From The Wolverine State

"llalloo!" "Is tiiis Senator J:imes MuMillnn f" "Yes; good-n]irninii." "üood-iiiorning. I ln-ar that tliere's a called .Michigan tip north where voii come Crom. Ctn't you teil us something about it?" ''Ha ! hu I That remintls me of a queer tblng 1 rau across the otlier day. It seems that the congress voted n graiit of two niiilions of acres of laud to the soldiers of the war of 1812, and SurveyorGeneral Edwin Tïfliii ofChillicothe.Ohlo, was iustructed to make a survey. He atieinpted to do so but gave it up, reportin;{ to the general land offlco - Josiah Mtigs was then Commlssloner - under date of' Nov. 30, 1815. It was a copy of tliia report that I saw. It (lid not give Michigan a very good character, saying amonsc otlier uncomplimentary tilinga that not one on-hundredtli part of the two inüüon acres uppropriated would be lit for cultlvation, and to the congress repealed the law and sent the soldiers to some otlier territory. You Sec, the hnndredtfa part of two inillion acres- 20,000 acres- is reduclng the arable lands of Micoigan to a pretty mail compass, espi-cially wben it is remeuibered that the iircü ot the state is 50,457 square miles." 'Wt-ll, how nearly right was the Ohio tDMll P" "Uli, we have about that numher of acres in ornamental lawns in Detroit alone ! Hut the state is a very rermtrkabic one, lor the reasou that her industries are O (ilveraified. Her agricuitural derelopuieiit liaa been goinpthlug almost pbeuomennl, aud that iorinntry i?, and wlll cóuttiiue to be, tlie chief on; of the state. While jviit uow the farmers have cause, froiu low price, to oomplain, tliey have as a rule more generully prospen-d thau any other cl:tss of producers Thiity -live, or even twenty-üve years ao, Michigan was principally known iibmad on account of her pine. Now she Ig celubrated for nearly eveiything, trom the celery of Kxlamazoo to the steel ahips of üelioit. liy the way, do you reinember the name selected for our territory by .lefterson ?'' "No - sometliing illustrative of Ji-ff.-rsonian similicity, lsuppose?" "Hardly. He sujrgested 'Chersonesuj'; but, as Jude Cooley happily says, 'a kliully providence pp red us the Infliction '; and in 1S05 she was called Mlchiean - u name deiived fmm an Indiaii word sl({iilfyiiig 'a great lake.' The eaily Instory of Micliig.iu, bytheby, Is replete w illi romance. The Indiana, the French and the English made history in Biich dramatic CaslilDd that eveq tlie most prosaic story of the state is fujl of interest. Tlie lite ot Pere Marquelte was like a poem In it devotlon to au ideal under Ctrcamgtances of peculiar terror and hardshlp, to which at lasthe succumbed; and many otheiü in the early daya were equally lieroic and self-sacrincin." "Yet Michigan is geuerally thought of as a coiiiparaüvely new state?" 'Yes, perhaps; thougli, ag a state, Michigan is now just as old as was the 'old dominion'- Virginia - wlien MiclilLan was udmitted to the unión. I was talkin', thtmMl, about the dlversifled industries of the "Wolverine stHte. Lft me ive you rnpidly a few fncts. The census of 1880 tfives the nnmber of farms under cultivatiou as 154,008, cnntaiiiing an average of 00 acres, or 1,380,072 acre in all, valued at $499,10:1,181. Of these farms 13S.597 were cultivated by their owners. Of couree these figures will bo very largely increased by tiie census of this year. A million tons of {typsuiii have been mined at Alahaster and at Grand Rápida sinee 1845. Michigan manufactures one-third of all the salt cotisumed in this country, lts manufacture dules back only to 1860, yet last year our out-put was about 3,500,000 barrels Copper was mined in the northern península by people whose era anc} dentity still remain undetermined; centuries ago these Lake Superior mines were worked by miners with curions implements wliicli seemto be of wonderful aotiquity; and Baron La Ilontan described a mass of copper which he saw on the Ontonaron river as early as 1688, yet only durthe last forty years has copper-minin;,' been a recognised industry with us. During that time colossal fortunes have been made, aud they are still making in tiint business. As illustratlve of lts possibilitie8, 1 may inention that one single maas of copper wliioh was fortytive feet long, eighteen and one-half feet wide and niue feet thick, weighinjr over 50U ton?, was sold for more tlian 1200,000!'' "The existence of ron was not suspected until two centurles after copper was known to exist. Now we ar prociiicinR one-half of the total product of this country. The exact date or its dlacovery is given as the 19th of September, 1844, and its discoverer was W. A. Burt, the inventor of the solar compase. In tlie thlrty years that Iron-mininj; has been a recognlzèd industry of Michigan, more tliau thirty millions of tona of ore have been tnurkcted. This wonderful Lake Superior rcfrion produces lumber also in frreat quantities. and gold and silver, tliough the gold is notyet in large paying quantHtee; and in uldltion toltsbeautiful and durable sandstone and brownstone, a Viiiicaled marble which is found there is s;ilil to rival in utllity s well as brlllinncy and beauty the famous yerde antlque of ancient Greece. Our coal product 9 not large, but the Commissloner of Mineral statistics says of it: 'While the deposita of this mineral are not comparable with many other etates, they aro still of a magnitude to possess som e value. and to constitute a possible resource that at a future day may avall for important use.' Our fl-iheries give employment to nearly 2,000 persons, and the annual value of the catch is $ 800,000. "The Coramissioner of Agrlcnlture in 1833 stated our production of lumber for thatyear to have been 3,471,4G0,501 feet; sh'.ngles, 8,555,251,750; lalhs, 295,046,015. Th is was one-fifth of the entlre lumber product of the country. He estimated tlie uncut pine in the state at 35,000,000,000 feet, and said that, at that rate of cutting, the supply would be exhausted in ten years. Uut seven of the ton years have gone, and there