506 



MICHIGAN. 



MIND-READING. 



To provide for the change of name of adults. 



To provide for keeping clear and open and in good 

 repair all ditches in the State constructed under the 

 authority of the Board of Control having charge of the 

 reclamation of swamp lands. 



To require the use of safety-gates upon swing and 

 draw bridges. 



To preserve evidence of error and fraud in election 

 returns. 



To protect primary elections and conventions of po- 

 litical parties, and to punish offenses committed 

 thereat. 



To provide for corporations to carry on the business 

 of printing, publishing, and book-making. 



To permit the incorporation of societies to diffuse 

 moral and religious knowledge and instruction. 



Three amendments to the Constitution were 

 proposed. Two of them were voted upon at 

 the April election, and the result is given below ; 

 the third, providing for an additional judge of 

 the Saginaw County Circuit Court, will be sub- 

 mitted to the people in November, 1888. 



Political. An election was held early in 

 April, for the purpose of choosing two regents 

 of the State University and two justices of the 

 Supreme Court. The justices were to be elect- 

 ed, one for eight years to succeed Chief-Justice 

 Campbell, and one for ten years, the latter be- 

 ing the additional justice provided for by an 

 act of the Legislature passed in February. 

 The Republican candidates were Judge James 

 V. Campbell for justice for the short term, 

 Charles D. Long for justice for the long term, 

 and Roger W. Butterfield and Charles Hebard 

 for regents. The Democrats nominated for 

 these offices respectively: Levi T. Griffin, 

 Charles H. Camp, Christian Vanderveen, and 

 Rufus F. Sprague. A Labor ticket and a Pro- 

 hibition ticket were also in the field. The vote 

 for judges of the Supreme Court was as fol- 

 lows: For the short term: Campbell, 170,- 

 749; Griffin, 139,940; O'Brien J. Atkinson 

 (Labor), 32,396; Noah W. Cheever (Prohibi- 

 tion), 18,568; for the long term: Long, 174,- 

 024; Camp, 140,315; John 0. Blanchard 

 (Labor), 27,658; Lemuel Clute (Prohibition), 

 18,530. The two amendments to the State 

 Constitution that were voted upon at this time 

 were a prohibitory amendment and one in- 

 creasing the salaries of State officers. Both 

 were defeated, although the contest over Pro- 

 hibition was close, 178,636 votes being cast in 

 its favor, and 184,281 against it. The vote 

 upon the salary amendment was 72,718 yeas 

 and 124,88&nays. 



Education. The following is a summary of 

 school statistics for 1886 : 



8choi)l population 605,904 



Enrollment 416.751 



Number of school-houses 7,237 



Estimated value of school property $11,850.871 00 



Number of teachers employed 15,326 



Wages of teachers $2,842,495 18 



Average wages per month, males $45 07 



Average wages per month, females . . $31 20 



Total revenue $5,634,443 44 



Revenue for school purposes is derived from 

 the following sources : 1. The interest on 

 permanent fund in the hands of the State, 

 arising from the sale of primary-school lands, 

 apportioned to the counties by the Superin- 



tendent of Public Instruction, upon the number 

 of children in districts having maintained the 

 requisite amount of school. This is used only 

 for the payment of teachers' wages. 2. The 

 one-mill tax levied on each township by the 

 supervisor; used only for school and library 

 purposes, and apportioned to the districts 

 where raised, provided said districts have 

 maintained the requisite amount of school. 3. 

 Local or district taxes, voted by the people 

 for building and other purposes, except for 

 teachers 1 wages and incidental expenses of the 

 school, which are voted by the district board. 

 4. The surplus of dog-tax over and above $100, 

 remaining after damages to stock by dogs have 

 been paid. 5. Fines for breaches of the penal 

 laws apportioned to the townships by the 

 county treasurer. 



State University. The following table exhibits 

 the attendance at this institution for the past 

 five years : 



All departments of the university are re- 

 ported to be in excellent condition. The State 

 appropriation for the year was $108,356.94; 

 for 1888, $46,700. A part of the larger sum is 

 intended to be used in the completion of sev- 

 eral laboratories. 



Salt. During the year there were 125 firms 

 in the State engaged in the manufacture of 

 salt, located in nine different counties, and 

 operating 118 steam and 24 pan blocks. The 

 estimated manufacturing capacity of these is 

 5,265,000 barrels annually. The amount ac- 

 tually manufactured during the year was 4,260,- 

 012 barrels, an increase of 162,079 barrels over 

 any previous year. The State salt inspector 

 examined 3,944,309 barrels during the year. 

 Since the system of State inspection was estab- 

 lished in 1869, there have been inspected 38,- 

 014,778 barrels, which with 3,282,117 barrels 

 manufactured prior to that date, makes the 

 total product of the State 41,322,895 barrels. 

 The average price per barrel has decreased from 

 $1.80 in 1869 to 60 cents for this year. 



Local Option. The first elections under the 

 local option law was held in December, ten 

 counties voting at that time, and the result in 

 each case was in favor of Prohibition. 



MIND-BEADING. A phenomenon attributa- 

 ble, it is claimed, to the power of one mind to 

 impress a distinct idea upon another mind 

 without the intervention of the senses The 

 phenomenon began to be seriously discussed 

 in England in 1882, when the Society of Psy- 

 chical Research was formed to make a strictly 

 scientific inquiry into this and the kindred sub- 

 jects of mesmerism, spiritualism, divining-rods, 

 apparitions, etc. On all of these subjects the 

 members of the society threw away their theo- 



