324 



KENTUCKY. 



Todd, 17,371; Trigg, 14,073; Trimble, 7,272; Union, 

 21326; Warren, 29,970; Washington, 14,182; 

 Wayne, 14,892; Webster, 20,097; Whitley, 25,015; 

 Wolfe, 8,764; Woodford, 13,134; total, 2,147,174. 



The population of Louisville is 204,731; Coving- 

 ton, 42,938; Lexington, 26,369. 



Of those having smaller population are: Padu- 

 cah, 19,446; Owensboro, 13,189; Henderson, 10,272; 

 Frankfort, 9,487; Bowling Green, 8,226; Hopkins- 

 ville, 7,280; Ashland, 6,800; .Maysville, 6,423; 

 Bellevue, 6,332; Dayton, 6,104; Winchester, 5,594. 



Finances. The bonded indebtedness of the 

 State at the opening of the year was $3,483,991. 

 Of this only $1,000,000 must be ultimately dis- 

 charged by payment of the principal in 1905 and 

 1907 and the resources of the treasury were more 

 than siillicient to discharge them. A small part, 

 .$(>.:5'.i4. was in old issues supposed to be lost, and 

 the remainder was educational, college, and nor- 

 mal school bonds. The floating debt was $23,276. 

 The total value of taxable property in the State, 

 as reported bv the Board of Equalization in July, 

 is $574,867,964; this will produce $2,730,622 in 

 taxes at 47.5 on $100, the rate this year, instead 

 of 52.5 cents, which has been collected for the past 

 three years. Owing to the failure of county as- 

 sessors to make the assessment, about $12,000,000 

 worth of stock in national banks escaped taxation 

 this year, the decision of the Supreme Court mak- 

 ing it the duty of the owner of the stock to list 

 it for taxation. The board in November fixed 

 the tax valuation of whisky at $10 a barrel in- 

 stead of $7 as heretofore. 



Education. The school population is 719,654; 

 the per capita of apportionment for the year end- 

 ing June 30, 1900, was $2.70; this is larger than 

 for the previous year, as the school fund was in- 

 creased in consequence of the collection of large 

 amounts of bank taxes from railroads and other 

 sources after the per capita for the year ending 

 June 30, 1899, had been fixed. The most serious 

 defect of the school system is the limited term 

 of instruction, the schools in rural districts being 

 open not usually more than five months of the 

 year. 



Charities and Corrections. There are three 

 insane asylums the Eastern, the Western, and the 

 Central. New buildings have been erected for the 

 Institute for the Feeble-minded. 



The penitentiaries, at Frankfort and Eddyville, 

 are under the care of three prison commissioners, 

 who receive salaries of $2,000 each. There is also 

 an institution for juvenile offenders near Lexing- 

 ton. For the sixteen months ending Nov. 30, 1899, 

 the expenses of the Frankfort penitentiary were 

 $349,623, and its income from earnings, etc., $261,- 

 851. The amount paid and charged to the Eddy- 

 ville penitentiary during the same period was 

 $91,469.83, an amount greater by $57,075.83 than 

 the amount of earnings and materials on hand. 



Lawlessness. A feud dating from the time 

 when Kentucky troops were at Anniston, Ala., 

 during the Spanish war, between Col. D. G. Colson 

 and Lieut. Ethelbert Scott, resulted in a tragedy 

 at Frankfort, Jan. 16, in which three persons were 

 killed and four others wounded. While the officers 

 were at Anniston they had an encounter, in which 

 Colson was wounded by Scott. The encounter of 

 Jan. 16 resulted fatally for Scott. It took place 

 in the lobby of the Capitol Hotel, which was 

 crowded with visitors drawn to Frankfort by the 

 legislative contests. The accounts of the beginning 

 of the fray are conflicting, but the first fire was 

 instantly returned; and when Scott retreated to 

 the stairway Colson pursued him and fired at him 

 as he ran down the stairs. Scott was wounded 

 in six places, and died almost instantly. Two 



bystanders also were killed, one of whom Scott 

 was said to have used as a shield from Colson's 

 first bullets. Colson was indicted, tried, and ac- 

 quitted. 



Five men were killed in quarrels over politics, 

 Nov. 6. 



Osteopathy. A graduate of a school of oste- 

 opathy asked an injunction restraining the State 

 Board of Health from interfering with his prac- 

 tice. The lower court refused, but the Court of 

 Appeals granted the injunction, and held that the 

 practice is not a violation of the statutes, the Chief 

 Justice dissenting. 



The Contest for Offices. The official count 

 after the State election of 1899 gave the offices to 

 the Republican candidates, and they were in- 

 augurated Dec. 12. Notices of contest were served. 

 The contests for the two higher offices came before 

 the Legislature, according to the election law; 

 those for the remaining offices were to come before 

 the Election Board sitting as a board of contest. 

 Two members of this board resigned before the 

 time for hearing the contests, and each of the 

 contestants for the office of Governor made ap- 

 pointments to fill the vacancies. 



In the Legislature the Committee on Contests 

 was chosen by lot, according to the law of 1899. 

 The drawing fell out greatly to the advantage of 

 the Democrats, and unfairness in the drawing was 

 charged. On Jan. 25, according to Frankfort dis- 

 patches, a special train arrived there, bringing 

 from 500 to 1,000 men armed with Winchester 

 rifles, the so-called " mountain men " from the 

 southeastern and southern parts of the State, 

 many of. whom were said to belong to the State 

 militia, but this was denied. They held a meeting 

 and adopted a petition to the Legislature in the 

 form of resolutions, asking that the contest be 

 decided according to the will of the people ex- 

 pressed at the polls. A dispatch of the evening 

 of that day said they had returned to their homes. 



A contest for a seat in the House was decided, 

 Jan. 27, in favor of Van Meter, the Democrat, 

 against Berry, the Republican; and this decision 

 was regarded as forecasting the vote on the gov- 

 ernorship. The House stood 60 Democrats to 40 

 Republicans, and the Senate 26 Democrats to 12 

 Republicans. 



While on his Avay to the Statehouse, Jan. 30, 

 Senator William Goebel fell by a shot from an 

 assassin. Great excitement prevailed, and Gov. 

 Taylor adjourned the Legislature (see Legislative 

 Sessions in this article), declaring that a state of 

 insurrection existed, and placed military guards 

 around the Capitol. He called the Legislature to 

 meet at London, which is in the Republican part 

 of the State. Jan. 31, the legislators favorable to 

 Senator Goebel, unable to enter the Capitol to hold 

 a session, and also shut out by militia from the 

 opera house and other places where they attempted 

 to meet, prepared a statement setting forth t IK-SI- 

 facts and declaring Goebel and Beckham Governor 

 and Lieutenant Governor. This was signed by 111 

 Senators and 56 Representatives. Mr. Goebel's 

 death was hourly expected, but he was sworn in 

 as Governor in the evening, Chief- Justice Ha/.H 

 rigg holding that the action of the members \\a- 

 valid, and Mr. Beckham took the oath as Lieu 

 tenant Governor. Gov. Goebel died Feb. 3, am! 

 Mr. Bi-ckham was sworn in Governor an hour 

 later. 



It was held that the law called for the decision 

 of such a contest by the two houses separately. 

 The Republicans refused to abide by this decision 

 or to give up the offices. Applications for injunc- 

 tions were made by both sides; a conference com- 

 mittee consisting of 7 men from each party pre 



