UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (CALIFORNIA.) 



673 



land Leatherman, of Hot Springs, overruled a 

 motion to suppress depositions taken before a 

 woman as notary, holding that women are not 

 ineligible, as the office of notary does not come 

 under those in which the incumbent is required 

 to have the qualifications of an elector. 



The constitutionality of the coal-screen act, 

 passed by the Legislature of 1899, having been 

 called in question, the Supreme Court decided in 

 favor of the act, the effect of which is to prevent 

 coal companies from paying their miners upon a 

 basis of screened coal instead of paying them for 

 the coal before it is screened. 



CALIFORNIA, a Pacific coast State, admitted 

 to the Union Sept. 9, 1850; area, 158,300 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 92,597 in 1850; 

 379,994 in 1860; 560,247 in 1870; 864,694 in 1880; 

 1,208,130 in 1890; and 1,485,053 in 1900. Capital, 

 Sacramento. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Henry T.Gage; 

 Lieutenant-Go vernor, Jacob H. Neff; Secretary of 

 State, Charles F. Curry; Comptroller, Edward P. 

 Colgan; Treasurer, Truman Reeves; Attorney- 

 General, Tirey L. Ford; Surveyor-General, Martin 

 J. Wright; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 Thomas J. Kirk; Superintendent of Printing, Al- 

 fred J. Johnston; Adjutant-General, W. H. Sea- 

 man; Insurance Commissioner, Andrew J. Clunie; 

 Commissioner of Labor, F. V. Meyers; Railroad 

 Commissioners, E. B. Edson, C. S. Laumeister, 

 'N. Blackstock; Board of Equalization, Alexander 

 Brown, R. H. Beamer, Thomas O. Toland, Lewis 

 H. Brown; Commissioners of the Supreme Court, 

 Wheaton A. Gray, James A. Cooper, N. P. Chip- 

 man, George H. Smith, and John Haynes; Build- 

 ing and Loan Commissioner, Frank H. Gould; 

 Bank Commissioners, John Markley, A. W. Bar- 

 rett, B. D. Murphy; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, W. H. Beatty; Associate Justices, T. B. 

 McFarland, C. H. Garoutte, R. C. Harrison, Walter 

 Van Dyke, F. W. Henshaw, Jackson Temple; 

 Clerk, George W. Root. The officers elected in 

 1898 were candidates on the Republican ticket 

 except T. O. Toland and W. Van Dyke, who were 

 candidates of the Fusionists. Justice Temple is 

 a Democrat. 



The State officers are elected in November of 

 even-numbered years. The Legislature meets bi- 

 ennially in January of odd-numbered years, and 

 the session is limited to sixty days. 

 ' Valuations. The valuations of property in the 

 State, as given in the Comptroller's official report 

 for this year, amount to $1,241,705,803, made up 

 as follows: Value of real estate, $680,270,651; im- 

 provements on real estate, $276,849,326; personal 

 property, $189,506,344; money and solvent credits, 

 $45,957,997; railroads, $49,121,485. The rate of 

 State taxation is 48 cents. 



The original assessed value of mortgages is 

 $149,341,064; the assessed value of university and 

 other State mortgages, $1,605,980. The total 

 county indebtedness is $3,333,233, of which $3,224,- 

 400 is funded. 



The aggregate valuation this year is $23,413,346 

 greater than for 1900, and $15,766,668 of this gain 

 is represented in the enhanced value of real estate 

 and new improvements. Mortgages have de- 

 creased by $7,103,691, while money and solvent 

 credits have increased by $2,110,619. County in- 

 debtedness has been reduced $296,146 during the 

 year, while the total funded debts of the counties 

 is $278,300 less than for the preceding year. Not- 

 withstanding these reductions in the financial 

 obligations of counties, there has been no impair- 

 ment of civic progress; in fact, many of the coun- 

 VOL. XLI. 43 A 



ties have added substiint ].,] Jiri]>iovompnts with- 

 out incurring any additional iniM-M^dncss. 



Education. The Stale is particularly favored 

 with educational institution.-*, Then- ;uc only 

 two States in the Union that have n>on; than 

 one university. The one is .Now Vork with Co- 

 lumbia and Cornell, the other is (..'filial nia with 

 the University of California, at liorkdi-y, and 

 Leland Stanford Junior University, at I'alo 

 Alto, Santa Clara County. The attendance at 

 both universities was larger this year than over. 

 At the. State University the total was in excess 

 of 3,000, while Stanford has over 1,400. In Octo- 

 ber Stanford celebrated its tenth anniversary, arid 

 the State University was twenty-eight years old 

 in July. The buildings at Palo Alto are gradu- 

 ally nearing completion, and it is expected that 

 within two years the great quadrangle of stone 

 structures, including the magnificent memorial 

 chapel, will be completed as originally planned. 



Probably the greatest event in educational life 

 in California this year was the gift by Mrs. Jane 

 L. Stanford to the Stanford University of more 

 than $30,000,000. This munificent gift, which was 

 made on Dec. 9, makes that universitythe wealth- 

 iest institution of learning on the American con- 

 tinent, and one of the wealthiest in the world. 

 The gift embraced money and interest-bearing 

 bonds to the value of $18,000,000, and the remain- 

 ing $12,000,000 was in productive property in 26 

 counties of the State. The University of the 

 Pacific (Methodist), <at San Jose; the California 

 College (Baptist), at Highland Park, Oakland; 

 the Wilmerding School, at San Francisco; Mills 

 Seminary, at Seminary Park, Alameda County; 

 Santa Clara College, at Santa Clara; and other 

 educational institutions in various parts of the 

 State, are all largely attended. 



Mining. The output of the precious metals 

 was greater this year than in either of the two 

 preceding years. The total gold yield was $15,- 

 730,700, and the silver production aggregated 

 $1,118,335 in value. The State ranks second as 

 a gold-producer and seventh among the silver- 

 producing States. In the past few years mining 

 in California has broadened out, and it is no 

 longer confined to the precious metals. This de- 

 velopment received a wonderful impetus last year. 

 Copper is now produced in large quantities, and 

 Shasta County has advanced from insignificance 

 to first place among the counties for mineral 

 wealth. The output of copper in Shasta County 

 in 1901 was more than 32,000,000 pounds. Smelt- 

 ers were erected on coppef properties in Lake, 

 Siskiyou, and other counties. Late in the sum- 

 mer an extensive copper deposit was discovered 

 on the western side of the Siskiyou mountains, 

 about 5 miles south of the Oregon line. The ledge 

 varies from 300 to 350 feet in width, and can 

 be traced on the surface nearly 4 miles. It is 

 said to be one of the greatest deposits ever found 

 on the continent. Some attention is also being 

 given to extensive iron-ore deposits in Trinity, 

 Shasta, Mendocino, Kern, Mariposa, San Luis 

 Obispo, Fresno, and Madera Counties. In the 

 latter two counties large smelters are approaching 

 completion. The copper production for 1901 is 

 estimated at about $7,500,000, and the value of 

 all the base metals and inferior minerals is in 

 excess of $15,000,000. 



Fuel Oil. The extensive petroleum deposits of 

 the State have assumed such large proportions as 

 to change completely the outlook for industrial 

 and manufacturing development. Petroleum was 

 discovered in California more than thirty years 

 ago, but so long as the production was confined 

 to the narrow belt traversing Los Angeles Coun- 



