Boat building was formerly a prominent industry, but it has recently declined. Prior to 1863 Cincinnati was the chief centre in the United States for the slaughtering of swine and the packing of pork. Since that year this supremacy has been held by Chicago, Cincinnati taking the second rank. There are more than seventy establishments in the latter city employed in this industry. The United Railroads Stock-yards for the reception of live pigs occupy about 60 acres. During the winter season of 1874–75 there were slaughtered 560,164 hogs, weighing in the aggregate 155,864,126 ℔, and valued at $10,897,584. The production included 44,232 barrels of pork, and 23,400,157 ℔ of lard. During the year ending August 31, 1875, pork and bacon valued at $12,645,538 were exported from the city; the imports amounted to $2,580,493. The excess of exports of lard over imports was $2,781,091. After this important industry the brewing of lager beer ranks next, the brewers here turning out about 15,000,000 gallons annually. Distillation is also carried on to a very considerable extent. The city contains five national banks with a capital of $4,000,000, and seventeen private banks with a capital of $2,740,000. The leading commercial organization is the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange, which has about 1200 members and holds daily sessions. The Board of Trade has about 900 members, chiefly manufacturers. There are also a mechanics' institute, cotton exchange, and pork packers' association. An industrial exhibition has been held in the autumn of each year since 1871, and has attracted large numbers of visitors to the city. The buildings are centrally situated, and occupy 3 acres of ground.
The city is divided into 25 wards, and is governed by a mayor, who is elected by the people for two years, and receives an annual salary of $4000, a board of 25 aldermen, and a board of 50 councilmen, who are also elected by the people. It has a paid fire department under the control of five commissioners appointed by the mayor, and a police force under the control of the mayor and four commissioners. The efficiency of these departments is promoted by extensive fire-alarm and police telegraphic lines. The city is supplied with water obtained by pumping from the Ohio river by means of three immense reservoirs, two of which, with a capacity of 100,000,000 gallons each, are in Eden Park. Beside the usual municipal and county courts, the United States circuit and district courts for the southern district of Ohio are held in the city.
Cincinnati has a large number and variety of well-organized charitable institutions. The Cincinnati hospital is supported by taxation, and affords free treatment to all unable to pay for it; the city infirmary, besides supporting pauper inmates, affords relief to outdoor poor; the Good Samaritan and St Mary's hospitals are private institutions, under the supervision of Roman Catholic sisters; the Jewish hospital is maintained by persons of that faith. The Longview asylum for the insane, built at Carthage, 10 miles from the city, at a cost, including 110 acres of land, of $1,000,000, ranks among the first institutions of the kind in the United States. It belongs to Hamilton county, whose population consists chiefly of the inhabitants of Cincinnati; patients are, however, sent here by the State, which contributes to its support. The average daily number of inmates in 1874 was 582, nearly all of whom were maintained free of charge. Besides the city orphan asylum, which has accommodation for 300 children, and is supported by private charity, and the German Protestant asylum, with a capacity for about 100, two large asylums are maintained by the Roman Catholics and by the coloured people. There are also several institutions for indigent and friendless women. The house of refuge and the city workhouse are maintained by the city for the confinement of persons convicted of minor offences; children are sent to the former, and adults to the latter.
The public schools are under the control of a superintendent and a board of 50 elected members, and comprise 3 high, 5 intermediate, and 30 district schools, including those for coloured pupils. There are also a normal school for females and evening schools. In 1874 there were 529 teachers and 28,949 pupils enrolled, with an average daily attendance of 21,486. German is a prominent study in the public schools, and music and drawing are taught. The Woodword and the Hughes high schools have long been known for their excellence. Besides the above, there are a large number of Roman Catholic parochial schools. The university of Cincinnati, recently founded by means of a bequest made by Charles M‘Micken, is designed to afford advanced and technical instruction free of charge. A school of design has been in operation since 1869. Besides the Cincinnati Wesleyan College for females (Methodist-Episcopal), St Xavier College (Roman Catholic), and Mount St Mary's of the West, the city has 1 law, 6 medical, and 2 theological schools, 4 commercial colleges, and 2 schools of music. One of the theological schools is connected with Mount St Mary's of the West, the other is the widely-known Lane Theological Seminary (Presbyterian), founded in 1829. It occupies a site of 7 acres on Walnut Hills, and has 5 professors and a library of 12,000 volumes. Three of the medical schools are classified as regular, one as pharmaceutic, one as homœopathic, and one as dental. The oldest is the medical college of Ohio, which was opened in 1819, and now has 10 instructors; the Cincinnati college of medicine and surgery was opened in 1821, and has 14 instructors; the Miami medical college, opened in 1852, has 12 instructors; and the Pulte medical college, opened in 1872, has 14. There are 11 public libraries in the city, the largest being the free public library, which has 81,000 bound volumes and 5500 pamphlets, and the young men's mercantile with nearly 40,000 volumes. The public library occupies one of the best library buildings in the country. The most important literary associations are the natural history and the historical and philosophical societies. There are published in the city 70 newspapers and periodicals, 9 appearing daily, 1 twice a-week, 33 weekly, 3 fortnightly, 21 monthly, and 3 quarterly. Of these 3 daily, 9 weekly, 1 fortnightly, and 2 monthly are published in German. The city contains 160 churches, the largest denominations being the Roman Catholic, which has 32 churches and 12 chapels, the Methodist with 26 churches, the Presbyterian with 22, the Baptist with 14, and the Protestant Episcopal with 11.
