CALIFORNIA. 



ty and county in the State for the use and benefit 

 ' the Firemen's Relief fund. The law has been a 

 !id letter because of a decision obtained from 

 e State Supreme Court soon after its enactment. 

 all r the commissioner issued an order revoking 

 ,he bonds of fire insurance companies outside the 

 State, and the controversy over these matters con- 

 tinued till July, when a compromise was effected 

 iy which 25 companies signed a letter in which they 

 ''reed to pay to the State a sum equal to 1 per 

 nt of their net premiums collected on risks taken 

 on property within the State during the year 1897, 

 and a similar sum during January of each succeed- 

 ing year, estimated on the net California business 

 for the preceding twelve months. 



Railroads. During the year ending June 30 a 

 little more than 19 miles of new road were built in 

 California by the Southern Pacific, which completed 

 several branch lines. 



The Southern California Railway Company has a 

 capital stock, issued and outstanding, of $12,824,- 

 000, and a total of 471.14 miles of track in operation. 

 It produced a net income of $341,196 during the 

 year. 



The Valley road, with its 277.34 miles of main 

 line and its total length of 318 miles of track, re- 

 corded a net income for the year of $128,753.94. 

 The construction of this road was continued, and in 

 October it had 345 miles of track, when control of 

 it was acquired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa 

 Fe, giving that road the connecting link to San 

 ^rancisco. 



The California Northwestern Railway Company 

 as incorporated in March. The road is to be 

 built to the redwood forests of Humboldt and Men- 

 docino Counties. 



Military. The records showed that there were 

 August 5,653 volunteers in Californian regiments 

 Manila. 

 In consequence of a quarrel over some trifling 

 atter in a saloon in San Francisco, a mob of sev- 

 eral hundred Tennessee volunteers attempted, on 

 Aug. 15, to lynch a young negro crab fisher. They 

 wrecked his mother's home and injured the boy, 

 whose life was saved by the arrival of the major of 

 the regiment, who threatened to shoot the first man 

 that touched the negro, and succeeded in quelling 

 the disturbance with the help of a squad of mounted 

 men from the Fourth Cavalry. 



Minerals. In regard to the gold product of the 

 State, the San Francisco " Chronicle " says : " For 

 the year 1897 the returns of the Director of the 

 Mint showed a material falling off in the gold prod- 

 uct compared with the yield of 1896, the total be- 

 Iing placed at about $17,000,000, whereas conserva- 

 tive estimates made by mining men familiar with 

 the yield of the mining counties, and based upon 

 the computed products of each county by its own 

 newspapers, placed the total yield at $3,000,000 

 more, that is. at $20.000,000 in round numbers. 

 Recently the United States Mint Statistician pub- 

 lished h'is estimate for 1897. This places the grand 

 total of gold and silver produced that year at $16,- 

 324,190, or $1,310.161 less than the year 1896. No 

 one who kept track of the State's mining operations 

 during last year has been willing to accept such a 

 statement as an approximately fair return of the 

 State's output." According to the figures published, 

 the gold product was $15,871,401 and the silver 

 $452,789. 



The aggregate value of all mineral products in 

 the State in 1897 is given as $25,142,441, distrib- 

 uted as follows : 



Antimony, 25 tons, $3,500 : asphalt, 22,697 tons, 

 04,350 ; bituminous rock, 45,470 tons, $128,173 ; 

 rax, 8,000 tons, $1,080,000 ; cement, 18,000 bar- 

 Is, $66,000 ; brick, 97,468,000, $563,240 ; pottery, 



24,592 tons, $30,290; coal, 87,449 tons, $196,255; cop- 

 per, 13,638,626 pounds, $1,540,666; gold, $15,871,- 

 401 ; granite, 339.288 cubic feet, $188,024 ; gypsum, 

 2,200 tons, $19,250 ; infusorial earth, 5 tons, $200; 

 lead, 596,000 pounds, $20,264 ; lime, 287,800 barrels, 

 $252,900: limestone, 36,796 tons, $38,556; mac- 

 adam, 487.911 tons, $313,087; magncsite, 1,143 

 tons, $13,671 ; manganese, 504 tons, $4,080 ; marble, 

 4,102 cubic feet, $7,280; mineral paint, 1,115,280 

 pounds, $8,165 ; mineral waters, 1,508,192 gallons, 

 $345,863 ; natural gas, 63,920,000 cubic feet, $62,- 

 657 ; paving blocks, 1,711,000, $35,235 ; platinum, 

 150 ounces, $900; petroleum, 1,911,569 barrels, $1,- 

 918,269; quicksilver, 26,648 flasks, $993,445; rub- 

 ble, 333,212 tons, $287,025 ; salt, 67,851 tons, $157,- 

 520 ; sandstone, 77,000 cubic feet, $24,086 ; serpen- 

 tine, 2,500 cubic feet, $2,500 ; silver, $452,789 : slate, 

 400 squares, $2,800 ; soda, 5,000 tons, $110,000. 



In 1896 the total value of the mineral product of 

 the State was $24,291,398, and in 1895 it was $22,- 

 844,664. 



Wines. The following figures showing the ex- 

 tent of the wine industry in the State are from the 

 " Hotel and Wine Gazette " : " There are 157,000 

 acres planted to grapes, of which 75,000 acres are 

 devoted to wine grapes, 72,000 acres to raisin grapes, 

 and 10,000 acres to table grapes. The total value 

 of the California viticultural interests, including 

 land, cooperage, cellars, packing houses, etc., is 

 placed at $85,000,000. The product of sweet wine 

 for 1897 is placed at 5,000,000 gallons against 

 3.477,200 in 1896, and the 1897 vintage of dry wine 

 at 25,750,000 gallons, the largest in the history of 

 the State. The brandy product was estimated at 

 2,000,000 gallons ; but by the crop summary pub- 

 lished in December, the total wine and brandy 

 product was placed at 35,442,468 gallons. 



Agriculture. The farm and orchard products 

 in 1897 were estimated before the jubilee as follows : 

 Wheat, 32,333,000 bushels; barley. 26,309,325 

 bushels; corn. 2,753,000 bushels; oats, 3,670,590 

 bushels; wool, 31,500,000 pounds; hops, 8,325,000 

 pounds; butter, 32,500,000 pounds; cheese, 6,500,- 

 000 pounds ; beans, 87.462,500 pounds. 



The crop summary at the close of the year gives 

 the following statistics of the output of dried fruits 

 and other products, which is in excess of the esti- 

 mate in almost every instance : Prunes, 97,780.000 

 pounds ; raisins, 93,704,000 pounds ; beet sugar, 

 70,740,000 pounds : fresh-fruit shipments overland, 

 145,250,000 pounds ; cured fruit, not including 

 prunes, 79,100,000 pounds ; almonds and walnuts, 

 12,720,000 pounds ; hops, 8,100,000 pounds ; honey, 

 7,878,000 pounds; canned fruit, 1,942,982 cases; 

 tomatoes, packed, 318,553 cases ; orange and lemon 

 shipments overland, 15,400 car loads; vegetable 

 shipments by land and sea, 94,704,000 pounds. 



The (iolden Jubilee. The fiftieth anniversary 

 of the discovery of gold in the State was celebrated 

 Jan. 24, and was followed by a mining fair at San 

 Francisco. The day was proclaimed a legal holi- 

 day by the Governor, and was observed by a great 

 parade, in which were pioneers, native sons, United 

 States soldiers, and various organizations, with 

 floats representing scenes in the history of the 

 State the aborigines, a ship of the early Spanish 

 navigators, the first Mission church, the raising of 

 the flag, the historic Slitter's mill, early mining 

 processes, old and recent fire apparatus contrasted, 

 the various industries, and others suggestive of the 

 progress of the State and the development of its 

 resources. 



The Mining Fair was opened Jan. 29 by the 

 President, who pressed the telegraph key at Wash- 

 ington which applied the force at San Francisco. 

 The fair was open till March 5. Ores from all the 

 principal mines were exhibited, and the successive 



