Figures For A Year

There are probably no statlstics in the world that are one half as interastiag as those relating to marriage. The maxrtage liceuges that are publisliod each week, are scanned wiih eager eyps by nearly all classes oí readers, a.nrt no matter in how obscure a place they may be located they will be hunted out. In view of the val ivo of this subject to our readers we have taken considerable pains to look over tlie record for the year past in the county clerk's o.fice. and trom tt have tornpüed a few figures that may be new to the public. In the first'place we find that Ann Arbor city has furnished more brides th,an any other locaüty In the county, being íar anead oí Ypsilanti, and in grooms the record shows almost twice as many from the county capital as from its Greek named sister down the Huron. The table is as folio vvs : U rooms Brides Ann Arbor city 76 88 " " towD 8 4 Augusta 14 18 Kridgewater 6 0 Dexter 8 3 Freedom 8 7 Lima 3 8 Lodi ___ li 11 [jvndon 3 4 Manchester 10 11 Northfleld - 11 11 Pittsfleld fi 8 .Saiem 8 7 Saline 19 14 Sclo 5 8 Sharon 4 7 Superior 4 5 Sylvan 12 10 Webster 2 1 York 18 13 Ypsilauti town 1 4 Ypsilanticity 39 51 Of the nationality of those married 280 are natives to the manor born, whatevor that may mean - in this instance it means born in this county. The state outside this county furnished 152. The balance of this nation 121. Of the foreign countries, 1 claimed Europe as his Wrthplace ; 3 Ire'-and, 4 Scotland, 19 Engalnd, 30 Canada, 64 Germany. Because the number of brides and grooms in a townsüiip are even. doee not indícate that the couples married both came from that place, in fact, aaide fi-om Ereedom and Todi very few brides married men in their owb township. There were mar.y more instances in the two cities where thts occurred. than in the country. While th grooms register trom all parts of the nation. The occupations show this eommuntty to be an agricultural one in a large sense, for out of 337 grooms, 142 were farmers, while only 11 were toaehers, and but 2 students. Ore dergymau. 1 mtnteter and 1 pastor took unto themselves helpmates whi'e (1 pliysicians, 4 lawyers, 1 elocutionfet, (which is all the same) did Hkewise. Three bookkeepers, 1 book seller, 1 optician, 2 mail elerks, 1 letter carrier, 2 jewelers, 3 paper makers, 1 paper hanger and 2 janitors and 2 masons, had the tie tied. Each of the following occupations had one representative : saloon keeper, grave digger, gas man, balloonist, motor man, teamster, malster, barber, cashier, sailor, porter, lumberman, actor, Insurance man. Three printers ventured into matrimony, and so did 3 butchers, 3 fruit growers, 3 cooks% and 3 icemen - juett hink how the poor brides must have shivered. Thero were three brides over 60, the oldest being 62. There were fivo grooms over 60, the o'.dest being 08. One blushtag female of 60 took unto hei-seU' a husband of 36, the other extreme was reached iu a groom of 50 taking a bride of 26. Another blooming dam.sel of 45 short summers took unto herself a düíident young man of 34, while a hero oí 51 marrted a heroïne of 38, and one of 57 took unto liimseU a malden of 32, and another of 53 did a Üke deed. One couple were each aged 56 years, while a groom of 68 took a bride of 66. Tais was the oldest couple naarried, and they carne from Sylvan. Some of the couples were mated at these ages, groom 59 bride 50, 52-46, 62-59, 57-52, 67-61, 58-) 53, 53-41, 67-62, 50-86. The youngest couple carne from Aun Arbor, the bride being 15 and the groom 24 - the parents of the bride iccompanyüig her to procure the license. Of the charming brides 1 was 15 yoars oíd, 3 were 16, 10 were 17, 21 wore 13, 27 were 19. One groom was 17, 2 were 18, 1 was 19. The average age of the brides was 23, while that of the grooms was 28. It is noted that the average ag at which youag women enter the marrled state has rlson from 19 and 20 up to 23. Tht show that the girls are getting more sensible, and do not take the first chance that oflers, but wait unti! they have more experionce and know more oí U e, thus making better wlvee, leading happier lives and making more cheenul homes. AL least that ii the lacrease. It la quite astoniöhing that ministers and those empowered to o.