496 



MINNESOTA. 



is $10,289,439 ; and the permanent university 

 fund, $1,020,584. The total revenues of the 

 State for the fiscal year ending July 31, 1893, 

 were $5,083,608, and the total disbursements 

 $4,352,964, leaving a net surplus in the treasury 

 of $730,643. 



Mortgage Indebtedness. The results of the 

 investigation of mortgage indebtedness in Minne- 

 sota by the census office show that 15-25 per 

 cent, of the farm families hire, and 84-75 per 

 cent, own, the farms cultivated by them ; that 

 53-61 per cent, of the farm-owning families own 

 free of incumbrance. On the farms of the State 

 there are liens amounting to $37,709,574, which 

 is 31-61 per cent, of their value, and this debt 

 bears interest at the average rate of 8*18 per cent. 

 The corresponding facts for homes are that 46-99 

 per cent, of the home families own their homes; 

 that of the home-owning families, 63-94 per cent, 

 own free of incumbrance. The debt on owned 

 homes aggregates $27,953,413, or 34-36 per cent, 

 of the value, and bears interest at the average 

 rate 7'42 per cent. 



On all the real estate of Minnesota there is a 

 mortgage debt of $197,745,989, of which $75,- 

 355,562, or 38-11 per cent., is on acre tracts, and 

 $122,390,427, or 61-89 per cent., is on village and 

 city lots. 



Banks. The number of banks suspended in 

 the State between January and September was 

 31, of which 8 had resumed at the latter date. 

 In the St. Paul banks the average reserve had 

 increased from 37'17 per cent, on Oct. 3, the date 

 of the last call, to 38'5. 



Dairy Products. According to the report of 

 the State Dairy Commissioner, the number of 

 creameries in operation in Minnesota in 1893 

 was 201 ; number of cows, 527,424 ; pounds of 

 butter made in creameries, 18,916,300, valued at 

 $3,924,610. 



(mill. Estimates made in September placed 

 the yield at an average of about ten bushels to 

 the acre. While the yield is smaller than that 

 of last year, the quality was reported better. 

 The crop was moved very slowly, which was due 

 in large part to the fact that fewer farmers than 

 in any previous year thrashed out of the shock. 

 The advance of the State in grain production 

 since its admission is shown by the fact that in 

 I860 there were raised 2,186,995 bushels of 

 wheat, 2,941,952 bushels of corn, and 2,176,002 

 bushels of "oats; in 1892 there was raised 41,- 

 210,000 bushels of wheat, 24,192,000 bushels of 

 corn, and 43,573,000 bushels of oats. 



Lumber. The value of the lumber product 

 in 1890 was $15,615,420 ; that of 1893 was esti- 

 mated at $17,898, 780. At the semiannual meet- 

 ing of the Mississippi Valley Lumbermen's As- 

 sociation, held at Minneapolis, in August, it was 

 decided that all sawmills in the upper Mississippi 

 valley district, with one or two exceptions, should 

 shut down on Sept. 20, reducing the cut for each 

 concern about 25 per cent. 



Gold. Special-Agent Gray, in his report on 

 the gold fields of north Minnesota, says he found 

 one vein with evidences of gold, which is about 

 7 feet wide and extends throughout the length 

 of the island, and another 10 feet wide and 1,700 

 feet long. The section embraces only a narrow 

 strip extending along the shore of Rainy lake 

 for about 25 miles, and not more than 3 or 4 



miles wide at any point, including a large num- 

 ber of islands. 



Iron. The report of the geological survey on 

 the production of iron ores shows that Minnesota 

 has passed Pennsylvania and New York, and oc- 

 cupies the third place among the iron-producing 

 States, with a total output in 1892 of 1,225,465 

 long tons, or 7*7 per cent, of the total for the 

 United States. 



Prison Population. On July 31 there were 

 in the State Prison, exclusive of Federal convicts 

 from other States, 338 inmates, and in the State 

 Reformatory 153 inmates, thus making the aggre- 

 gate prison population 491. 



Railroads. The opening of the transcon- 

 tinental line of the Great Northern, in June, was 

 celebrated with great rejoicing in St. Paul. This 

 railway, which is now open to Puget Sound, is 

 regarded as distinctly a St. Paul system, since 

 that is its terminus, and its general offices and 

 headquarters are there." It carries a large por- 

 tion of the wheat crop, and a great amount of 

 commerce to and from the growing towns of the 

 Northwest passes over it. It is operated in con- 

 nection with a fleet of steamers. The Great 

 Northern, unlike the other transcontinental lines, 

 has been built without Federal assistance. Ex- 

 cept in so far as the old lines of the system 

 within the State are concerned, it has been built 

 wholly by private capital without a subsidy in 

 money or in land. A daily passenger service 

 was established in October on its new branch 

 between Sioux Falls and Yankton. 



The total mileage of railroad construction 

 within the State for the year was 86'46. Nearly 

 4,000,000 acres of land 'in Minnesota are still 

 owned by railroad companies. 



Disastrous Fires. In June the new towns 

 of Virginia and Mountain Iron, on the Duluth, 

 Mesaba and Northern road, were virtually put 

 out of existence by fire. Afterward Mesaba and 

 Biwabik, on the Duluth and Iron Range, were 

 visited by serious fires, and Tower likewise had 

 an experience with the flames, the destruction 

 being due in all cases to the fierce forest fires 

 raging on the iron ranges. Over 2,000 people 

 were shelterless and without food, every house 

 and provision depot having been burned. On 

 Aug. 13 a fire consumed $2.000,000 worth of 

 property in Minneapolis, burning more than 200 

 houses and making 1,500 people homeless. 



Reciprocity Convention. An International 

 Reciprocity Convention met at St. Paul, June 5. 

 Its object was to take measures toward securing 

 the adoption of a system of commercial reciproc- 

 ity between Canada and the United States. A 

 permanent organization was made. Resolutions 

 were passed favoring reciprocity in trade, im- 

 provement of the Great Lakes to tide water, so 

 as to admit the passage of ocean steamers and 

 open competition between the railways of both 

 countries ; and providing for a committee of 10, 

 5 from the United States and 5 from Cana- 

 da, to lay matters before their respective govern- 

 ments with a view to securing the enactment of 

 necessary laws to secure the ends sought. 



The World's Fair Exhibit The $150,000 

 appropriated by the legislatures allowed the 

 State to make a fine exhibit, at the fair. The 

 State days were June 1 and Oct. 13. Besides its 

 own fine building, the State had exhibits in all 



