134 



COLORADO. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers (luring tin' year: Governor. Albert W. 

 Mclnryre : Lieutenant Governor, Jared L. Brush; 

 Secretary of Slate, Albert B. McGaffey ; Treasurer, 

 Harry E. Mulnix ; Auditor, C. C. Parks; Superin- 

 tendent of Education. Mrs. A. J. Peavey ; Attorney- 

 General, Byron L. Carr all Republicans; Super- 

 intendent of Insurance, C. C. Parks ; Chief Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, Charles D. Hayt; Associate 

 Justices, Luther M. Goddard, John Campbell Re- 

 publicans, except Goddard, who is a Democrat. 



Education. The seventeenth annual catalogue 

 of the State Agricultural College, issued in May, 

 shows a registry of 232, of whom 161 were young 

 men and 12 were in the graduating class. The 

 four-years' course included botany and horticulture, 

 zoology and entomology, chemistry and geology, 

 civil, mechanical, and irrigation engineering, mathe- 

 matics, history, literature and German, English 

 and sociology. In the department of domestic 

 economy instruction is given in home hygiene, 

 cooking, sewing, nursing, and the chemistry of 

 foods. Military science is also taught. For stu- 

 dents who intend to follow a business career there 

 is a commercial course. Oratory, physical culture, 

 vocal music, and the modern languages form supple- 

 mentary studies. 



Banks. The condition of banks, as published in 

 January, was as follows : With one less bank in the 

 field and one bank just recovering from several 

 months' suspension, the total clearings of Denver 

 banks for 1895 were $138,371,178.36. while for 1894 

 they were $138,347,784.27. Notwithstanding the 

 slight change in the clearings, the condition of the 

 individual banks, especially in regard to deposits, 

 specie, and reserve, shows a great improvement. 



Indictments were found May 19 against bank 

 officials and others accused of conspiring to de- 

 fraud depositors in Denver banks that had closed 

 their doors within the preceding three years. Of- 

 ficers of the German National Bank were charged 

 with falsifying figures in the report to the Comp- 

 troller in May, 1893. 0. E. Miller, of Chicago, was 

 charged with embezzling $125,000 from the Com- 

 mercial National Bank, whose president, C. H. Dow, 

 was accused of conspiring with him. 



Mining 1 . From estimates received by the direct- 

 or of the Mint it appears that the value of gold 

 produced in Colorado in 1895 was about $15,000,000, 

 and the quantity of silver was 22,000,000 fine ounces. 

 Estimates of other mineral products in 1895 were 

 as follow : Lead, 97,644,688 pounds ; copper, 8,031,- 

 247 pounds ; coal, 3,570,518 tons, value $6,665,186 ; 

 iron, value $1,586,200 ; steel rails, value $1,348,500. 

 The State has an area of 127,305 acres of coal land 

 assessed. 



Statistics of 1895 showed that 15 per cent, more 

 men were employed in the mines than in 1893 be- 

 fore the panic. 



In an article on gold mining in the State, T. A. 

 Rickard, the State geologist, says there is no ground 

 for the impression that Colorado baa but one min- 

 ing district, that of Cripple Creek, upon which at- 

 tention is now riveted for the reason that its output 

 rose from $3,900,000 in 1894 to $7,000.000 in 1895. 

 According to this geologist the gold deposits of 

 Colorado are distributed over a region 280 miles 

 long, from Halm's peak in the north to Mount 

 Hesperus in the south. The mining industry is 

 now attacking the lodes whose degradation formed 

 the shallow alluvial beds. 



^ An estimate of the money invested at Cripple 

 Creek, compared \vi;h its output shows as follows : 

 4,000 patented claims, costing an average of $500 

 each. 12,000,000; 5.000 un patented locations, costing 

 "" B .<]no ca,.|,, $500,000; cost of the 



claims. K2,:.0(i,000 ; work of lessee, $3,000,000 ; capi- 



tal invested in second purchase, $1,500.000 ; total, 

 $7,000,000. Against this the output of the camp 

 stands as follows : 1892, $600,000 ; 1893. $2,100,000 ; 

 1894, $8,000,000; 1895, $8,000,000; 1896, estimate, 

 $10,000,000; total, $23,700,000. The actual cash 

 value of the gold belt is placed at about $100,000,- 

 000. 



There is great activity also in San Juan County, 

 of which Silverton is the county seat,, as also at 

 Telluride ; and new workings are reported at Victor, 

 Leadville, Ouray, Gunnison, Boulder, Pinos Altos, 

 Aspen, Pine Creek, Clear Creek, Arkins, Cotton- 

 wood, Creede, and other points. West Creek, in 

 Douglas County, a new mining camp which grew to 

 a town of nearly 10,000 within ninety days, was in- 

 corporated in March. 



Manufactures. Estimates of the value of manu- 

 factures in 1894 placed the total at $40.238,730; 

 the indications were that figures for 1895 would 

 show an increase of at least 5 per cent. At the 

 close of 1894 nearly 10.000 men were employed. 

 Several factories opening up in 1895 increased the 

 number of men employed to 1.200. The most ma- 

 terial increase in the factory business during the 

 year was in textile industries, where the number of 

 yards of cloth manufactured was 8,113,724, com- 

 pared with 6,698,122. in the preceding year. Sew- 

 ing manufacture and the making of men's clothing 

 increased 25 per cent. The output of the tanneries 

 nearly doubled. The floral industry assumed new 

 importance, increasing its output for the year to 

 $140,000 and requiring the establishment of new 

 and enlarged conservatories. All lines furnishing 

 building material experienced satisfactory improve- 

 ment. 



Irrigation. The report of F. H. Newell, spe- 

 cialist on irrigation of the Geological Survey, gives 

 an account of the present state of irrigation in 

 Colorado. " The ordinary flow of the streams is 

 utilized to its fullest capacity, and, especially on 

 the South Platte drainage, large numbers of reser- 

 voirs have been built in or near the foothills for 

 the purpose of holding flood waters. This method 

 of increasing the available supply can be utilized to 

 a greater extent, as there are still many localities 

 where water might be held at moderate expense. 

 The examinations have shown the existence of good 

 reservoir sites, especially in the basin of the Arkan- 

 sas, the most notable of these being that at Twin 

 Lakes. By holding the greater part of the flood 

 waters, it will be possible to extend the area under 

 cultivation, but the amount of land which has 

 already passed into private ownership is so great 

 that there is little probability of sufficient supply 

 being obtained for any considerable part of the 

 public lands of the eastern half of the State." Mr. 

 Newell also says that the water supply from arte- 

 sian wells is an important feature, especially on the 

 great plains, where there are no surface streams, 

 but where it is possible to obtain an amount suf- 

 ficient for the irrigation of small patches of land, 

 besides water for cattle. " In the vicinity of Den- 

 ver, Pueblo, La Junta, Lamar, and in the San Luis 

 valley are areas where artesian conditions are 

 known to exist, and where flowing wells are used 

 for domestic purposes and to a small extent in 

 agriculture." 



Of the land now vacant in the State, it is esti- 

 mated that 6,000,000 acres are forested or have 

 growing upon them trees (though often sparsely 

 located) of size sufficient to furnish merchantable 

 timber. Besides this there are probably 7,000,000 

 acres of woodland. 



Strike at Leadville. A long-continued and 

 serious strike began in Leadville, June 19. Silver 

 miners who had been working for $2.50 a day. had 

 been asking for $3, which was paid at some of the 



