BOO 



MAKYI.ANM. 



- ^CHUSETTS, 



rated $2,980,959.58, beini: $8.Vi.Vv.i m cxcct* of 



1896. Thebal.i 



the sum- due tin- insane asvlum and the I'.-iiiini- 

 liary loans, namely. $412.019.20. aft.-rard paid. 

 which :i> Imrsenieir 



1897. The balance for 1807. payment. 

 was in excess of that for the previous year by 



'.'. Of this Ulancc. $|::. A as to 



of |)M- public -ch-l- "ii <>, 



.M.rtionrd and distributed 



as of that dale. while nearly the whole c.f the re- 



mainder ^ s|ecial purj>oscs and to 



meet the demand- of the Slate government ami the 



The total receipts of the 



1037,404.18, all of \\hich was 



i.s during the previous year, in Maryland. 



JHMfe. Then- were sold .luring t hi- year, from stocks 



and bond* bel t lu- linking fund. $74,000 



I SHJI.IHM) 



of Baltimore city stocks, aggregating the par value 

 of $289.000. which, deducted from the par value ,,f 

 stocks purchaaed.left $878,475 as the net jmr amount 



vd f..r the year. Tl -1 that of 



the previous year by $70.77~>. The -inking fund 

 for the dcf.-n-.'- r. demption loan aggregated!:: 

 945 M against $8,204,770 for the previous 

 The total State debt at the close of theli-ca 

 was $9,284,968:24. Deduct ing the productive assets 

 of the State, as well as stocks and l-nd- to t Ju- 

 nking fund, at their par value of 

 $0.885.908.11 left a- the .: <lel.t ,.f the Sta'- Sept. 

 80, 1897. $2,949,078.18, against $8,888,558.1 3 for the 



us year, or a net reduction of $389,475 for the 



The ascimed value of property for State pur- 

 poses, under the new assessment, was $607,965,272 

 an increase of $67.503.525 over that of 1H5J6. The 

 increased basis produced a corresponding increase 

 in the amount of levy, which was $1,079,138.27. 

 One of the provisions in the new assessment law 

 is the ; \ in- <>f a tax of | of 1 per cent, on the 

 t gages, three fourths of such tax 

 going to the count ie- in which the mortgages are 

 to be recorded, and the remainder to tin- State. 



school-tax receipts from all sources were: 



f Baltimore, $lJuJ.r,.Y_MO; counties, $1,230,- 



: total. $2.340,617.61 : decrease for vear over 



1896, $8.723.44. Paid for teacher-' salaries: City, 



$955340.60: counties, $88 total, $1,790,- 



749.82; increase, $61.058.38. For l.uildinir. repair- 



ing, and furnishing schoolhouses: City, $3 11, 333.95; 



<<.r>.308.61 ; total, $406,4'.>,->G : increase, 



$156,245.36. Paid for lxx>ksand stationery: City, 



$60,497.6*: |41 increase, $1,579.77. 



For rent. fuel, and incidentals: City, $74,907..VJ ; 



countie-. *74.X'7.1; : increase, $7.190.38. Total ex- 



pense* for public-school purposes: City, $1,419,- 



800.38; counties, $1.230,905. Jl : total, $2,650,265.59; 



-: .'-: :;. 



The receipts for the oyster fund were $66,783.90, 



w hi. h, added to the balance of 1896, made the total 



receipt* of the fiscal year on that account $67.270.78. 



increase of the oyster revenue in 1897 was 



tiled almost solely to receipts from dredging 



licences, the receipts in 1897being $42,058.14, while 



in the year previous they were only $25,284^8. The 



disbursements were $66,761.97, leaving a balance of 



$508.76. 



The net revenue from insurance for the fiscal 

 Tear was * I'he gross receipt* from tobacco 



inspection were $7841.and disbursements $72,238. 



Education.- Th. number of schools in operation 

 wasas follows: City, 185; counties, 2.204; increase. 

