town were drawn by oxen, and others by horses. Four animals were hitched to each wagon. It was nothing uncommon for a hundred of these big creaking vehicles to arrive from widely scattered points and pass in procession down the town streets, raising suffocating clouds of dust. The teamsters were muscular, red-shirted fellows, each armed with a long whip, which he would now and then flourish in a way to make it snap with a report like a pistol.

The wagons brought wheat and peas in bags, corn in barrels, casks of hams, pork, and beef, savory cheeses, pots of butter, and piles of staves and hoops for making barrels. After the loads had been delivered at the docks the drivers would assemble at a near-by tavern. There they would indulge in merry carousals, and in the evening would perhaps parade the streets in noisy bands to the great dismay of the order-loving citizens. The next morning they would load their wagons with sugar, molasses, and other goods, and drive off homeward.

The place fared badly in the Revolution. Not only did commerce come to a standstill, but in September, 1871, Benedict Arnold, whose birthplace was only fourteen miles distant at Norwich, arrived with a British fleet, and burned the town's dwellings, warehouses, and shipping.

The town was rebuilt, but the old sea traffic failed to revive. Brown sea-moss gathered on the unused wharves, great ships lay idly at their moorings until

they fell to pieces with age and neglect, and the only occupants of the waterside warehouses were rats and cockroaches.

Then came a period when the town engaged in the whaling industry, and New London vessels voyaged to the remotest seas. Keen eyes were ever on the watch for returning whaleships, and if one arrived which was long overdue, or had been reported lost, the church bells were rung. When she reached the wharf a crowd, mostly of women and children, were there to greet her.

Along the entire Connecticut coast many people are engaged in the planting of oyster beds, and dredging for oysters. The sheltered waters of Long Island Sound favor the growth of oysters, and nearly all the bottom on the Connecticut side is privately owned, and devoted to oyster culture.

When oysters are young they are quite active and swim about freely in the water. Presently, however, they go to the bottom, attach themselves to rocks or other hard objects and grow shells. Therefore, it has come to be the practice to scatter mother oysters over selected portions of the salt water shallows, and at the spawning season to spread the same ground with boat loads of old oyster shells to which the young oysters may fasten. For the rest of their lives they remain in the same position, unless accident or the rake of an oysterman dislodges them. The methods adopted have resulted in the growth of great numbers of oysters where formerly there were few.

THE

HERE are several queer irregularities in the Connecticut boundary line. The line was fixed by commissioners, of whose work at a certain stage the famous lawyer, Rufus Choate, said: "They might as well have decided that the line between the states was

bounded on the north by a bramble bush, on the south by a bluejay, on the west by a hive of bees in swarming time, and on the east by five hundred foxes with firebrands tied to their tails."

The eastern line, which follows the crooked course of a small river for a few miles back from the coast, was the result of long wrangling which almost led to the use of force. Various shifts were made in the northern line, and even now it has a curious jog due to careless sur

The Lake of the Three States, where the boundary lines of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York meet. Each of the distant mountains is in a different state

Hartford is the capital of the state. It is a great trading and business centre which owes much of its growth to its position at the head of navigation of the Connecticut. There are extensive manufacturing plants in the city, and it is the home of many great insurance companies. Among its important manufactures are

pistols, rifles, and ma

chine guns, rubber

goods, electrical sup

plies, bicycles, and automobiles.

The city is noted for its many parks, fine trees, and handsome residences. A visitor is apt to declare that it is the second most beautiful place in the United States, the visitor's home place, of

A clock tower in a Hartford park course, ranking first.

Formerly New Haven

and Hartford were both capitals of the state, and the meetings of the legislature were held in each in alternate years, but Hartford has been the sole capital since 1873.

One of the most famous episodes in its history was the attempt in 1687 of the British colonial governor, Andros, to seize Connecticut's charter, which his