GEORGIA. 



106 



sert of West Australia, by him culled Vi<- 



prmg. w lii'-li later explorers ha\r sought. 



ilimii success, has been rediscovered by 

 I In- Swedish f\|ilorcr K. Nfiiiiinii, who peiie- 

 t rat fil into the interior from Fraser range, and 

 found Victoria spring at a distance of 135 

 miles. The oasis has a luxuriant growth of 



\er a surface of 4,000 acres. Neuman 

 describes the water not as a fountain, but a lake 

 fed liy surface waters. It seems to lie about oO 

 miles from the position as>igni'd by Mr. Giles. 



e items of interest, appear in the report of 

 a marine survey on the coast of West Australia 



iiimander Moore, in the British ship 

 "Penguin." The Colonial Defense Commission 



i to place a lighthouse at the south western 

 point of the colony, and Cumberland Rock was 

 found to lie best adapted for the purpose, and 

 was recommended. 'Ihe Balcine Bank, between 

 KiM'biick Hay and King's Sound, was mapped 

 out. It was found that Expedition- island, 

 whivh was placed upon the map on the report of 

 the captain of the bark Tien Tsin, is no longer 

 in existence. According to his report, it was 

 !H kiloniet res long by 3A to 4| broad, was covered 

 with vegetation, and surrounded by an extensive 

 reef. The ' Penguin " anchored in the midst of 

 its supposed situation, where now there was 

 found to be a depth of 35 fathoms. Not even a 

 sand bunk was to be seen at the lowest tide. The 

 islands Montalivet, Maret, Prudhoe, and Biggs 



~urvi>ycd under great difficulties. These 

 islands are inhabited by fierce cannibals, and it 

 is dangerous to land without firearms. The reef 

 laid down on the maps at 13 35' south latitude 

 and 125 13' east longitude is no longer there: 

 this was the case also with other reefs noted on 

 the map, while many new reefs and shallows 

 were found along the channel from Port Darwin 

 or Wyndham on the Cambridge Gulf to Derby 

 or to Roebuck Bay. The ocean was so filled 

 with clay and mire to a distance of 30 to 50 

 miles from the coast that objects could not be 

 seen at a depth of 3 feet. 



That part of the Pacific inclosed between 

 Australia and Tasmania on one side, and New 

 /aland and smaller islands on the other, has 

 heretofore had no distinctive name. The Aus- 

 tralian Association for the Advancement of 

 Science proposed the name Tasman Sea, which 

 has been accepted by the English admiralty. 



GEORGIA, a Southern State, one of the origi- 

 nal thirteen, ratified the Constitution Jan. 2, 



area. 59,475 square miles. The popula- 

 tion in 1890 was 1,837,353, of whom 858,990 

 were colored. Capital, Atlanta. 



Government. The following were the State 

 oflicers during the year: Governor, William .1. 

 Xorthen, Democrat: Secretary of State, Philip 

 Cook ; Comptroller-General, William A. Wright ; 

 Treasurer, Robert I', llardeman; Attorney- 

 'ieiieral. (Jeorge X. Lester; Commissioner of 

 Agriculture. Robert T. Xesbitt ; State School 

 Commissioner, S. D. Bradwell; Railroad Com- 

 missioners. Allen. Fort, L. N. Trammel!, and 

 lames W. Robertson; Chief Justice of the Su- 

 preme Court, Logan E. Bleckley; Associate .Ins- 

 Thomas J. Simmons and Samuel Lumpkin. 

 Finances. The balance in the treasury Oct. 

 1, 1891, was $730,939.9(5. The receipts for the 

 year ending Sept. 30, 1892, were $3,145,900.08. 



VOL. xxxii. 20 A 



Tho amount paid out on warrants during the 



year was $3,128,788.41 : the balance in the 

 treasury Oct. 1, 1892, was $74*.n:,|.i;:;. The 

 amount of the valid bonded debt Oct. I. l^-Hl. 

 was $N,V.'.s;.:;i.->; the new Ixjiids s,,|d to re- 

 deem maturing bonds amounted to $207,000; 

 matured bonds to the amount of $305,315 wen- 

 paid, leaving the amount of the present bonded 

 debt, xMs.-,.(iui). 



Under the act of 1891, bids were invited for 

 the purchase of a small issue of new bonds to 

 meet certain bonds maturing in July, 18!>2. The 

 sale was made in May to the highest bidder at a 

 premium of one and one sixteenth per cent. 



The amount of bonds deposited with the 

 Treasurer by insurance companies was $1,425,- 

 000 ; and those on deposit from the lessees of the 

 Western and Atlanta Railroad $500,000. 



Valuations. The total amount of property 

 returned for taxation by individuals in 1891 was 

 $402,586,468, and in 1892 it was $421,149,509. 

 The returns by railroad companies, including 

 street railways, was, in 1891, $42,383,287. and in 

 1892, $42,604,025. Of the amount returned by 

 individuals in 1891, the colored taxpayers re- 

 turned $14,196,735, and in 1892, $14,869.575. 



The Direct Tax. Georgia received $83,031.- 

 03 of the direct tax levied by the Government in 

 1861, and now refunded to the several States. 

 Of this amount, $53,937.80 had been paid to 

 1,322 claimants before Oct. 1 ; the largest claim 

 amounted to $1,140, and the smallest to 2 cents. 

 The taxes all went from the five counties, Bibb, 

 Chatham, Clarke, Monroe, and Richmond. After 

 five years money not claimed by those who paid 

 the tax or their heirs will go to the State. 



Widows' Pensions. The amount appropri- 

 ated to pay the pensions provided by State law for 

 the widows of Confederate soldiers was $400,- 

 000. The payments were begun in February, 

 and continued till 4,000 claims were paid for 

 the year ending Feb. 15, 1892. The entire sum 

 was "exhausted before all claims approved were 

 paid, and it is judged that the number of appli- 

 cants will be greatly increased the coming year 

 by the addition of those who did not know of 

 the law soon enough to get in their claim for 

 the first year, and others who have met with 

 delay in establishing their proofs. The amount 

 prescribed by law is $100 per annum to each 

 widow. This sum was fixed at a time when the 

 number of pensioners was estimated at 600. The 

 present estimate is 4,500. 



Education. No general report of public 

 schools has appeared since that given in the 

 "Annual Cyclopaulia " for 1891. The report of 

 the trustees of the State University at Athens 

 shows that the number in attendance for the 

 year ending in June, 1891. was 178. of whom 

 l!i were in the law department. 57 in the State 

 College of Agriculture, and 102 in Franklin 

 College. In J8!>2 the whole number was 1 !5. ol" 

 whom 13 were in the law department. !>4 in the 

 College of Agriculture; and 88 in Franklin 

 College. 



In the branch colleges there are in attendance 

 as follows; In the Technological School at 

 Atlanta. 125: in the North Georgia Agricultural 

 College, 70, of whom 14 are women ; in the South 

 Georgia College. ISO, of whom 58 are women; in 

 the Middle Georgia College. 300. of whom 14 