íiciate at marriages are eo careless iu ioturnng tho íecord o: ceremonies p-rl'ormed to the county elerk's o.l.ce. The law mates it aa oí."en.ie, accompauied by a heavy iine to neglect this important dut.y, and yet 1 he record shows that there were 21 licenses issued last year in which no return oí marriage has been received at the county clerk's office. Of this number 2 were in January iast, and 12 for the past mouth oï December. There are 11 licenses for 1S94, íor wliich no returns have been made. Several of these not returned are known tohave been married, a lew being people of some considerable prominence. The number of licenses issued 337, is 13 in excess of 180-i, when there were but 324 issued. This Is an indictation, eo some argue, that the times are growimg better. IÍ this is true, the improvement is not ku.ííciont to brag about in any great degree. ; l.l LÉÉ Marriage is not a Failure- In this connectiou it might not be out of place to say a word about divorces. They are on the decl'.ne in about the same ratio that marriage h,ave increased for the past year. Durtag the year 1S94 the court records sliow that there were 53 applications for divorce, while ín 18J5 there were only 44. The ratio, it will be geen, is reduced from one divorce for every six marriages in 18Ü4, to one for every eight, or nearly so, in 1895. It ie to be hoped that the ratio will keep on improving. Cases in Court - The records ol the circuit court show a süght falilng olí in business irom last year. For instance, in 1894 there were 121 law cases commenced, while in 1895 there were but 105. Of the chancery cases 123 were commenced m 1894, while 118 only were commenced the past year. . The criminal docket is not quite fo favorable, the record for this year, 61, being gix ahead of 1894, which was 55. Uncle Sam Makinp; Money- It one is fond of Btatistics he can have his fomdest desired grati ied here. üncle Sam does a penny business and requires exact accuvacy of his servants, and as a consequence he keeps postmasters and their clerks figuring most of the time. "When a Courier representative went t Postmaster Beakes a tew day'e since, to get some statisties for the year, that official was found very acrommodatins. and Erati ied him in íin overwhelming manner, in fact Baid scribe could liare bcea iiguring yet with columns upon columns ahead oí him had he not gracefully backed out after eecuring eome oí t-he iíems oí the most Interest to the reading public. The year past has been -a prosperous one, sliowing more bushtess than any previous year. The sale of stanips, of course is the important business of the o.íice, so we give the mimber eold by mo-nths for the past y car : Spec. Postal lc. 2c. 3c. 5c Deiiv, enrd. JÏTi 13 8s9 82 7KS i Huiñ 152 14.MB Feb 15,645 77,dO9 (8 1,108 177 16.W8 Mar 18.40S 79.H1 512 1,443 17 14 370 Apr. 14 747 lijm 6U8 TH8 ]6 18,tH)6 Muy 17,'45 77,581 3B2 663 2&Í 15,668 Juue 13 268 66,374 416 920 229 1,1S July 16,0-ïi 4S.4S6 341 6 3 12S 11715 Aug. lff.86 44,J5( 388 P86 14I 8,830 Sept. 12,382 54,051 33J 461 165 18,207 Ooi 23,128 90,215 r.85 1,042 165 18,684 Nov. 30,341 79.258 66' 1,078 137 18,'32 Dec. 99,25! 76,49 1,888 2,228 389 15,151 195 050 857,9;3 6,807 12,047 2,250 184,070 Besides the above there were 357,72T gtamped envelopes disposed of, and a largo number oí Btamps oí other denom'raations. In the above tab'e the 2c stamps denote the domestic letter postage, whüe the 5 cent stamps denote the foreign letter postage. The increase in the registered letter and parcel department ior the past quarter has been quite marked. in 1894 the number lor the December quarter was 775 white for the past quarter it was 1,009. In tlie December quarter for 18S7 there were 518, (and during the years succeeding, up to last December it was considered a great feat to pass the 600 noich. Tlio entii-e number gi reglsfefed letters and pareéis for the year has been 2,680, a handsünie Lncrease, shawiug that the people are beginning to understand the almo ute safety of sending small packages inthis ivay. Tlie Aun Ai-boa' newspapers and publications aggregate an astouishing weight ior the year, 90,831 pounde, ot owr 45 tons. As it talies about 50 ol tlve Couriers to weigh one pound, thO mumber of separate papers thie vaet sum represente can be oasily figured out by the average nchool boy or glrl. Wliat ia Uncle Bam maklng ont of il! tuis ? Wel. he i doing welk Here are the receipts for the pat two years, ko that thoy may be eompared : 1894 lsiir, lst. quarter í7_Sfi:3 15 f9.973 36 2 1, '■ 7,:ii! 97 7.7W) 81 Sil. " &.4I2 41 6,13) 58 4th. " 8,412 65 9,176 17 Total $2!) 