MINNESOTA. 



MIKES, JULES. 



521 



24,043 persons, ten years old and over, cannot 

 write, of whom 11,234 are males, and 12,809 

 are females. Of those twenty-one years old 

 and over who cannot write, 8,034 are white 

 males. 



The receipts into the State Treasury, during 

 the fiscal year ending November 13th, were 

 $913,136.54; disbursements, $716,956.17; leav- 

 ing a general balance of $196,180.37. The 

 recognized bonded debt of the State, at the 

 beginning of the year, was $350,000. The 

 Indian war bonds of 1862 are to be redeemed 

 before the 1st of November next, in accord- 

 ance with the section of the State constitution 

 providing that all bonds issued by the State 

 shall be redeemed within ten years from their 

 date. The sinking fund for their redemption, 

 at the commencement of the year, amounted 

 to $64,493.86, making the debt virtually about 

 $285,503.14 at that time. At the close of the 

 year the fund amounted to $86,778.89, reduc- 

 ing the debt to $263,221.11, and making a de- 

 crease of $22,283.03 during the year. There 

 has been expended from the Treasury, from 

 1866 to 1871 inclusive, $681,055.06, for the 

 erection of State buildings. Of this amount 

 the State borrowed $250,000; the balance, 

 $431,055.06, was derived from taxes and the 

 general receipts of the Treasury. The State 

 Auditor estimates the taxable valuation of all 

 the property in the State, for the present fiscal 

 year, at $90,000,000, an increase of about $3,- 

 000,000 over the last year. On this amount 

 the taxes are levied as follows : For general 

 revenue, 3 mills, $315,000; for support of 

 State institutions, one mill, $90,000; for in- 

 terest on State debt and sinking-fund, half 

 mill, $45,000 ; total, five mills, $450,000. 



The marvellous development of agriculture 

 in the State is sufficiently illustrated by the 

 simple statement that the cultivated area dur- 

 ing the twenty years of her existence has 

 grown from 1,900 acres in 1850 to 1,863,316 

 acres in 1870. The number of acres of tilled 

 land, at various periods since the organization 

 of the Territory in 1849, is shown as follows: 



Acre's. 



Tilled area in 1850 1.900 



Tilledareain 1854 15,000 



Tilled area in 1860 556,250 



Tilled area in 1866 895,412 



Tilled area in 1867 1,092,593 



Tilled area in 1868 1,387,470 



Tilled area in 1869 1,619,456 



Tilled area in 1870 1,863,316 



The following statement exhibits the in- 

 crease of the total tilled area, and the propor- 

 tionate occupancy of the same by the three 

 leading staples of the State for 1870: 



The changes among the three staples for 

 1870 are as follows : Wheat area decreased .23 



per cent. ; oats area increased, 27.98 per cent. ; 

 corn area increased, 38.31 per cent. 



The total number of farms in the State in 

 1870 was 46,256 ; average tilled acres per farm, 

 40.28. The aggregate cash value of these 

 farms was $97,565,906, and value of imple- 

 ments and machinery $6,688,366. This is an 

 increase, in ten years, of $75,730,167, or near- 

 ly 265.5 per cent. The statistics of manufac- 

 tures show that in 1870 there were 2,057 estab- 

 lishments, manufacturing more than $500 an- 

 nually, and the value of their products was 

 $23,301,147. Of these, 208 were flour-mills, 

 which produced 1,296,488 barrels of flour dur- 

 ing the year ; 204 were lumber-mills, the an- 

 nual products of which were valued at $5,058,- 

 157 ; 294 were blacksmithing establishments ; 

 168 boot and shoe manufactories; and 115 of 

 carriages, wagons, etc. 



According to the latest public surveys, the 

 area of the State is 80,784 square miles, or 51,- 

 701,760 acres. This is inclusive of all lakes 

 and parts of lakes within the State boundaries, 

 except the portion of Lake Superior so in- 

 cluded. The following shows the total absorp- 

 tion of the public lands by individuals, under 

 the various provisions of law at the several 

 United States Land-Offices within the State 

 during the year 1870 : 



Acres. 



Under homestead law 320,540.45 



Under preemption law 305,757.04 



With warrants and college scrip 157,191,28 



With cash 171,617.95 



Total 955,106.72 



In June and July some sections of the State 

 were visited by severe hail-storms and fires, 

 which completely destroyed the crops. Much 

 destitution followed in consequence, and the 

 more favored portions of the State were called 

 upon by the Governor for aid, and promptly 

 rendered it. 



A careful estimate founded upon official data 

 places the number of immigrants for 1871 at 

 about 32,000. 



MIRES, JULES (Jules Mathieu), a French 

 adventurer, journalist, banker, and financier, 

 born in Bordeaux, December, 1809 ; died in 

 Paris, June 6, 1871. His career was more re- 

 markable than that of any hero of romance. 

 His parents were Portuguese Jews, and from 

 his boyhood he had been daring, impudent, 

 lawless, with a good deal of liberality mingled 

 with his audacity and brutality. He was a 

 broker in Bordeaux; quarrelled with every- 

 body, fought a dozen duels; and finally about 

 1 845 made his way to Paris to seek his fortune. 

 He had obtained a position in 1848 as director 

 or manager of the gas-company at Aries, and 

 in 1848 or 1849, with Millaud (see MILLAUD, in 

 this volume), purchased the Railway Journal, 

 and set up an office for dealing in railway 

 shares. With Millaud also he commenced the 

 publication of The Counsellor of the People, 

 and employed Lamartine as its editor. Some 

 years later he founded, as successors to this 