still seems to be a pretty large quautity of standing pine ri'inaining. "Between thirty and forty tons of candy are made each workinjr-day in the four Detroit and one Grand Kuplds fuctoHes. Port Hurón has a somewhat limited supply of natural ga?, and Detroit pipes it froui Oliio, a distance of eiglity miles, and is using it for fuel purpose. Michigan manufactures one-eighth of all chewinjt and one-tenth of all smoking tobáceo In tlic United Statos. The manufacture of furnitiire at Grand R-.ipids employs thousands of men, and the product of thelr skill and labor gocs to all civllized countries. But were I to attempt to glve you a fair list of our industries it would fill your paper I" "Have you facilities for getting all your products to market ?'' "We have 5,500 miles of railroads, 3,000 locomotives, 1,000 passtiiííercoaches, 100,000 freight-cars and G00 baggage cars ; and they manage to carry 30,000,000 people and enormous lot of freiglit and express matter e:if;h year nd employ about 25,000 men. In 1586 the whistle of one little steaniboat aw oke the cchoes on the sparcely-settlod banks of the Detroit river. In 1885, by an actual count made by authority, 49,939 vessels with the enormous capacity of 29,045,271 tona passed Detroit, this belng an average of one vessel for every seven minutes during the season of navigation and a greater number of vessels and more freights pass through the locks at the 'Soo' eaeh year than through the Suez canal between Europe and Asia. But it must be remembered that the coast line of Michigan is 2,000 miles in lengtli." "The 'Soo' ? What Is that f" " Oh, that is the diminutive of Bauli Ste. Marie. The locks there are wonderful examples of engineering sklll." "What has Michigan In an educational way, bpsiiles the University and Dr. Aneell ?" "Well, the university was provided for n the territorial act in 1S04, and with umny changes it has come to be recognized as a great institution, with departments of literature, law, medicine, pharmacy, dentrlstry, mechanics, mining and civil engineering. It lias more that 2,000 student?, and an excellent faculty with Dr. Angel! at i ioai. Trs faclllties are continually enlarging. BesicJe the ITniversity at Ann Arbor, we have the State Agricultural College at Lansing, with lts broad acres, its machinesbops, its military organization and lts excellent Euglish and seientiflc curriculum; the State Normal School at Vpsilanti ; the State School of Mines and Mining at Houghton ; the colleges at Hillsdale, Albion, Olivet, Kalamazoo. Holland and Alma; the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake; the Somerville School at St. Clair, and otber prosperous institutions. The high schools of the state form a part of the university system. 'i'hey are inspected by university people, and their graduales are admitted to the university without examlnatlon. The number of common schools in our state is very large for Michigan is a lover of education. Everywhere are found schoolbouses; and in a few coramunities where there ure no churclijes the school-houses are atlllzed instead." "But there must bc criminal and detective elus-es in even such a model state a9 youis. Wliat do you do with them?" "We have some noted nftitutions both for punlshment and reformatlon, as well as for the unfortunate and helpless. A mong them I recall the state prison at Jack8on ; the state house of correction and reformatory at Ionia; the state prteon at Marquette ; the house of correction at Detroit; the reform school at Lansing; the institution for the deaf and dumh at Flint, and that for the blind at Langing; theasylum for the insane at EilamHzno, Ponliac and Traverse City, and for insane crimináis at Ionia. The state public school atColdwater was established in ]74, and, like the agricultural college, was the pioneer in its class iu tliis country. This (cUoo] is for ponr children, waifs and dependents who are over two and utider 12 years of age. They are sent there by the coiinty sup-jrlutendents of the poor, and are Vetained until suitable homes can be provided for them. After that they remaiu wards of the and are visited each montli by agents of the state, so that, if they are uot recelving good care, they may be returned to the school. The girls industrial home at Adlían has a board of control composed of three woinen and two men - how is that for advanced thought? The object of this school is the euro of wayward girls, U bas been very aucoesaful, and ig believed to be accomplishlng much good. Homes are fouud tor tho-e who are thought rltted for the change, and the incorrigibles are sent to severer institutions. One state institution, I may gay, of which we are very proud, 8 the soldier's home at Grand Uapids, which answers its patriotic purpose admirably." "You have nevvspapers, of course? " 'Tes, Indeed. The next thing after the church, and school house and blaCksmlth shop are built in the new settlcment, the weekly paper is started, and in a little while a daily edition Is aunounced with complete telegraphic service. Our population is now more than 2,000,000. When the civil war began it was onlv 750,000; yet we sent 00,000 men to tlie frout, and for the conduct of the war Michigan contributed over $2,500,000." "And Michlgan's debt?" "It has none, or virtually none, for the last of ourbunds - an issue of $221,000 - muture May lst, 1S90, and will be paid upon presentation, leaving a balance In the treasury of about two millions of dollars. Our several state iustitutions have cost about $32,500,000, iind our early internal improvements and war funds about $13,500,000 more. Por flfty years our average state tax lias been two milis on the dollar, but this has been based on au assessment of about 50 per cent. of the real valué of our property, so that our tax has only bteu one mlll on the dollar." "Thank you, Senator. Il ia i del glit to talk to one who seems such nu enthusiast about hls state as you do about Michigan." 'Woll, no one appreclates my state more than I do. Good-byo." "Qood-bye."