840 



WYOMING. 



amounted to $236,600.70. All but one have books, 

 the total number of volumes being 4,240. There 

 has been an increase in the number of children at- 

 tending the school, in the number of teachers em- 

 ployed, a lengthening of the terms, improved 

 attendance, and more money than formerly spent 

 for the maintenance of the schools. The State Uni- 

 versity, situated at Laramie, enrolled the past year 

 186 students, which is the largest number it has 

 ever had. The receipts for the year were $54,923.43 ; 

 its expenditures, $41,974.22. 



From the annual report of the College of Agri- 

 culture we quote the following : " The expenditures 

 were this year larger than ever before. Most of 

 this increased expenditure went for new apparatus 

 and better facilities in the laboratories. The acces- 

 sion of books is very marked, and the amount spent 

 in this direction will from year to year be rather 

 increased. Numerous machines and a tool room 

 have been added to the department of mechanical 

 engineering. A commodious wing for increasing 

 the room to be devoted to foundry work was built 

 on the Mechanical Building in the summer of 1897. 

 The greenhouse was also enlarged by the addition 

 of a wing greater than the main portion of the 

 building. Notwithstanding the growth of about 50 

 per cent, last year, the increased attendance in all 

 departments of the university this year has been 

 groat. The institution as a whole has grown nearly 

 20 per cent." 



The total sum available for the year ending June 

 30, 1898, was $30,017.26 ; the amount expended was 

 $21,017.45, leaving a balance of $8,999.81. There 

 were 19 students, one of whom was a woman. The 

 report gives the following statement of the college 

 property for the year ending June 30, 1898 : Value 

 of all buildings, $102,000; of other equipment, 

 $45,000 ; number of acres, 356 ; acres under cultiva- 

 tion, 180 ; acres used for experiments, 180 ; value of 

 farm lands, $9.540; number of bound volumes, 

 June 30, 1898, 5,750 ; pamphlets, 4,000. 



State Lands. The State Board of Land Com- 

 missioners in their biennial report say : " A com- 

 parison with the report of the Register submitted 

 two years ago shows an increase in the business of 

 leasing lands belonging to the State. The total 

 number of leases has increased 154 per cent. ; the 

 number of acres leased, 127 per cent. ; and the an- 

 nual rentals, 141 per cent. Much of this increase 

 is due to the selection of additional State lands, 

 which are leased as fast as selected. But the real 

 increase of demand, showing the tendency of the 

 people to fence and control their grazing land, is 

 probably best shown by reference to the tables of 

 common-school land under lease now and two years 

 ago. During that period the number of leases has 

 increased 61 per cent. -The success of the manage- 

 ment of State lands in the manner in which it is 

 now conducted by the board that is, of leasing 

 small tracts to adjacent settlers seems well assured. 

 The very large demand for such lands, several times 

 what the State is able to supply, is sufficient evi- 

 dence of the advantage to the people. This demand 

 has suffered no diminution in spite of the fact that 

 applicants themselves have placed the rental at a 

 figure which is somewhat higher than what it was 

 believed it should be for a fair profit to the lessees." 



The number of leases Sept. 30, 1898, was 1,448; 

 number of acres, 888,613.57 ; valuation, $748,592.64 ; 

 average value per acre, $84 ; annual rental, $37,- 

 431.40. 



Valuations. The Board of Equalization, in their 

 report for 1898, says: "While we find, during this 

 period, an increase in the valuation of railroad prop- 

 erty, land and improvements on land, and farming 

 utensils and mechanics' tools, yet the larger part of 

 our increased valuation has come from tin- increase 



in valuation of cattle and sheep, and our greatest 

 loss has been the decrease of $440,000 in the assessed 

 valuation of horses. While the number of horses 

 returned for taxation has increased about 10 per 

 cent., the total valuation has fallen about 38 per 

 cent, and the average valuation 37 per cent. The 

 number of cattle has decreased 6f per cent, since 

 1895, while the value has increased 38 per cent, since 

 1895 and 56 per cent, since 1893, giving an increased 

 valuation for assessment purposes of almost $900,- 

 000. The number of sheep has increased 35 per 

 cent., while the total valuation has increased 65 per 

 cent., making an increase in the valuation of $1,150,- 

 000. Since 1893 the number of sheep has increased 

 more than 100 percent. : the total valuation has in- 

 creased 92 per cent. The removal of duty on wool 

 caused an actual loss of $2.50 per head in valuation 

 of Wyoming ewes, and a loss of 43 cents per head 

 in the average assessed valuation of all sheep. This 

 loss is now being regained, the average assessed 

 value being $1.82 per head, against $1.97 per head 

 in 1893. Wyoming stands eighth in the list of shee]>- 

 .owning States, fifth in regard to the gross amount 

 of wool produced, and seventh in regard to the yield 

 of scoured wool." A comparison of the total valu- 

 ation of all kinds of property in 1895 with that of 

 1898 shows a net gain of $950,352.95. 



State Prison. The State Board says, in its an- 

 nual report: "The percentage of increase in the 

 number of convicts under the care of the State for 

 the past year has more than kept pace with that of 

 former years." The average daily number in the 

 year ending Nov. 30, 1898, was 136.11 ; the net cost 

 for the year, $23,508.08 ; the daily per capita, 44.3 

 cents. Of the 51 prisoners discharged during the 

 year, 42 were discharged by reason of expiration of 

 sentence and without pardon, 5 were pardoned prior 

 to expiration of sentence, 1 was pardoned on com- 

 pletion of sentence for the purpose of restoring 

 him to citizenship, 1 was released upon writ of ha- 

 beas corpus, and 2 escaped. No deaths occurred 

 during the year. A new penitentiary building has 

 just been completed at Rawlins. 



Charities. The new building of the Wyoming 

 General Hospital was completed and the work was 

 accepted May 4, 1898, and the building was occu- 

 pied by the hospital management about May 15. 

 The cost of the building, ready for occupancy, 

 was $16,065.37. The amount realized from insur- 

 ance on the old building and appropriated for the 

 reconstruction of it was $15.000. The hospital is 

 now conceded to be one of the best equipped and 

 best managed of any in the West. The patronage 

 very largely increased during the year, and the 

 results attained were highly satisfactory. The ex- 

 pense of maintenance was necessarily increased 

 with the increase in number of patients and the 

 inevitable extra expense connected with the estab- 

 lishment of the hospital in its new quarters. The 

 earnings, however, show a marked increase over 

 those of former years. The total days' attendance 

 of patients for the year ending Sept! 30, 1898, was 

 7,230 an average daily attendance of 19.8 and 

 the statement of earnings, without any allowance 

 for uncollected accounts, shows them to have been 

 $8,431.60. The amount received in the Stale tivas- 

 ury for care and treatment of patients at the hos- 

 pital was $6,260.69. 



The Superintendent of the Hospital for the In- 

 sane says, in his report : " The number of patients at 

 tlu- date of the last report. Oct. 1, 1897, was (IS 4S 

 men and 20 women. The number since admitted is 

 28 22 men and 6 women. The whole number under 

 treatment during the year was 96 70 men ami 26 

 women ; the daily average having been 72.9. Of 

 these 11 were discharged as recovered. 1 as im- 

 proved, and 7 have died. There are remaining at 