052 21 32.1tjl 98 29,052 21 Increase f fi.lO'J 74 Tho increase te about 11 per cent over 1894, The pro.its ? Wcü, Une' e 3am Ja doing we'l, a'so. A'ter deducting all expenses of the office, even to payirg for all carrier'a satehe's. all mail boxea, letter boxes, and every penny that is expended for any parpóse vluitever, there has been remitted 10 the governmen - net pro its -the fo'lowing amounts : lst. quarter .$4,717 56 2nd, " _ 3,219 13 ilrrl " _____ IJMMl 4tt. " 4,540 15 Total $13,873 24 This eertalnly representa quite a handsome inconie ore wlrcli many a city of far greater population than Ann Arbor would be proud to boast ofi. The Real Estáte Record- At the o"f:ce of the Register of Deeds we find that business has been iair'y good for the past year. According to the records there were 1,260 deede of all kinds recorded.. thi8 number Ann Arbor is far ahead furni&hing 347, or over one quarter of tlie entire number. Ypsilanti comes next with 192. or not quite one-sixlh. The wide-awake vi'lage of Che'sea is no k!ov coach in this matter, ha ving furnished 59. and we persume tlie:e are others credited to Sylvan, that really be'ong to her, while Manchester vlllage and township combine, on'y reached 45, and Saline 0, Sa'em 22 ; Dexter village could not be separated from Scio. while the village of Milán comes i nfor only six transfers, the reason prob-ably being that York township gets many of them 'm this county, while a few go to Monroe county. The record by townships stands in this way, of both deeds and mort.gages : Mortgagps Deefls Ann Arbor city 223 347 Artn Avbor town 8 18 Augusta 40 73 Bridwater 17 46 P-xtPr 8 28 Freedom IR 29 Lima 11 H Lodi. - 19 2fi Lyndon 8 8 Manehpster 46 45 Northfield 16 37 PlitsHeld 8 21 SHllne 25 40 Salem 18 22 Keio 1! 18 Rharon - 7 16 Superior 15 29 Sylvan 52 25 Ohplsea 59 Wpbster W 22 York 34 51 Milan 6 Ypsil nti town 6 18 Ypsilanti city 119 192 There have been no very heavy t.ransfers during the year, Pittsiie'd having one of $12.000, Chas. H. Eobei-ts to Wm. Geddes, and Lima one oí thO same amount, H. S. Hohnes to J. Smith. There was one transfer of $10.000, five of $8.000 and over, and but fifteen between $5.000 and $8,000. The g'-enter numbers are from $500 1o $2.500. While the record shows 654 mortgages recorded fMirnp: the p:ist year, it ateo shows 305 discharges and 40 re'eases, which indicates a healthy conditlon of the real estáte market. There were. beeides the mortgages 18 mechanic's lieus, 198 asslgnments, of mortgage. 30 Lis Pendens, 5 a1tachment, 12 levies, 5 attachmente, 2 ejectments. 3 f arm 1 eases, 2 Ufe leases and one bond. In th:s connection we wish to say a word about the present condition of the Register of Deeds o.fice. Mr. McK:nstry has worked a revolution in it during the past few weeks. He has everythng up to date, and any person wanting a paper recorded can have it completed, compared and ready tor deüvery if neceesary. That is business. Iuquiry at the office of Bvown & KoMi-ns. abstractors, calis out the fact that they have made 412 abstraes for transfer during the year, al.out t-he saine as last year. The English Sparrows Expensive - The figures at the Couuty Clerk's office indícate that at 3 cents per hcad fiere were 9,194 spanows killet! in 1894, and at two cents per head, 14,(i(3i killed in 1895. Butasthe law changed t'rom 3 to 2 cents aome time in March, the figures for 1895 will not be exactly accurate. The amount paid to each towiishin in sparrow bounties for the two years is as follows : 18!)4 1896 Ann Arbor City $33 49 S3 00 " tOWU 4 14 7 77 Atgustu : 5 74 8 57 Brulssewater 1 T7 8 130 nexter I UL Freedom 2 10 9 72 Lima 29 BS 17 S3 L,odl 11 15 7 09 l.ymion 34 0 15 Manchester 7 77 8 9S Northfield 4 87 4 47 Pittsflefd 7 77 4 20 Salem - 3 18 12 41 Saline..„ 13 42 9 48 cio 13 08 13 02 Sharon 2 19 e 90 Superior 27 04 7 54 sfvan 22 78 23 3'. Webster-. 1] 20 7 06 York 5 (K) 5 55 Ypsilantl towu 8 61 19 44 " oity 52 02 U 53 Txtal $275 81 m 31 - Oourier.