“ Des Moines is the seat of Des Moines College (Baptist) , established in 1865; Drake University (Christian) , founded in 1881; and three other colleges, including two medical schools. It has public parks, and several bridges across the two rivers. The Iowa State Fair is held here. An army post for a regiment of cavalry has recently been established at the city. Des Moines and the surrounding region are underlaid with vast deposits of bituminous coal, a material advantage which has contributed to the rapid growth of the manufacturing industries. ”

“ It is an important manufacturing and commercial city, and is noted for its extensive insurance interests and its exceptional railroad facilities, which include the lines of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific; the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; the Chicago Great Western; the Chicago and Northwestern; the Wabash; and the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul. Des Moines was settled in 1846, incorporated as the town of Fort Des Moines in 1851, and in 1857 was chartered as a city and became the capital of the State. ”

“ Among the products are typewriters, sewer-pipe, patent medicines, brick, trunks, carriages, wagons, sleighs, cotton and woolen goods, starch, pottery, oatmeal, confectionery, crackers, mattresses, harness, engines and boilers, scales, furnaces, bicycles, plows, soap, brooms, white bronze, gloves, twine, tents, linseed oil, wall-paper, mashing-machines, furniture, axle-grease, baking-powder, electrical appliances, etc. ”