wa 



KANSAS. 



KEELER, RALPH. 



debt of Kansas ia $18,879,776, viz. : State, 

 $701,745; municipal, $10,749,446; school, 

 $1,928,585. The receipts into the Treasury 

 during the fiscal year 1873 for the gum-nil rev- 

 enue fund were $744,857, and the expenses of 

 the government $446,876. There has also been 

 paid out in the redumption of warrants out- 

 standing at the beginning of the fiscal year up- 

 ward of $200,000, leaving a balance in the 

 Treasury belonging to this fund of $86,001. 

 ' For the first time since the organization of 

 the State," says Governor Osborn, " the year 

 has closed with no warrants outstanding, and 

 a balance in the Treasury." 



A very small proportion of the tax which 

 the people arc annually called upon to pay is 

 for State purposes. The levy to supply the 

 general revenue bond in 1873 was four mills on 

 the dollar. 



The following statement given in the Audi- 

 tor's Report shows the length of each railroad 

 in tin- State and the value per mile as fixed by 

 the Railroad Assessors: 



NX VK or ROAD. 



Kanim* Pacific 



LemYenw'ih, Lawrence 



& GalvcMmi 



MlMoiiri KU,T. K..rl 



s.-.,,i A- <;uir 



Atchlura, Topcka A 



Santa ft.... 



lilrmoarl, Kann* A 



Texan. 



Kmnui Central 



Junction City A Fort 



Kearney 



Central Branch 



Lravrnworth, Atchl^on 



A Northwwclrrn 



Si. JtMrph A Denver... 



MUnourl River 



St. Lonlt, Ijiur-'in. A 



Denver, Carbondalo 



Branch 



St. Lonlo. Lawrence A 



Ttrnver 



Donlplian * Wathcna. 

 Alchlrou A Nehraska.. 



ToUI 



J7.1..I 



187,100 

 188.886 



g&OCO 



K. >..,. 



turn 



m&u 



80,800 



HUM 



13.500 



7,Mt 

 6,000 



4.700 

 8,000 



8.000 

 4,000 



7,160 

 4,7(0 



8,000 



8.900 

 4,000 



8.000 



4,77V 



Ti.il All. ml 



18,764,745 



:o!.r.-so 

 1,147,474 

 1,480,800 



l.l'W.OOB 

 MttU 



99,000 

 400,000 



1S3.878 



1. 17.11:1 

 177,95* 



107,100 

 157,000 

 40.900 



I1.70I.1M 



The Auditor says that the total assessed val- 

 no above Driven is too large, some of the roads 

 running through unorganized counties where 

 no tax is levied or collected. He states the 

 correct assessment at $9,676,819. 



During IHT'l five new counties were organ- 

 ized, viz. : Ford, Harbour, Harper, Ness, and 

 OoBuutohe, 



The various public institutions of the State 

 ore reported to be in a satisfactory condition, 

 under the law passed by the lost Legislature 

 providing for the re-organization of the various 

 public in slit ut ion", with the exception of the 

 penitentiary, now Hoards of Regents and Trus- 

 tee* were appointed in April. 



Tin- Superintendent of Public Instruction 

 reports 4,004 soh..,,l ditrictH, on increase dtir- 

 ing the year of 585; 121,090 persons enroll, ,1 

 in the public schools, an increase of 15,027 ; 

 8,188 school-houses, an increase of 690 ; value 



of school-houses, $3,408,956, an increase of 

 $668,693. The interest-bearing securities 

 belonging to the permanent school fund 

 now amount to $1,003,688 ; $244,666 of tliis 

 amount has been added to this I'und during 

 the past year. 



'1 lie total assessment of real and personal 

 property in 1873 was returned at $126,684,10:!. 

 "This sum," says the Auditor, "is not very 

 much in excess of the value of the railroads in 

 Kansas, aa fixed by railroad authority. It 

 probably gives about one-third of the actual 

 value of the property of the Stiite. Cur laws 

 require the assessment of real and personal 

 property 'at its true value in money,' but 

 these laws are evaded. Some counties that 

 are growing in wealth and population return 

 each yi-:ir a smaller assessment-roll. This in- 

 justice to other counties and to the State at 

 large has become so glaring that vital changes 

 in our iisse^sinent nnd taxation laws are imper- 

 atively demanded." 



In his message to the Legislature in January, 

 1874, Governor Osborn recommends the cull- 

 ing of a Constitutional Convention, and the 

 providing for a geological and topographical 

 survey of tlie State; lie also favors biennial 

 sessions of the Legislature, and the election of 

 United States Senators by the pec pie. 



KEELER, RALPH, an American author and 

 man of letters, horn in Western Oh'o, in Au- 

 gust, 1840; lost, and probably murdered, by 

 being thrown overboard, from a steamer ply- 

 ing bet wcrii .Sintinpo de. Cuba and Hatabano, 

 Cuba, on the ni^-lit of I), < cmU-r 16, 1878. His 

 lite, though brief, had been singularly eventful. 

 His lather was an Ohio farmer, and Ix.th his 

 parents died before he was eight years old. 

 lie was sent to Uuffulo, to the care of an uncle, 

 to be educated, but was treated so badly tliat 

 al'ter two or three years he ran away and be- 

 came cabin-boy on board a lake steamer, and, 

 after five or six trips on difiVn ut Imat^. became 

 a train-boy on the Michigan Southern Railroad. 

 and, when tired of this, joined one st rolling band 

 of minstrels alter another, finally l>ce< ..mingron- 

 nected with what was called the " Floating 

 1'alace," a lar>:o steamboat fitted up for show 

 and theatrical purposes, on which lie traver-.d 

 most of the Southern and Western rivers. In 

 this sort of life he continued from the age of 

 twelve to fourteen or fifteen. Passing Cape 

 Girardean one day, in the "Floating Pal. 

 he saw the boys ot' St. Vincent's College-, at that 

 old French town, out on the lawn at play, nnd 

 at once determined to become a student there. 

 lie was obliged to go to Galveston first to ful- 

 fill an engagement, but as soon as possible 

 returne<i, with but $86 in bis pocket, to Cape 

 (iirardeaii, where ho was kindly received. MM! 

 remained for sixteen months, acquiring a 

 ]M rfect mastery of French, and considerable 

 classical education. Leaving there he went 

 to Toledo. Ohio, where he was for a time a 

 clerk in the post-office. He then entered an 

 advanced class in Kenyon Col bier, 



