MICHIGAN. 



513 



Committees were appointed, one at Detroit for 

 the eastern, the other at Grand Kapids for the 

 western, part of the State. Committees or 

 agents were also designated in each of the 

 counties and many of the towns of the burned 

 districts, to procure information as well as to 

 receive and distribute supplies to the sufferers. 

 " Responsive to the appeal of the executive 

 and of the committees, prompt and liberal con- 

 tributions of money, food, and clothing, came 

 from our own citizens, from almqst every 

 State in the Union, from Canada, and from be- 

 yond the Atlantic. Cash contributions to the 

 relief fund have been received as follows : 



By the Governor $156,876 50 



By the committee at Detroit 129,958 79 



By the committee at Grand Rapida 43,333 57 



By the committee at Holland 35,018 11 



By the committee at Manistee 5,408 49 



By the committee at East Saginaw 12,811 47 



By the committee at Port Huron 13,532 00 



By the committee at Fillmore, Overeiscl, and 



Laketown 49200 



By the Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, Grand Haven 23,329 73 

 By the Hon. W. W. Wheaton (then mayor), 



Detroit 11,315 64 



By other committees and individuals, prob- 

 ably 30,000 00 



Total $462,106 30 



" Large quantities of clothing and other sup- 

 plies have also been received, the value of 

 which is estimated at fully $250,000." 



The number of miles of railroad completed 

 in the State, within the year, was 478. This is 

 unprecedented, and is more than was built in 

 any other State except Illinois and Missouri. 

 Of this the Chicago Railroad Gazette says : 



The extraordinary activity in construction in tliis 

 State is the more remarkable because it has not been 

 encouraged in any way by the votes of aid from mu- 

 nicipalities. When the decision of the Supremo 

 Court in 1870 put an end to such subsidies, and the 

 constitution was so amended as to forbid the future 

 authorization of such subsidies, it was prophesied 

 that there would not only be a great decrease, but 

 almost a total cessation in railroad construction in 

 the State thereafter^ But there never was so much 

 activity in construction as in 1871 ; many important 

 lines have been completed, and many unimportant 

 ones have found means for construction. There has 

 been a large amount of local aid, it is true, but it has 

 come in the shape of voluntary private subscriptions 

 and not in taxes. The Grand Kapids & Indiana and 

 the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw are progressing 

 rapidly toward Mackinaw ; the Chicago & Michigan 

 Lake Shore will doubtless reach Manistee this year ; 

 the Chicago & Canada Southern is well under way 

 across the southern end of the State ; the Mansfield, 

 Coldwater & Michigan has been graded for a con- 

 siderable distance ; the Northern Central, a branch 

 of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern from Jones- 

 ville northward, has been graded for a considerable 

 distance, and threatens eventually to reach the line 

 of the Flint & Pere Marquette, if not Mackinaw 

 itself; the Detroit & Bay City is under contract, and 

 progress has been made with other lines of more or 

 less importance. 



Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan completed 

 from Detroit northwest to Lansing, eighty-five miles, 

 and from Greenville northwest to Howard, on the 

 Grand Rapids & Indiana road, twenty miles. 



Michigan Air-Line the eastern division, which 

 reached from the Grand Trunk at Eidgeway west to 

 Romeo, sixteen miles, lias been extended west to 

 Washington, six miles. 



VOL. xi. 33 A 



Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw extended from Kaw- 

 kawlin (twenty miles north of Saginaw) northward 

 to Wells, forty-five miles. 



Michigan Lake Shore extended from Allegan east- 

 ward to the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad at Mon- 

 teith, eleven miles. 



Iloughton & Ontonagon six miles of track laid. 



Port Huron & Lake Michigan extended from La- 

 peer west to Flint, nineteen miles. 



Detroit, Hillsdale & Indiana extended from Hills- 

 dale southwest to a junction with the Fort Wayne, 

 Jackson & Saginaw Road at Banker's, five miles. 

 Its trains run over the latter road from Banker's to 

 Auburn, forty-five miles, and thence over the Detroit, 

 Eel River & Illinois road southwestward. as far as 

 completed. 



Peninsular extended from Climax southwest to 

 South Bend, Ind., sixty-five miles, fifty-five of which 

 are in Michigan. 



Niles & South Bend from Niles south to South 

 Bend, Ind., thirteen miles, six miles in Michigan. 

 A branch of the Michigan Central. 



Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore track extended 

 early in the season from Grand Junction (the crossing 

 of the Kalamazoo & South Haven) north to Nunica, 

 forty-nine miles, completing the line from Battle 

 Creek to Montague, and in December from Montague 

 north to Greenwood, six miles, a total extension of 

 fifty-five miles. 



Grand Rapids & Holland completed from Holland 

 northeast to Grand Rapids, twenty-five and one-half 

 miles. A branch of the Chicago & Michigan Lake 

 Shore. 



Flint & Pere Marquette extended during the year 

 from Clare west forty miles to a iunction with the 

 Grand Rapids & Indiana Road at Reed City. 



Grand Rapids & Indiana extended from Paris 

 north, thirty-six miles. 



Holly, Wayne & Monroe completed from Monroe 

 to Holly, sixty-three and one-half miles. Much of 

 the grading had been done before 1871. 



Number of convicts in the State-prison, 

 September 30th, 627; decrease during the 

 year, 36 ; received on commitment, 206 ; re- 

 captured, 1 ; discharged by expiration of sen- 

 tence, 205 ; by reversal of sentence, 2 ; par- 

 doned, 19; died, 13; escaped, 4; number of 

 insane in prison, 9. Earnings, as follows : For 

 convict-labor, $68,846.84 ; for the support of 

 United States convicts, $5,066.99; for rent, 

 $43.15 ; for property sold, $2,799.16 ; from 

 visitors, $1,520.50; total, $78,754.64. Ex- 

 penses of prison, exclusive of building, $72,- 

 290.96. Of the prisoners received, four were 

 sentenced for life for murder; the average 

 sentences of the others were three years 

 and three months ; average age, twenty-eight 

 years and a half. Born in Bavaria, 1 ; Canada, 

 24 ; Chili, 1 ; Denmark, 1 ; England, 14 ; 

 France, 2 ; Germany, 8 ; Holland, 3 ; Ireland, 

 12 ; Luxemburg, 1 ; New Brunswick, 1 ; Prus- 

 sia, 4 ; Scotland, 3 ; Wurtemberg, 1. 



In the State Reform School, to which con- 

 victs under sixteen are sentenced, the number, 

 at the beginning of the year, was 262. Ad- 

 mitted during the year, 73 ; discharged, 97; 

 number remaining, 238. Of those discharged, 

 30 were released as reformed ; seven to go out 

 of State with parents ; 57 on a year's leave of 

 absence; 2 on reaching majority; and 1 was 

 remanded. Average time of detention, two 

 years eight months and twelve days. 



The mining business in the Lake Superior 



