712 TERGUKASSOFF, ARSAS A. 



TEXAS. 



tion of our State is not thus lightly to be esteemed 

 and must be held, both in great and small matters, to 

 be the supreme law of the land. 



The semi-annual interest on the State School 

 fund, which was apportioned among the coun- 

 ties on the 1st of April, amounted to $75,375. 



The assessed value of the railroads of the 

 State for purposes of State taxation is : 



Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis $2,782,924 89 



Louisville & Nashville, with branches and 



leased roads 8,596,528 13 



St. Louis& Southeastern 290,596 48 



East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia (Western 



Division) 970,58412 



East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia (Eastern 



Division) 1,016.613 89 



Memphis <fc Charleston 721,126 66 



Mobile & Ohio 1,647,360 00 



Mississippi Central 932,660 05 



Western & Atlantic 231,974 71 



Alabama & Chattanooga 11,443 96 



Mississippi & Tennessee 96,861 20 



McMinnville & Manchester. 114,429 82 



Tennessee & Pacific 144,433 15 



Winchester & Alabama 151,87093 



Knoxville & Ohio 224,205 76 



Duck River Valley 107.652 03 



Cincinnati, Cumberland Gap & Charleston. . . . 114,651 70 



Paducah & Memphis 834,429 92 



Eoane Iron Company. 10,359 00 



Tennessee Coal & Railroad Company 182,067 29 



Nikaiack Railroad & Mining Company 2,608 50 



Riply Railroad Company 15,509 70 



A convention in the interest of the improve- 

 ment of the navigation of the Tennessee River 

 was held at Chattanooga on the 5th of De- 

 cember. Resolutions were adopted declaring 

 the work to be one of national importance, and 

 calling for assistance from the Congress of the 

 United States. 



TERGUKASSOFF, ARSAS ARTAMYEVITCH, 

 the commander of the Russian Erivan column, 

 is the son of an Armenian priest, and was born 

 in 1819. He received his education in the 

 corps of engineers, which he left in 1839, with 

 the rank of lieutenant. After serving for sev- 

 eral years in the department of road construc- 

 tion in St. Petersburg, he was appointed to the 

 board for war communications in the Caucasus, 

 in which he remained four years. In 1850, he 

 retired from the military service with the rank 

 of lieutenant -colonel, but entered the active 

 army again within two years. Since then he 

 has served in the Caucasus, distinguishing him- 

 self on various occasions, particularly at the 

 capture of Shamyl, in 1859. For his many brill- 

 iant actions he was decorated with numerous 

 orders, and received from the emperor a gold- 

 en sword. Appointed colonel in 1858, he ad- 

 vanced to the rank of major-general in 1865, 

 and was shortly after appointed to the com- 

 mand of the Nineteenth Infantry Division. 

 Shortly before the opening of the present war, 

 he was raised to the rank of lieutenant-general. 



TEXAS. The peace of this State was much 

 disturbed during the past year by the troubles 

 on the Rio Grande border, which not only 

 caused great local excitement, but engaged the 

 consideration of the General Government. As 

 early as the 1st of June the Cabinet was occu- 

 pied in discussing measures to prevent cattle- 

 stealing raids into Texas from Mexico and other 



lawless acts on the part of Mexicans. The re- 

 sult of this deliberation was embodied in the 

 following letter of instructions written by the 

 Secretary of War to the General of the Army : 



WAB DEPARTMENT, ) 



WASHINGTON, D. C., June 1, 1877. J 



GENERAL: The report of W. M. Shafter, lieutenant- 

 colonel Twenty-fourth infantry, commanding the 

 district of the Nueces, Texas, concerning recent raids 

 by Mexicans and Indians from Mexico into Texas 

 for marauding purposes, with your indorsement of 

 the 29th instant, has been submitted to the Presi- 

 dent, and has, together with numerous other reports 

 and documents relating to the same subject, been 

 duly considered. The President desires that the 

 utmost vigilance on the part of the military forces 

 in Texas T>e exercised for the suppression of these 

 raids. It is very desirable that efforts to this end, 

 in so far at least as they necessarily involve opera- 

 tions on both sides of the border, be made with the 

 cooperation of Mexican authorities ; and you will in- 

 struct General Ord, commanding in Texas, to invite 

 such cooperation on the part of local Mexican au- 

 thorities, and to inform them that, while the Presi- 

 dent is anxious to avoid giving offense to Mexico, he 

 is nevertheless convinced that the invasion of our 

 territory by armed and organized bodies of thieves 

 and robbers, to prey upon our citizens, should not be 

 longer endured. General Ord will at once notifv the 

 Mexican authorities along the Texas border of the 

 great desire of the President to unite with them in 

 the efforts to suppress this long-continued lawless- 

 ness. At the same time he will inform those author- 

 ities that, if the government of Mexico shall continue 

 to neglect the duty of suppressing these outrages, 

 the duty will devolve upon this government ? and 

 will be ' performed, even if its performance should 

 render necessary the occasional crossing of the bor- 

 der by our troops. You will, therefore, direct Gen- 

 eral Ord that, in case the lawless incursions continue, 

 he will be at liberty, in the use of his own discretion, 

 when in pursuit of a band of the marauders, and 

 when his troops are either in sight of them or upon 

 a fresh trail, to follow them across the Rio Grande, 

 and overtake and to punish them, as well as retake 

 stolen property taken from our citizens and found 

 in their hands, on the Mexican side of the line. I 

 have the honor to be, very respectfully, 



GEORGE W. MoCEARY, Secretary of War. 

 To General W. T. SHERMAN, commanding Army of 



the United States. 



On the 12th of August an armed band of 

 from 10 to 15 Mexican outlaws crossed from 

 the Mexican side, entered Rio Grande City, 

 the county seat of Starr County, where they 

 broke open the jail and released Esproneda 

 and Garza, two notorious criminals, one of 

 whom had been indicted for murder, and the 

 other for theft of cattle. While perpetrating 

 this outrage they severely wounded the county- 

 attorney, Noah Cox, and three jailors. With 

 the released prisoners the desperadoes recrossed 

 the river, pursued by a detachment of United 

 States troops under Major Price. On being 

 notified by General Ord of these lawless pro- 

 ceedings, Governor Hubbard wrote the facts to 

 President Hayes, concluding as follows : 



Under the extradition treaty in force I am vested 

 with authority to demand extradition of criminals 

 from any neighboring Mexican Stnte. I propose to 

 make this demand, but desire cooperation by a si- 

 multaneous demand from the President. 



To this the following reply was sent : 



