588 



NEBRASKA. 



NETHERLANDS, THE. 



ness for a former investment under authority 

 of law, $158,837.67; total State investment in 

 school-fund, $342,957.34, drawing ten per cent, 

 interest. 



Besides this permanent fund, certificates of 

 indebtedness for some $35,000 have been issued 

 for the building of the State penitentiary, which, 

 owing to arrearage in tax payments, have not 

 been drawn in again. The State warrants are 

 taken at par. The State has had, up to the 

 present year, no bonded debt. The entire local 

 indebtedness is nearly $4,500,000. 



The State University contains, in its literary 

 and agricultural departments, above one hun- 

 dred students. The yearly expenses are about 

 $20,000. The Agricultural College, in connec- 

 tion with the university, has been started with- 

 in the year, with 320 acres of land, purchased 

 from the proceeds of the sale of saline lands 

 vested by the gift of the Government in the 

 university. A number of students have en- 

 tered upon the course of instruction in agricult- 

 ural economy. 



The educational interests of Nebraska have 

 been furthered with intelligent zeal. Deliber- 

 ative meetings of teachers have, at various 

 times, taken place, and improvements in in- 

 struction have been favored by the public, and 

 advanced by the government. The total num- 

 ber of pupils at the close of the year 1872 was 

 51,123; at the close of 1874, 72,991, showing 

 an increase in the two years of 21,868. The 

 total amount of school-money apportioned by 

 the Superintendent for the years 1871 and 1872 

 was somewhat over $370,000. The past two 

 years the total amount apportioned was nearly 

 $100,000 of an increase. At the close of the 

 year 1872 there were 1,512 qualified teachers 

 in the State. The reports for 1873 and 1874 

 show 2,200. In the same time the number of 

 school-houses has increased from 538, valued 

 at about $700,000, to 1,345, of $1,300,000 esti- 

 mated value. The normal school, for which 

 $49,500 has been expended in improvements, 

 has a faculty of nine professors and an attend- 

 ance of 210 students. The expenses of its man- 

 agement are about $10,000 annually. 



In October a State Fair was held in Omaha, 

 which evinced decided attention among stock- 

 raisers to the introduction of improved races 

 of cattle, and made good the great reputation 

 of the State for horticultural products. 



The mercantile activity of Omaha has exceed- 

 ed that of all past years. The smelting- works in 

 the city have reduced 7,000 tons of bullion, and 

 separated 2,000 tons of ore, producing $1,350,- 

 000 worth of gold and silver, and lead to the 

 value of $800,000. The manufacture of linseed- 

 oil, of beer and spirits, etc., has considerably 

 increased. Many new buildings have been 

 built within the twelvemonth. 



Suits have been instituted, in the name of 

 the State, against the Sioux City & Pacific 

 and Omaha & Northwestern Railroads, for the 

 recovery of 44,948 acres from the first, and 

 36,017 acres from the second, of internal-im- 



provement lands alleged to have been illegally 

 conveyed to these corporations. 



The distressful famine brought on by drought 

 and the ravages of locusts affected chiefly the 

 new counties and the frontier lands. The in- 

 habitants of Howard, Valley, Greeley, Taylor, 

 and Sherman Counties, were stripped of their 

 corn-crop, their principal support, and in a 

 great measure of their wheat-crop also. About 

 half the farmers of this region, having a popu- 

 lation of about 1,500, were left in destitution. 

 A number of prominent citizens of the State 

 met together on the 18th of September, at the 

 request of the Governor, and organized a so- 

 ciety for relief, which took the name "Ne- 

 braska Relief and Aid Society," under the 

 chairmanship of General E. 0. C. Ord. At 

 the end of the year the amount of the dona- 

 tions received was $68,080, of which the sum 

 of $37,280 was in cash, and $30,800 in goods. 

 The railroads granted free transportation for 

 all commodities sent for the succor of the im- 

 poverished communities. The people of Ne- 

 braska, and of many portions of the country, 

 extended prompt assistance. The "War De- 

 partment aided them with clothing. The Pa- 

 trons of Husbandry of Nebraska formed a relief 

 society, and other branches of that organiza- 

 tion have likewise lent their aid. By the ac- 

 tion of Congress, extension of time has been 

 given homesteaders, and a cash appropriation 

 of $30,000 has been made, with which to pur- 

 chase seeds the coming spring. The corn-crop 

 has been, in the least injured districts, not more 

 than half as great as in ordinary years. Root- 

 crops have also been much shorter than com- 

 mon. The fruit-yield, though inferior in qual- 

 ity, has been greater than ever before. 



NETHERLANDS, THE, a country in Eu- 

 rope. King, William III., born February 19, 

 1817; succeeded his father, March 17, 1849; 

 heirs-apparent to the throne : sons 1. William, 

 Prince of Orange, born September 4, 1840, 

 admiral-lieutenant in the navy ; 2. Alexander, 

 born May 25, 1851, lieutenant in the navy ; 

 brother of the King, Henry, born June 13, 

 1820. The area of the kingdom is 12,679 

 square miles. The population of the several 

 provinces was, according to an official state- 

 ment of December, 1873, as follows : 



With regard to religion, the population was, 

 on the 1st of December, 1869, composed as fol- 

 lows : 



