaply as to Detroit or Chicago. The business of selling them can be conducted with much greater economy, and the means of distributing the goods in every direction throughout the country is unsurpassed. With these advantages we think we have a right to call upon men of means and business energy, to come here and establish their various branches of industry, — their mills, factories, machine shops, wholesale stores in woolens, dry goods, boots and shoes, groceries, etc., with the full coulldence that with proper effort, such as they would be compelled to make in a greater mart, they can meet with quite as full a return upon the capital invested. LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 19 BUSINESS ENTERPRISES. THE JOBBING TRADE. "While the people of Lansing have been specially alive to the importance of building up the manufacturing interest of the city, they have not neglected the trade in staple goods manu- factured elsewhere. The Dry Goods, Boot and Shoe, Grocery, and Hardware trades are each represented here by firms doing a large and exclusively wholesale business. There is, and can be, no reason why a merchant in Lansing cannot wholesale goods at as cheap and even a cheaper rate than a merchant in a large city, his expenses being less, and his means of trans- portation as good as the best. The jobbing trade of Lansing is to form a very important feature in its future prosperity. There is plenty of room, and the first who occupy the field will, of course, have the first opportunities, "WOODEN MANUFACTURES. All establishments that have been started here, using wood, have been more than successful, owing to the abundance of all kinds of timber, and its cheapness. There are several establishments in this line ; among them, three manufacturing sash, doors, and blinds. They have, on the average, 100 men constantly employed, and in fact there is no limit to this business, as the goods can be shipped to any part of the country. The manufacture of chairs is getting to be one of the important industries of this city, owing to the abundance of maple, beech, and oak. Oue establishment has been in opera- tion four years, and has been so successful that new buildings of the most permanent kind are being erected in connection 20 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. with the former one. Also, a company doing business at Toledo, Ohio, seeing the advantages in getting where the raw material was plenty and cheap, has purchased ground, and is now erecting one of the largest chair liictories in the country, and will employ 100 hands. These buildings will be ready for occupation about January 1, 1874. There is also an establishment for the manufacture of spokes, felloes, and bent work, doing a large business. The making of barrels is carried on very extensively by two firms, — one employing about sixty men, and the other twenty. This business is very profitable, on account of the immense quantity of the best white oak in our vicinity. There are other establishments engaged in manufacturing from wood, and all working to their full capacity, yet other branches could find a good opportunity. For instance, the manufacture of wagons, — all of the timber used in their con- struction being here. Also the building of railroad cars, hand cars, etc.; in short, any article wherein wood enters largely in their construction, the raw material being so cheap that the manufactured goods will compete Avith any others in any mar- ket in the United States. IRON IXTEUESTS. Iron manufacturing in Lansing is still in its infancy, but little as yet having been accomplished in this line. Messrs. Cady, Glassbrook & Co., at the north part of the city, who succeed Metlin & Co., manufiicture agricultural implements, sawing machines, and do a general jobbing and machine business. They employ about ten men, and turned out about ^15,000 worth of work the present year. The Lansing Iron Works succeed W. W. Ilildreth, and have gone in with ample capital to do an extensive business in steam engines and railroad work. They are putting up a fine shop at the corner of Shiawassee and Cedar streets, with a western front on L. S. & M. S. R. R. LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 21 E. Bemenfc & Sons are making a specialty of agricultural implements. They have been located in Lansing nearly four years, and are steadily increasing their business every year. The present year they will turn out about $18,000 worth of work, and during the present year from January 1st to Sep- tember 1st, have employed on an average 15 hands. They intend to largely increase the business another year. THE LEATHER INTERESTS. The tanning and manufacturing of leather of all kinds would be a first-class paying investment in our city. Since the first settlement of the place there has not at any time been one-half enough of capital invested in the business to supply home demand, and what there has been has paid a good profit on the investment. There is enough consumed ia Lansing to employ from fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars capital at a good profit on the investment