UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. (KENTUCKY.) 



733 



y; Attorney-General, R. J. Breckinridge, suc- 



eded April 1 by Clifton J. Pratt; Superin- 



ndent of Education, H. V. McChesney; Com- 



issioner of Agriculture, I. B. Nail ; Commissioner 



f Insurance, J. B. Chenault; Chairman of the 

 ilroad Commission, C. C. McChord; Prison 



lommissioners, J. M. Richardson, E. Fennell; 

 itate Inspector, H. B. Hines all Democrats but 



'ratt; Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, T. 

 Paynter, Democrat; Associate Justices, J. D. 



hite, Democrat; George DuRelle, Republican; 

 Rollins Burnam, Republican; B. L. D. Guffy, 



epublican; J. P. Hobson, Democrat; E. C. 



'Rear, Republican; Clerk, S. J. Shackelford, 

 mocrat. 



Elections of State officers are held in November 

 f the years next preceding presidential elections. 



he term of office is four years. The Legislature 



nsists of 38 Senators and 100 Representatives, 

 nd meets on the first Tuesday after the first 



onday of January in even-numbered years. 



Education. The number of illiterates in the 

 State, according to the census of 1900, was 262,- 

 954. The percentage of persons between ten and 

 fourteen years of age who were able to read and 

 write was 91.56. In 1890 it was 85.17. Relative- 

 ly, Kentucky occupies about the same place on 

 the list as in the former year, having been the 

 thirty-seventh in 1890 and the thirty-sixth in 

 1900. A table showing the average wages paid to 

 teachers gives $44.03 as the average for men and 

 $37.18 for women. 



Corrections. The dormitory at the State 

 School of Reform, near Lexington, was burned 

 shortly after midnight, March 20. This was the 

 only dormitory completed to this time, excepting 

 the one occupied by the girls, three-quarters of a 

 mile away. The colored boys of the manual train- 

 ing building and the colored girls occupy an old 

 house, at one time called the old " farm," pur- 

 chased by the State. 



A serious riot was occasioned in the State Pris- 

 >n at Frankfort, Aug. 20, by the attempt made 

 by 3 desperate murderers to escape. The warden 

 placed a guard of 60 men around the building in 

 which the desperadoes had barricaded themselves, 

 and called on them to surrender. As they refused, 

 he determined to starve them into surrender. 

 After this they made several proposals to treat 

 with the officers, and at length the warden con- 

 sented to meet them. As they came down-stairs 

 with their hands up, one of them dropped his to 

 his side, as if to draw a weapon, when he was im- 

 mediately shot by one of the guards; he died at 

 night. Two others of the leaders were wounded. 



Industries and Products. The census report 

 on agriculture, issued in July, shows that the 

 farms of Kentucky June 1, 1900, numbered 234.- 

 667, and were valued at $382,004,890, of which 76 

 per cent, were in land and improvements other 

 than buildings. The value of the farm implements 

 and machinery was $15,301,860, and of live stock 

 $73,739,106. The total value of farm property 

 was $471,045,856. 



With 384,805 acres in tobacco in 1899, the State 

 produced 314,288,050 pounds, valued at $18,541,- 

 982. 



The capital invested in the lumber industry in 

 900 was $9,805,404, and the cut was 777,218,000 



t. The forest area is 22,200 square miles. 



The coal product in 1901 was 5,487,994 short 



ns, valued at $5,208,094. 



The value of mill-products in 1900 w r as $154,- 



",069; in 1890 it was $126,719,857. The capital 



iployed in flour and grist mills was $4,928,928, 



d the value of the product $14,515,161. In saw 



d planing mills $9,804,404 was the amount of 



capital, and $13,774,931 the value of the product. 

 In cotton manufacture there were 991 looms, cap- 

 ital of $1,867,605, and products of the value of 

 $1,663,712. By the report of 1901-'02, Kentucky 

 had 976 looms in operation with 68,414 spindles 

 running, and consumed 24,372 bales. 



Railroads. The number of miles of railroad 

 built in 1902 was 57; in 1903 148 miles are to be 

 constructed. Four railroads of the State were 

 to be consolidated July 1, to be known as the 

 Lexington and Big Sandy Railway Company. 

 It will operate 1,188 miles of track. 



The Goebel Murder Trials. James Howard 

 was tried for the second time in January, and was 

 found guilty by the jury; but the penalty was 

 fixed at life imprisonment. At the first trial he 

 was sentenced to death. In December the Court 

 of Appeals reversed the judgment of the Circuit 

 Court and granted him a new trial. A new trial 

 was granted to Caleb Powers also, who was under 

 conviction and sentence of life imprisonment. 



Lawlessness. A negro charged with assault- 

 ing a white girl was taken from jail at Spring- 

 field, Jan. 11, and hanged by a mob. Another, for 

 the same crime, was hanged by a mob at Nich- 

 olasville, Feb. 6. A white man who was in jail 

 at Owensboro charged with the murder of his wife 

 was taken out and hanged in one of the principal 

 streets, July 17. Another was lynched at Rus- 

 sell ville in August for assault and murder his 

 victim a girl sixteen years old, daughter of his 

 former employer, with whom he had had trouble. 



On Feb. 12 a battle was reported at Middlesboro 

 between officers and mountaineers. The officers 

 were trying to arrest a saloon-keeper. In the 

 fight the saloon was burned. The number of the 

 dead was supposed to be at least 6. The saloon 

 was notorious for the number of men that had 

 been killed there 53 before the fight in February. 



Under the title " Race War," an account was 

 given in March of an occurrence at Madrid Bend 

 in which 2 negroes were shot and 3 were beaten al- 

 most to death. Their offense was stealing chick- 

 ens. 



Election Frauds. Two men were convicted in 

 the federal court at London, in November, of 

 gross frauds committed in Lexington at the No- 

 vember election of 1900; and 3 others were indict- 

 ed by the London Grand Jury for alleged frauds in 

 Louisville in the election of 1902. They were 

 charged with violation of the federal election 

 laws in regard to registration. During the con- 

 gressional registration they wilfully prevented 

 and refused to allow a number of colored voters 

 to register because of their Republican affiliations. 



Legislative Session. The General Assembly 

 was in session from Jan. 7 to March 18. N. \V. 

 Utley was president pro tern, of the Senate, and 

 Gerald Finn was Speaker of the House. There 

 were 26 Democrats in the Senate and 74 in the 

 House; 12 Republicans in the Senate and 26 in 

 the House. 



The House adjourned Feb. 3, on motion of a 

 Representative, who said : " Mr. Speaker, I move 

 that this house now adjourn out of respect to the 

 memory of Gov. William Goebel, who died and 

 passed to heaven two years ago to-day." 



The Senate also adjourned. 



The power of appointment of the legal assistant 

 for the Attorney-General was taken from the At- 

 torney-General and given to the State Auditor. 

 The courts had decided that Clifton J. Pratt, Re- 

 publican, was the rightful claimant of the office 

 of Attorney-General, then held by R. J. Breckin- 

 ridge, Democrat. The Auditor announced that 

 he would reappoint Breckinridge's assistant. 



The right to vote in school elections in sec- 



