FINE ARTS IN 1898. 



exhibition of artists of Chicago and vicinity, Feb. 1 

 to Feb. 27: the annual exhibition of the Society of 

 Western Artists, a collection exhibited successively 

 at Cincinnati, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, and In- 

 dianapolis, Feb. 24 to March 14; Chicago Architec- 

 tural Club, March 22 ; annual exhibition of Ameri- 

 can water colors, April 20. 



Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of 

 Fine Arts. Though not chartered until 1806, the 

 Academy really dates from 1791, when Charles Wil- 

 son Peale organized in Philadelphia a school of art. 

 The first Academy building, on Chestnut Street be- 

 tween Tenth and Eleventh Streets, was partly de- 

 stroyed by fire in 1845, and in 1876 the present 

 building, on Broad Street, was completed. The col- 

 lection, a descriptive catalogue of which has lately 

 been published, contains many works of the earlier 

 American painters, such as Benjamin West, Charles 

 Wilson Peale, Gilbert Stuart, and Washington 

 Allston, and continuing down to the painters of the 

 present day. " The Dead Man restored to Life by 

 touching the Bones of the Prophet Elisha," by 

 Allston, and " Death on the Pale Horse," by West, 

 were purchased by the Academy in 1816 and 1836 

 respectively. Sully's full-length portrait of George 

 Frederick Cook was presented by contribution in 

 1812, and the " Christ Rejected," considered by 

 many the best of West's works, and the "Ariadne" 

 of Vanderlyn, were presented in 1878 by Mrs. Joseph 

 Harrison. Besides these are representative works 

 by Trumbull, Gray, Hunt'ington, and May, and 

 portraits by Rembrandt Peale, Stuart, Sully, Eich- 

 holtz, Neagle, Inman, and many others". The 

 honors awarded by the Academy are the Temple 

 gold and silver medals; the Academy gold medal of 

 honor founded in 1893 by John H. Converse; the 

 Walter Lippincott prize and the Mary Smith prize, 

 the latter founded by the late Russell Smith in 

 memory of his daughter. The president of the 

 Academy is Edward H. Coates. 



The sixty-seventh annual exhibition, held in 

 March, was very successful, having attracted con- 

 tributions from all parts of the country. The Tern- 

 pie medals were awarded to Milton Lockwood, of 

 Boston, for his picture " The Violinist," which re- 

 ceived honorable mention at the exhibition of the 

 Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, last year, and to 

 Edward F. Rook, of Newport, R. I., for his canvas 

 entitled " Pearl Clouds Moonlight." The place of 

 honor in the exhibition was held by the " Mother 

 and Child," by George de Forest Brush, purchased 

 by the Academy from the Temple fund, created by 

 the late Joseph E. Temple. Gold medals of honor 

 were awarded to Miss Cecilia Beaux and Edwin A. 

 Abbey, both of whom were born in Philadelphia 

 and received their early art education at the Acad- 

 emy. 



Pittsburgh; Carnegie Institute. The third 

 annual celebration of Founder's Day was signalized 

 by the usual picture exhibition and by the presence 

 of the founder, Andrew Carnegie, who delivered 

 the address. The collection of pictures, including 

 many notable examples from Europe, selected by 

 an advisory committee composed of some of the 

 most eminent artists of London, Paris, and Munich, 

 was fully up to the standard of previous exhibi- 

 tions a standai'd which bids fair to make Pitts- 

 burgh one of the principal art centers of the coun- 

 try. The awards of medals and honors by the 

 international jury were as follow : Gold medal, 

 carrying with it an award of $1,500, D wight Wil- 

 liam Tryon, South Dartmouth, Mass., for his "Early 

 Spring in New England." Silver medal, with 

 award of $1,000, Childe Hassam, New York, for 

 "The Sea." Bronze medal, with award of $500, 

 Alexander Roche, Edinburgh, Scotland, for "The 

 Window Seat." Honorable mention, E. A. Walton. 



FLORIDA. 



271 



London, England, for " The Shepherd " ; John F. 

 Weir, New Haven, Conn., for " Roses." Most note- 

 worthy among the permanent acquisitions of the 

 gallery is Dagnan-Bouveret's " The Disciples at 

 Ernmaus," the gift of Henry C. Frick. 



FLORIDA, a Southern State, admitted to the 

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

 The population, according to each decennial census 

 since admission, was 87,445 in 1850; 140,424 in 1860; 

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

 1890. By the State census of 1895 it was 464,639. 

 Capital, Tallahassee. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, William D. 

 Bloxharn ; 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 ; Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, Lucius B. Wombwell ; 

 State Chemist, W. A. Rawls; State Examiner, W. 

 V. Knott ; Railroad Commissioners, R. H. M. 

 Davidson, H. E. Day, J. M. Bryan ; Board of Health, 

 W. B. Henderson. J. P. Taliaferro, H. L. Simpson ; 

 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, R. F. Taylor ; 

 Associate Justices, Milton H. Mabry and Francis B. 

 Carter. 



Finances. The report of the present Treasurer, 

 from the date of his commission, June 9, 1897, to 

 the end of the year, shows that he received from his 

 predecessor, of funds belonging to the State the 

 sum of $267,487.74, and of special funds $17,279.84. 

 The deficit in the treasury at the date of the resig- 

 nation of the former Treasurer, C. B. Collins, was 

 $52,591.97. The records showed a further deficit 

 of $12,906.62 of the tax-redemption fund due the 

 several counties, making a total of $65,498.59. Mr. 

 Collins was tried on a criminal charge of defrauding 

 the State of $52,591.97, and was acquitted. Civil 

 suits were brought against him and his bondsmen 

 by the State, and judgments were obtained. 



The Treasurer's report at the close of business 

 Nov. 30. 1898. showed balances to the credit of the 

 several State funds amounting to $341,711.45. 



The total assessed valuation of property in 1897 

 was $95,117,031.01, or $272,935.37 less" than the 

 assessed value for 1896. 



The total tax levy for 1897 was 5J mills ; for 1898 

 it was 4| mills. The additional half mill in 1897 

 was made necessary by the deficit in the treasury. 

 The general revenue tax is 3 mills ; the pension tax, 

 4-mill; the board-of-health tax, ^ mill; and the 

 school tax. 1 mill. 



Education. The average attendance at the pub- 

 lic schools is 69,477. The amount levied for the 1- 

 mill State school tax, $95.117.17: amount collected, 

 $87,683.13 ; number of polls assessed, 68,068 ; num- 

 ber collected, 31,721. 



The value of school property is $755,824. The 

 number of buildings is 2,121, of which 14 are brick, 

 1,855 frame, and 252 log. The cost per capita of 

 the average daily attendance is $9.93 for both races ; 

 per capita for the negro schools on the basis of the 

 average daily attendance, $6.20. The amount ex- 

 pended for negro schools for the last biennial period 

 was $171,485.56. 



The cost of instruction at the institutions for 

 higher learning, as shown in the catalogues, is given 

 as follows : State Agriciiltural College total salaries 

 per annum, $14.850 ; number of students, 168 ; 

 average per student per year, $88.39. West Florida 

 Seminary total salaries per annum, $8,160; num- 

 ber of students, 137 ; average per student per year, 

 $59.56. State Normal College for Whites total 

 salaries per annum, $4.300; number of students, 50 ; 

 average per student per year, $86. State Normal 

 College for Negroes total salaries per annum, 





