MASSACHUSETTS. 



519 



State aid to invalid pensioners and their de- 

 pendent relatives will expire on Jan. 1, 1890. 

 The payment of State aid began with the civil 

 war, aud has continued without interruption 

 ever since. During 18b7 the sum of $:J',U . 

 02 was expended by the State on this account 

 for the relief of 6,650 beneficiaries. 



Assessments! For 188S the total assessed valu- 

 ation of property in the State was $1,992,804,- 

 101, of which $532,284,079 was the assessment 

 of personal property, and $1,460,520,022 of real 

 estate. The total assessed valuation of 1887 

 was $1,932,548,807; of 1886, $1,847,531,422. 

 In this valuation are included 4,497,123 acres 

 of land and 330,541 dwelling-houses. There 

 were also assessed in 1888, 166,152 horses, 51,- 

 539 sheep, 187,994 cows, 65,609 of other neat 

 cattle, and 34,749 swine. 



Education. The following summary of public- 

 school statistics is given for the year 1887-'88 : 

 Number of public schools, 6,918 ; children of 

 school age, 359,504; number of all ages en- 

 rolled, 358,000 ; average attendance, 264,~23 ; 

 number of male teachers, 1,010; number of 

 female teachers, 8,887 ; average monthly pay 

 of male teachers, $119.34; average monthly 

 pay of female teachers, $44.88; average school 

 year in months, 8-9. All these figures exhibit 

 an increase over the previous year. 



The high-schools, numbering 230, exhibit an 

 increase of one school, 36 teachers, and 379 pu- 

 pils. These schools were materially aided by 

 the passage of the free text- book law, which 

 was immediately followed by a large increase 

 in attendance. In the past five years the num- 

 ber attending the high-schools has increased by 

 3,362. Evening schools have been maintained 

 in 50 cities and towns. The number of schools 

 is 214, an increase of 60; the number of teach- 

 ers 919, an increase of 289 ; the number of pu- 

 pils 24,725, an increase of 9,044 ; the average 

 attendance 12,823, an increase of 4,837. This 

 large increase is due to the act of 1887, which 

 prohibits the employment of illiterate minors 

 unless they are regular attendants of day or 

 evening schools. The whole amount of money 

 raised by taxation for the support of schools, 

 this including only wages of teachers, fuel, care 

 of fires and sohool-rooms, was $5,114,402.41, 

 an increase of $54,462.98. The amount re- 

 ceived from all sources and expended for the 

 schools, exclusive of money spent for building 

 and repairing school-houses, was $5,934,198.59, 

 an increase of $76,877.59, and equal to $16.50 

 for each child in the State between 5 and 15 

 years of ase. The whole amount expended for 

 all public-school purposes was $7,087,206.42, 

 an increase of $87,222.90, and equal to $19.71 

 for each child of school age. 



At the various normal schools the attendance 

 during the year was as follows: At Bridgewater, 

 419 ; at Framingham, 155 ; at Salem, 274 : at 

 Westfield. 250: at "Worcester, 198; at the Nor- 

 raal Art School, 187; total, 1,403. The school 

 at Framinsham suffered the loss of its main 

 building by a fire on Dec. 24, 1887. 



Charities. For the fiscal year ending Septem- 

 ber 30, the Danvers Lunatic Hospital received 

 402 patients, and discharged 427, having at the 

 close of the year 715 remaining. Of those dis- 

 charged, 121 were transferred to other hospi- 

 tals. The receipts for the year were $145,- 

 611.08; payments, $151,637.65. At the North- 

 ampton Hospital there were 469 patients at the 

 beginning of the fiscal year, and 481 at its close, 

 166 persons having been admitted and 154 dis- 

 charged. The receipts for the year were $97,- 

 873.46; payments, $87,522.13. At the Wor- 

 cester Hospital there were 694 patients on Sept. 

 30, 1887; there were admitted during the year 

 389, discharged 313, leaving 770 patients on 

 September 30 of this year. The receipts were 

 $166,570.86 ; expenses, $147,445.68. At the 

 Worcester Asylum for the Chronic Insane, the 

 statistics are as follow : Patients at the begin- 

 ning of the fiscal year, 392 ; admitted, 59 ; dis- 

 charged, 56 ; remaining on September 30 of 

 this year, 395 ; receipts, $79,977.93; expenses, 

 $72,466.83. At the Westborough Hospital 333 

 persons were admitted and 236 discharged dur- 

 ing the year, leaving 406 inmates on September 

 30. At the same date in 1887. there were 309 

 patients. The receipts were $93,886.61; ex- 

 penses, $92,171.70. The Taunton Hospital had 

 634 patients at the beginning of the year ; 260 

 were received, and 270 discharged, leaving 624 

 at the close of the year. The receipts were 

 $125,180.65; expenditures, $125,605.97. 



There were also 352 insane patients at the 

 State almshouse at the close of the fiscal year. 

 The total number of persons admitted to this 

 institution during the year was 2,006 ; Dis- 

 charged, 2,018. On Sept. 30, 1887, there were 

 877 inmates; on Sept. 30, 1888, 865. The 

 school for the feeble-minded had 195 pupils at 

 the close of the fiscal year; 38 were admitted 

 during the year, and 36 discharged. The pres- 

 ent buildings in South Boston are inadequate, 

 and the Legislature has made provision for bet- 

 ter accommodations. An act passed in 1887 

 enabled the trustees to purchase a tract of land 

 in Waltham, and another act, passed this year x 

 appropriates $200.000 for buildings thereon. 



Prisons and Reformatories. The average num- 

 ber of prisoners at the State penal institutions 

 for the year ending Sept. 30, 1888, was as fol- 

 lows: State Prison, 556 : Massachusetts Refor- 

 matory, 792 ; Reformatory Prison for Women, 

 21. The cost per week per capita was: Massa- 

 chusetts Reformatory, $3.30 ; State Prison, 

 $2.52 ; Reformatory Prison for Women, $4.25. 



The State Prison'at Boston is the only State 

 institution in which the prisoners have been 

 employed under the act of 1887. requiring all 

 prison* labor to be done upon the account of 

 the State, and not under contract with individ- 

 uals. The results shown during the year to 

 December 31 are as follow : Expenses of the 

 business, $116,516.72 ; salary of general super- 

 intendent and other necessary expenses for 

 the work, $20,645.26: total. $137.161.98. Re- 

 ceipts from the industries, $71,698.24; excess 



