494 



MICHIGAN. 



derer avoided arrest for about six months, but 

 was then caught and lodged in jail at Corunna. 

 A mob of several hundred residents of the 

 county organized, battered down the doors of 

 the jail, detained the officers of the law, took out 

 the prisoner, who was said to have already cut 

 his own throat through fear, hanged him and mu- 

 tilated his body, and delivered it to the sheriff. 

 The complaint was drawn under the statute 

 providing for the removal by the Governor of 

 county officers in certain cases, and it prayed for 

 the removal of William E. Jacobs as sheriff, 

 who was charged with incompetency and neglect 

 of duty in allowing the lynching. 



The Attorney-General 'began an investigation 

 in November, but postponed the continuation of 

 it till Dec. 11. The testimony was very dam- 

 aging to the sheriff. The Attorney-General was 

 led to believe that the victim would not have 

 been convicted if given a trial, because it ap- 

 peared that an alibi could have been proved. 

 He was also convinced that the man did not cut 

 his own throat. The occurrence had a tendency 

 to strengthen the sentiment in favor of a capital- 

 punishment law. 



Iron Ore. By the annual report of the geo- 

 logical survey, it appears that Michigan retains 

 the first place among States producing iron ore, 

 with an increased output. The total iron ore 

 mined in the State was 46-29 per cent, of the 

 grand total for the United States, showing an 

 increase of 23-12 per cent, over the previous 

 year's production. Of the total for the State, 

 95-82 per cent, was red hematite, giving Michi- 

 gan first rank as a producer of this class of ore, 

 with 62'06 per cent, of the nation's red-hematite 

 total. Michigan has also the credit of furnish- 

 ing the largest annual output from one opera- 

 tion. The list of mines producing 50,000 tons 

 or over shows that 32 of the largest mines are 

 credited to this State. 



The hard times have been especially severe on 

 the iron miners of the upper peninsula. Over 

 4,000 were reported from Ishpeming in June, as 

 discharged in that district. In August, the 

 labor commissioner said, after a visit to that re- 

 gion, that the majority of the mines were closed, 

 and scarcely any ore was being shipped from the 

 ports. In November a terrible state of destitu- 

 tion was reported among the miners of the Goge- 

 bic range. This range is 10 miles long, and the 

 ore taken from it is said to be the best Bessemer 

 iron yet found in America. Over 3,000,000 tons 

 of the ore were shipped from the range last year. 

 Operators had been getting $3.50 a ton for their 

 product, and had been paying their miners about 

 $2 a day. They were forced to close this sum- 

 mer. It is estimated that 20,000 people are 

 placed in destitute circumstances by the closing. 

 The families were left helpless at the threshold 

 of a Northern winter. Soup houses were opened, 

 but the funds for these soon ran out, and the 

 situation grew more desperate than ever. Gov. 

 Rich issued proclamations asking help. Sub- 

 stantial aid was sent, and the railroad Com- 

 panies gave free transportation to many who 

 wished to return to their former homes. 



Powers of the Board of Health. The 

 Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie and 

 Canadian Pacific Railways applied for an in- 

 junction to compel the State Board of Health to 



cease the inspection of immigrants at the Sault. 

 The case involved not only the powers of the 

 board, but the validity of laws passed by the last 

 Legislature. The court denied the writ, and sus- 

 tained the board in enforcing its quarantine 

 regulations. 



State Lands. The report of the Land Com- 

 missioner, issued in October, shows that there 

 still remain unsold 437,891,943 acres of State 

 lands. The report says further : 



One thousand five hundred and fifty-one acres of 

 swamp land have been taken by homesteaders dur- 

 ing the year, and 856-89 acres have been patented. 

 There are now 21,753-54 acres standing licensed as 

 homesteads. A new class of homestead lands was 

 created by Act 206 of the laws of 1893, the tax law. 

 Sections 127 to 134, inclusive, of this act provide for 

 the transfer of certain abandoned lands that have 

 been sold to the State for delinquent taxes for more 

 than three years to the control of this department, 

 and subject to entry only as homesteads on payment 

 of 10 cents an acre at the time of entry, and 10 cents 

 an acre each year for five years, when deed will issue. 

 Not more than 240 acres can be taken by one person. 

 Many thousand acres of land will come under the 

 provisions of this law. 



During the year the amount of lands sold was 

 32,464 acres, for which $166,718.40 was received. 

 The total receipts of the State Land Office, on 

 account of lands sold during the year, and for 

 principal, interest, and penalty received on sales 

 made in former years, and from other sources, 

 was $216,362.38. This year $6,992.43 acres of 

 swamp lands have been disposed of, and the pro- 

 ceeds of sales amounted to $12,824.32. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature met 

 on Jan. 4, and adjouined on May 29. There 

 were 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats in the 

 Senate, and 69 Republicans and 31 Democrats in 

 the House. Francis B. Stockbridge, the Repub- 

 lican candidate, was elected to succeed himself 

 as United States Senator. 



Pour amendments to the Constitution were 

 acted upon favorably, and were submitted to 

 vote at the spring election. 



A bill on test of oils restores the point to 120 

 for a flash test, as it was before the enactment 

 of 1891, when the law was changed so as to pro- 

 vide for an open test of 120. 



A new tax law was passed. It returns to the 

 State system of collecting delinquent taxes, re- 

 adopting it instead of the county system which 

 was adopted by the Legislature of 1891. A 

 clause in regard to land conveyances was the 

 subject of controversy later, when the law went 

 into operation. It required that a certificate 

 should be attached to each conveyance of real 

 estate offered for record, affirming that all taxes 

 on the property involved in the transfer have 

 been paid for a period of five years, the certifi- 

 cate to come from the Auditor-General or from 

 the county treasurer of the county where the 

 property is assessed. The Supreme Court de- 

 cided in July that this section of the law was 

 valid. 



The Miner law for the election of presidential 

 electors by districts, which was passed in 1891 

 and declared valid when brought before the Su- 

 preme Court, was repealed, and the old law pro- 

 viding for their election by the State at large is 

 again in force. 



An electric-lighting bill for Detroit allows the 



