MICHIGAN. 



519 



Barrel.. 



In Huron County 254,841 



In losco County 149,400 



In Bay County 1,083,466 



In Saginaw County 1,145,150 



In Midland County 83,731 



The average price obtained for salt during 

 the year was 75 cents a barrel, against $1.02 

 obtained in 1879. The improvements made 

 during the year have materially increased the 

 salt-producing capacity of the State. The bulk 

 of Michigan salt finds a market in the Western 

 States. The Saginaw " Courier's " annual re- 

 view says: 



The expense of putting down a salt-well varies, of 

 course, according to the depth. In Saginaw Coun- 

 ty the average depth of the well is 800 feet, while 

 down the river the average is about 1,000 feet. The 

 average expense of sinking a well, including drill-house 

 and machinery, is about $3,000. The expense of erect- 

 ing a block ranges from $8,000 to $25,000, according 

 to capacity, and the blocks produce from 75 to 250 

 barrels per day. 



The following statistics from the report of 

 the Superintendent of Public Instruction show 

 continual progress in the public schools of the 

 State : 



Number of districts, September, 1S80 6,352 



Increase over previous year 100 



Number of schoolhouses 6,400 



Increase 75 



Number of children between five and twenty 



years 506,221 



Increase during year 19,228 



Number of children attending public schools . . 362,556 



Increase over last year 20,418 



Number of sittings in public schools 446,029 



Increase over 1879 4,733 



Number of private and select schools 264 



Number of teachers employed, male 4,072 



Number of teachers employed, female 9,877 



Increase over 1879 333 



Waxes paid teachers $1,917,983 99 



Increase over 18T9 37,038 75 



Estimated value of school property 8,977,844 00 



Eeceived from one-mill tax 379,757 93 



" " primary-school fund 223,52521 



" " tuition from non-residents 5,85977 



" direct taxation 2,074,073 37 



" " all other sources 286,32078 



Total receipts of year $2,998,602 97 



Total expenditures of year, including build- 

 ings, payments on debts, etc $3,109,915 14 



The income from the primary-school interest 

 fund was forty-six cents on the scholar, but a 

 recent decision of the Supreme Court will add 

 to that sum the coming year over $300,000, in- 

 creasing the distributive ratio per scholar to 

 over one dollar ; and unless the Constitution of 

 the State shall be so amended as to turn the spe- 

 cific taxes into some other fund, the increase 

 will be still larger the next and future years. 

 The receipts from specific taxes during 1880, 

 exclusive of the Upper Peninsular mining taxes, 

 were $584,889.24, with no prospective dimi- 

 nution. This will meet the interest on both 

 the bonded and trust fund debt, to which it 

 must be first applied, and give over $350,000 

 annually to the primary- school interest fund. 



The Superintendent of Public Instruction 

 finds the weakest point in the school system 

 in the examination and licensing of teachers 

 by a single township superintendent, the creat- 

 ure of a political caucus. He recommends : 



1. The county should be the unit of territory 

 over which the examining authority should 

 have control ; 2. The choice of this authority 

 should be removed so far as possible from the 

 influence of the political caucus ; and, 3. The 

 examining authority should be a board rather 

 than an individual. 



The total attendance at the State Normal 

 School during the school year, 1879-'80, was 

 462. Of these, 71 were in the professional de- 

 partment. At the annual commencement 56 

 diplomas were given to graduates in the sev- 

 eral courses. The courses of study are now 

 so arranged that an applicant for a diploma in 

 either professional course, having the requisite 

 preliminary training, may complete the course 

 in one year. This change makes it more of a 

 professional than a preparatory school, and 

 less a competitor of the high-schools of the 

 State. 



The number of students in attendance upon 

 the State Agricultural College during the year 

 was 264, classified as follows: resident grad- 

 uates, 12; seniors, 26 ; juniors, 38; sopho- 

 mores, 57 ; freshmen, 83 ; specials, 48. The 

 26 seniors were graduated at the annual com- 

 mencement. Thirty-two of the students came 

 from without the State. The expenses for the 

 fiscal year were $62,652.13, and the cash earn- 

 ings of students and farm were $21,690.56. 

 The accumulated land fund is now $153,137.70. 



In his annual report to the Board of Eegents 

 of the State University, Acting President 

 Frieze (President Angell being temporarily 

 absent as Minister to China) says : " The 

 year has been distinguished by a largely in- 

 creased attendance, by a decided improve- 

 ment in all departments of the university in 

 the standard of scholarship, and by uninter- 

 rupted order and harmony in all its internal 

 working." The faculties number fifty-two offi- 

 cers and instructors, with very little change 

 from the previous year. The law department 

 was, however, materially strengthened by the 

 establishment of another (the Tappan) profess- 

 orship, and the appointment to it of ex-Govern- 

 or and ex-United States Senator Alpheus Fitch, 

 eminent in his profession and ripe in experience. 

 During the year attendance upon the several 

 departments was 1,430, an increase of 54 over 

 that of the previous year, as follows : In the 

 Department of Literature, Science, and the 

 Arts, 448 ; Department of Medicine and Sur- 

 gery, 353 ; of Law, 395 ; in School of Pharmacy, 

 81 ; in Homoeopathic Medical College, 70 ; in 

 College of Dental Surgery, 83. The President 

 says: "This increase is the more gratifying, 

 inasmuch as it has taken place in spite of more 

 stringent requirements for admission and grad- 

 uation, especially in the professional schools." 

 Four hundred and ten degrees were conferred 

 on examination, and four honorary degrees. Of 

 the degrees conferred on examination, 67 were 

 conferred upon the several graduates from the 

 Department of Literature, Science, and the 

 Arts, and 343 from the professional schools. 



