802 



SOUTH DAKOTA. 



525.31; sleeping-car companies paid $352; express 

 companies, $2,512; licenses for grain warehouses 

 amounted to $762; the State Reading Circle fund 

 was replenished to the amount of $1,460.85. On 

 the bond interest and sinking fund $145.004.87 

 was collected; on the constitutional bond fund, 

 $13,043.06; and on the Taylor deficiency school 

 fund bonds, $31,792.92. The bonded debt was de- 

 creased materially; the amount of bonds due was 

 $708,300, of which $440,800 was in coupon bonds 

 and $267,500 in registered bonds. The entire debt 

 falls due in twelve years. At the close of the 

 year there was more than $150,000 in the bond 

 interest fund. 



Education. The school- population this year 

 was 116,278, an increase of 3,467 in one year. The 

 amount apportioned from the land fund was 

 $202,436, giving about 30 cents more per capita 

 than in any previous year. The Legislature ap- 

 propriated * $22.000 for the Madison Normal 

 School, $25,000 for the Spearfish Normal, and 

 $19,500 for the Agricultural College, at Brookings. 

 The college has established an experiment station 

 at Highmore, in Hyde County, where special at- 

 tention \Vill be given to the growing of hard 

 grasses that will do well in dry climates. 



Charities. A terrible catastrophe occurred at 

 the hospital for the insane at Yankton at two 

 o'clock in the morning of Feb. 12. A fire broke 

 out in the laundry building, which was used as 

 a cottage on account of the crowded condition of 

 the institution. Of the 40 inmates housed in the 

 3 stories of the building, 17 lost their lives. The 

 12 attendants in charge of them escaped. The 

 coroner's jury brought in a verdict, finding that 

 no one was criminally responsible for the fire, 

 but found also that "by reason of insufficient 

 appropriations no night watchman had been em- 

 ployed on the hospital grounds for at least four 

 years." There was no insurance upon the burned 

 building. The Legislature appropriated $70,000 

 for improvements. The contract for building the 

 Northern Hospital for the Insane, at Redfield, was 

 let in October for $22,500. The Home for the 

 Feeble-minded, for which the Legislature pro- 

 vided, is to be at Redfield. 



The Government is to build an asylum for 

 insane Indians at Canton. The site selected con- 

 tains 160 acres, and the appropriation is $45,000. 



Military. The Governor wrote to the Presi- 

 dent in April, asking for the return of the First 

 Dakota Regiment from the Philippines, since the 

 war for which it was enlisted had ended, and 

 criticising the course of the Administration in 

 carrying on the war in the islands as an " at- 

 tempt to enforce title with bayonets to a nation 

 of brown men purchased from a disgraced and 

 vanquished despot," after this nation had spent 

 blood and treasure " to repudiate the theory that 

 the white man could buy the body and force the 

 services and the allegiance of the black man." 



The volunteers reached home in October, and 

 were received with great rejoicing. A fund of 

 $31,000 for paying the transportation for them 

 from San Francisco was raised in the State, with 

 the understanding that the next Legislature will 

 reimburse the contributors. A list of those in 

 the service in the Philippines who lost their lives 

 before May 14 numbers 57; of these, 30 died of 

 disease, 1 was drowned, and the others were killed 

 or mortally wounded in action. 



The State has credit with the War Department 

 for arms and equipment of troops, which will be 

 returned in equipment for the reorganized militia. 



River Improvement. The War Department 

 in the spring approved plans for improving the 

 Missouri from Sioux City, Iowa, to' Bismarck, 



N. D., involving an outlay of $170,000; of this, 

 $100,000 is to be used at Yankton, Elk IN. int. 

 Pierre, and Fort Pierre. 



Railroads. Several new roads are projed.d. 

 and preparations were made for beginning work 

 in the autumn. A new road between Yankton 

 and Omaha, and a road to the Black Hills, to be 

 known as the Dakota Southern, are among the 

 new enterprises. An estimate of the taxation of 

 roads in the State makes the average $89. .YJ a 

 mile. The Railroad Commissioners are engaged in 

 litigation with the Milwaukee Railroad in refer- 

 ence to maximum rates. The commission costs 

 the State $15,000 a year. 



Banks. The condition of the 20 national 

 banks, Feb. 4, was given as follows by the Comp- 

 troller: Since the date of the last report. !). 

 1, the resources have increased from $7,753,037 to 

 $7.904,095: loans and discounts decreased from 

 $3,344,330 to $3,335,257: reserves ineiva-ed from 

 $1,683,905 to $1.732,003. of which gold holdings in- 

 creased from $310,322 to $341.028. The dopo-ii* 

 increased from $4,792,007 to $4,974,434, and the 

 average reserve held decreased from 36.23 to 36.1 1 

 per cent. The Yankton Savings Bank suspended 

 payment Nov. 22, in consequence, it seems, of a 

 run precipitated by the fact that the county 

 treasurer, who had defaulted, was known to have 

 deposited public funds there. 



Products. The amount of gold produced from 

 Black Hills mines in 1890 is reported by the Mine 

 Inspector at $9.131,430. The Homestake leads 

 with $2,674,330. The resources of the State have 

 been summed up as follow: "South Dakota is 

 third in the production of cold of all the State*. 

 She is also third in the production of wheat, lir-t 

 in the production of flax, fifth in barley, oats, and 

 rye, about eighth in wool, and tenth in live 

 stock. She is also high among the States in the 

 production of dairy products, and is a liberal 

 producer of almost all known minerals and coal, 

 and even natural gas in many localities" 



Lands. From a statement published in Man h 

 it is learned that of the 108,000 acre- of <;<vern- 

 ment land opened for settlement two years ago 

 on the Yankton Indian Reservation in Charles 

 Mix County, all but 15,000 acres have been en- 

 tered by actual settlers. These lands have cost 

 the settlers $3.75 an acre, but when it is consid- 

 ered that they are in one of the favored sections 

 of the State and largely on the Missouri bottom. 

 it will be seen that the owners have made an ex- 

 cellent bargain. Much of the land is now worth 

 $12 to $20 an acre. 



Tolstoi. The following was published in Au- 

 gust: "Near the Nebraska line, in the eastern 

 part of the State, lies the new village of Tolstoi. 

 It is neither on the maps nor on the railroad, 

 but is a thriving village. Although but two 

 weeks old, it has a school, a church, and a store. 

 Tolstoi is occupied by a band of Russians, exiled 

 on account of religious persecution from their 

 mother country. They came from the provini" 

 of Kherson, in the eastern part of Russia. All 

 are of the Dhoukhoborski faith, which niean- 

 spirit wrestlers. The store, as well as the farm 

 and school property, is owned in common, but 

 the members are allowed to have individual prop- 

 erty, as they pay their quota of the running ex- 

 penses of the plant. The colony has about ."."< -n 

 acres of land in one body. 



Legislative Session. The sixth biennial 

 sion of the Legislature began Jan. 3 and ended 

 March 3. The Republicans were in a majority 

 in each branch. A. G. Somers was Speaker of the 

 House. 



The Public Examiner made a report criticising 



