232 



FLORIDA. 



consisting of bronze statues of Washington and 

 Lafayette, on a granite pedestal. It is a repro- 

 duction of the monument lately erected in the 

 Place des Etats-Unis, Paris, by the same sculptor. 



Among the contributions to the Metropolitan 

 Museum, New York, during the year are: Camby- 

 ses's Punishment of an Unjust Judge, by Rubens, 

 from the J. L. Monke collection, Antwerp, pre- 

 sented by William E. Dodge; and three pictures 

 presented by J. Pierpont Morgan portrait of 

 Columbus, by Sebastian del Piombo; Lord Nelson 

 on the Victory, by Charles Lucy; and Napoleon 

 at St. Helena, by Benjamin Robert Haydon. The 

 last two pictures were bought at the Sir Robert 

 Peel sale in May at 400 guineas each. 



Benjamin West's painting The Raising of Laz- 

 arus, which hung for many years in Winchester 

 Cathedral, England, has been presented by its 

 purchaser, J. Pierpont Morgan, to the Wadsworth 

 Athenaeum, Hartford, Conn. The canvas, which 

 is signed Benj. West, 1780, measures 10 feet 10 

 inches by 5 feet 5 inches. 



The Botticelli Madonna, sold by Prince Chigi, 

 of Rome, to a London firm of picture dealers, has 

 been purchased by Mr. P. A. B. Widener, of Phila- 

 delphia, and is now hung in the art gallery of his 

 country house at Elkins. This famous picture, 

 called the Madonna of the Thorns, represents the 

 Virgin with the infant Jesus in her lap at the 

 right, and at the left a celestial youth offering 

 a gift of wheat and grapes. Over the youth is 

 a crown of thorns, from which the picture derives 

 its name. The sale of this picture being in viola- 

 tion of the law prohibiting the exportation of 

 works of the old masters from Italy, Prince Chigi 

 is reported to have been condemned to pay a fine 

 of $63,000, the amount paid for the picture by the 

 London firm. The inference is that the picture 

 cost Mr. Widener more than this sum. 



FLOBIDA, a Southern State, admitted to the 

 Union March 3, 1845; area, 58,680 square miles. 

 The population, according to each decennial cen- 

 sus since admission, was 87,445 in 1850; 140,424 

 in 1860; 187,748 in 1870; 269,493 in 1880; 391,422 

 in 1890; and 528,542 in 1900. Capital, Tallahassee. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, William D. 

 Bloxham; Secretary of State, John L. Crawford; 

 Treasurer, James B. Whitfield ; Comptroller, W. H. 

 Reynolds; Attorney-General, William B. Lamar; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, William N. 

 Sheats; Adjutant General, Patrick Houstoun; 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, Lucius B. Womb- 

 well; State Chemist, W. A. Rawls; State Exam- 

 iner, W. V. Knott; Railroad Commissioners, R. H. 

 M. Davidson, H. E. Day, J. M. Bryan; State 

 Health Officer and Secretary Board of Health, Dr. 

 Joseph Y. Porter; Board of Health, W. B. Hender- 

 son, D. T. Gerow, H. L. Simpson; Chief Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, R. F. Taylor; Associate 

 lust ices, Milton H. Mabry and Francis B. Carter. 



Population. The official figures of the national 

 census for 1900 are compared in the table below 

 with the figures of the census of 1890, and show 

 the increase in percentages by counties. 



The population of the largest ten cities in 1900 

 was as follows, the figures in parentheses being 

 those for 1890: Jacksonville, 28,429 (17,201); 

 Pensacola, 17,747 (11,750); Key West, 17,114 

 (18,080); Tampa, 15,839 (5,532); St. Augustine, 

 4,272 (4,742); Lake City, 4,013 (2,020); Gaines- 

 ville, 3,633 (2,720) ; Ocala, 3,380 (2,904) ; Palatka, 

 3,331 (3,039); Fernandina, 3,245 (2,803). 



Finances. The report of the Treasurer at the 

 close of business, Nov. 30, 1900, showed a balance 

 to the credit of the several State funds amounting 

 to $406,041.78. During the past two years $200,000 



of the public debt has been paid from the general 

 revenue fund by taking up the notes for $200,000, 

 which were issued by authority of the Legislature 

 of 1889 and 1891. These notes were bearing in- 

 terest at the rate of 5 per cent., and their pay- 

 ment and cancellation have saved the State 

 $10,000 in interest, besides reducing the debt 

 $200,000. This has been done without an increase 

 of taxation. The State tax levy was reduced be- 

 low the levy authorized by the Legislature a half 

 mill in 1898 and a half mill in 1900. The gen- 

 eral revenue fund is now sufficient to meet the 

 general expenses of the State and to pay the ex- 

 penses of the next Legislature, in 1901. The 7- 

 per-cent. bonds of 1871 remaining in the hands of 

 individuals were to be taken up at maturity, Jan. 

 1, 1901.. The amount thus held was about $30,000. 

 The remainder of this issue is held in the sinking 

 fund and the educational funds of the State. 



The total tax levy in the State in 1899 was 5J 

 mills; for 1900 the levy was fixed at 5 mills, and 

 was distributed as follows: General revenue tax. 

 2J mills; pension tax, 1 mill; Board of Health tax. 

 \ mill ; constitutional school tax, 1 mill. 



During 1899 the total State taxes levied 

 amounted to $518,030.12; State licenses, $144,- 

 958.48; county taxes, $1,126,503.80; school sub- 

 district taxes, $43,520.37. 



Valuations. The assessed valuation for 1900 

 was $96,518.953.73, an increase of $2,991,599.94 over 

 the assessed valuation for 1899. (The valuations 

 in two of the counties is estimated, the valuations 

 of 1899 being taken as the basis.) The report of 

 valuations for 1899 gives the following data: Num- 

 ber of horses, asses, and mules, 52,090; neat and 

 stock cattle, 478,707; sheep and goats, 108.<>r.s : 

 hogs and dogs, 207,523. Full cash value of all 

 animals, $4,642,472. Value of all other personal 



