SOUTH CAROLINA. 



739 



county taxes amount on an average to about 

 eight mills more. 



The legal " school age " in this State is from 

 six to sixteen, both inclusive. The number of 

 children whose ages came within these limits, 

 at the beginning of the year, was 209,376, of 

 whom 43,344 were white males, 40,860 white 

 females ; 62,925 colored males, and 62,247 col- 

 ored females. Of these, 19,446 white males, 

 18,241 whitQ females, 19,428 colored males, 

 and 19,207 colored females, or a total number 

 of 76,322, attended the public schools during 

 the year. This is only about thirty-six per 

 cent, of the whole. The number of free com- 

 mon schools in the State was 1,919, an in- 

 crease of 280 in one year. The increase in 

 attendance was 10,266. The whole number 

 of teachers employed was 2,185, or 287 more 

 than in 1871. These teachers are classified 

 thus: 



The average monthly wages paid to male 

 teachers was $32.55, to female teachers $31. 25. 

 In the city of Charleston male teachers receive 

 $144 per month, and females $40 per month. 

 The number of school districts in the State is 

 462, and the average length of the schools 

 throughout the State was five months. The 

 number of school-houses erected during the 

 year was 226, the aggregate cost being $11,- 

 505.50. The number of school-houses pre- 

 viously erected is 1,644, which are valued at 

 $220,448. The amount of money appropriated 

 by the State for the support of free schools, in 

 1871, was $150,000, while in 1872 it was 

 $300,000. Besides this, the poll-tax, amount- 

 ing to about $50,000, is devoted to this pur- 

 pose, and, in the sixteen counties of the State 

 which made returns out of the whole number 

 of thirty-one, $75,393.35 was raised by local 



taxation for school purposes. Seven teachers' 

 institutes were held in the State during the 

 year. 



The State University, at Columbia, had 88 

 students in attendance during the year ending 

 June 29th. The appropriations for its support 

 for the fiscal year ending October 31st were 

 $27,850 for ordinary expenses, and $10,000 for 

 repairs on the buildings. The Institution for 

 the Education of the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, 

 located at Cedar Spring, in Spartanburg 

 County, had 42 pupils during the session end- 

 ing June 27th. These consisted of 12 male 

 and 11 female deaf-mutes, and 11 male and 8 

 female blind pupils. The State appropriation 

 for this institution, including an unexpended 

 balance of $3,179 from the preceding year, 

 amounted to $13,179. The State Orphan Asy- 

 lum had 130 inmates on the 31st of October, 

 71 boys and 69 girls, all colored. Of the $15,- 

 000 appropriated for the asylum for the year, 

 only $3,500 was paid over during the year. 

 The number of patients in the State Lunatic 

 Asylum on October 31, 1871, was 295, of 

 whom 135 were males, and 160 females. Dur- 

 ing the year following, 54 males and 39 fe- 

 males were admitted, 80 were discharged, and 

 22 died, leaving on October 31. 1872, 284 in- 

 mates. The appropriation for this asylum for 

 the last fiscal year was $80,000. The disburse- 

 ment, for the same period, amounted to $66,- 

 506.92, and there was $62,015.65 of unpaid 

 liabilities. The number of convicts in the 

 penitentiary on the 1st of October was 219, 

 against 309 a year previous. The reduction 

 was due in a large measure to the pardon of 

 many convicts for good behavior, near the 

 close of their terms. This institution began 

 the year with a deficit of $17,457.11 ; the ap- 

 propriation for the year was $80,000, and 

 $4,717.69 was derived from the labor of the 

 convicts. The disbursements for the year 

 amounted to $74,699.43, leaving a deficit at 

 the end of the year of $7,438.85. 



The following is a statement of the con- 

 dition of the railroads of the State, so far as 

 reported : 



An important item in the natural resources 

 of South Carolina is found in her phosphate- 

 beds. The shipping of this material to foreign 

 and domestic ports began in 1867, when the 

 total amount shipped was six tons. The 

 whole amount shipped from Charleston and 

 Beaufort down to July 1, 1872, was 206,305 

 tons, valued at $1,450,000, while 36,110 tons, 

 valued at $250,000, have been consumed by lo- 

 cal companies in the manufacture of fertilizers. 



The increase has been steady and rapid, both in 

 exportation of crude phosphate rock and in 

 the manufacture of fertilizers at home. 



In 1870 the population over ten years was 

 503,763. The number of persons engaged in 

 all occupations was 263,301. There were en- 

 gaged in agriculture, 206,654, of whom 163,528 

 were agricultural laborers, and 42,546 farmers 

 and planters ; in professional and personal ser- 

 vices, 34,343, including 553 clergymen, 16,214 



