# The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Kansas (state)

KANSAS, a western state of the American Union, the 21st admitted, lying between lat. 37° and 40° N., and lon. 94° 40′ and 102° W., bounded N. by Nebraska, E. by Missouri, S. by Indian territory, and W. by Colorado. A portion of the boundary on the northeast, adjoining Missouri, is formed by the Missouri river. The state has the general form of a rectangle, extending 410 m. E. and W. and about 210 m. N. and S., and containing 81,318 sq. m. It is divided into 104 counties, of which 31 in 1874 were unorganized, as follows: Allen, Anderson, Arapahoe, Atchison, Barbour, Barton, Bourbon, Brown, Buffalo, Butler, Chase, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Davis, Decatur, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Foote, Ford, Franklin, Gore, Graham, Grant, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Hodgeman, Howard, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Kansas, Kearney, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Miami, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morris, Nemaha, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pottawattamie, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Republic, Rice, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Sedgwick, Sequoyah, Seward, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita, Wilson, Woodson, Wyandotte. The cities of Kansas, as reported by the federal census of 1870, were: Atchison, which had 7,054 inhabitants; Baxter Springs, 1,284; Emporia, 2,168; Fort Scott, 4,174; Lawrence, 8,320; Leavenworth, 17,873; Ottawa, 2,941; Paola, 1,811; Topeka, the capital, 5,790; and Wyandotte, 2,940. Kansas had 8,501 inhabitants in 1855, 107,206 in 1860, and 364,399 in 1870. Township and city assessors are required to make every year an enumeration of inhabitants. According to the state census of 1873, the number of inhabitants in the organized counties was 605,063; the population in the unorganized counties was estimated at 5,800, making the total population of the state 610,863, a gain of 246,464, or 67.63 per cent, in three years. Of the total population in 1870, 202,224 were males and 162,175 females; 316,007 were native and 48,392 foreign born; 346,377 were white, 17,108 colored, and 914 Indians. Of those of native birth, 63,321 were born in the state, 35,558 in Illinois, 13,073 in Iowa, 16,918 in Kentucky, 29,775 in Missouri, 18,557 in New York, 38,205 in Ohio, and 19,287 in Pennsylvania. Of the foreigners, 5,324 were natives of British America, 6,161 of England, 10,940 of Ireland, 1,274 of France, 12,774 of Germany, 4,954 of Sweden, and 1,328 of Switzerland. The density of population was 4.48 persons to a square mile. There were 72,493 families, with an average of 5.03 persons to each, and 71,071 dwellings, with an average of 5.13 persons to each. In the S. W. part of the state is a settlement of Mennonites. The increase of population from 1860 to 1870 was 239.9 per cent., a much larger gain during that period than is shown in any other state; the relative rank rose from 33 to 29. The number of male citizens 21 years old and upward was 99,069. There were in the state 108,710 persons from 5 to 18 years of age, and 95,002 males from 18 to 45. The total number attending school was 63,183; 16,369 persons 10 years of age and over were unable to read, and 24,550 could not write. Of the 105,680 male adults in the state, 8,894, or 8.42 per cent., were illiterate; and of the 69,645 female adults, 9,195, or 13.2 per cent., were illiterate. The number of paupers supported during the year ending June 1, 1870, was 361, at a cost of $46,475. Of the total number (336) receiving support June 1, 1870, 190 were natives and 146 foreigners. The number of persons convicted of crime during the year was 151. Of the total number (329) in prison June 1, 1870, 262 were of native and 67 of foreign birth. The state contained 128 blind, 121 deaf and dumb, 131 insane, and 109 idiotic. Of the total population 10 years of age and over (258,051), there were engaged in all occupations 123,852 persons; in agriculture, 73,228, including 21,714 agricultural laborers and 50,820 farmers and planters; in professional and personal services, 20,736, of whom 538 were clergymen, 4,481 domestic servants, 72 journalists, 7,871 laborers not specified, 682 lawyers, 906 physicians and surgeons, and 6,012 teachers not