370 



ILLINOIS. 



seine with a net the meshes of which are less 

 than 2 inches square, and in fish traps the open- 

 ings must be 2 inches wide. " It shall be un- 

 lawful for any person or persons or corporation 

 to take, catch, or kill in any manner or by any 

 means whatsoever, in the waters of Lake Michi- 

 gan, any whiten sh or lake trout between the 

 fourteenth day of October in each year and the 

 succeeding thirtieth day of November. All pack- 

 ages containing fish shall be labeled in plain let- 

 ters on the address side of the package, so as to 

 disclose the fact that said package contains fish 

 and the nature of said fish in said package." In 

 1890 the output of coarse fish from 32 points on 

 Illinois river was more than 7,000,000 pounds, 

 bringing $207,000. In 1897 a marked increase in 

 aggregate sales was shown, amounting to $249,- 

 000. In 1898 there was an aggregate of $500,000, 

 a business interest made possible by enforcing the 

 proper protective laws and rescuing the fish from 

 overflowed lands in bottoms along the rivers 

 where fish left by the receding tide would other- 

 wise perish. 



Food Commissioner. An act to provide for 

 the appointment of a State Food Commissioner, 

 to define his duties and powers and fix his com- 

 pensation, and to prohibit and prevent adultera- 

 tion, fraud, and deception in the manufacture and 

 sale of articles of food, was approved April 24, 

 1899, and in force July 1. It is the duty of the 

 commissioner to enforce all laws regarding the 

 production, manufacture, or sale of dairy prod- 

 ucts or the adulteration of any article of food, 

 and personally or by his assistants to inspect 

 any article of food made or offered for sale with- 

 in the State if for any reason he may have a 

 suspicion that said food is impure, unwholesome, 

 adulterated, or counterfeit. He shall carefully 

 inquire into the quality of the dairy and food 

 products manufactured for sale or sold or exposed 

 for sale in the State, procure samples of the 

 same, and have them submitted to examination 

 or analysis. When food is found adulterated, 

 impure, or unwholesome it shall be his duty to 

 make complaint against the manufacturer or 

 vender thereof in the proper county, and to furnish 

 the prosecuting attorney with evidence to con- 

 vict thereon. In the term " food " is included all 

 articles simple, mixed, or compound which are 

 used for food, candy, drink, or condiment by 

 man or by domestic animals. 



Insurance. The statement of the Insurance 

 Superintendent, issued in February, showed the 

 number of companies doing a general fire and ma- 

 rine insurance business to be 201, with an aggre- 

 gate paid-up capital of $79,158,449.57 ; admitted 

 assets, $300,318,565.25; liabilities, $198,926,073.25; 

 surplus, $101,412,310.12; total income, $151,491,- 

 565.39; total expenditures, $142,864,813.44; losses 

 incurred, $8,211,282.31; premiums received, $13,- 

 006,528.30; risks written, $1,306,478,149.10; 125 

 companies received $10,552,277.55 more than they 

 disbursed, and 76 companies disbursed $1,925,- 

 525.60 more than they received, leaving a net 

 excess of receipts of $8,626,751.95. 



The number of life insurance companies doing 

 business in the State, as reported April 10, was 

 208, of which 42 were legal reserve, 40 assessment, 

 34 accident, and 82 fraternal societies. The 42 

 legal-reserve companies reported the number of 

 policies issued, restored, and increased since last 

 report as 496,021, amounting to $1,039,479,383.58; 

 policies terminated, 294,452, amounting to $681,- 

 565,777.24; total policies in force at close of year 

 2.406.977, amounting to $5,715,772,665.88; total 

 assets, $1,460,563,472.02; total liabilities, $1,243,- 

 2C.4.989.66. The 34 fidelity, surety, and casualty 



companies showed a capital of $14,720,000; ad- 

 mitted assets, $95,910,775.15; liabilities, including 

 capital, $79,323,944.03; risks in force Dec. 31, 

 $3,648,280,393.17. The 40 assessment companies 

 reported the number of certificates in force Dec. 

 31 as 423,015, amounting to $885,514,531.92; as- 

 sets, $17,068,274.77; liabilities, $5,069,543.43. The 

 10 accident associations showed total assets, 

 $637,281.54; liabilities, $136,783.39; certificates in 

 force, 67,621, insuring $239,271,498; written dur- 

 ing the year, 51,284, insuring $138,447,700. The 

 82 fraternal societies reported the number of poli- 

 cies in force as 1,800,056; total admitted assets, 

 $11,780,013.90; liabilities, $4,191,141.91. 



Military. The cost to the State for the mili- 

 tary forces on duty at Pana and Virden during 

 the riot was reported by Adjutant-General Reece 

 as $60,386.28, the National Guard having received 

 about $53,000 direct and the remainder for trans- 

 portation and supplies. 



" During the past two years the following ad- 

 ditional flags have been deposited in the cases 

 in Memorial Hall: The colors of the First Illinois 

 Infantry of the Mexican War; of the Fourth and 

 Sixth Regiments of cavalry; and Company A, 

 Thirteenth Cavalry, civil war." The visitors' 

 book shows the average attendance in this hall 

 for the past year to have been 105 a day, and 

 that every State in the Union was represented on 

 the list, as well as England, Nova Scotia, Japan, 

 Mexico, Cuba, and Ontario. 



In the war with Spain 9 regiments of Illinois 

 infantry, 1 of cavalry, 3 divisions of the naval 

 militia, and the signal troop were mustered into 

 the Federal service. 



Railroads. The Chicago and Alton was the 

 first railroad in the world to use the Pullman 

 sleeping and dining car. It has a total length of 

 834 miles in trunk line and branches, with 1,186 

 miles of double tracks and sidings. The Illinois 

 and Mississippi Valley Terminal Railroad Com- 

 pany was incorporated on June 26, with a capital 

 stock of $100,000. 



State Institutions. The Eastern Normal 

 School, at Charleston, was formally turned over 

 to the trustees Aug. 29. This school was estab- 

 lished by an act of the General Assembly that 

 went into effect July 1, 1895. On Sept. 7, 1895, 

 the school was located at Charleston, and in De- 

 cember following a contract for building was 

 signed. The appropriations made by the General 

 Assembly for building and furnishing have 

 amounted to $171,000, and Charleston has given 

 $56,216.72. The General Assembly made an an- 

 nual appropriation of $33,000 for defraying the 

 ordinary expenses of the school. The University 

 of Illinois in 1896-'97 had a total enrollment of 

 1,075; in 1897-'98 a total of 1,582, of which num- 

 ber 245 were women. On June 30, 1898, there 

 was a balance on hand of $9,140.69; receipts for 

 the year, $406,622.94, made up of a balance from 

 1897 of $51,640.70; fees from students, $26,- 

 630.95; State appropriations, $210,000; United 

 States Government, $41,419.92; departments and 

 laboratories, $5,162.55; School of Pharmacy, $10,- 

 516.94; of medicine, $41,390.25; miscellaneous, 

 $213,366.95; total expenditures for the year, $397,- 

 482.25. The report of the College of Agriculture 

 showed the number of students enrolled to be 69, 

 as follows: Farm mechanics, 34; farm crops, 29; 

 history of agriculture, 14; soil physics, 3; bac- 

 teriology, 3; stock judging, 58; stock manage- 

 ment, 20; milk production, 10; testing, 10;- horti- 

 culture, 25; orcharding, 3; commercial horticul- 

 ture, 3; veterinary, 22; clinic, 21; thesis for grad- 

 uation, 2. From the agricultural experiment sta- 

 tion of the University of Illinois has come a 



