WISCONSIN". 



WISE, HENRY A. 



Ml 



ductive trust-funds of the State, at the same 

 date, was as follows : School-fund. $2,625,798.- 

 06 ; university fund, $'222,7:f:>.r><; ; Normal 

 S.hool fund, $963,917.34; and Agricultural 

 College fund, $2.38,479.40; making a total of 

 $t.n:.ii,'.i:;ii.:;i;. There was in these funds a to- 

 tal iK-riva-if during the year of $8,063.82. 



\ state Board of Assessment, consisting of 

 tin- Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, 

 and the Attorney-General, was appointed by 

 law to make an equalized valuation of the 

 property in the State, as a guide to assessment 

 for taxation ; many complaints of too high val- 

 uation of their property in previous assess- 

 ments having been made by parties from dif- 

 ferent sections in the State. The board com- 

 pleted their work at the beginning of June, 

 1876, and the total results were as follows: 

 The aggregate value of the taxable property in 

 "Wisconsin, as assessed in the preceding year, 

 amounted to $353,021,413, composed of $271,- 

 820,329 of real estate, and $81,201,204 of per- 

 sonal property. In the tables of equalized 

 valuations, compiled by the said Board of As- 

 sessment, the whole amount of the taxable 

 property in Wisconsin is set down at $423,- 

 596,290, of which sum $337,073,148 represents 

 real estate, and $86,523,142 personal prop- 

 erty; making a total increase of more than 

 $70,500,000 over the preceding assessment. 



In 1876 returns have been made to the Sec- 

 retary of State from all the counties in Wis- 

 consin, exhibiting the description and value 

 of real and personal property within their 

 limits not liable to taxation. The aggregate 

 value of such property in the State is $18,524,- 

 196. Of this sum, $4,516,459 represents church 

 property, and $7,487,627 railroad property. 



No reports were made in 1876 by the Re- 

 gents of the State University, or by the Super- 

 intendents of the normal schools, concerning 

 their respective condition and management. 



In the Wisconsin Hospital for the Insane, 

 the number of patients under treatment dur- 

 ing the year was 557. The number remaining 

 in the Hospital on September 30, 1876, was 

 355. The cost of their maintenance for the 

 year was $97,279.27, including payments for 

 repairs and minor improvements. 



In the Northern Hospital for the Insane, at 

 Oshkosh, the whole number of patients under 

 treatment during the same year was 604 ; and 

 those remaining in the institution on Septem- 

 ber 30th were 503. The sum expended for 

 the support of this institution was $97,857.26. 



In the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, the 

 whole number of pupils during the year was 

 191. Its expenses amounted to $42,624.14. 



In the Institution for the Education of the 

 Blind, the entire number of persons receiving 

 instruction during the year was 86. The cost 

 of maintaining this institution for that time 

 was $22,710. The sum of $47,610 was also 

 expended on its new building. 



The Industrial or Reform School for Boys 

 during the year had 415 inmates in the aggre- 



gate, of whom there were 318 remaining in 

 the school on September 30th. 



The number of convicts in the State peni- 

 tentiary on September 80, 1876, wan 266, tli.-ir 

 average number during the year having IM.-CU 

 261. 



The geological survey of the State has been 

 prosecuted during the year in six different 

 tields. 



The Board of Fish Commissioners, which 

 was partly reorganized by the Legislature of 

 1876, has purchased a suitable site for a 

 hatching-house near Madison, and provided 

 the necessary buildings and appliances. In 

 this place, and at Milwaukee, great numbers 

 of fish of different varieties have been hatched 

 during the year. They are to be introduced 

 into Lake Michigan and the interior waters of 

 Wisconsin. 



The aggregate length of railroads operating 

 within the State is 2,427 miles, of which 141 

 miles were built in 1876. The law concerning 

 these railroads, which was passed in February, 

 1876, and went into force from its passage and 

 publication, appears to have been in practical 

 working for the rest of the year to the satis- 

 faction of both the railway companies and the 

 people of the State. 



The application of a Miss Goodell for ad- 

 mission to the bar of Wisconsin was rejected 

 by the Supreme Court of the State. The main 

 reason of the refusal is rested by Chief-Justice 

 Ryan, in his decree for that purpose, on the 

 plain ground of Nature, saying : 



We cannot but think the common law wise in ex- 

 cluding women from the profession of the law. The 

 profession enters largely into the well-being of so- 

 ciety, and, to be honorably filled and safelv to society, 

 exacts the devotion of lire. The law of \ature des- 

 tines and qualifies the female sex for the bearing 

 and nurture of the children of our race, and for the 

 custody of the homes of the world and their main- 

 tenance in love and honor. And all life-long call- 

 ings of women inconsistent with these radical and 

 social duties of their sex, as is the profession of the 

 law, are departures from the order of Nature, and, 

 when voluntary, treason against it. 



An artesian well of great depth (960 feet) 

 has recently been bored with success at Prai- 

 rie du Chien, Wis. The flow is 603 gallons per 

 minute. 



WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER, died at Rich- 

 mond, Va., September 12, 1876. He was born 

 at Drummondtown, Accomack County, Va., 

 December 3, 1806. He graduated at Wash- 

 ington College, Pa., in 1825, studied law, 

 and settled in Nashville, Tenn., but in 1880 

 returned to Accomack. In 1883 he was elect- 

 ed to Congress by the Jackson party, and after 

 the election fought a duel with his competitor 

 for the office. He was twice reflected. In 

 Congress he went over to the opposition on 

 the development of Jackson's bank policy, and 

 took strong ground in favor of slavery. In 

 1887 he was second to Mr. Graves, of Ken- 

 tucky, in his duel with Mr. Cilley, of Maine, 

 in which the latter was killed. In 1842 the 

 Senate rejected the nomination of Mr. Wise aa 



