376 



ILLINOIS. 



To provide for the greater security and protection 

 of miners. 



To indemnify the owners of property for damages 

 occasioned by mobs and riots by making the city (or, 

 if not in the city, the county; liable for three fourths 

 of the damages sustained. 



Requiring all grain, mill-stuffs, or seeds delivered 

 by one railroad within the State to another railroad 

 for further transportation, to be weighed in bulk by 

 such roads, unless the shipper, owner, or agent ex- 

 pressly order otherwise. 



Amending the railroad law by requiring the Rail- 

 road and Warehouse Commissioners to investigate 

 railroad accidents resulting in loss of life, and to re- 

 port their findings to the Governor, giving them 

 power to investigate at any time the condition of the 

 tracks and bridges of any road, and to make recom- 

 mendations for repairs or improvements. 



To provide for the organization of road districts in 

 counties not under township organization, to regulate 

 the election and duties of road officers therein, and to 

 detine the rights of travelers upon the public roads. 



Declaring that no prescriptive right to maintain 

 poles, wires, or cables used tor telegraph, telephone, 

 electric-light, or other electric purpose, snail be gained 

 by lapse of time over any buildings or land m the 

 State. 



Prohibiting the selling, giving, or furnishing of 

 tobacco to minors under sixteen years of age. 



Requiring the Governor to designate annually by 

 proclamation a day known as " Arbor-day " to be 

 observed by the planting of trees. 



Making employes and laborers preferred creditors 

 to the amount of 1 $50, against judgment creditors of 

 any individual, firm, or corporation. 



To provide for special deputy sheriffs, and for call- 

 ing out and using the militia of the State for the pres- 

 ervation of peace and the protection of property. 



Finances. Two years ago, when the General 

 Assembly met, there was a balance of $1,500,- 

 000 in the State treasury. The tax-levy for 

 1885-'86 was accordingly reduced to 42 cents, 

 which produced a revenue of about $3,000,000 

 a year. As the annual expenditures were 

 considerably above this sum, the balance in 

 the treasury at the beginning of 1887 had been 

 reduced to $400,000. For the years 1887-'83 

 it became necessary to raise the full amount 

 of the legislative appropriation by levy, and 

 the rate was increased to 53 cents, producing 

 an annual revenue of $3,800,000. The total 

 appropriations of the last two General Assem- 

 blies have not shown much change, being $7,- 

 776,000 in 1885, and $7,600,000 in 1887. Of 

 these sums, $2,000,000 was in each case devoted 

 to school purposes. 



Charities. The annual report of the State 

 Board for the year ending September 30 shows 

 that the ordinary expenses of the year were 

 $1,014,018; special expenses, $331,850, and 

 expenses of the shoe-factory at the Poutiac 

 Reform School, $16,670. The ordinary ex- 

 penses were considerably less than for the pre- 

 ceding year, and the cost per capita less. 



The average number of inmates in all these 

 institutions for the year was 5,230, against 5.- 

 090 in 1886. The heaviest items of special ex- 

 pense are those for building and repairs, of 

 which $74,847 were at the Eastern Insane 

 Hospital, and $100,989 at the Soldiers' Home 

 at Quincy. The latter institution was opened 

 for the first time during the year. A new 



charity, the Industrial Home for the Blind, to 

 be located in Cook County, was established by 

 the Legislature, and $100,000 appropriated for 

 grounds and buildings. The State Prison at 

 Joliet and the Southern Penitentiary received 

 special appropriations for improvements and 

 the completion of buildings. 



Railroads. Eighty-two companies were as- 

 sessed in 1887 for 8,624 miles of main track 

 and upon property valued at $66,517,748. In 

 1886, seventy-three companies were assessed 

 for $62,972,101 upon 8,200 miles of track; in 

 1885 the figures were $60,987,317 upon 8,024 

 miles. During the past tew years the assessed 

 value of railroad and other corporations has 

 steadily increased, while that upon personalty 

 and realty held by individuals has steadily de- 

 creased. The total assessment on all kinds of 

 property in the State for this year was $726,- 

 138,163, a decrease in value of $39,968 from 

 1886. Defective methods of assessment are 

 the cause of this unfavorable showing. 



Coal-mining. For the year ending July 1 the 

 total production of coal in Illinois was 10,278,- 

 890 tons, being 1,000,000 tons in excess of the 

 preceding year, and considerably the largest 

 in the mining history of the State. The 

 miners also realized an improved price for 

 their labor, equivalent to about five cents a ton 

 above the prices of the previous year. The 

 number of mine-operators increased, and the 

 length of active operations was 213.2 days, 

 against 206 days the preceding year. The fol- 

 lowing additional statistics are given : 



Mines and openings of all kinds 17 



Value of coal mined $11,152,596 



Employes of all kinds 26,804 



Average price per ton for mining fO'727 



Kegs of powder used 152,627 



Mules employed under ground 1,474 



Meu killed 41 



The number of producing mines has steadily 

 increased since 18&3, when it was 639. Of 

 first-class mines, producing 50,000 tons or 

 more during the year, there are only sixty- 

 four. In fact, only 292 mines in the State are 

 engaged in the coal-shipping trade, the remain- 

 ing 516 being in the local trade. The most 

 important coal-producing counties are : St. 

 Clair, 915,827 tons; Sangamon, 730,391; 

 Madison, 460,926 ; La Salle, 657,296 ; Peoria, 

 434,900; Macoupin, 914,894; Vermilion, 345,- 

 464; Livingston, 357,600; Fulton, 304,588; 

 Jackson, 311,279; and Perry, 319,552. 



The year was remarkably free from inter- 

 ruptions by strikes, the prolonged Grape Creek 

 strike being the most remarkable feature of 

 Illinois coal-field?, standing unsettled at the 

 end of a year and a half of its existence. Yet 

 the business of mining has not been free from 

 difficulties, the most important arising from a 

 scarcity of water, occasioned by a long drought. 

 In some parts of Madison, Macoupin, and St. 

 Glair counties, and even as far north as Mi- 

 nonk, in Woodfbrd County, water was so scarce 

 that many operators were obliged to transport 

 by rail the entire supply for their boilers. 