specified; in trade and transportation, 11,762; in manufactures and mechanical and mining industries, 18,126, including 4,138 blacksmiths, 625 boot and shoe makers, 5,064 carpenters, and 1,466 brick and stone masons. The total number of deaths returned by the census of 1870 was 4,596; there were 413 deaths from consumption, or one death from that disease to 11 from all causes; 599 from pneumonia, 354 from scarlet fever, 240 from intermittent and remittent fevers, and 204 from enteric fever. The Indians remaining in Kansas, not enumerated in the census of 1870, are the Kickapoos, 290 in number, on a reservation of 19,200 acres in the N. E. part of the state; the prairie band of the Pottawattamies, about 400, on a reservation of 77,357 acres 14 m. N. of Topeka; and about 56 Chippewas and Munsees, who own 5,760 acres of land about 35 m. S. of Lawrence. State Seal of Kansas. —The general surface of Kansas is an undulating plateau, which gently slopes from the western border, where the altitude above the sea is about 3,500 ft., to the eastern line, which is elevated about 750 ft. above the sea at the mouth of Kansas river. The river bottoms are generally from one fourth of a mile to 3 m. wide, but toward the western part of the state, on the Arkansas and Republican rivers, they are from 2 to 10 m. wide. Back from the bottom lands, bluffs rise to a height of from 50 to 300 ft., with a slope of 20° to 30°. From the summits of these bluffs may be seen a succession of rolls, or upland prairies, whose tops are from a quarter of a mile to a mile apart, and from 20 to 80 ft. above the intervening valley. The general inclination of the ridges is N. and S. There is no portion of the state which is flat or monotonous. The surface of eastern Kansas is chiefly undulating, and presents a succession of rich prairies, grass-covered hills, and fertile valleys, with an abundance of timber on the streams. The western half is not so diversified in its scenery, but it has a rolling and varied surface, with every requisite for a fine grazing country. Kansas is well supplied with rivers. On the E. border of the state the navigable Missouri presents a water front of nearly 150 m. The Kansas is formed by the confluence of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers near Junction City, whence it flows in an E. course about 150 m. to the Missouri near Kansas City. It is not navigable, though steamboats have ascended to Junction City on the Smoky Hill. The latter has its source near the Rocky mountains in Colorado; it receives from the north in Kansas the Saline river, about 200 m. long, and the Solomon, 300 m. The Republican river rises in Colorado, and after flowing through N. W. Kansas into Nebraska, enters Kansas again about 150 m. W. of the E. border of the state; it is more than 400 m. long from its source. The Kansas receives from the north the Big Blue river, which rises in Nebraska and is about 125 m. long, and the Grasshopper, about 75 m.; on the south, it receives near Lawrence the Wakarusa, which is nearly 50 m. long. About two thirds of the state lies S. of the Kansas and Smoky Hill rivers, and is therefore called southern Kansas, the remainder being known as northern Kansas. The Osage river rises in the E. part of the state, and after a S. E. course of about 125 m. enters Missouri. The most important rivers having a southerly course are the Neosho, which rises in the central part of the state, and after a S. E. course of about 200 m., during which it receives the Cottonwood and other streams, enters the Indian territory about 25 m. W. of the S. E. corner of Kansas; the Verdigris, which flows nearly parallel with the Neosho into the Indian territory, receiving Fall river on the west; and the Arkansas, which has its sources in the Rocky mountains in Colorado. This river runs through nearly three fourths of the length of Kansas, first E. and then S. E., and with its tributaries waters two thirds of the southern part of the state. Its windings in Kansas have been estimated at 500 m. Its tributaries on the N. or E. side include the Walnut, the Little Arkansas, and Cow creek. In the S. W. corner, the Cimarron flows for a considerable distance in the state. The above constitute only the most important of the rivers of Kansas; there are numerous tributaries of these from 25 to 75 m. long, which with the main streams make Kansas one of the best watered of the western states; but none of them are navigable.—No thorough geological survey of Kansas has yet been undertaken; but preliminary examinations have been made by Professors G. C. Swallow and B. F. Mudge. The eastern portion of the state belongs to the carboniferous system, in which are found all the bituminous coal measures of the state. The greater part of this area is the upper carboniferous, the lower carboniferous only coming to the surface in the S. E. corner. This formation is composed of many different strata of limestone, sandstone, coal, marls, shales, fire clay, slate, selenite, &c., varying in thickness, and occurring irregularly. The carboniferous system is divided by Prof. Swallow into the following series: upper coal, 391 ft. thick; chocolate limestone, 79; cave rock, 75; Stanton limestone, 74; spring rock, 80; well rock, 238; Marais des Cygnes coal, 303; Pawnee limestone, 112; Fort Scott coal, 142; Fort Scott marble, 22; lower coal, 350; lower carboniferous, 120; total, 1,986 ft. Some of these series, however, are only local. Further west is the upper and lower Permian system, having a depth of about 700 ft., and containing numerous strata of magnesian limestone and beds of gypsum. This system is supposed to extend across the state from N. to S. in an irregular belt about 50 m. wide. Adjoining it on the west is a tract belonging to the triassic system, the strata of which have a thickness of 338 ft., and are composed of limestone, sandstone, thin coal veins, gypsum, selenite, and magnesian marls and shales. West of this is the cretaceous formation, extending to the foot hills of the Rocky mountains. It crosses the state in a N. E. and S. W. direction near the mouths of the Saline and Solomon rivers, thence covering the whole western portion of the state. Prof. Mudge says: “This is one of the richest deposits of the United States in its fossils, and possesses great geological interest. It not only abounds in well preserved fossils, similar to those of other parts of the United States, as well as of Europe, but contains many species new to science. The predominant fossils of the eastern portion of this formation are dicotyledonous leaves, of which about 50 species have been found, a dozen of which are new to science. Among these is the cinnamon, now growing only in torrid climes. More westerly are quantities of the remains of sharks and other fish, equalling in size the largest now known; also saurians and other amphibians, of large size and peculiar forms.” Fifteen specimens of marine shells, three of reptiles, and five of fishes, previously unknown, were obtained here. The coal-bearing region of Kansas occupies the entire E. portion of the state, having a general width from E. to W. of about 120 m., and embracing an area of about 17,000 sq. m. Throughout this region outcroppings of bituminous coal appear. Many of the veins are thin, but some of them are 7 ft. thick and produce a good quality of bituminous coal; mining is extensively carried on at several points. Coal is also found in the W. part of the state, but of inferior quality. In this region salt also exists in large quantities in numerous springs and extensive salt marshes. The salt district embraces a tract about 80 by 35 m., crossing the Republican, Solomon, and Saline valleys. Salt is also found S. of the Arkansas river. On the W. border of the state there is an extensive deposit of crystallized salt in beds from 6 to 28 in. thick. It has not, however, been made available for commercial purposes, in consequence of the difficulty of access. Analyses of Kansas salt show it to be of remarkable purity, entirely free from chloride of calcium. Iron ores have been found in various localities, but not of a character to be profitably worked. Lead, alum, limestone suitable for hydraulic cement, petroleum, deposits of paints, lime, excellent building stone, and brick and other clays are found.—Perhaps no other western state has so pleasant and beautiful a climate as that of Kansas, or so many bright sunny days. The winters are milder than in the same latitude further east, the temperature rarely falling below zero. According to observations covering five years made by Prof. Snow, Kansas had more rain during the seven months from March 1 to Oct. 1 than any other of 19 northern and western states with which comparison was made; and less during the winter months than any other except one. In summer the temperature ranges from 80 to 100, but the air is dry and pure, while the nights are invariably cool and refreshing. The extraordinary clearness of the atmosphere is remarked by all strangers. The most disagreeable feature of the climate is the severe winds which sweep over the prairies during the winter months from the northwest; during summer, pleasant S. W. breezes prevail. The mean annual temperature for five years was 52.8°: spring, 52.2°; summer, 75.5°; autumn, 54.3°; winter, 29.1°. The average annual rainfall was 44.09 in.: spring, 10.82; summer, 18.6; autumn, 9.79; winter, 5.42; from March 1 to Oct. 1, 34.15. The climate of Kansas is said to be highly favorable to consumptives and those suffering with asthmatic or bronchial complaints; the central and W. portions are singularly free from the diseases which prevail in miasmatic regions and mountain districts, such as fever and ague, and rheumatic and acute febrile diseases.—The soil of Kansas is highly favorable to agriculture. On the bottom lands it is from 2 to 10 ft. deep, and on the uplands from 1 to 3 ft. In the E. half of the state it is a black sandy loam intermixed with vegetable mould. In the W. part the soil is light-colored, and is deeper than that of eastern Kansas, being from 2 to 10 ft., but it contains less vegetable mould. The soil of the entire state is rich in mineral constituents; this feature, together with an unusually good drainage, gives to it valuable qualities for the growth of vegetation. Reports covering nine years show that the average production of Indian corn per acre was 18 to 48.4 bushels, wheat 11.6 to 21.4, rye 17 to 25.8, oats 25 to 42, barley 23 to 38, potatoes 85 to 149. Fine grazing and good hay are afforded by the prairie grasses which everywhere abound, growing from 1 to 6 ft. high. The plains in the W. part of the state are covered with a small grass, which has a short curled leaf and spreads on the ground like a thick mat. It is known as buffalo grass, and is extremely sweet and nutritious. Good timber is well distributed throughout the E. part of the state, being generally found along streams and adjacent ravines. The abundance of coal and stone, however, diminishes the need of wood for fuel or building purposes. The most abundant kinds of trees are oak, elm, black walnut, cottonwood, box elder, honey locust, willow, hickory, sycamore, white ash, and hackberry. The buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, prairie dog, squirrel, horned frog, prairie hen, grouse, wild turkey, wild goose, and many varieties of small birds are found. The rearing of cattle is a prominent industry, and the W. part of the state presents unusual advantages for sheep raising.—According to the census of 1870, there were 5,656,879 acres of land in farms, including 1,971,003 acres of improved land, 635,419 of woodland, and 3,050,457 of other unimproved land. The total number of farms was 38,202; there were 5,478 containing between 10 and 20 acres, 13,744 between 20 and 50, 8,732 between 50 and 100, 5,346 between 100 and 500, 42 between 500 and 1,000, and 13 over 1,000. The cash value of farms was$90,327,040; of farming implements and machinery, $4,053,312; total amount of wages paid during the year, including value of board,$2,519,452; total (estimated) value of all farm productions, including betterments and additions to stock, $27,630,651; value of orchard products,$158,046; of produce of market gardens, $129,013; of forest products,$368,947; of home manufactures, $156,910; of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter,$4,156,386; of all live stock, $23,173,185. The number of acres under cultivation was returned at 2,476,862 in 1872, and 2,982,599 in 1873; the value of farm productions in the former year was$25,265,109. The chief agricultural productions in 1870 and 1873 were as follows:

 PRODUCTIONS. 1870. 1873. Wheat, spring, bushels 1,314,522 ........⁠ Wheat, winter 1,076,676 ........⁠ Indian corn 17,025,525 29,688,848⁠ Rye 85,207 301,957⁠ Oats 4,097,925 9,337,681⁠ Barley 98,405 508,002⁠ Buckwheat 27,626 76,929⁠ Peas and beans 13,109 ........⁠ Potatoes 2,392,521 ........⁠ Grass seed 3,023 ........⁠ Flax seed 1,553 ........⁠ Hay, tons 490,289 ........⁠ Hemp, lbs. 73,400 1,410,304⁠ Flax 1,040 ........⁠ Cotton 3,500 251,222⁠ Tobacco 33,241 393,352⁠ Wool 335,005 ........⁠ Butter 5,022,758 6,804,693⁠ Cheese, farm 226,607 143,932⁠ Cheese, factory ....... 151,172⁠ Honey 110,827 135,384 (1872) Wax 2,203 3,633 (1872) Wine, gallons 14,889 34,505⁠ Milk sold 196,662 ........⁠ Orchard products, bushels ....... 713,954⁠ Orchard products, value ....... $356,977⁠ Grapes, lbs. ....... 828,120 (1872) Grapes, value .......$42,441⁠

The number of domestic animals on farms reported by the census of 1870, and the number and value of all in the state as reported by the state authorities in 1873, were:

 ANIMALS. 1870. 1873. Value in 1873. Horses 117,786 176,161 $10,393,499 Mules and asses 11,786 17,816 1,362,971 Milch cows 128,440 ..... ........ Sheep 109,088 51,166 119,723 Swine 206,587 380,701 2,093,852 Cattle 250,527 634,021 13,314,441 —Though having an abundance of water power, Kansas has not yet attained a high rank in manufacturing industry, the people being devoted chiefly to agriculture, stock raising, and fruit growing. According to the census of 1870, the total number of manufacturing establishments was 1,477, having 254 steam engines of 6,360 horse power, and 62 water wheels of 1,789 horse power, and employing 6,844 hands, of whom 6,599 were adult males, 118 adult females, and 127 youth. The capital invested amounted to$4,319,060; wages paid during the year, $2,377,511; value of materials,$6,112,163; of products, $11,775,833. The chief industries were: 195 carpentering and building establishments, capital$146,678, products $1,725,433; 106 flouring and grist mills, capital$1,056,800, products $2,938,215; 123 founderies, capital$135,986, products $326,420; 195 lumber mills, capital$642,955, products $1,736,381; 76 saddlery and harness establishments, capital$217,205, products $425,928; 6 woollen mills, capital$92,000, products $141,750. Assessors are required to collect every year statistics of agriculture, manufactures, minerals, &c., and the state board of agriculture to publish annually a detailed statement of the various industries. Transportation facilities are afforded by the Missouri river and the numerous railroads. In 1865 there were but 40 m. of railroad in Kansas. In 1873 the entire mileage had increased to 2,131, and was being rapidly extended. The railroad assessors in the latter year returned 2,062 m., assessed at$11,704,154. The railroads lying wholly or partly within the state in 1873, together with their termini and their assessed value in Kansas, are represented in the following statement:

NAMES OF CORPORATIONS. TERMINI. Miles in
the state
completed
in 1873.
Total length
of line when
different from
preceding.
Assessed
value in
Kansas.

Atchison and Nebraska  Atchison and Lincoln, Neb. 38  147  $182,619 Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Atchison and state line 469  ${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}}$ .... .... 2,480,800 Branch Newton to Wichita 27 ........ Central branch of the Union Pacific Atchison and Waterville 100 .... 400,000 Doniphan and Wathena Doniphan and Wathena 13 .... 40,500 Junction City and Fort Kearney Junction City and Clay Centre 33 .... 99,000 Kansas Central Leavenworth and Denver, Col. 56 500 165,810 Kansas Pacific Kansas City, Mo., and Denver, Col. 476 639 3,764,745  ⁠Branches ${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$ Lawrence to Leavenworth 34 .... ........ Junction City to Clay Centre 33 .... ........ Lawrence and Southwestern Lawrence and Carbondale 30 .... 107,100 [1]Leavenworth, Atchison, and Northwestern Leavenworth and Atchison 21 .... 153,373 Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Lawrence and Coffeyville 144  ${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}}$ .... .... .... 991,630  ⁠Branches ${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right.}}$ Olathe to Ottawa 32 ........ Cherryvale to Independence 10 ........ Missouri, Kansas, and Texas ...  ${\displaystyle \scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}}$ .... .... 159 54 116 1,189,006 Neosho division Junction City to Parsons 156 ........ Sedalia division Sedalia, Mo., to Parsons 50 ........ Osage division Holden, Mo., to Paola 19 ........ Cherokee division Parsons to Arkansas river, Indian Ter. 28 ........ Missouri River Kansas City, Mo., and Leavenworth 23 .... 177,952 Missouri River, Fort Scott, and Gulf Kansas City, Mo., and Baxter 159 .... 1,147,474 St. Joseph and Denver City Elwood and Hastings, Neb. 138 227 647,143 [1]St. Louis, Lawrence, and Denver Pleasant Hill, Mo., and Carbondale 39 93 157,000 2,128$11,704,152
1. Leased by the Atlantic and Pacific railroad company.

In 1873 there were in the state 26 national banks, with a paid-in capital of $1,975,000, and an outstanding circulation of$1,537,496. The entire bank circulation was $1,825,496, being$5.01 per capita; ratio of circulation to wealth, one per cent.; ratio of circulation to bank capital, 77.8 per cent. In 1874 there were 34 fire and marine and 20 life insurance companies doing business in the state.—The executive department of the government consists of a governor, whose annual salary is $3,000; lieutenant governor; secretary of state,$2,000; auditor, $2,000; treasurer,$2,000; attorney general, $1,500; and superintendent of public instruction,$2,000. All of these are elected by the people for a term of two years. The legislature at present (1874) comprises 33 senators, who are elected for two years, and 105 representatives, elected for one year. Their compensation is fixed by the constitution at $3 a day for actual service, and 15 cents a mile for travel to and from the capital; the entire per diem compensation for each member being limited to$150 for a regular and $90 for a special session. The sessions are annual, beginning on the second Tuesday of January. A two-thirds vote of all the members elected in each branch of the legislature is required to pass a measure over the governor's veto. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court, consisting of a chief justice and two associate justices, elected by the people for a term of six years; 15 district courts, of one judge each, elected by the people of the district for four years; a probate court in each county consisting of one judge elected for two years; and justices of the peace elected in each township for two years. General elections are held annually on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November. The right of suffrage is limited by the constitution to white males 21 years old and over, who are either citizens of the United States or have declared their intention to become such, and who have resided in Kansas six months next preceding the election and in the township or ward in which the vote is offered at least 30 days. Persons who have engaged in a duel are made ineligible to any office of trust or profit. The property owned by a married woman at the time of marriage, and any which may come to her afterward except from her husband, remains her separate property, not subject to the disposal of her husband, or liable for his debts. She may convey her property, or make contracts concerning it. She may sue and be sued, in the same manner as an unmarried woman, and may carry on any trade or business and have full control over her earnings. Neither husband nor wife may bequeath more than one half of his or her estate away from the other without written consent. Divorces may be granted by the district court, among other causes, for abandonment for one year, adultery, impotency, extreme cruelty, drunkenness, gross neglect of duty, and imprisonment in the penitentiary subsequent to marriage. The plaintiff must have resided a year in the state. In actions for libel, the truth published with good motives and for justifiable ends may constitute a good defence. The legal rate of interest is limited to 12 per cent. Kansas is represented in congress by two senators and three representatives, and has therefore five votes in the electoral college. The total state debt, Jan. 1, 1874, was$701,550; bonded school debt of counties, $1,928,585; municipal debt,$10,899,445; aggregate, $13,529,580. The income and disbursements of the various funds were as follows:  SOURCES. Receipts. Disburements. Balance. General revenue$744,856 99 $658,855 83$86,001 16 Interest fund 146,775 11 93,403 00 53,372 11 Sinking fund 47,229 96 8,905 00 38,324 96 Annual school fund 249,771 82 237,220 23 12,551 59 Permanent school fund 231,164 61 229,625 97 1,538 64 Military fund 7,516 89 3,500 00 4,016 89 Insane asylum fund ........ ........ 20 Railroad fund 8,210 88 6,060 31 2,150 57 Penitentiary fund ........ ........ 3,272 00 Int. on municipal bonds 58,339 16 54,289 79 4,049 37 ⁠Total $1,493,865 42$1,291,860 13 $205,277 49 The value of taxable property, as fixed by the state board, and the amount and rate of taxation since Kansas became a state, are shown in the following table:  YEARS. Taxableproperty. Rate. Taxlevied. 1861$24,744,383 3    mills. 74,233 1862 19,285,749 5    mills. 101,469 1863 25,460,400 5    mills. 127,302 1864 30,502,791 5    mills. 152,384 1865 36,227,200 5    mills. 181,136 1866 50,439,634 4    mills. 201,760 1867 56,276,360 5    mills. 281,381 1868 66,949,549 6½ mills. 435,407 1869 76,383,697 10    mills. 763,836 1870 92,528,099 8¾ mills. 809,620 1871 108,753,575 6    mills. 652,521 1872 127,690,937 8½ mills. 1,085,372 1873 125,684,176 6    mills. 754,105

