IOWA. 



339 



supplies are purchased by competitive bids in large 

 quantities. Coal is bought in Illinois, railway rates 

 preventing it being purchased as cheaply in Iowa. 

 The cost per capita is $9.35 a month. There is no in- 

 stitution more economically conducted in the State." 



There were 625 inmates in the Anarnosa Peni- 

 tentiary June 30, 1897. The convicts are construct- 

 ing buildings and carrying on State improvements. 



" There is practically no system of accounting for 

 the materials bought or furnished. There is no 

 method by which the committee was enabled to 

 ascertain whether materials that were bought were 

 actually brought within the prison walls and used 

 in the work of construction. There never have 

 been any specifications or details for the construc- 

 tion of any of the buildings built by the State. 

 The purchase of materials is left to the master 

 mechanic and architect. No one supervises the 

 action of the architect." 



The Industrial School for Boys at Eldora, with 

 500 inmates, and the one for Girls, at Mitchellville, 

 with 160, were under the same board, who have 

 drawn less compensation than any other governing 

 board. There was a lack of thorough bookkeeping, 

 and supplies were furnished as in most of the other 

 institutions. 



At the School for the Deaf at Council Bluffs 

 there were 300 pupils. " The school is in a bad 

 financial condition. On June 30, 1896, the out- 

 standing indebtedness was $10,286.21. June 30, 

 1897, it was increased $8,000. The annual wages 

 are about $10,000 in excess of the annual appro- 

 priation by the Legislature of $21,000." 



There were 167 pupils in attendance at the Col- 

 lege for the Blind at Vinton. The annual cost per 

 capita is $219. The annual cost at the school for 

 the deaf is $210. In view of this report, the boards 

 of trustees were abolished, and the institutions were 

 placed under a board of control, as given under 

 " Legislative Session " in this article. The Governor 

 appointed ex-Gov. William Larrabee. ex-Justice 

 L. G. Kinne, and John Cownie as the board, and the 

 institutions passed under their control July 1. 

 Among the changes in the regulations was one re- 

 quiring that the dietary furnished by the State for 

 officers and employees must be the same as that 

 for inmates. It is intended also to have the em- 

 ployees, so far as is practicable, live outside the in- 

 stitutions and furnish their own board. Reductions 

 have been made in many of the higher salaries; and 

 a rule is made that there shall be no discrimination 

 in point of salary against women in places where 

 similar work is done by men and women. A ratio 

 of employees to inmates has been fixed for each 

 class of institutions. 



The Official Register for 1898 gives the total net 

 cost of the State institutions of Iowa as $24,312,- 

 498.48 ; and the present value of the property owned 

 by the State as $11,753,136. 



Education. The report of the committee of the 

 Legislature appointed to examine State institutions 

 says, " The liberality of the State in providing for 

 its public charities is not exhibited in the appropri- 

 ations made for its educational institutions." 



"There were 1.331 students enrolled in the State 

 University, at Iowa City, in 1897; in 1887 there 

 were 571. In 1897 there were 101 professors. In 

 1887 there were 49. The cost per student in 1897 

 was $105. In 1887 it was $139. The salary list for 

 the year ending June 30, 1898, is $102,000. The 

 income for 1897 was $148,000. About $300.000 has 

 been expended in the construction of buildings. 

 The secretary keeps no books that are checks upon 

 the treasurer. He makes all loans without approval. 

 The treasurer keeps no books showing the sources 

 of revenue." Charles A. Schaeffer, President of the 

 University, died Sept. 23. 





The Agricultural College at Ames graduated a 

 class of 85 in November. The report of the legis- 

 lativecommitteegivestheattendance as573. "About 

 $20,000 worth of creamery product is manufactured 

 annually by the creamery department, at an annual 

 loss of about $1,100. looking at it from a commer- 

 cial point of view. Relatives of four members of 

 the board are on the pay roll, a practice not to be 

 commended. The statute providing that no mem- 

 ber of the board shall receive compensation for more 

 than thirty days in each year is not complied with." 



" The number of students in the Cedar Falls Nor- 

 mal School is 1,312. There are 33 teachers receiving 

 salaries aggregating $34,000. In 1887 there were 

 435 students, taught by 9 teachers, who received 

 $10,050. The school is crowded to its full capacity." 



Drake University received $26,390 this year from 

 ex-Gov. Drake. He has given in all about $150,000 

 to the institution. The enrollment for the first 

 three days of the eighteenth year reached almost 

 300 in the college of letters and science, normal, 

 oratory, business, music, and pharmacy departments. 

 Besides these, 113 are enrolled in the law depart- 

 ment and about 95 in the medical department, 

 making a total of 508. 



The Legislature of 1896 provided for traveling 

 libraries, which may be sent to any incorporated 

 school or college library desiring them ; or a club 

 of 25 taxpayers may receive one on application. 



The school children of the State contributed about 

 $1,500 to the Lafayette monument fund. 



Military. The expenses for Iowa troops in the 

 war amounted to about $125,000. More than half 

 is for the pay of soldiers. They were all uniformed 

 and paid before they left the State. 



The report of the State Sanitary Commission 

 shows the following : Voluntary contributions from 

 10,305 Iowa citizens through the chain letter, 

 $1,030.50; Grand Army Post, Women's Relief 

 Corps, Daughters of Rebekah, and individual con- 

 tributions, $614.34. 



The Adjutant General issued a statement in 

 November giving his plan for reorganizing the 

 National Guard after Jail. 1. 



Products. The general crop statement for 1898 

 gave the aggregate value as $187,455,376. The yield 

 of corn was 289,214,850 bushels, and that of 'oats 

 139,915,346 bushels. 



The Dairy Commissioner's report shows the gross 

 number of pounds of butter shipped to have been 

 92,299,211, which is 7.243,473 pounds less than in 

 1897. There were 946 creameries, as against 891 

 in 1897. 



The value of the total mineral production of the 

 State in 1897 was $7,447,800.42, distributed as fol- 

 lows: Coal, $5,098,103.84; clay, $1,591.866; stone, 

 $587,144.58; gypsum, $195,000; lead and zinc, 

 $5,616 ; iron, $250. 



Insurance. The fire and casualty insurance 

 companies in Iowa in 1897 wrote a total insurance 

 of $224,832,965, received $4,306,756.76 in premiums, 

 and paid $1,594,301.11 in losses. The percentage of 

 losses to premiums was 37, a decrease of 10 per cent, 

 over the previous year. 



The Iowa Mutual Tornado Insurance Association 

 reports more than $55,000,000 of risks now in force. 

 Two new companies were organized at the capital 

 in November, one for insuring against damage by 

 hailstorms, the other against damage by wind- 

 storms. 



Banks. The statement of the Auditor on the 

 condition of the 207 State and the 177 savings 

 banks on Sept. 20 shows an increase in deposits 

 during the three months just precedirig of over 

 $2,170,000, and of more than $16,000,000 in the 

 preceding fifteen months. The amount was $61,- 

 506,858. 



