Rensselaer Union and Jasper Republican, Volume 8, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1876 — INDIANA STATE NEWS. [ARTICLE]

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

i'pj6KoK«BpAßiatß«, of Logansport, -was taken out of the traces the other day, Thi number of failures In Indian* fbr Um year 1875 exceeds those of ths preceding year by 185, Col. Tom R. Toom liorsewhlppedan Indianapolitan, at the Grand Central Hotel in Indianapolis, the other day, because he spoke derogatorily of his wife. During the blasting of the trenches for the water-works, at Logansport, the other day, John R. Dick, who was looking on, had his skull crushed in by a flying rock. Astkb* continuance of about thirteen weeks, the special revival efforts at Goshen have ceabed. During this period over eighty persons have been converted. Tnn incessant rains of the forty-eight hours preceding the 28th ult., caused considerable damage in the Whitewater Valley in the vicinity of Richmond. Nearly all the railroads suffered by washouts and landslides. An attempt was made to burn the drygoods store of Kitchen & Gorrnly, on the west side of the Lafayette public square, on the morning of the 27th, but it was extinguished before it had gained headway enough to injure the building very materially. Several thousand dollars worth of good were burned.

From the annual report of the directors and officers of the State Prison north recently submitted to the Governor, the folio g of the directors the prison contained 467 convicts, which number has since increased to 511. Of these 350 have been on contract, leaving a monthly average of about eighty or ninety men for whom there is no employment, although a standing advertisement for their labor has been made. The revenue from all sources has been $70,666 66, the current and ordinary expenses being $63,869.02, leaving a balance of $6,797.64. Of this balance $1,637.94 has-been expended on improvements about the prison and the warden’s house, leaving a net balance over all expenditures of $5,259.70. The net earnings of the prison for the nine months of the administration of the present Board of Directors have been $8,833.94. The sanitary condition is excellent, only .four deaths having occurred during the year, one of which was by suicide, and at the present time there are none sick from acute disease.- The special appropriation of SSOO for an addition to the library has been applied to that purpose, and a new workshop has been recently completed at an expense of $9,155.62. The report of Warden Mayne sets forth the average number of prisoners during the year to have been 483; number of inmates Dec. 15,1874, 455; received from courts during the year, 278; recaptured, 1; total, 734. Discharged by expiration of sentence, 174; pardoned by the Governor, 31; escaped, 1; remanded for new trial, 13; died, 4; total,. 223. Number now remaining in prison, 511. Of their crimes, grand larceny is the alleged cause of 270, murder of 40, burglary and grand larceny, 45—* score of other causes being alleged for the remaining criminals. Of the number of inmates, 56 are sentenced for one year, 219 for two years, 5 for twenty-one years, and 25 for life. Of their former occupations decidedly the largest number are farmers, 94; the next in rank being laborers, 69. Of their birth, 870 are Americans and 80 foreigners. -

The annual report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction has been submitted to the Governor, from which is taken the following abstract: The total enumeration of school children for the year ending Nov. 1,1875, was 667,736, being an increase over the preceding year of 13,872. Of this number 340,514 are white males; 817,434 females; 4,040, colored males; 4,848, females. The United States census of 1870 places the number ot children in the State between the ages of 10 and 21, who can neither read nor write, at 26,783, which the Superintendent observes is greatly in excess of the illiterate children in this State, who, from actual count do not exceed 5,000. The total number of children enrolled in the schools for the year ending Sept. 1, 1875, was 502,362, of which 495,711 were white and 6,651 black. From the following exhibit it is shown that ninety-five per cent, of the school population between the ages 6 and 15 received scholastic training last year: Children enumerated under the age of 15 years, 480,770; enrolled in public schools under 15 years of .age, eaztdled in private BCifddlS, estimated, 30,090; toted number between • and 15 receiving scholastic training, 457,008; balance not in school last year, 28,762. A summary of the common school funds indicates the amount held by counties on June 1, 1875, $2,458,407.81; non-negotiable bonds, $3,904,783.21; total common school fund, $6,363,191.02. The Congressional fund is $2,436,000.62, making the grand total $8,799,191.64, which is atf increase of $87,948.33 over 1874. The sources from which the school revenue of 1875 are derived are designated thus : State tax, $1,577,538.19; interest on common school funds, $192,271.52; State interest on non-negotiable bonds, $234,287; unclaimed fees, etc., $8,200.85; total amount, $2,007,292-57. To this add the Congressional township school revenue, slßl,159.80; the local tuition tax, $768,528.92, and the proceeds from liquor licenses, $262,365, which makes the total amount es tuition ■, revenue to Nov. 15, 1875, $8,159,346.27. The apaount of tuition revenue is applicable to school purposes tor the current school year ending on June 80, 1876. From the reports of County Superintendents for the year ending on Aug. 30, 1875, it is learned that the length of school in days has been 120; school-houses erected during the year, 882; total number of school-houses, 9,807; number of teachers, 12,134; nu m ber of township and district graced schools, 396. The suggestion is made that the only, way to keep the school-funds intact is to provide for a more speedy sale i of forfeited lands and to require the counties to makeup any deficiency which may thus result to the fund. Reference is also made to the delinquency of borrowers of the school-fund in paying the interest on the same, by reason of which several counties have been obliged to advance considerable sums to the State to balance their accounts. The recommendation is made that the various Congressional townshipfunds be consolidated into a common county ftmd by which it could be more easily and safely managed.*"'