The state government is supported chiefly by a tax directly upon the people, the assessment being made upon a cash valuation of all the real and personal estate, including the property of railroad companies and other corporations. The asylums for the insane, deaf and dumb, and blind are each controlled by a board of six trustees appointed by the governor and senate. The asylum for the insane at Osawatomie is greatly inadequate to the needs of the state. The number of patients at the close of 1873 was 121; the current expenses for the year amounted to $28,221. Since the opening of the asylum in 1863, 378 persons have been admitted, of whom 161 have been discharged recovered, 38 improved, 26 stationary, and 19 died. The asylum for the deaf and dumb at Olathe, organized by the legislature in 1866, is intended to afford instruction, without charge for board or tuition, to all the deaf and dumb of the state between the ages of 10 and 21 years. The course of instruction covers six years, but may be extended in certain cases. Students are also required to devote time to industrial pursuits with a view of being able to obtain a livelihood after leaving the institution. By this means a considerable income is created for the asylum. In 1873 there were 5 instructors and 77 pupils, of whom 52 were in attendance at the close of the year. The amount appropriated by the legislature was$36,604, including $20,000 for additional buildings. The institution for the blind, founded in 1867, is at Wyandotte. It comprises educational and industrial departments, and in 1873 had 4 instructors and 33 pupils. The cost of the institution in that year was$11,590. The state penitentiary at Leavenworth at the end of 1873 had 340 convicts, of whom 19 had been sentenced by the United States and 49 by military courts; 25 had been convicted of murder, 11 of manslaughter, 10 of assault with intent to kill, 173 of larceny, 32 of burglary, 15 of robbery, and 15 of rape. The disbursements for 1873 were $126,267; the resources amounted to$139,607, including $70,000 appropriated by the legislature and$54,232 received from prisoners' labor, boarding United States prisoners, &c. Some of the convicts are employed in various industrial pursuits within the prison, while others are employed under contract outside. Convicts may receive a percentage of their earnings. In 1873, for want of a state reform school, 75 boys from 15 to 20 years of age were confined in the penitentiary.—The constitution requires the legislature to “encourage the promotion of intellectual, moral, scientific, and agricultural improvement, by establishing a uniform system of common schools, and schools of a higher grade, embracing normal, preparatory, collegiate, and university departments.” The proceeds of all lands granted by the United States to the state for schools, and of the 500,000 acres granted to each of the new states by congress in 1841, all estates of persons dying without heir or will, and such percentage as may be granted by congress on the sale of lands in this state, are made a perpetual school fund. The income of the state school funds is required to be disbursed annually among the school districts; but no district is entitled to receive any portion of such funds in which a common school has not been maintained at least three months in each year. General educational interests are under the supervision of a state superintendent of public instruction, and there is a superintendent in each county. The board of education consists of the state superintendent, the chancellor of the state university, the president of the state agricultural college, and the principals of the state normal schools at Emporia and Leavenworth. A prominent duty of the board is to issue diplomas to such teachers as pass the examination. The state institutions of learning are governed by a hoard of seven regents, of whom one is an ex officio member and six are appointed by the governor and senate. According to the census of 1870, the whole number of schools was 1,689, having 1,955 teachers, of whom 872 were males and 1,083 females, and attended by 59,882 pupils. Of these, 1,663 were public schools, with 1,864 teachers and 58,030 pupils; 5 were colleges, with 27 teachers and 489 students; 6 were academies, with 36 teachers and 415 pupils; and 4 were private schools, with 4 teachers and 115 students. The total income of all the educational institutions was $787,226, of which$19,604 was from endowment, $678,185 from taxation and public funds, and$89,437 from tuition and other sources. In 1873 there had been organized 4,004 school districts, in which there were 3,133 school houses. The entire school population of the state (between 5 and 21 years of age) numbered 184,957, of whom 121,690 were enrolled in the public schools, the average daily attendance being 71,062. There were 1,880 male teachers, receiving an average monthly salary of $38 43, and 2,143 female teachers, whose average monthly salary was$30 64. The permanent school fund was $1,013,982, including$1,003,682 interest-bearing securities. The income from various sources for public schools amounted to $1,657,318, including$931,958 from district tax and $231,917 received from state fund. The total expenditures for schools were$1,488,676, including $716,056 for teachers,$51,504 for rent and repair of buildings, $160,723 for furniture, apparatus, &c.,$515,071 for buildings and sites, and $79,812 for miscellaneous items. The total value