KENTUCKY. 



421 



have distributed 46,225 California salmon and 

 150,000 white shad in the streams of the State. 

 The number of insurance companies, author- 

 ized to do business in Kentucky, in January, 

 was 124 ; of which 112 were fire and 12 life com- 

 panies. The authority of one life insurance 

 company was revoked, and one withdrawn, 

 during the year. Eight additional fire in- 

 surance companies were admitted, and 19 were 



COLLEGE OF ARTS, KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, LEXINGTON. 



withdrawn. All but 1 life and 10 fire in- 

 surance companies doing business in the State 

 were organized in other States. The amount 

 of insurance in the State on the 1st of January 

 was $127,000,485 ; premiums collected during 

 the year preceding, $2,247,261.33 ; losses paid, 

 $1,251,888.74. 



An election was held on the 6th of August 

 for the choice of State Treasurer, members of 

 the Legislature, and local officers ; but it was 

 preceded by no general conventions. The total 

 vote cast for Treasurer was 117,791 ; of which 

 James W. Tate, Democratic candidate, received 

 96,557 ; Isaac H. Trabde, Republican, 20,451 ; 

 scattering votes, 783. 



The subject of improving the navigation of 

 the Kentucky River, and putting in repair the 

 locks and dams constructed many years ago, 

 has occupied the attention of the State author- 

 ities and others. A convention was held at 

 Frankfort, in February, for the consideration 

 of this matter, and a committee of thirteen was 

 appointed to confer with the authorities. A 

 part of the object in view is to secure a sur- 

 render from the Kentucky Navigation Com- 

 pany of its lease of the river improvements, 

 and appropriations by the Legislature to com- 

 plete and perfect them. This question entered 

 somewhat into the canvass for election of mem- 

 bers of the Legislature in 1878. 



The strike of railroad workmen, which oc- 

 curred in several States in July, was par- 



ticipated in by the employes of the Louisville 

 & Nashville Railroad Company, who left work 

 at Louisville on the 23d of July, and demanded 

 a restoration of wages to the rates from which 

 a reduction had been made at the beginning of 

 that month. The strike of the railroad men 

 was the signal for the gathering of a mob of 

 laborers and of idle and disorderly persons in 

 the streets. A committee of citizens was or- 

 ganized to aid in preserv- 

 ing order, and the follow- 

 ing proclamation was is- 

 sued by the mayor : 



TO THE WORKINGMEN OF 



LOUISVILLE : By al! that you 

 hold dear, by the love you 

 bear for your wives and 

 children, by the pride you 

 feel for your city ? I adiure 

 you to preserve quiet aim or- 

 der during this trying crisis. 

 If you have wrongs to com- 

 plain of, there is a proper 

 mode of redress ; and as long 

 as you continue moderate, 

 the sympathies of all good 

 citizens will be with you ; 

 nay, in your very moder- 

 ation will be your greatest 

 strength. Listen to no in- 

 cendiary language, and, 

 above all, heed not the talk 

 of idle and worthless creat- 

 ures, who, unwilling to work 

 themselves, would gladly get 

 you into trouble, that they 

 may feast upon your mis- 

 fortune. The experience of 



other cities is, that vagrants and tramps have 

 caused all the mischief, that they might pillage 

 and destroy: and yet the poor workingmen have 

 had to bear the odium of the outbreak. From such 

 as these I implore you to shield yourselves as from 

 your deadliest enemies. If you but continue the 

 honorable and highly creditable conduct that has 



foverned you from the beginning of these troubles, 

 assure you, upon the faith of one who has never 

 deceived you, that all wrongs, imaginary or real, will 

 be readily corrected. Nay. I pledge you my honor, 

 and my life if necessary, that no personal efforts on 

 my part, no matter how onerous, shall be left un- 

 tried to protect you in the fullest. God grant that 

 wisdom and moderation may govern you ; and, if so, 

 a prouder lustre than ever before will be reflected 

 upon the workingmen of Louisville. 



CHARLES D. JACOB,. Mayor. 



A riot broke out on the night of the 24th, 

 and an attempt was made to fire the offices of 

 the railroad company ; but the disturbance was 

 promptly suppressed by the authorities, aided 

 by the better class of citizens. The following 

 proclamation was issued the next day by the 

 Governor of the State : 



STATE or KENTUCKY, EXECUTIVE DEPABTMKNT, \ 

 FBANKFOBT, July 25, 1877. f 

 To THE PEOPLE OF KENTUCKY : At this time, 

 when violence, tumult, and riot in some of the States 

 have resulted in bloodshed, destruction of property, 

 and suspension of business, 1 with pleasure con- 

 gratulate you on the comparative peace and quietude 

 which exist in our commonwealth. The only dis- 

 turbance which has been reported to me occurred in 

 the city of Louisville ; and I am informed it was not 

 participated in by railroad employe's or working- 



