VIRGINIA. 



767 



to account of prisoners for overwork (they hav- 

 ing expended $11,547.00) is $2,04(5.85. On Oct. 1, 

 1894, there were 258 white men, 1,066 colored 

 men, 5 white women, and 89 colored women ; 

 112 men were on the public works. 



In his report the superintendent opposes the 

 idea that the public roads a question much 

 agitated at present in Virginia should be built 

 by convicts, as now provided by law, without 

 cost to the counties except for feeding, guard- 

 ing, and $50 for each escape; for, as only the 

 able-bodied, short-term men can be used for that 

 purpose, the Penitentiary, in his opinion, will 

 soon become a charge on the public treasury. 



In 1890 a Prison Association was formed, and 

 an Industrial Reform School was opened to white 

 boys under the age of fifteen ; these boys are 

 taken from the streets and the jails and kept in 

 the school at the discretion of the board, who, 

 when they reach the age of eighteen, give them 

 probationary freedom under bonds for good be- 

 havior. On May 17, 1890, Mrs. A. P. Russell, of 

 Henrico, conveyed to the association two tracts 

 of land in that county. During the succeeding 

 four years the school has acquired 90 acres, and 

 has an excellent farm, good house and school 

 buildings, and 129 inmates. The State has con- 

 tributed $10.000 to the Prison Association for 

 the Reform School since July, 1892, and paid for 

 buildings and other equipments $9,500.60. It 

 also gives jail allowances of 25 cents per diem 

 per boy, and $10 a year for his clothing. The 

 institution is self-supporting, except that the 

 jail allowances go to the salaries of teachers, em- 

 ployees, etc. No boy works more than six hours 

 a day, and each spends certain hours in study 

 and recreation. 



Railroads. No new railroads were com- 

 pleted in the State during 1894, though several 

 are projected and have been chartered by the 

 Legislature. Virginia has a total railroad mile- 

 age of 3,426-43, or 11-71 square miles of territory 

 for each mile of rai'r.oad. She has 482*29 in- 

 habitants for each mile of railroad, and 10*92 

 feet of railway for each inhabitant. The tax on 

 railroads to support the Government in 1893-'94 

 was $222,363.08; to support schools, $73.335.20; 

 and to defray salary of Railroad Commissioner, 

 etc., $4,586.42; total, $300,264.70. 



Education. The biennial report of the Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction appeared in 

 1895, but the growth indicated in his latest re- 

 port was a forecast of continued success and 

 prosperity. Never before has Virginia shown 

 such zeal and energy on the subject of educa- 

 tion. There is still decided objection to co- 

 educational institutions. Roanoke College, at 

 Salem, announced at its commencement exer- 

 cises, in June, 1894, that young women over six- 

 teen would be admitted to the classes as special 

 students, but not as candidates for degrees. The 

 University of Virginia admits special students 

 to enter for written examinations ; but the ma- 

 jority report of the faculty on the admission of 

 women to the academic schools, disapproving of 

 it, was adopted with 1 dissenting vote. 



The latest statistics show that there are 7,902 

 public schools in Virginia 5,679 for white and 

 2,223 for colored pupils. There are 5,868 white 

 and 2,064 colored teachers, and the number of 

 pupils enrolled is 348,471, of whom 227,696 are 



white and 120,775 are colored; the average 

 daily attendance is 130.398 white pupils and 

 63,745 colored. The expenditure for permanent 

 improvements was $194,005.80 at the latest re- 

 port, and the estimated value of school property 

 $2,763,584.97. At the University of Virginia 

 there was a total attendance of 554. airainst 547 

 in 1893. Ten masters of arts and 30 doctors of 

 medicine received their degrees. The Alumni 

 Association subscribed $50,000 to build a library 

 hall in commemoration of the alumni of the 

 institution who were killed during the civil war. 

 At the Virginia Military Institute 197 cadets 

 reported for the session of 1893-'94. The aver- 

 age annual expense for a cadet at this college is 

 $530, exclusive of his outfit. Fifty State cadets 

 are admitted free of tuition. The State appro- 

 priated during the latest session of the Legisla- 

 ture $10,000 to finish the Jackson Memorial 

 Hall of the institute. 



The Hampton Normal and Agricultural Insti- 

 tute had a total of 1,029 pupils under the care 

 of the school in 1893-'94, of whom 140 are In- 

 dians. It has received the cordial support of 

 the State an appropriation of $10,329.36, rep- 

 resenting a third share of the State's agricul- 

 tural college land scrip fund, and the same 

 proportion (amounting in 1894 to $6,333.34) of 

 the State's share in the fund created by the 

 Morrell act. There is special interest this' year 

 among the Indians, a large number of whom are 

 working their way through the schools without 

 Government help. " The solution of the Indian 

 and the negro problem," said the late Gen. S. C. 

 Armstrong, " seems to be in educating compe- 

 tent leaders in both races, in order that they 

 may return to their homes and by example and 

 precept teach their fellows how to live." This 

 plan is in every way encouraged by the faculty 

 and the board of the institute. The Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction has held a teach- 

 ers' institute at Hampton for two successive 

 years, and both the Slater and Peabody funds 

 have increased their appropriations. Twenty- 

 eight of the senior class of 1894 were graduated, 

 making a record of over 2,000 teachers from the 

 school, who have instructed 129,974 pupils. The 

 most marked change has occurred where the In- 

 dian graduates settle, for they are an example 

 even in the matter of clothing and cooking. 



At the University College of Medicine, incor- 

 porated in Richmond, in May, 1893, were ma- 

 triculated 83 students in medicine and 22 in the 

 school of dentistry. The Virginia Hospital, 

 opened in 1894, is connected with this college. 



The twenty-fourth session of the Virginia 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Blacks- 

 burg, opened with 327 students. A new barracks 

 has been added. State students have their tui- 

 tion free. 



The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute 

 enrolled 347 students. The necessary expenses 

 of regular students for eight months amount to 

 $60 : State students are charged $40. 



Roanoke College, at Salem, has 403 students, 

 and received gifts amounting to $3,000 toward 

 current expenses. 



The Virginia Institution for the Deaf and 

 Dumb and the Blind maintained during the 

 last scholastic year 82 deaf and dumb and 51 

 blind students. Residents of the State are main- 