for home consumption and the retail trade, to say nothing of what could be handled at wholesale with the railroad facilities that Lansing afibrds for shipment of leather out, and hides and bark in. Oak bark is plenty in this and the adjoining counties, and can be obtained as cheaply as in any of the "Western States. Leather being always a cash article in the market, and of ready sale at market prices, the manufacturer has an advantage over a large class of manufacturers of other goods ; it will sell itself even, without advertising. Nearly all the hides thrown upon the market are bought up by outside parties and shipped to other places, which could be handled here but for the lack of tanning facilities. The Grand and Cedar rivers running through our city afibrd ample water facilities used in tanning purposes; and taking a general and prospective vieAV of the location and surroundings, and the wants of the people, there is no place that can afibrd a better prospect for the manufacture and sale of leather. 23 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. FINANCIAL. BANKING AND MONEY. The city of Lansing has four banks: The Second National Bank, capital $100,000 ; the Lansing National Bank, capital $75,000; and two private banks, viz.: C. Hewitt & Co., and Eugene Angell. There is about 8250,000 invested in the banking business. There is also some money, besides, used in brokerage, etc. As the city and country about are growing and improving rapidly, there is a call and a good opportunity to use a large amount of money more than the present facilities afford, at a rate which will net the capitalist ten per cent, on the best real estate security, "with the comfortable assurance that the securi- ties for money loaned or invested are growing more valuable every day, and a corresponding surety of its repayment with good profits. All of our banks and capitalists passed through the late money crisis without suspension, and have continued, and still continue, to do business as usual, with good prospects for the future. STATE INSURANCE COMPANY OF LANSING. This company has been in successful operation since 1863, in which year it was organized under the general insurance law of 1859. The capital of the company is $100,000, with a surplus of $19,000, making total assets $119,000. Transacting a general insurance business, the company has so far confined its opera- tions to the limits of this State. Managed with care and pru- dence, the company carry but small lines on special and mer- cantile hazards, limiting the amount of each policy in the class LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 23 of risks mentioned to about 12,000, and on less hazardous prop- erty to $3,000. The oflBcers of the company are: John J. Bush, PresiJent; lion. A. N. Hart, Vice President 5 George E. Eanney, Secretary. Directors : J. J. Bush, Hon. \V. H. Chapman, Hon. A. N. Hart, Hon. Whitney Jones, Hon. Cyrus Hewitt, Hon. H. B. Shank, J. B. Hull, H. IngersoU, Geo. E. Ranney. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. THE NEW CAPITOL. By the courtesy of Allen L. Bours, Esq., Secretary of the Board of State Building Commissioners, we are enabled to give the accompanying concise description of the architecture of the new Capitol, from the account that was enrolled on parchment for deposit in the corner-stone. The description was prepared by Mr. Bours himself, and is a part of the con- tents of the parchment volume, containing a brief history of the State, prepared by him also. This volume, together with other articles, are hermetically sealed in the stone, under a slab of slate carved with the State arms. The description is as follows: "In response to an advertisement of the (State Building) Commissioners soliciting competitive designs for a new Capi- tol, twenty sets of drawings were received from architects of various localities, on December :^8, 1871. "Alter a careful examination of each, the board, on the 24th of January, 1872, adopted the design of Elijah E. Myers, 24 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. Esq., an architect then residing at Springfield, III., and entered into a contract with him as architect and general superintend- ent of the work until its completion. Mr. Mj'crs immediately removed his residence to the city of Detroit, and engaged in the preparation of specifications and detail drawings. "On the loth of July the board entered into a contract with Messrs. Nehemiah Osburn & Co., builders, of Rochester N. Y., and Detroit, for the construction of the entire building. At an extra session of the Legislature, in March, 1872, the cost of the building, with all expenses incident to its erection, was limited to $1,200,000. The sum agreed upon in the contract is 81,144,057 20, leaving nearly $56,000 to cover extras, sal- aries, and other expenses. " The building will be of tlie Palladian style of architecture, which was adopted by the architect as best suited to the appearance of grandeur required in a building of this class. "The outline is sufficiently broken to produce pleasing con- trasts of light and shade; while the architect