Reading

Reading. 1. An ancient market-town and municipal and parliamentary borough of Berkshire, on the left bank of the Kennet and the right bank of the Thames at their point of junction. It was a place of some importance when the Danes occupied it in 871, and in 1121 Henry I. founded the splendid abbey in which be was buried and of which there are but scanty ruins. There is a large trade in agricultural produce, and many hundreds of hands are employed in biscuit-making and seed-growing. Iron-works, engine factories, and breweries also exist. It sends one member to Parliament. 2. The capital of Berks county, Pennsylvania, United States of America, on the Schuylkill river, 58 miles north-west of Philadelphia. It is a great railway centre and the seat of the great engine works of the Philadelphia and Reading Company. It has also extensive iron-works, cotton-mills, distilleries, tanneries, etc., and carries on a large trade in coal. It is a healthy and well-built town, the population being largely German.