 56; pupils in city, W).7.V,> : in counties, 129,610; in- 

 crease, 14,618. Highest enrollment city. 62.868; 

 counties, 116.479 : incrra> \ verage in dailv 



attendance city, 50,680 ; counties, 72,547 ; increase, 



1,665. Number !> city. .utics, 



2,949; increase. i tools 



were : counties s-7. In his n-port, 



the secretary of the i 'The 



most important ad\atice in tin ; .iililic cdii- 



'.iinn- the la-st school vear \\as 



mad- -rin- 



r furnishing ti. 



i-ost to |h,. |iii|iils of (he plll.lic 



schw^ls of the > making the annual appro- 



priation It .(.par- 



ent. from the reports from the school otlicers o| i he 

 several count ie- on lile in this oilier, that the lt..n..- 

 licial rhVcts claimed f*r these laws have been 

 ndaiice of pupiN has increased 

 Hi to Dd tli eilici,-n-y !' the ft 



has been greatly increased.*' 



( h a i- i I a Me Institutions. Muring the year the 

 State apjiropriated funds toward the siipp<.n 

 charitalile institutions, I he ag_ 



l.HMI. The foh 



Items of appropriation : Asylum and Trainings 

 Min.le.i. $20.r/KI; M.-af and Mun.l 

 !um of Frederick, ^ 

 $25.(XMi : ! :.fuge,$ 15,000; llou 



niation forColored Children, $10,000 ; llospii:, 

 the Insane, $74,000; School for the mind. $..".' 

 Home for ( 'oiifcderatc Mothers and ( 'liiltli 

 hi the Maryland Hospital for the Insane th<- daily 

 lg of pati.-nts .ii.l the average cost 



for each was $^l'J."n per annum. The receipts ; ,t 

 the Penitentiary during the year were X'J7.sl7 in 

 excess of expenses an increase of $l<i.ooo ,,\, r 

 ]!'. The greatest Dumber of prisoners confined in 



the Penitentiary at one time during th- 

 855, and the lowest 770. In the House ol > 

 the numl.er of cells provided i> l, u t 'j:{'j. " win 

 (juently more than :;<> pri-'m-r- are confineil in the 

 instilu'tion and the se|.aration of the inmates -.viih 



not possilde." 



| jsh.The fnile.l Mate, Fish Coininissi.,n tool 

 from the waters of the Slate during the year more 

 than 70,000,000 shad eggs; Hie numl.er of 

 hatched was estimated at :>0.<MHi.(MM). Young 

 diMril.uted in the diiTerent \\. 



Susquehanna river ami Chi-.-n 

 .luniata river, 400,000 ; Hush river.. Uun- 



powder river, 2,250,000; P.randywi: ,".,. 



000; Nanticoke riv. Con- 



necticut, 2,250,000 ; Hudson m 100; Tm-ka- 



hoe river, 900,000; \Vi,-omico river, 900,00( : ( 

 river. !MMi.(KKi; I>,.|aw-are river. :<.<>00,000. There 

 have been deposited .VH).(KH) st rii>e<l-l.ass fry : 

 trout have IMTII distriltuted in the northern and 

 western part- of the State. 



Coal. The coal shipments in ISJM; amounted t.. 

 3,700.<MM tons; in 1*117 to aliout tons. 



A Unit 4,000 men were employed in tlie n. 



(irain. The largest cai in that ever left 



the port of Ualtim- id to lie the largest 



load that ever left any American port, went out in 

 Auu'u-l.on the British -t' amer ' Knight I'.a--!. 

 The cargo con. >,:.uoo l.n-he|s ,,f corn and 



264,600 bushels of wheat. Reduce,] t pound-, the 

 .nti-d to l."i.7',M.GOO. It reijuire.l 'Jl rail- 

 Tain- of 20 cars each, to convey HP- -rain to 

 the water front. 



PC. i Packing. The pea pi. -king and packing in- 

 dustn .ployment to about 5.000 persons in 



farm- where the heaviest cp.| 



picked are in Anne Arutidel. Haltimore. and Hart- 

 ford Counties, the principal packinghouses being in 

 Baltimore, 



M \s>\( HI s| | |s. \ i _]and Slat. 

 of tlie original tfiirteen; ratified the Constitution 

 .1. ^.:;i~ square mile-. The popu- 

 lation, according to each decennial census, was 