has studiously observed the suggestion of the Commissioners in avoiding superfluous ornamentation, preserving solidity and compact- ness, and at the same time giving to each apartment an abund- ance of light. The arrangement of the various offices and departments will be exceedingly convenient, special attention having been given in this respect to the wants of the public, as well as to the offices having business with each other. The foundation walls to the earth line are of Lamont, Illinois, limestone, in massive blocks extending the entire width of the wallj and underlined widi concrete to the depth of three feet. The superstructure is to be of sandstone from Amherst, Ohio, and the partition walls and backings to exterior walls will be of hard-burned bricks. The girders, beams, joists, roof, and dome will be made exclusively of iron, of which material all partitions will be made, except where constructed of masonry. " The stairs throughout the building, including steps, risers, hand-rails, balusters, and bearers, will be exclusively of iron* LA.NSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 25 The corridors, from the basement to the top of the building, will be paved with marble aud slate. The most approved arrangements will be employed for ventilation, steam heating, and lighting by gas. "The basement story will contain an armory connected with the department of the Quartermaster-General, and the remain- der of the story will be devoted at present to storage, although the rooms being high, and well lighted and ventilated, will make excellent ofEces, should they be required at any time for "that purpose. The first story, which will be twenty feet in height, will contain offices and private apartments for the vari- ous State offices and bureaus. Upon this floor will be a main corridor, extending across the building from east to west, through the rotunda, under the dome, and crossed at right angles by a corridor 345 feet in length, extending from the north to the south entrance. The rotunda will be paved with hexagon blocks of glass, six inches in diameter, and an inch and a half in thickness, supported by a frame of iron, into which each piece will be closely fitted. From this rotunda, which is 44^ feet in diameter, the interior of the dome, open to the height of 175 feet, may be seen, with galleries extend- ing into it from each of the stories above. "Upon the second floor, at the north end of the building, will be the Hall of Eepresentatives, occupying the height of two stories, forty feet. This hall will be seventy feet in width by seventy-seven and a half in length, with galleries upon the gorical representation of the rise and progress of Michigan, carved in ia« relief. " The stipulation for the completion of the building is the first day of December, 1877. The principal dimensions of the LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 27 bnildiug are as follows : L?ngth, not including portico, 345 feet, 2 inches; depth, 191 feet 5 inches; height of lantern, 265 feet." STATE OFFICES. The principal State offices are those of the Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Auditor General, Commissioner of the Land OBSce, Attorney General, Commissioner of Insurance, and Commissioner of Eailroads. Of the heads of these departments, the first six are elective under the Constitution, and the last two are appointed by the Governor under laws passed in 1871 and 1873, respectively. The annual salaries of the first three are $1,000 each; of the next three, $800 each; and of the last two, $2,000 and $4,000 respectively. The fiscal year closes September 30th, and the busiest season immediately precedes that date. This year the force employed at that time in the Auditor General's office comprised 1 deputy, 1 book-keeper, 3 regular clerks, and 55 extra clerks, 23 of whom were women ; in the Land Office, 1 deputy, 1 book-keeper, 1 draughtsman, 1 regular clerk, and 13 extras; by the Secretary of State, 1 dep- uty, 1 regular clerk, and 16 extras, of whom 3 are women ; by the State Treasurer, 1 deputy, 1 book-keeper, and 3 clerks, 1 being a woman ; by the Commissioner of Insurance, 1 deputy at $1,200 a year, and an occasional clerk; and by the Com- missioner of Railroads, 1 clerk at $1,000 a year. The Super- intendent of Public Instruction has 1 deputy at a salary of $1,300. The deputies of the Auditor General and State Treasurer receive $1,500 each, and of the Secretary of State and Commissioner of the Land Office, $1,400 each. The aggregate of salaries on the pay-rolls of the last year amounted for the Auditor General's office to $36,327 22; for the Land Office, to $14,846 12; for the office of the Secretary of State,, to $13,277 27; for the State Treasury, to $4,494 43, and for the lusurauce Bureau to $3,370 82. These sums, together 28 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. with salaries paid out to clerks of State Boards and other State employes, amount to over 880,000, earned and expended mainly in the city of Lansing. The Bureaus of Instruction and of llailroads are quartered in the old Capitol ; the remainder in the