buildings, and in various manufactures. The number of convicts in prison from Sept. 1, 1872, to Sept. 1, 1874, was 211; remaining at the latter date, 98. The state has not erected buildings for the other institutions. The deaf-mute school is conducted in a leased building; the hospital for the insane and the institute for the blind are carried on under the control and at the expense of the state, board and accommodations being furnished in each case by a contractor. The number of pupils in the deaf-mute school in 1874 was 29, of whom 15 were males and 14 females; in the institute for the blind, 8, of whom 2 were males and 6 females. The number of patients in the hospital for the insane from Sept. 1, 1872, to Sept. 1, 1874, was 295, of whom 205 were males and 90 females, 285 state patients and 10 private patients; remaining at the latter date, 195, of whom 140 were males and 55 females, 193 state and 2 private patients, 124 natives of the United States and 71 of foreign countries.—The public schools of Oregon, considering the youth of the state and the smallness of its population, are well supported. The board of education consists of the governor, secretary of state, and superintendent of public instruction. There are county superintendents of common schools, elected by the people for two years, and boards of district officers. The following statistics, incomplete owing to the failure of some districts to report wholly or in part, are from the report of the superintendent of public instruction for 1873-'4:
| Number of districts | 680 |
| Persons of school age, 4 to 20 years (21,519 males and 19,379 females) | 40,898 |
| Pupils enrolled in public schools (11,138 males and 9,542 females) | 20,680 |
| Average attendance | 15,169 |
| Persons of school age attending private schools | 2,926 |
| Persons of school age attending no school | 10,711 |
| Number of public schools (518 of ordinary and 12 of advanced grade) | 530 |
| Number of teachers employed during the year | 860 |
| Largest number employed at one time | 591 |
| Average monthly salaries of teachers, males | $45 92 |
| Average monthly salaries of teachers, females | $34 46 |
| Average length of public schools | 1.52 quarter. |
| Number of districts having six months' school or more | 288 |
| Number of private schools (43 primary, 21 academic, and 6 collegiate) | 70 |
| Number of public school houses | 555 |
| Value of school property | $332,764 34 |
The schools of advanced grade include those in which most of the pupils pursue the higher branches; in many of those of ordinary grade, probably 100, some of the higher English branches are taught. The total receipts for public school purposes during the year amounted to $204,760, viz.: from district tax, $47,243; state apportionment, $31,589; county apportionment, $87,573; rate bills and subscriptions, $34,672; other sources, $3,683. The expenditures were $215,107, of which $157,103 was for teachers' wages, $46,609 for erection of school houses, and $11,395 for incidental expenses. The “irreducible school fund,” the income of which is apportioned among the different districts, amounted to about $500,000. The statistics of the colleges for 1873-'4 are contained in the following table:
| INSTITUTIONS. | LOCATION. | Date of charter. |
DENOMINATION. | Number of instructors. |
Students. | Volumes in libraries. |
| Pacific university and Tualatin acad'my | Forest Grove | 1853 | None | 8 | 124 | 5,000 |
| Willamette university | Salem | 1853 | Methodist Episcopal | 9 | 322 | 2,500 |
| McMinnville college | McMinnville | 1859 | Baptist | 6 | 150 | .... |
| Christian college | Monmouth | 1865 | Christian Brothers | 9 | 180 | .... |
| Philomath college | Philomath | 1865 | United Brethren | 4 | 110 | .... |
| Corvallis college | Corvallis | 1868 | Methodist Episcopal, South | 6 | 134 | .... |
These institutions, besides the ordinary college courses, have classes of inferior grades which embrace the greater part of the students. Pacific university, Philomath college, and Willamette university admit females. A medical department was organized in Willamette university in 1866, which in 1873-'4 had 11 professors and 14 students. The state agricultural college, endowed with the congressional land grant of 90,000 acres, was organized as a department of Corvallis college in 1872. It has a farm connected with it, and receives an annual grant of $5,000 from the state. The number of students in this department in 1873-'4 was 32. The university of Oregon was established by the legislature in 1872, and is under the control of a board of nine directors, six of whom are appointed by the governor. It receives from the state as an endowment the “university fund,” amounting to more than $50,000. Grounds have been selected and buildings erected near Eugene City, but the institution has not yet (1875) been opened.—According to the census of 1870, the number of libraries was 2,361, with 344,959 volumes, of which 2,195, with 273,427 volumes, were private. Those not private were classified as follows: 1 state, 3,578 volumes; 1 town, 1,161; 1 court and law, 180; 4 school, college, &c., 4,400; 126 Sabbath school, 33,547; 22 church, 10,420; 3 of benevolent and secret associations, 1,096. The state library in 1874 contained 6,217 volumes, chiefly reports, public documents, &c. In that year there were 41 newspapers and periodicals published in the state, of which 4 were daily, 1 tri-weekly, 33 weekly, 1 semi-monthly, and 2 monthly. The number of newspapers and periodicals returned by the census of 1870 was 35, issuing 3,657,300 copies annually, and having an aggregate circulation of 45,750, viz.: 4 daily, circulation 6,350; 26 weekly, 30,400; 5 monthly, 9,000. The statistics of churches for that year are given in the following table:
