7-1882) Henry W. Longfellow. Elbridge Gerry lived and James
Russell Lowell was born, lived and died in "Elmwood" (built in 1767);
Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge also; John Fiske, the
historian, lived here; and there are many other literary associations,
attractive and important for those interested in American letters. In Mt
Auburn Cemetery are buried many artists, poets, scholars and other men
and women of fame. Cambridge is one of the few American cities
possessing a crematorium (1900). The municipal water-works are
excellent. A handsome bridge joining Cambridgeport to Boston (cost about
$2,250,000) was opened late in 1906. Four other bridges span the Charles
river between the two cities. A dam between East Cambridge and Boston,
traversed by a roadway 150 ft. wide, was in the process of construction
in 1907; and an extension of the Boston subway into Cambridge to the
grounds of Harvard University, a distance of about 3 m., was projected.
The city government is administered almost entirely under the state
civil-service laws, Cambridge having been a leader in the adoption of
its provisions. A non-partisan association for political reform did
excellent work from 1890 to 1900, when it was superseded by a
non-partisan party. Since 1887 the city has declared yearly by
increasing majorities for prohibition of the liquor traffic. The high
schools enjoy a notable reputation. A handsome city hall (cost $235,000)
and public library (as well as a manual training school) were given to
the city by Frederick H. Rindge, a one-time resident, whose benefactions
to Cambridge aggregated in value $650,000. Cambridge has many
manufacturing establishments, and in 1905 the city's factory products
were valued at $42,407,064, an increase of 45.8% over their value in
1900. The principal manufactures are slaughtering and meat-packing
products, foundry and machine-shop products, rubber boots and shoes,
rubber belting and hose, printing and publishing products, carpentering,
pianos and organs, confectionery and furniture. Cambridge is one of the
chief publishing centres of the country. The tax valuation of property
in 1906 ($105,153,235) was more than $1000 per inhabitant.

Cambridge is "one of the few American towns that may be said to have
owed their very name and existence to the pursuit of letters" (T.W.
Higginson). Its site was selected in 1630 by Governor Winthrop and
others as suitable for fortifications and defence, and it was