building known as (he "State Offices." The latter building contains also the State Library, the Supreme Court Room, the office of the State Building Commissioners, and the State Swamp Land Eoad Commissioners' Office. The State Library is conducted by a librarian at 8800 a year. The last two offices mentioned are each conducted by a clerk, the Commissioners in neither case residing in Lansing. The list of the heads of the various departments is as follows : Secretary of State — Daniel Striker of Hastings. State Treasurer — Victory P. Collier of Battle Creek. Supt. of Pub. Instruction — Daniel B. Briggs of Romeo. Auditor General — William Humphrey of Lansing. Com'r of Land Office — Leverett A. Clapp of Centreville. Attorney General — Byron D. Ball of Grand Rapids. Com'r of Insurance— Samuel H. Row of Lansing. Com'r of Railroads — Stephen S. Cobb of Kalamazoo. State Librarian— Mrs. Harriet A. Tenney of Lansing. The Supreme Court now holds all its sessions at Lansing. the public schools of LANSING. The city of Lansing comprises one school district, by a •special charter. The management of the schools is by a board of education, consisting of ten persons, selected, as was required by the old New England laws, for their wisdom and integrity This board has entire control of all school alfairs, except that they can raise no special taxes without a vote of the district. The number of children in the school census in 18G5, — eight years ago, — was 1,039 ; the census just taken shows 1,823. Average annual increase, 98. The increase the past year was 170; showing an increase of permanent population of not less LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 29 than 600. The number now attending school is 1,050 ; about 93 per cent of whom are every day in their seats. An increase of about 100 children per annum has required a constant increase of school room, equal to two rooms per annum ; and during the past six years four new houses have been erected and two enlarged,— the whole furnishing twelve rooms. Yet this has not kept pace with the increase of chil- dren, and a dwelling house has been recently purchased and changed into a school house, affording two more rooms, while tw'o other schools are taught in rented rooms. Yet, such has been the close economy practised, the district has no debt. But, as a necessary consequence, the buildings are of a cheap character, the entire value of buildings, aside from lots, being probably not more than $25,000. The sites comprise, in all, twenty-eight lots, and are in the aggregate worth considerably more than the buildings. Measures are in progress for the erection of a good central building, to accommodate some five hundred pupils, of whom there will undoubtedly be enough to fill it as soon as completed. The schools are now under the superintendency of Mr. E. V. W. Brokaw, with three male and twenty-four female teachers. Mr. Brokaw has been at the head of the schools for the past three years, and demonstrated superior ability and tact in their management. We feel safe iu making the assertion that no city iu the State has a better school. The expense of the schools the past year, for salaries of superintendent and teachers, was $11,295 50; an average of $8 01, or 80 cents per month for each pupil enrolled. The library contains about 400 volumes of carefully selected books, — all new within the past two years, — to which additions will be made every year. The library is free to pupils and their parents. MICHIGAN" STATE LIBKARY, State Office building, corner of Washington avenue and 30 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. Allegan street; over 20,000 books and pamphlets upon the library shelves for reference; is purely a reference library- Open to visitors every day in tlie year except Sundays and legal holidays. The Law Department contains the United States Supreme, Circuit, and District Court reports; the United States statutes at large, the Supreme Court reports, statutes and session laws of all the States nearly complete; the Queen's Bench Ueports and Statutes of Canada; the Eng- lish Common Law, Chancery and Exchequer Keports, etc. ; also a valuable collection of Digests and Miscellaneous Text Books. In the Miscellaneous Department may be found a complete file of the Detroit Daily Post, and of the Detroit Daily Tribune and Free Press since 1859 ; the most valuable of the Cyclopaedias, Dictionaries, etc.; the official rej^orts of the various departments of the United States, of all the States, and Canada; valuable standard works in History, Arts and Sciences, and Literature. Mrs. IL A. Tenney, Librarian. LANSING LIBKARY AND LITEKARY ASSOCIATION, Library Block, Washington avenue: organized April 2Ist, 1871 ; over 800 volumes, under charge of a Board of Direct- ors. A circulating library of very choice and valuable read- ing books. Stock $5 per share. Annual membership 83 per year. Rooms open every Saturday from 2 to 9^ P. M. Mrs. T. W. Westcott, librarian. A series of interesting literary entertainments, with occasionally a well selected drama, are given every year. PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARY, lligh School Building, corner of Capitol avenue and Shia- wassee street ; opened September, 1871, under charge of the Board of Education. The revenue is derived from fines in criminal cases, and $100 may be devoted to library purposes every year. Over 520 volumes; at present mostly reference. An addition of $200 worth soon to be added. Open during school year every Thursday from 4 to 5 P. M. ; at other times LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 31 every Saturday at same hour for consultation and delivery of books to all citizens, free of charge. E. V. W. Brokaw, librarian. MICHIGAN STATE REFORM SCnOOL. The Michigan State Reform School is pleasantly situated on a slight elevation at the east end of Shiawassee street, about one mile north of east from Capitol Square, city of Lansing. A farm of one hundred and thirty-nine acres belongs to the institution, three acres of which are enclosed by a high board fence, and building in front, and shops in the rear. The yard in front of the building, containing five acres, is surrounded by a neat picket fence, and laid out in drives and walks, and ornamented with trees and shrubs. The grounds enclosed by the high fence are devoted to the pleasure and comfort of the boys, on a portion of which a gymnasium is erected, which adds materially to their health and enjoyment. The center building of the house proper fronts west, and is forty-eight feet wide, fifty-six feet deep, and four stories high. There are two wings extending north and south, each ninety- five feet long, thirty-three feet deep, and three stories high, excepting the towers at the extremities, which are four stories high ; one wing extending east eighty-three feet, thirty feet deep, three stories high. On the first or ground floor of the center building are a kitchen and dining-room for the Super- intendent, a store-room, and laundry. On the second floor are a reception room, parlor. Superintendent's office and private room. On the third floor are rooms for the officers and employes. On the fourth floor is the chapel, suitably arranged, and furnished for seating four hundred persons. On the first floor of the north wing are the dining-rooms for the boys. The second floor is used for dormitories and bed-rooms, and all the upper portion is us^d for dormitories, arranged with separate sleeping apartments for the boys. 32 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. In the basement of south wing is the wash or bath-room for the boys, where their daily ablutions are performed. On tho first floor are school-rooms and tailor shop ; on the second floor, school-rooms and library. The upper portion, as in the north wing, for sleeping apartments. In the basement of the east wing are the laundry, store- room, and cellar. On tho first floor, the kitchen, bakery, shoe shop, and ironing room. On the second, the hospital and bed- rooms, and in the upper jiortion are sleeping apartments for the boys. On the northeast part of the yard stand the shops, a three- story brick building, one hundred and forty-six feet long and fifty-three feet wide, suitably divided, and provided with machinery for the employment of the boys. On each side of the main building, facing the front yard, stand two family houses; two-story brick edifices, forty-two by fifty-two feet, containing suitable apartments for an over- seer and his family, together with a large number of inmates Avhose good conduct has merited this advancement. The farm, all of which is now under cultivation and pastur- age except about twenty-five acres of wood-land, has for its use a large barn 48xG0, with stone basement and cellar, for the use of cattle, a horse-barn, vragon and tool sheds, etc., suflB- cient to shelter all the stock and tools necessary for carrying on its operations. THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. This College occupies a pleasant and healthy location about three miles east from Lansing. The buildings stand upon a slight eminence, among the forest trees, which have been pur- posely retained. The grounds have been neatly laid out by a professional landscape gardener, and a beginning made of ■working out the details of the plan. The grounds already abound with lawns, walks, drives, flower-borders, and other features pleasing to the taste. liiiiiiiiiiiliiiMi, «ii ■ 34 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. An Act of Congress, approved July 2, ISG'2, donated to each State public lands to the amount of 30,000 acres for each of its Senators and Representatives in Congress, according to the census of 1860, for the "endowment, support, and mainte- nance of at least one College, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts."' The Legislature accepted this grant, and bestowed it upon the Agricultural College. By its provisions the College receives 240,000 acres of land. These lands have been placed in mar- ket, and 04,598.58 acres have been sold, giving a fund of $207,500.74, the interest of which is applied to the support of the College. Their sale is under the direction of the Agricult- ural Land Grant Board, consisting of the Governor, Auditor General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and Commissioner of the State Land Office. Any ijiforma- tion in regard to their sale may be obtained by applying to the Commissioner of the State Land Office. ODD FELLOWS IXSTITUTE, Located on Pine s.trcet, between Maple and Willow streets. Board of Commissioners of the State: J. S. Curtis, East Sag- inaw; E.H.Whitney, Lansing; Geo. W. Griggs, Grf*nd Eap- ids; E. C. Weliesly, Colon; E. XL Thompson, Flint; J. X. Ingersoll, Corunna; D. B. Tracy, Petersburg. Executive Board : J. S. Curtis, E. H. Whitney, J. X. Ingersoll ; J. S. Cur- tis, Chairman of the Board ; E. H. Whitney, Sec. ; M. T. Lane, Janitor. Organized in 1871. The citizens of Lansing donated 45 acres of land and the north wing of the Misses Eogers' Female College building to the Grand Lodge, for the purposes of an Odd Fellows Institute. Miss Delia Rogers generously donated a very large portion of the land purchase, a library of about 1,500 volumes, and a fine philosophical apparatus. The land and buildings are located in the northwest portion of the LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. 35 city, and valued at 870,000. The whole, when completed, will cost about §300,000. During 1871-2 an addition 57 feet square, constituting" the main front, was put up at a cost of $30,000. The entire structure is to be completed as rapidW as the demands of the Order may recjuire. 36 LAJN'SING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. CHURCHES. JFirsfc Baptist Church is located on the comer of Capitol avenue and Ionia street. Free Baptist Church is located on Kalamazoo, between Capitol and Washington avenues. First Methodist Episcopal Church is located on the corner of Cedar and Franklin streets. First Presbyterian Church, corner of Washington avenue and Genesee street. First Congregational Church, east side of Tovvnsend, corner of Allegan. Central Methodist Church, corner Washington avenue and Ottawa street. German Methodist Church, corner of Lapeer and Seymour streets. The Methodist Church of St. Joseph ("Cedar Branch"), Main street, between Grand street and Washington avenue. Lutheran Church, corner of Kilbourne and Seymour streets German Evangelical Lutheran Church, corner of Chestnut and Saginaw streets. Protestant Episcopal Church, corner of Ottawa and Sey- mour streets. Second Presbyterian Church, corner of Franklin and Wash- ington avenues. Universalist Church, corner of Allegan and Grand streets. Roman Catholic Church, corner of Chestnut and Madison streets. Methodist (colored) Church, corner of Ottawa and Pine streets. LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. NEWSPAPERS. THE KEPUBLICA>Sr. The Lansing State Eepublican, now in its 19th year, and the oldest paper in the city of Lansing or county of Ingham, has an extensive circulation and tirst-class reputation. It is published every Friday morning, by the firm of W. S. George & Co. It is a nine-column paper, on a large sheet, handsomely printed, and its editorial force is suflScient to guaranty the earliest and most correct news. The State printing and bind- ing is done upon contract by this firm ; and it is admitted by all who are familiar with the public printing of the different States and of the United States, that the work of this office is equalled by few and surpassed by none. Forming a part of the same establishment is an extensive book and job printing office, bindery, and blank-book manufactory, with machinery run by steam, and employing from 40 to 50 hands. The above business is all carried on in a three-story building, on Michigan avenue, near the new Capitol. THE JOURKAL. The Lansing Journal is an excellent weekly newspaper, pub- lished every Thursday, by Geo. P. Sanford, Editor and Propri- etor. It is Liberal in politics, has a large and growing circu- lation, and is well sustained with advertising patronage. It has a fine job-office, and turns out excellent work. 38 LANSING AND ITS ADVANTAGES. THE LANSING MINERAL AND MAGNETIC WELL. A history minutely given of this well seems to us unncces- sary at this time, from the fact of its resemblance to those elsewhere, and its oft repetition establishing tliat which has already given it a good reputation the world over. The medi- cinal qualities of the water, the popularity gained, and such other facts connected, are sufficient of themselves, without jroingr into laudations concornin,']: the well, or of its beautiful surroundings. The distinctive medical influences of this water upon the system are Alterative, Cathartic, Diuretic, Sedative, and Tonic. As a therapeutic agent it is peculiarly applicable to Kheuma- tism, Paralysis, Dyspepsia, Scrofula, Erysipelas, Gravel, Dia- betes, Piles, Catarrh, Liver and Kidney Complaints, Cutaneous Diseases, Weak Lungs, Inflamed Eyes, Bronchitis, Salt Rheum. Keuralgia, Chronic Diarrhcea, and all affections of the mucous membrane. All of the above mentioned diseases have been eflfectually cured by the use of this water, and the affidavits of many of those permanently relieved from their sufferings arc now in print. LAWMWG MOV8M,