406 



IOWA. 



The revenue of the permanent school fund 

 of the State, which was apportioned among 

 the several counties on the 4th of March, 

 amounted to $161,400.75. The number of 

 youth enrolled at the same date was 461,145. 

 The State Institution for the Education of the 

 Deaf and Dumb contained 102 inmates on the 

 1st of February. The number enrolled during 

 the two years preceding was 119, of whom 72 

 were males, and 47 females. The number ad- 

 mitted during that period was 86. The sup- 

 posed causes of their deafness were as follow : 

 Congenital, 4 ; scarlet fever, 7 ; spotted fever, 

 4 ; brain-fever, 3 ; measles, mumps, scrofula, 

 gatherings in the ears, and " unspecified sick- 

 ness," each 2; inflammation of the brain, 

 small-pox, whooping-cough, diphtheria, sun- 

 stroke, medicine, cold, and " cold in the head," 

 each 1. The institution is open to all deaf- 

 mutes of sound mind, free from immorality or 

 contagious or offensive diseases, between the 

 ages of 10 and 25. A course of instruction 

 covers a space of seven years. 



The Home for Soldiers' Orphans, at Cedar 

 Falls, which was organized in 1865, contained, 

 in February, 300 children. The total number 

 received since its organization was 669. The 

 site of the buildings now used comprises forty 

 acres of land. One-third of this area is occu- 

 pied by the buildings and play-grounds; the 

 remainder is laid out in walks and drives. The 

 main building is of brick, 46 by 90 feet, three 

 stories and basement, with vestibule 7 by 30 

 feet, and centre wing 40 by 36 feet. Another 

 is the new chapel building erected last year, 

 also of brick, which will seat 400 persons. The 

 school is graded after the public-school system, 

 from the primary to the high-school, and each 

 grade is presided over by a well-qualified 

 teacher. The first provision for expenses 

 made by the State was an allowance of $8^ for 

 each child, per month, which, in 1868, was 

 raised to $10, the present rate. The total 

 amount of special appropriations by the State 

 for improvements, outside of the children's ex- 

 penses, is $41,900, up to this time. 



Forty-seven life insurance companies sent 

 their annual statements to the Auditor in the 

 spring, seven of which failed to report the 

 amount of premiums and losses. The forty 

 companies reporting in full received $847,925.- 

 35 in premiums. The number of policies is- 

 sued during the year was 4,318. The whole 

 number of policy-holders in the State is esti- 

 mated at 40,000. The amount paid in losses 

 by the forty companies reporting was $186,- 

 291.81. The estimated amount received for 

 policies by the non-reporting companies was 

 $100,000, and the losses, $40,000. 



According to the census of 1870, the State 

 contained 9,396,467 acres of improved land, 

 2,524,796 of woodland, and 3,620,533 of other 

 unimproved land. The cash value of farms 

 was $392,662,441 ; of farming implements and 

 machinery, $20,509,582 ; total amount of wages 

 paid during the year, including value of board, 



$9,377,878; total (estimated) value of all 

 farm productions, including betterments and 

 additions to stock, $114,386,441 ; orchard- 

 products, $1,075,169; products of market-gar- 

 dens, $244,963 ; forest-products, $1,200,468 ; 

 value of home manufactures, $521,404 ; value 

 of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter, 

 $25,781,223; of all live-stock, $82,987,133. 

 There were 433,642 horses, 25,485 mules and 

 asses, 369,800 milch-cows, 614,366 other cattle, 

 855,493 sheep, and 1,353,908 swine. 



The chief productions were 28,708,312 bush- 

 els of spring and 727,380 of winter wheat, 505,- 

 807 of rye, 68,935,065 of Indian-corn, 21,005,- 

 142 of oats, 1,960,779 of barley, 109,432 of 

 buckwheat, 71,792 pounds of tobacco, 2,967,- 

 043 of wool, 42,313 bushels of peas and beans, 

 5,914,620 bushels of Irish and 34,292 of sweet 

 potatoes, 37,518 gallons of wine, 27,512,179 

 pounds of butter, 1,087,741 pounds of cheese, 

 688,800 gallons of milk sold, 1,777,339' tons 

 of hay, 2,475 bushels of clover-seed, 53,432 

 bushels of grass-seed, 171,113 pounds of hops, 

 695,518 of flax, 88,621 bushels of flax-seed, 

 146,490 pounds of maple-sugar, 1,218,635 gal- 

 lons of sorghum, and 9,315 of maple, molas- 

 ses, 853,213 pounds of honey, and 2,225 of 

 wax. The total number of manufacturing es- 

 tablishments was 6,566, having 899 steam-en- 

 gines, of 25,298 horse-power, and 726 water- 

 wheels, of 14,249 horse-power, and employing 

 25,032 hands, of whom 23,395 were males 

 above 36 years of age, 951 females above 15, 

 and 686 youths. The invested capital 

 amounted to $22,420,183 ; wages paid during 

 the year, $6,893,292 ; value of materials, $27,- 

 682,096; products, $46,534,322. 



There were 233 newspapers and periodicals, 

 having an aggregate circulation of 219,090, and 

 issuing 16,403,380 copies annually. There 

 were 22 daily, with a circulation of 19,800; 

 3 tri-weekly, circulation 1,650 ; 1 semi-weekly, 

 circulation 1,000 ; 196 weekly, circulation 187,- 

 840; 3 semi-monthly, circulation, 3,400; 5 

 monthly, circulation 3,950 ; 2 bi-monthly, cir- 

 culation 750 ; 1 quarterly, circulation 700. 



The total number of libraries was 3,540, con- 

 taining 673,000 volumes. Of these, 2,387, with 

 295,749 volumes, were private, and 1,153, with 

 377,851 volnmes, were other than private, in- 

 cluding 18 circulating libraries, with 20,367 

 volumes. 



The number of religious organizations of all 

 denominations was 2,763, having 1,446 edifices, 

 with 431,709 sittings, and property valued at 

 $5,730,352. The leading denominations are 

 given as follows: 