of school houses was$3,408,956; of apparatus, $33,873. Kansas has four state normal schools for the free training of public school teachers: one at Emporia, organized in 1865; one at Leavenworth, in 1870; one at Quindaro, in 1871; and one at Concordia, in 1874. The first named has a normal department, which affords a two years' and a four years' course of study, and a model department. The number of students in 1873 was 218, the disbursements$17,829. The school at Leavenworth comprises a normal department, which affords a thorough knowledge of all subjects taught in the public schools of the state, and a model school in which the art of teaching may be practised. This model school comprises 13 grades or departments, in which in 1873 there were 1,100 pupils receiving instruction from 15 teachers. In the normal department there were 7 teachers and 63 students. The Quindaro normal school is for colored persons, and was attended in 1873 by 82 pupils. The state university is at Lawrence. The plan of the institution comprises six departments: 1, science, literature, and the arts; 2, law; 3, medicine; 4, theory and practice of elementary instruction; 5, agriculture; 6, normal department. In 1874 only one of these departments had been organized; this comprised a classical course, a scientific course, and a course in civil and topographical engineering. There were then 12 instructors and 272 pupils, of whom 73 were in the collegiate and 199 in the preparatory department. No charge is made for tuition. The university already has valuable collections in natural history, and a considerable library. The magnificent building of the institution, 246 ft. long, 98 ft. wide in the centre and 62 in the wings, contains 54 rooms, including an immense hall, to be devoted to purposes of instruction. The state agricultural college at Manhattan has received the national grant of lands made for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts. The aim of the institution is to afford an industrial rather than a professional education. Four general courses of instruction are provided: the farmer's, the mechanic's, the commercial, and the woman's. The farm contains 200 acres of prairie upland, so arranged as to afford the best facilities for teaching the applications of science to agriculture and making practical experiments. The nursery of 67 acres contains the largest and most valuable assortment of fruit and forest trees west of the Mississippi river. The mechanical department embraces carpenter, wagon, blacksmith, paint, and harness shops. Women are taught sewing, printing, telegraphy, photography, and other branches. Tuition in all departments is free. The principal colleges are St. Benedict's (Roman Catholic), at Atchison, founded in 1859, which in 1873 had 7 instructors and 94 pupils; Washburn college (Congregational), at Topeka, founded in 1865, having 5 instructors and 93 students; Highland university (Presbyterian), with 4 instructors and 137 students; Baker university (Methodist Episcopal), at Baldwin City, with 8 instructors and 65 students; college of the sisters of Bethany (Episcopal), at Topeka, with 10 instructors and 83 pupils; and Ottawa university (Baptist), at Ottawa. The Kansas academy of science was organized in 1868 as a society of natural history, but was enlarged in its scope in 1871, and incorporated by the legislature the following year. In its present form it comprehends observers and investigators in every line of scientific inquiry, and aims to increase and diffuse a knowledge of science particularly in its relation to Kansas. The society has made valuable contributions to the knowledge of the state in geology, botany, ornithology, ichthyology, entomology, and meteorology, and designs in time to make a complete scientific survey of the state.—According to the census of 1870, there were in the state 574 libraries, having 218,676 volumes; 364, with 126,251 volumes, were private, and 190, with 92,425, were other than private, including 4 circulating libraries with 6,550 volumes. The state library in 1874 contained about 10,000 volumes. The number of newspapers and periodicals in 1870 was 97, with an aggregate circulation of 96,803; copies annually issued, 9,518,176; 12 were daily, circulation 17,570; 4 tri-weekly, circulation 1,840; 78 weekly, circulation 71,393; and 3 monthly, circulation 6,000. The number of religious organizations of all denominations was 530, having 301 edifices, with 102,135 sittings, and property valued at $1,722,700. The denominations were represented as follows:  DENOMINATIONS. Organizations. Edifices. Sittings. Property. Baptist, regular 91 56 18,540$247,900 Christian 35 10 4,550 45,300 Congregational 43 26 8,350 152,000 Episcopal, Protestant 14 9 3,280 57,500 Evangelical Association 2 1 300 6,000 Friends 7 7 1,600 13,800 Jewish 2 1 300 1,500 Lutheran 9 5 1,400 12,500 Methodist 166 74 23,525 316,600 Presbyterian, regular 84 55 20,660 277,900 Presbyterian, other 10 7 2,150 24,500 Reformed Church in the United States (late German Reformed) 1 1 275 3,000 Roman Catholic 37 34 14,605 513,200 Unitarian 2 1 400 20,000 United Brethren in Christ 24 3 2,200 31,500