NEBRASKA. 



503 



"On Reaction Times and the Velocity of the Nerv- 

 ous Impulse,' liy .1. McKeeii CaMell and Charlie S. 

 l>olle\, introduced t>y (ieorire F. Marker; Latitude. 

 I >i>(<-riniiiiitions ut tin- Say rr ' >!>M-M iitry." liy ( 'harlcs 

 L. I>oolittlc, introduced liy |.e, Insert 



i>\ .loM-ph A. Limner, and " Kdihlc and 

 l'nisi>iii>iis Fiin^i," l>\ Charles II. I'eek, introduced 

 liy .lames Hall; and " < >n the Structure and l)e\vlop- 

 nient of Trilobites," by Charles K. Iteeeher, intro- 

 iluccd liy A. Hyatt, 



At this meeting the aniuuil report of the Presi- 

 dent of the Academy was considered before pre- 

 senting it to Congress, and for this purpose a 

 uptoial stated session was held on Nov. 8. The 

 new Dudley Observatory was inspected by the 

 members on Nov. 8, and its opening made simul- 

 taneous with the meeting of the Academy. Its 

 director, Lewis Boss, is a member of the Acade- 

 my. Its original opening, in 1856, was likewise 

 celebrated by an unusual gathering of scientists 

 in Albany, advantage of which was then taken 

 to hold the meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science there. 



NEBRASKA, a Western State, admitted to 

 the I'nion March 1, 1867; area, 77,510 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 122,993 in 1870; 

 452,402 in 1880 ; and 1,058,910 in 1890. Capital, 

 Lincoln. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Governor, Lorenzo 

 Crounse, Republican ; Lieutenant - Governor, 

 Thomas J. Majors ; Secretary of State, John C. 

 Allen ; Auditor of Public Accounts, Eugene 

 Moore ; Treasurer, Joseph S. Bartley ; Attorney- 

 General, George H. Hastings ; Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, Alexander K. Goudy ; Com- 

 missioner of Public Lands and Buildings, A. R. 

 Humphrey: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 Samuel Maxwell ; Associates, T. L. Norval. A. M. 

 Post; Commissioners of Supreme Court, Robert 

 Ryan, John M. Ragan, Prank Irvine. 



Valuations. For 1893 the assessed valuation 

 of property in the State was $194,733,124.73, 

 against $186,432,376.71 for 1892. Included in 

 this assessment were 15,289,859 acres of improved 

 land, valued at $60,299,544 ; 13,041,457 acres of 

 unimproved land, valued at $27,051,620; 176,425 

 improved town and city lots, valued at $30,888.- 

 <>:;;': :i55,751 unimproved town and city lots, val- 

 ued at $9,833,807; 694,232 horses, valued at 

 $8,455,447 ; 1,447,664 cattle, valued at $6,057,- 

 ::-'.->: 45,520 mules, valued at $658,275; 159,347 

 sheep, valued at $128,842 ; 1,283,265 hogs, val- 

 ued at $1,707,183; railroad sleeping- and dining- 

 cars, $28,668,822 ; telegraphs. $192.051. 



Legislative Session. The regular biennial 

 session of the Legislature began on Jan. 3 and 

 continued through April 8. Politically, each 

 House was divided as follows: Senate Republi- 

 cans 14, Independents 14, Democrats 5 ; House 

 Republicans 48, Independents 40, Democrats 12. 

 An organization of the House was effected at the 

 opening session by a combination between the 

 Independents and Democrats; Representative 

 (laffin, Independent, was elected permanent pre- 

 siding officer, and the minor officers' were divid- 

 ed. The Senate on the second day secured a Re- 

 publican as temporary clerk by the refusal of the 

 independents to vote ; and on the fourth day 

 Senator Correll, Republican, was elected presi- 

 dent pro tern by Republican and Democratic 



votes. After a delay of several days and numer- 

 ous attempts to elect a permanent clerk, an 

 agreement was reached Ixjlwccn the Independ- 

 ents and Democrats, by which the former ob- 

 tained the clerkship and" the other Senate ollice-. 

 were divided between the two parties. The choice 

 of a successor to United States Senator A. S. Pail- 

 dock devolved upon this Legislature. As pro- 

 vided by law, the first ballot was taken in 

 House separately on Jan. 17. At this time none 

 of the three parties had attempted to make a 

 caucus nomination, and I lie votes were scattered 

 among more than 30 of the 43 avowed -candi- 

 dates. In the House, Paddock, Republican, re- 

 ceived 28 votes ; Lieut.-Gov. Majors, Republican, 

 4; John M. Thurston, Republican, 3 ; John II. 

 Power, Independent, 22 ; William A. McKeighan, 

 Independent, 4; the remaining votes being divid- 

 ed among 27 other candidates. In the Senate 

 Paddock had 5 votes, Majors 3, Thurston 1, Pow- 

 ers 8, scattering 15. On Jan. 18, on the first joint 

 ballot, Paddock received 32 votes, Powers 27, 

 Majors 7, McKeighan 6, scattering 59. A cau- 

 cus of the Independents was held on Jan. 19, at 

 which John H. Powers was made the party can- 

 didate, and on the following day he received 54 

 votes, the full party strength. But as he was not 

 fortunate in winning Democratic support, he was 

 superseded as a candidate on Feb. 1 by W. L. 

 Greene, who proved no more successful in this 

 regard. On Feb. 2 the full Republican strength 

 was united for the first time in the support of 

 John M. Thurston, who had been selected as the 

 party candidate. The vote on this day stood as 

 follows : Thurston 61, Greene 56, James E. Boyd 

 3, scattering 10. A few days later the name of 

 Greene was dropped by the Independents, and 

 Judge William V. Allen became their candidate. 

 On the joint ballot on Feb. 6 he received 65 votes 

 to 61 for Thurston, 3 for Boyd. and 2 for J. S. 

 Morton. On the final ballot, taken on Feb. 7, he 

 secured the entire Democratic and Independent 

 support and was elected by a vote of 70 to 59 for 

 Senator Paddock, to whose support the Republi- 

 cans returned on this ballot. 



The most important legislative result of the 

 session was the passage of a voluminous act, 

 known as the Newberry law, establishing the 

 maximum freight rates chargeable by railroads. 

 Several hundred commodities are mentioned in 

 the act and classified for the purpose of fixing the 

 rate. Extended tables of charges for different 

 distances and for car-load or less than car-load lots 

 are included in the act. It is further provided 

 that, when any railroad shall in a proper action 

 show by competent testimony that the schedule 

 of rates prescribed by the act is unjust and un- 

 reasonable, the court may issue an order direct ^ 

 ing the State Board of Transportation to permit 

 such railroad to raise its rates to any sum in the 

 discretion of the board, provided that in no case 

 shall the rate so raised be fixed at a higher sum 

 than that charged by such railroad on Jan. 1, 

 1893. The State Board of Transportation is em- 

 powered to reduce the rates established by the act 

 whenever the majority of the board shall deem it 

 just and reasonable. The law was to take effect 

 on Aug. 1, 1893. 



In order to relieve the pressure of business be- 

 fore the State Supreme Court, the justices there- 

 of were authorized to appoint 3 commissioners, no 



