SOUTH CAROLINA. 



649 



The State Board of Education, appointed in 

 April, is constituted as follows: Henry P. Archer, 

 Graves L. Knight, J. L. McCain, H. T. Cook, A. 

 11. Banks, W. A. Brown, and T. M. Raysor. Un- 

 der the law the Governor is chairman and the 

 State Superintendent secretary. The board has 

 adopted a set of text-books by Southern authors; 

 the United State history is one approved by 

 Confederate veterans. 



At Clemson, the Agricultural College, 403 stu- 

 dents were in attendance in September. Many ap- 

 plicants were turned away for want of room. The 

 textile department, lately added, has met with 

 approval and success. A new chemistry building 

 and a new electrical laboratory are provided for, 

 but all departments need enlarged room and equip- 

 ment, Clemson receives the proceeds of the tax 

 on fertilizer tags. 



The Citadel Military College graduated 18 stu- 

 dents; Erskine College, at Due West, 20; the col- 

 lege for women at Columbia, G; Furman Univer- 

 sity, at Greenville, 20. 



The increased attendance at the South Carolina 

 College made it necessary to add 4 teachers to the 

 faculty. At the opening in September, 190 stu- 

 dents were enrolled. The degree of Bachelor of 

 Arts was conferred upon 20 students in the sum- 

 mer, and that of Bachelor of Laws upon 12. The 

 college will celebrate the centennial of its organi- 

 zation in December, 1901. 



The State College for Girls, at Winthrop, had 

 353 in the regular classes at the beginning of 

 1900. There were 23 graduates in the four years' 

 course. The college received from State funds 

 $33,000 for completing the buildings, and $5,450 

 for scholarships. 



A bequest of $100,000 was made by the late 

 James Gibbes for an art school in Charleston, 

 provided $50,000 additional is raised; but its le- 

 gality is to be contested. The point of the contest 

 which chiefly threatens the bequest is that of the 

 school being open to both races or not opened 

 for either. The State Constitution provides that 

 the races shall be educated separately, and the 

 Federal Constitution declares that there shall be 

 no distinction on account of race. The will pro- 

 vides for only one school. 



Convicts. The report of the directors of the 

 Penitentiary, submitted in January, shows that 

 there was a balance, Jan. 1, 1899, of $4,804.44. 

 The total receipts during 1899 were $63,518.23, 

 11 1 a king a total of $08.322.67. The total expendi- 

 tures for 1899 were $58,436, leaving cash on hand 

 Jan. 1 of $9,986.07. The profit from the State 

 farms was $7,580. The superintendent's report 

 shows 784 convicts at the close of 1899. Two hun- 

 dred and seventy-two were sent in the year, 

 17 escapes were recaptured, making the total for 

 the year 1,073. The number in confinement now 



801. The general health is good, but the sur- 

 >rising statement is made that 16 out of 41 died 

 of tuberculosis, and 8 with cerebro-spinal men- 

 ingitis. In the debate in the Senate on the bill, 

 which passed, to establish a reformatory for 

 young criminals, one of the Senators " declared 

 that it was an outrage that such a condition of af- 

 fairs exists as can now be seen in the Penitentiary. 

 Hundreds of prisoners can not walk without a 

 limp, and it is simply because their feet or limbs 

 have been frozen." In reply to a question, he said 

 that the superintendent had told him that many 

 men had frozen feet. The stalls (cells) in which 

 the convicts are compelled to stay thirteen hours 

 ire unfit for his horse to be stabled in. He de- 

 clared that convicts were given a certain task, and 

 dien they did not do that, and even more, they 

 rere warned of what they would get a whipping. 



Work on the new prison had progressed so far 

 at the close of the year that it was expected to 

 be ready in January. The reformatory was 

 opened late in the year to receive the 20 boys 

 transferred from the Penitentiary. 



Militia. The organi/ed strength of the militia 

 was given in July as 2,053; the number of men 

 liable for service, but unorganized, as 100,000. 

 The State's share of the Government appropria- 

 tion for militia will be about $20,000. 



Railroads. In 1899 123 miles were added to 

 the tracks in the State, and 80 in the six months 

 ending June 30, 1900. The building of short con- 

 necting lines between main lines is going on in 

 many parts of the State. The total mileage is 

 2,830.44. The taxes amounted to $341,000. The 

 gross earnings of the principal roads of the State, 

 as reported, amounted to $8,910,384. 



Industries and Products. A report made in 

 March showed that 20 new corporations, most of 

 them asking charters for cotton mills, had filed 

 declarations, and 5 others for increases of capital, 

 making a total of new capital of $4,890,000. Four 

 cotton-seed-oil mills were closed on account of the 

 high price of seed, $20 a ton. 



The cotton acreage this year was given as 

 2,075,001, an increase of 112,801 over that of 1899. 

 The cotton blight has made hundreds of acres 

 of the finest sea-island tile-drained lands unfit 

 for the production of cotton. Although this dis- 

 ease has appeared on all the islands and in Christ 

 Church parish, its effect is far more extended on 

 James island. The tobacco crop is 20,000,000 to 

 25,000,000 pounds annually. 



The report of the Phosphate Inspector shows 

 the condition of that industry to be better than 

 it has been for several years. 



The number of tons of rock mined in 1898 was 

 99,315; in 1899 it was 121,073; in 1898, 94,008 

 tons were shipped, in 1899 134,094. The royalties 

 paid on this to the State amounted to $34,928.09. 



The commercial crop of cotton of the season 

 was given as 921,000 bales; the consumption in 

 mills of the State, 497,496 bales; the number of 

 spindles, 1,794,657. 



Exposition. Preparations are making for the 

 South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Ex- 

 position, to be held in Charleston beginning Dec. 

 1, 1901, and continuing five months. 



The Naval Station. This is to be removed 

 from Port Royal to Charleston. In recommending 

 the removal Admiral Endicott wrote: "To make 

 the Port Royal station accessible for the larger 

 vessels of the navy at all times of the day would 

 involve a very large outlay for dredging, and to 

 complete* the deep-water basin immediately in 

 front of the basin, where vessels can be moored 

 and lie afloat at low tide, which is now under 

 construction, would cost probably $500,000, in 

 addition to the $200,000 already appropriated. As 

 no commercial city is reached through this har- 

 bor, this work would be solely for the naval sta- 

 tion, while at Charleston such interests are call- 

 ing for deeper and deeper navigation to the sea, 

 and such improvements would directly and large- 

 ly benefit the commercial world through the com- 

 mercial metropolis of the State." 



Lawlessness. Two riots occurred at polling 

 places at the August primary. At Midway, Bam- 

 berg County, 1 man was killed and 2 mortally 

 wounded, and at West Duncan, Greenville County, 

 1 man was killed and 2 severely injured. 



A negro, for an assault and attempt on the 

 life of a white woman, was lynched near Ninety 

 Six, Greenwood County, in February. 



Citizens of Neecees, in Orangeburg County, tele- 

 graphed to Columbia in March, begging for troops 



