NKW HAMPSIIIIIK. 



515 



of the campus which was bought by Gov. Morton 

 for the col 



There were in April only about 35 towns without 

 free public libraries, 15 having lately taken steps to 

 organize under the law of 



still. Institutions. The State Board of Chari- 

 - made its first report in Decem- 

 ablished for the purpose of provid- 

 ing homes for dependent children found at the 

 county farms. At some of these there are no sepa- 

 rate buildings for children, and they were obliged 

 - >ciate with criminals. The law of 1895 made 

 it the duty of the overseers of the poor of towns 

 and cities" and of county commissioners to have 

 such minors supported at some orphan asylum or 

 home or with some private family of good repute, 

 and the State Board of Charities was given super- 

 vision of the contracts made by overseers of the 

 poor and county commissioners for the support of 

 Mich minors. The number of children supported by 

 the towns and counties is 420. 



The Orphans' Home, at Franklin, is shown by the 

 annual report to have had 145 children in its care 

 during the year, of whom 14 were placed in homes, 

 urned to friends, and 5 died. The treasurer's 

 repor receipts of s50.50s.27. and expendi- 



tures of S22.304.65. Of this latter sum $13,223.08 

 was new investments. 



The number of patients in the Asylum for the 

 Insane has been largely increased by the transfer 

 from county almhouses and other places of deten- 

 tion of persons fpund to be insane. The buildings 

 are sufficient for the comfortable accommodation of 

 350 patients, while the number is 426, all but 7 or 8 

 of whom are residents of the State. 



The number of inmates of the State Industrial 

 School at the end of the year was 147. 



The Penitentiary has been more than self-sustain- 

 ing the past two years, having paid into the State 

 treasury nearly $12.000. 



Insurance. Reports from 235 towns for the six 

 months ending July 1 show that 128 had no fires. 

 The entire fire loss in all (3 were not reported) was 

 .'.'31. and the amount of insurance on the prop- 

 erty ;*). 



The summary of reports of business done by fire 

 companies in ls : 95 was : New Hampshire companies 

 risks. | A34: premiums. $512,73089; I 



s-^.-.^M.xv. Foreign companies risks. $41. 7^2.- 

 575.28; premium-. s5G5.431.14: losses. s221. 701.52. 

 The percentage of losses to premiums in 1894 was 

 5:?-44. In 1895 it was 40-19. The percentage of 

 losses to premiums of the town mutual companies 

 is not included. 



There are 32 life companies doing business in the 

 State. 



Banks and Savings Institutions. A large 

 number of these institutions have failed within the 

 two years just past, with heavy liabilities. The 

 most notorious case is that of the Granite State 

 Provident Association, of Manchester. Its business 

 extended into 2 - iation was di- 



rected in January to discontinue taking new busi- 

 ness. It was investigated by the Bank Examiner, 

 who asked for a receiver in March. The Bank Com- 

 missioners reported that they found a deficit of 

 $261.918: and if to this were add- .'. the 



amount of dues taken for expenses and fines. $810,- 

 590 is found to be the amount the association must 

 earn in order to pay back to the members what 

 they have paid in. The total liabilities were figured 

 at $3.132.161. and the assets at s2.S70.243. Fr.'in 

 the peculiar nature of its methods, the association 

 could not be declared insolvent, but it was put into 

 the hands of a receiver. 



In May W. F. Putnam was sentenced to impris' >n- 

 ment for five vears on the charge of converting the 



funds of the Granite State National Bank of K 



to his own use. and on other ci. "Iation of 



the national bank laws, the Vnit.-d - 



Court affirming the decision of a district court. 



Another disastrous failure was that of the Sulli- 

 van County Institution f nont. 

 The funds of the bank and trust funds which 

 in the keeping of the president had been largely in- 

 vested in Western mortgages, and though ther-' 

 an apparent excess of assets over liabilr 

 amount of $58,000. the shrinkage in the securities 

 created a large deficit. 



The former President of the Lake National Bank, 

 of Wolfboro, who was appointed to wind up its 

 affairs, has been indicted for embezzling as ac 

 and president 8.691. The Cheshire Provident 

 Institution of Keene was enjoined in August from 

 receiving or paying out money. 



The trials of Dr. Joseph C" Moore, charged with 

 assisting Cashier Lane, of the Merchants' National 

 Bank of Manchester, in embezzling funds of that 

 institution, have taken up much of the time of the 

 courts within the past three years (see "Annual 

 Cyclopaedia," for ls93. j age 512). On a trial this 

 year for knowingly and fraudulently overissuing 

 the stock of the Union Publishing Company, of 

 which he was for fifteen years treasurer and princi- 

 pal owner, he was convicted in April; exceptions 

 were filed, another trial was granted, and he was 

 again convicted a month later. In December his 

 counsel were arguing to secure still another trial. 

 On a trial in 1894 on account of the bank transac- 

 tion he was acquitted because the indictment had 

 "of" where "at " should have been used. 



Railroads. The burning question in reference 

 to railroad : ffairs this year was whether the pro- 

 posed Manchester and Milford road should be built. 

 When the act allowing consolidation of competing 

 lines was passed, it was provided that no new rail- 

 road should be built until the Supreme Court had 

 decided that the public good required it. This de- 

 cision was to be arrived at through a board of com- 

 missioners, or of referees appointed by the court. 

 When the law was revised, a change was made 

 which seems to make it the business of the court to 

 make the decision as to public titility after the com- 

 missioners or referees have reported on facts bearing 

 on the question. On the interpretation of this law 

 the difficulty has been made. The promoters of the 

 scheme petitioned the court for a charter, and the 

 court appointed referees who reported on the facts, 

 but refused to say whether the interests of the pub- 

 lic would be promoted by the building of the road. 

 The court recommitted the report with directions 

 to the referees to add this to it, and the referees 

 then resigned. 



In November the Governor nominated Henry 

 Robinson for Railroad Commissioner, but his coun- 

 cil refused to confirm. After sending in the same 

 name twice again and having it rejected, the Gov- 

 ernor named in succession 12 other candidates, all 

 of whom were rejected. 



.Manchester. A celebration was held at Man- 

 chester, beginning Sept. 7. in honor of the fiftieth 

 anniversary of its incorporation as a city. The ex- 

 ercises included a sermon on Sunday evenin_ 

 the President of Dartmouth College, a parade on 

 Monday, gymnastic exercises, band concerts, an 

 athletic exhibition, a Grand Army of the Republic 

 camp fire, an oration, and the reading of a poem. 

 The first white settlement within the present limits 

 of the city was made in 1722. The town of Derry- 

 field was 'incorporated in 1751. The canal around 

 the falls was finished in 1807. In 1846 the town, 

 which had changed its name from Derryfield to 

 Manchester, became a city. The population 

 then 10,125; it is now about 55,000. The valuation 



