UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. (NORTH DAKOTA.) 



T81 



Elections of taxes in the two years amounted to 



135,054.46 for general purposes. 



Education. The number of illiterates in the 

 State in 1900 was 12,719. In the percentage of 

 children from ten to fourteen able to read and 

 write, this State stood twenty-ninth on the list, 

 with 97. (55 per cent. 



The school census, 1902, shows a total of 103,- 

 728 children of school age, an increase of 7 per 

 cent, over 1901. The support of the schools in 

 1901 cost $1,670,093.28. There were 3,262 schools 

 and 4,319 teachers in that year. The value of 

 school property in 1901 was $2,750,313.52. The 

 public schools of the State have a land endow- 

 ment worth $50,000,000. The land endowments 

 of the State educational institutions are: Agricul- 

 tural College, at Fargo, supported largely by Con- 

 gress, grant of 130,000 acres; State University, at 

 Grand Forks, with school of mines in connection 

 therewith, 126,080 acres of land; normal school 

 at Valley City, with grant of 50,000 acres; nor- 

 mal school at Mayville, with a grant of 30,000 

 acres; School of Forestry, at Bottineau, no land 

 grant; Scientific School, at Wahpeton, with a 

 grant of 40,000 acres. Nearly 100 traveling li- 

 braries are in use in the schools. 



Charities and Corrections. The following 

 are the State institutions with the extent of their 

 land endowments; Hospital for the Insane, at 

 Jamestown, a land grant of 20,000 acres; Sol- 

 diers' Home, at Lisbon, a grant of 40,000 acres; 

 Blind Asylum, at Bathgate, a grant of 30,000 

 acres; Industrial School and School for Manual 

 Training, at Ellendale, a land grant of 40,000 

 acres; Institution for Feeble-Minded, at Grafton, 

 has a congressional appropriation of $150,000, 

 which with interest amounts to about $31,000; 

 State Penitentiary, at Bismarck, no land grant; 

 State Reform School, at Mandan, a land grant 

 of 40,000 acres; Deaf and Dumb Asylum, at 

 Devil's Lake, a grant of 40,000 acres. 



The new institution at Grafton is nearly fin- 

 ished. It will open with about 150 patients, many 

 of whom will be transferred from other institu- 

 tions. 



Banks. In the year the number of State 

 banks increased from 138 to 176. The total de- 

 posits increased from about $7,000,000 to more 

 than $10,000,000. The resources in September, 

 1901, were $9,603,699.96; and in September, 1902, 

 $13,437,076.88; the loans and discounts increased 

 from $5,820,436.89 to $8,482,721.64. 



Building and Loan Associations. There 

 were of these in 1901 6, with 2,000 members and 

 assets amounting to $428,684. 



Railroads. Statistics show an addition of 

 120.Z2 to the railroad mileage of the State in 

 1901, ^and 98 miles in 1902. The total mileage is 

 3,330.* The Soo road was extended this year 

 from Braddock to Bismarck, a great advantage 

 for the capital city. The opening of the road 

 was celebrated there with enthusiasm Aug. 23. 

 The line passes through an unusually productive 

 country. 



Insurance. The life-insurance claims paid in 

 the State in 1901 amounted to $260,661. 



Industries and Products. From statistics 

 given by the Commissioner of Agriculture for 

 1901, and a review of the progress of the State,are 

 taken the following: Number of flouring-mills, 

 70; lignite-coal mines, 33; cheese factories, 8; 

 creameries, 20; farms, 38,808; ranches, 6,150; 

 combined farms and ranches, 20,150; tons tame 

 and wild feed made, 926,005; acreage lost by hail, 

 1900, from one-fourth to total, 812,482; estimate 

 of flax per acre. 10.15 bushels; estimate of wheat 

 per acre, 12.25 bushels. The returns show a most 



remarkable increase in such grains as corn, flax, 

 barley, and rye, and the garden produce was 

 nearly doubled in 1901 over 1900. 



The estimates of crops in 1902 were: Wheat, 

 55,000,000 bushels; oats, 20,000,000; flax, 25,000,- 

 000; corn, 2,000,000. North Dakota is .the lead- 

 ing State in the production of flax. 



Tests of lignite for use on railroads, which were 

 made this year, are reported to have proved that 

 with engines constructed for the consumption of 

 lignite this fuel is available for use on the road 

 at a great saving over the fuel now used. The 

 principal objection in the past, when tests of lig- 

 nite have been made in railroad locomotives, has 

 been that the draft has lifted the fire out of the 

 fire-box and carried the live coals through the 

 flues and out of the stack, rendering it difficult 

 to keep a fire. This has been overcome in the 

 construction of the engine with which the recent 

 test was made. This engine has a brick arch 

 over the fire-box, which prevents the lifting of 

 the fire, which passes around the end of the 

 arch, and then through the flues, keeping a steady 

 and hot flame. All gases from the coal rise to 

 the top of the arch, where they are consumed. 



Lands. In North Dakota there are 15,071,477 

 acres of unappropriated lands, of which 10,121,977 

 acres are surveyed and 4,949,500 acres are unsur- 

 veyed. The reserved area embraces 8,325,490 

 acres, and the appropriated lands 26,513,113. 



The wooded area is estimated at 600 square 

 miles. In 1901 the State Land Commissioner sold 

 lands that brought in cash payments of $282.000 

 and represented a total cash value of nearly 

 $1,500,000. The common-school fund receives 

 about $200,000 in cash. 



The State institutions received $79,239, placed 

 to the credit of their permanent funds, as follows : 

 Agricultural College, $16,160.23; Blind Asylum, 

 $4,522.18; Capitol building, $9,813.09; School for 

 the Deaf, $6,144.98; Insane Hospital, $2,496.12; 

 Industrial School, $4,935.96; Valley City Normal 

 School, $4,862.52; Mayville Normal School, $2,- 

 817.52; Reform School, $5,085.78; Scientific 

 School, $2,461.55; School of Mines, $3,642.16; Sol- 

 diers' Home, $4,585.90; university, $11,063.07. 



Fort Lincoln. This new military post near 

 Bismarck has been in progress of construction 

 more than two years, but it is far from complete ; 

 when finished it will comprise 62 buildings. Only 

 3 are finished. These are the officers' quarters, 

 the barracks, and the engine-house and water- 

 works. All the buildings are of brick. 



Grand Forks. This city is to have a Carnegie 

 library as soon as the subscription list for the 

 lot, furnishings, etc., which is now nearly com- 

 plete, is finished. 



Legal Decision. A law of 1901 which aimed 

 to give those counties that had not taken advan- 

 tage of the provisions of the Wood's bill for the 

 collection of delinquent taxes by tax judgment 

 and sale opportunity to act under the old law 

 has been held unconstitutional by the Supreme 

 Court, on the ground that it is special legislation. 



Political. At the Republican Convention, 

 which met in Fargo July 23, the following candi- 

 dates were nominated for the State election in 

 November: For Governor, Frank White; Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor. David Bartlett; Judge of Supreme 

 Court. John M. Cochrane; Secretary of State, 

 E. F. Porter; State Auditor, H. L. Holmes; State 

 Treasurer, D. H. McMillan; Attorney-General, H. 

 C. Prick ; State Superintendent, W. L. Stockwell ; 

 Commissioner of Insurance, Ferdinand Leutz; 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, R. J. Turner; Rail- 

 road Commissioners, J. F. Shea, C. J. Lord, and 

 Andrew Schatz. 



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