732 



OHIO. 



In 1859 and I860, mortgage debt $59,485,969 



In 1662 and 1868, " " 42,782,421 



Decrease of mortgage debt $16,753,545 



The same general fact of the diminution of 

 debt is proved by the reduction of suits and 

 judgments at law. This class of statistics is 

 presented in the following table : 



It thus appears that since 1860, the suits at 

 law have diminished 12,000, or nearly half, 

 and the judgments 9,000, also nearly half. 



The following is a statement of the condition 

 of the -banks of issue in Ohio at the periods of 

 1855, 1860, and 1863. Thus: 



The general movement from 1860 to 1862 

 (the period of the war) is as follows : 



Decrease of capital , $800,424 



" of circulation 1,882,576 



u ofdiseounts 881,050 



" ofgpecle.../ 172,623 



Increase of deposits 6,195,036 



The annual profits of the State in the last 

 ten years, by the construction of her public 

 works, are estimated at $20,000,000 on the car- 

 riage alone, aside from the stimulus given to 

 all kinds of industry. Ohio has more miles of 

 canals and railroads than any other State of 

 the Union, having a route of railroad to every 

 thirteen square miles, while New York has one 

 to every seventeen square miles, and Illinois 

 one to every twenty. The only State equalling 

 Ohio in the production of grain is Illinois, but 

 this State has 16,000 square miles more than 

 Ohio. In the production of animals, of which 

 there were in 1860 8,240,067, Ohio is actu- 

 ally the first. The total value of agricultural 

 products, including grains, wool, hay, and ani- 

 mals, at Cincinnati prices, is estimated at $136,- 

 000,000. Of this amount, more than one half 

 In surplus, so that the value of agricultural ex- 

 ports amounts to $80,000,000, as ascertained 

 at shipping points of lake, river, canal, and 

 railroads. The wealth of Ohio has doubled in 

 the last ten years. In 1850, it was assessed at 

 $504,000,000, and in 1860, at $1,193,898,000, 

 showing an increase of $600,000,000 in ten 

 years. Twenty years ago the taxes of the 

 State wore $1,890,000, now they amount to 

 $8,000,000 more than fourfold. This is not 

 an increase of the ratio of taxation, but of tax- 

 able property ; the valuation of property twenty 



ORDNANCE. 



years ago being only one ninth of what it is 

 now. The commissioner estimated that Ohio 

 would pay $16,000,000 of the internal revenue, 

 which, if the other States paid in proportion, 

 would bring the internal revenue up to $160,- 

 000,000 per annum. 



Details of the local institutions of the State, 

 will be found in the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA, 1862. 



OPELOUSAS, the capital of St. Landry 

 parish, or county, in Louisiana, is situated 50 

 miles in direct line west of Baton Eouge, and 

 seven miles from the head of navigation on the 

 Courtableau. It is the seat of Franklin College, 

 and contained a court house and other public 

 buildings. It was occupied by Gen. Banks op. 

 the 20th of April, 1863. 



ORDNANCE. The improvement made in 

 the manufacture of ordnance and projectiles 

 since the spring of 1861, in the United States 

 and in Europe, has been so considerable as to 

 be deserving of record. At the commence- 

 ment of the civil war, the amount of ordnance 

 in the country was not large, though sufficient 

 for all emergencies which had thus far occurred. 

 The Secretary of "War reports that there were 

 in the possession of the United States, at the 

 beginning of the war, 1,052 pieces of siege and 

 sea-coast artillery of all calibers, and 231 pieces 

 of field artillery. These were of a great vari- 

 ety of sizes, and some of them in unfit condi- 

 tion for service. The larger sea-coast artillery 

 were mostly columbiads, or, as they are called 

 in Europe, Paixhan guns smooth-bore cast 

 iron guns, cast solid and bored. A few were 

 Rodman guns, smooth bores, cast 'hollow, and 

 with a water core which gave the inner surface 

 of the cannon the character of chilled iron. 

 The smaller guns were of a great variety of 

 patterns and material cast iron, bronze, and 

 brass, and their projectiles ranging from three 

 to forty-eight pounds. The whole field artillery 

 actively organized consisted of seven batteries, 

 each of four guns, smooth bore, six and twelve 

 pounder howitzers. There was not at ths' 

 time a single rifled cannon in the United State 

 service. The Navy Department had on hand, 

 on the 4th of March, 1861, 2,966 guns of all 

 calibers. Of these, 1,872, or nearly two thirds, 

 were thirty-two pounders, of six different }>at- 

 terns ; 107 were twelve pounders, of two pat- 

 terns ; 29 were twenty-four pounders ; 575 

 were eight-inch guns, of four different pat- 

 terns; 27 were ten-inch guns; 305 were nine- 

 inch Dahlgrens; 19, ten-inch Dahlgrens, and 

 32, eleven-inch Dahlgrens. Nearly or quite 

 one half of these guns were captured by the 

 enemy or destroyed, at the burning of the navy 

 yard at Portsmouth, Va. Only 555 in all were 

 on board ships, and of these nearly one fourth 

 were on the ships destroyed at that time. Of 

 the army artillery, it is doubtful if there were 

 500 pieces in serviceable condition at the com- 

 mand of the Government at the beginning of 

 the war, and in the navy the amount of all cal- 

 ibers did not exceed 1,000. Some of the States, 

 and some private individuals, possessed a few 



