410 



KENTUCKY. 



of which the new force is to be applied to ma- 

 chinery. The force is applied to the engine in 

 the interior of the hollow sphere. With this 

 engine Mr. Keely says he can attach a common 

 steel wire to a steel bar of the chord of B flat, 

 and associate with it two more bars of the same 

 chord, and, bringing them into contact with a 

 ton of quartz, disintegrate it in fifteen seconds. 



KEISTPCRY. State Government. The follow- 

 ing were the State officers at the beginning of 

 the year : Governor, J. Proctor Knott, Demo- 

 crat ; Lieutenant-Governor, James K. Hind- 

 man ; Secretary of State, James A. McKen- 

 zie ; Treasurer, James W. Tate ; Auditor, Fay- 

 ette Hewitt ; Attorney-General, P. W. Hardin ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, Joseph 

 D. Pickctt; Railroad Commissioners: J. P. 

 Thompson, A. R. Boone, and John D. Young; 

 Chief-Justice of the Court of Appeals : William 

 S. Pryor, Thomas H. Hines ; Associate Jus- 

 tices : Joseph H. Lewis and William H. Holt. 



Finances. When the last General Assembly 

 convened in 1885, the receipts of the treasury 

 were insufficient to meet the demands made 

 upon it by existing appropriations, there being a 

 deficiency of $293,185.52. This result was 

 brought about chiefly by a defective system of 

 assessments and collections, under the opera- 

 tions of which great inequalities prevailed in 

 the valuations of property reported for taxa- 

 tion, while a considerable part of the taxable 

 property of the State did not appear on the 

 books of the assessors. The General Assem- 

 bly of that year responded to the urgent de- 

 mand for a change in the system by enacting 

 an entirely new revenue law. Under its opera- 

 tion the auditor's report shows that, instead 

 of a deficit, there was a balance in the treasury, 

 on June 30, 1887, of $197,684.88. The total 

 valuation under the new law has been increased 

 to $483,497,690. Two years previously it was 

 $390,827,963. This increase adds $400,000 to 

 the revenue, of which the general expenditure 

 fund receives $180,000 and the school fund 

 $220,000. One of the virtues of the law is 

 that the increase has been gained from per- 

 sonal property which has never before been 

 reached by the tax-gatherer. By a decision of 

 the Court of Appeals, given this year, all acts 

 of the Legislature exempting private property 

 from taxation were declared unconstitutional 

 and invalid. The court held that, since a di- 

 rect appropriation of public money in support 

 of a private enterprise is forbidden, that sup- 

 port can not be given indirectly by exempting 

 private property from taxation. 



Education. The school population of the year 

 numbered 549,592 white and 107,144 colored 

 children, being an increase over the previous 

 year of 10,623 white and 4,307 colored. The 

 number of school districts was 6,639 white and 

 1,011 colored, being an increase over the pre- 

 vious year of 66 districts for white children 

 and 8 for the colored. During the year the 

 apportionment of the school fund for white 

 schools was $1,044,224.80, being an increase of 



$154,925.95 over the previous year; and for' 

 colored school?, $203,573.60, being an increase 

 of $33,892.55 over the previous year. The 

 total sum appropriated from the State treasury 

 for school purposes amounted to $1,247,798.40, 

 being a per capita of $1.90. The direct appro- 

 priation by the State for school purposes is 

 greater than is devoted by any other State 

 government, with one or two exceptions. A 

 gratifying feature in the educational progress 

 of the State was the completion of the building 

 for the Colored Normal School. It was dedi- 

 cated during the year and opened under favora- 

 ble auspices. 



Railroads. The railroad commissioners re- 

 port that there were 2,341 miles of railroad in 

 operation in the State atthe close of the year, 244 

 miles having been constructed during the past 

 twelve months. The total cost of these roads 

 was $76,513,920. The total assessed value of 

 all railroad property amounted to $35,571,631, 

 an increase over the previous year of $1,924,- 

 025. The gross earnings in 1886 were $10,- 

 937,177; in 1887, $12,399,724, an increase of 

 over 18 per cent. The Governor recommends 

 that the powers and salaries of the commission- 

 ers be increased, and that they be required to 

 maintain a permanent office at the capital. 



Mining. The report of the Inspector of 

 Mines shows a satisfactory growth of the in- 

 dustry. There has been a constant and rapid 

 increase of the out-put of coal, from 1870, when 

 it amounted to only 4,228,000 bushels, to the 

 present time; the yield for the year ending 

 July 1, 1887, amounted to 44,830,000 bushels. 

 When the river improvements now progress- 

 ing, and the railways under construction and 

 in contemplation, shall have reached the rich 

 beds of coal recently discovered, the out-put 

 will be limited only by the demand. 



Public Buildings. A branch penitentiary at 

 Eddyville was in course of construction during 

 the year, but greater appropriations will be 

 needed for its completion. The commission 

 appointed to construct a building at the Cen- 

 tral Lunatic Asylum for the use of colored lu- 

 natics was unable to agree upon a site for a 

 structure, and the Legislature will be required 

 to make some changes in the law, in order to 

 forward this work. The Governor, in his mes- 

 sage to the Legislature, recommends a complete 

 repair of the Capitol, and the construction of 

 an additional wing. 



Rowan County. Concerning the disturbances 

 in this county during the year and previously, 

 the Governor speaks as follows in his message: 



The situation may be summarized by stating that a 

 difficulty has existed between factions' in that county 

 since 1884. Though composed of only a small por- 

 tion of the community, these factions have succeeded 

 by their violence in overawing and silencing the voice 

 of the peaceful element, and in intimidating the offi- 

 cers of the law. Having their origin partially in party 

 rancor, they have ceased to have any political signifi- 

 cance, and have become contests of personal ambition 

 and revenge ; each party seeking apparently to pos- 

 sess itself of the machinery of justice, in order that it 

 may, under the forms of law, seek the gratification of 



