520 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (ACTON ALLEN.) 



solely to the reduction in the number of licenses 

 issued is suggested by the following figures show- 

 ing the number of licenses granted each year since 

 1893: In 1893,218; in 1894,250; in 1895, 365; in 

 1896, 513 ; in 1897, 571. Four hundred more can- 

 didates than went up to the provincial high-school 

 examination in 1896 presented themselves for ex- 

 amination in 1897. But as a small fee was required 

 to be paid by those not taking the examination in 

 regular order, the cost of the examination was less. 

 The great rush of candidates to examination did 

 not mean, it appears, a sudden advance in pre- 

 paredness so much as it indicated oversanguine 

 expectations. Out of 2,917 only 957 obtained the 

 grades applied for, although I,4l5 received certifi- 

 cates of some grade. It must be remembered that 

 the standard after 1893 was being gradually raised 

 until 1897, when the accommodation expedients 

 authorized during the transition from the old to 

 the new course could be completely dropped. 



" Lastly, both the provincial Normal School and 

 the provincial School of Agriculture affiliated to 

 it, have continued to improve in the preparation of 

 teachers suited to the needs of the province. They 

 help to make clear that the form of education in 

 the common schools best fitted to lay the foundation 

 of a patriotic interest in the soil, industries, and life 

 of the province is also the best for the foundation 

 of the education of the future professional classes ; 

 and that the elementary stages of public-school 

 work might therefore be safely directed without ex- 

 ception toward the stimulation of an industrial 

 bias, instead of solely directing the pupils toward 

 that academic instruction more particularly lead- 

 ing to the learned professions so called." 



The following are the school statistics for the 

 year 1897 : School sections in the province, 1,896 ; 

 sections without school, 153 ; schools in operation, 

 2,346 ; number of teachers, 2,485 ; teachers trained 

 in Normal School, 752 ; pupils on the register in 

 the last quarter of 1897, 100.356 ; high-school stu- 

 dents, 4,807 ; property in sections, $80,738,448. The 

 expenditure in 1897 from provincial grants was 

 $242,811; from county funds, $119,652; from sec- 

 tion assessments, $448,263. 



Agriculture. The number of agricultural so- 

 cieties in 1897 was 89, the members numbered 

 5,238, the total sum subscribed was $5,998, and the 

 Government grant was $8,000. Efforts were made 

 to improve the live stock, and much greater interest 

 was shown in fruit culture. Efforts were made 

 by the Department of Agriculture to promote the 



breeding of hogs, and in this respect a satisfactory 

 showing was given at the annual Halifax exhi- 

 bition. 



The creameries and cheese factories numbered 20. 

 with 1,191 patrons and a production of 365,670 

 pounds of cheese and 192,887 pounds of butter. 

 The total value was $73,118. 



Mining. The receipts of the department during 

 the year ending Sept. 30, 1897 mainly from the 

 coal royalty were $270,387. The gold produced 

 was 26,580 ounces, valued at $505,020. This pro- 

 duction is steady, the total value for thirty-five 

 years having been $12,434,474. The other items of 

 mineral production were as follow : 



The sales of coal were $641,308, and the export to 

 the United States was 106,279 tons, against 174,919 

 tons in 1896. 



Railways. The report of the provincial Gov- 

 ernment Engineer, dated Jan. 20, 1898, says that 

 " our operations during the year consisted chiefly 

 of preliminary railway surveys, supervision of rail- 

 way construction, and the erection of highway 

 bridges, built under the authority of the bridge act 

 of 1883 and its amendments. The year 1897 will be 

 memorable for the opening for traffic of the first 

 three sections of the Coast Railway, 31 miles, Yar- 

 mouth to East Pubnico. With the further stretch 

 of 20 miles under construction, to Barrington, nearly 

 one fourth of the whole length from Yarmouth to 

 Halifax will be completed. Under the provisions of 

 chapter liii, Revised Statutes, and in consideration 

 of a subsidy to be paid in the manner provided, an 

 agreement has been entered into between the Gov- 

 ernment of Nova Scotia and the Midland Railway 

 Company, Limited, for a railway from a point on 

 the Intercolonial Railway, or the Dominion Atlantic 

 Railway, within the town of Windsor, in the county 

 of Hants, to a point on the Intercolonial Railway 

 within the town of Truro, in the county of Col- 

 chester." 



The outlay on bridge repairs during 1896-'97 was 

 $12,986, making a total of $145,976 in five years. 



O 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. Acton, Thomas 

 Coxon, financier, born in New York city, Feb. 23, 

 1823 ; died in Saybrook. Conn., May 1, 1898. He 

 acquired a limited education, and was admitted to 

 the bar. but never practiced. In 1850 he was ap- 

 pointed assistant deputy county clerk, and after 

 three years' service there he entered the office of the 

 surrogate. Gov. Morgan, in 1860, appointed him a 

 police commissioner of the old metropolitan dis- 

 trict, an office he held under the old and new or- 

 ganizations for nine years, during seven of which 

 be was president of the board. His most distin- 

 guished service was during the draft riots in 1863. 

 when for a week, in consequence of the wounding 

 of Superintendent Kennedy, he personally com- 

 manded the entire police force of the city. During 

 this period he was also a member of the Board of 

 Health and the Board of Excise, both of which he 

 aided in organizing. The paid fire department, too, 



was created largely through his efforts. From 1870 

 till 1883 he was superintendent of the United States 

 Assay Office in New York city, and in the next four 

 years he was assistant treasurer of the United 

 States. In 1887 he organized and became president 

 of the Bank of New Amsterdam, with which he was 

 officially connected till 1896. Mr. Acton was an 

 organizer of the Societies for the Prevention of 

 Cruelty to Animals and to Children. 



Allen. Joseph Henry, theologian, born in North- 

 boro, Mass., Aug. 21, 1820; died in Cambriilp 

 Mass., March 20, 1898. He was graduated at Har- 

 vard' in 1840, and at its divinity school in 1843, 

 and held pastorates in Roxbury and Northboro 

 Mass., Washington, D. C., Bangor, Me., Ann Arbor. 

 Mich., San Diego, Cal., and Ithaca, N. Y.. till 1878. 

 For twelve years he was editor in chief of tht: 

 " Christian Examiner." From 1878 till 1882 he was 

 lecturer on ecclesiastical history at Harvard, and in 



