IOWA. 



401 



decided. The conclusion reached was, that 

 the parties contracted a valid marriage, such 

 as could only be dissolved by death or decree 

 of a competent court ; that their agreement 

 to dissolve the contract by their own consent 

 was, in law, void ; that if they should act un- 

 der this stipulation, and thereafter enter into 

 similar relations with other parties, it would 

 be bigamy; and that, as the marriage was 

 valid, the parties were not guilty, as charged 

 in the indictment. 



IOWA. The State census of Iowa, taken 

 this year, shows a total population of 1,350,- 

 544, an increase of 99,211 since 1873. The 

 average yearly increase for ten years has been 

 59,584.5. In 1846, when Iowa was first set oft 

 from Wisconsin as a Territory, her population 

 was 97,588. The first State census was taken 

 in 1847, when it was shown to be 116,651. 

 The average annual increase from 1846 to 1856 

 was 42,147, or 43.19 per cent. ; from 1856 to 

 1865 it was 26,183, or 5.04 per cent.; from 

 1865 to 1875, 59,584, or 7.86 per cent. At the 

 present time the whole population consists of 

 697,057 males and 647,420 females; colored, 

 3,123 males and 2,853 females. Of the entire 

 population 552,482 were born in the State, 581,- 

 550 in other parts of the United States, and 

 203,501 in foreign countries. The total num- 

 ber of persons under twenty-one years of age 

 is 496,471 ; of those over sixteen years old, 

 8,148, or one in 165, cannot read. There are 

 in the State 249,624 families, and 221,568 

 dwelling-houses. There are nearly 13,000,000 

 acres of improved land, of which 9,645,961 

 acres were under cultivation in 1874, pro- 

 ducing 43,280,918 bushels of spring and 850,- 

 889 bushels of winter wheat, 146,993,570 

 bushels of corn, 432,008 of rye, 29,213,891 of 

 oats, 3,534,291 of barley r and 160,805 bushels 

 of buckwheat. In the same year there were 

 698,205 horses in the State, 12,160 thorough- 

 bred cattle, 3,086,161 hogs, 724,204 sheep. 

 The value of farm products was $124,407,078 ; 

 garden produce, $726,229 ; orchard products, 

 $1,215,659; small fruits, $488,259; products 

 of the herd, $42,261,039 ; of the dairy, $8,398,- 

 212 ; of the forest, $3,467,020 ; value of arti- 

 cles manufactured, $39,263,319 ; of coal mined, 

 $2,600,140; of building-stone, $202,000. There 

 were 99 colleges, academies, and other (private) 

 educational institutions, of which 22 were Ro- 

 man Catholic. The number of teachers em- 

 ployed in public schools was 6,280 males and 10,- 

 713 females ; average monthly compensation of 

 the former $35.98, of the latter $27.66; whole 

 number of children of school-age, 506,381 ; 

 number enrolled in the schools, 365,115 ; av- 

 erage attendance, 227,115. There were 8,154 

 frame, 650 brick, 268 stone, and 153 log school- 

 houses, with an aggregate valuation of $9,499,- 

 075. The total annual school expenditures are 

 set down at $4,429,874. 



The geological survey of the State is making 

 good progress. The several formations of rock 

 which appear on the surface in different local- 

 VOL. XT. 26 A 



ities have been classified as follows, beginning 

 with the lowest: the Lansing formation, ap- 

 pearing in the bluffs above the Mississippi, and 

 composed of the Potsdam sandstone and the 

 lower magnesian limestone, being the lowest 

 divisions of the lower Silurian found in the 

 State ; the McGregor formation, represented 

 by the St. Peter's sandstone and containing the 

 pictured rocks below McGregor, also belong- 

 ing to the lower Silurian ; the Dubuque for- 

 mation, belonging to the lower and upper Si- 

 lurian and containing lead-bearing and fossilif- 

 erous limestones, shales, coral-reefs, etc. ; the 

 Davenport formation, belonging to the Devo- 

 nian system, and containing fossils, sandstone, 

 limestone, and fine marbles; the Marshalltown 

 formation, of the lower sub-carboniferous se- 

 ries, containing limestone-marble of various col- 

 ors, building-stone, gypsum, oolitic layers, etc. , 

 the Keokuk formation, belonging to the sub- 

 Carboniferous, containing limestone of differ- 

 ent colors, chert-beds, geodes of quartz and 

 chalcedony, calcareous spar, zincblende, etc. ; 

 the Burlington formation, of the sub-carbonif- 

 erous, with chert, limestone, argillaceous strata, 

 etc. ; the St. Louis group, highest of the sub- 

 carboniferous, containing quarries of Kinder- 

 hook chert; the carboniferous formation and 

 coal measures ; the cretaceous, composed chief- 

 ly of coarse ferruginous sandstone ; the drift, 

 covering all the northwestern portion of the 

 State and a large part of the southwestern ; 

 the lacustrine, covering most of the western 

 slope below Sioux City. Lead is quite exten- 

 sively mined in the vicinity of Dubuque, the 

 yield being about 2,000,000 pounds last year. 



At the beginning of the last fiscal period of 

 two years, November 1, 1873, there was a bal- 

 ance in the State Treasury of $31,217.66. The 

 receipts on account of general revenue for the 

 two years were $1,947,412.24; disbursements, 

 $1,975,512.24 ; leaving a balance on Novem- 

 ber 1, 1875, of $3,114.66, which would be in- 

 creased to $150,758.15 by the sums remaining 

 in the hands of county treasurers. The esti- 

 mated receipts for the next two years are 

 $1,962,000; ordinary expenditures, $1,553,- 

 927. The State tax is two mills on the dollar 

 of property valuation. Local taxes are much 

 higher, and the amount raised for school pur- 

 poses alone amounted to $8,764,784.30 for the 

 two years. The permanent school-fund is 

 $8,098,490.74, ancj. the income from it distrib- 

 uted in the last two years was $623,833.99. 

 The funded debt of the State has been liqui- 

 dated. There are now 3,850 miles of railroad 

 in the State, the additions in the last two years 

 being narrow-gauge roads from Des Moines to 

 Ames, and from Keosanqua to Summit Sta- 

 tion, and ordinary-gauge lines from Albia to 

 Knoxville, and from Grinnell to Montezuma. 



The State Penitentiary at Fort Madison con- 

 tains 309 convicts, and has a capacity for 318. 

 Improvements are contemplated which will in- 

 crease its capacity to 504. A Reform School 

 for juvenile delinquents has been- established 



