Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/345

 IOWA 333 were white and 1,524 colored; 21,065 were males and 24,704 females; 5,928 were from 10 to 15 years of age, 3,826 from 15 to 21, and 35,980, 21 and over, of whom 14,782 were white males, 19,825 white females, 635 colored males, and 673 colored females; 5-3 per cent, of the male adults and 8'37 per cent, of the female adults were illiterate. The number of paupers supported during the year ending June 1, 1870, was 1,543, at a cost of $175,179; 853 were re- ceiving support at the end of the year, of whom 542, including 56 colored, were of native, and 311 of foreign birth. The number of persons convicted of crime during the year was 615. Of the number (397) in prison June 1, 1870, 287 were of native and 110 of foreign birth. The state contained 465 blind, 549 deaf and dumb, 742 insane, and 533 idiotic. Of the to- tal population 10 years of age and over (837,- 959), there were engaged in all occupations 344,276; in agriculture, 210,263, of whom 69,- 821 were laborers, 139,478 farmers and plant- ers, and 810 gardeners and nurserymen ; in professional and personal services, 58,484, in- cluding 1,596 clergymen, 15,725 domestic ser- vants, 202 journalists, 24,823 laborers not spe- cified, 1,456 lawyers, 1,865 physicians and sur- geons, 6,012 teachers not specified ; in trade and transportation, 28,210; and in manufac- tures and mechanical and mining industries, 47,319. The number of deaths from all causes was 9,597 ; from consumption, 1,313, being one death from that disease to 7'3 from all causes ; from pneumonia, 678, or 1 to 14-2 ; from whooping cough, 337, being a higher ratio of deaths from that disease than in any other state except Nebraska and Arkansas ; from diphtheria and scarlet fever, 473 ; intermittent and remit- tent fevers, 161 ; enteric fever, 521 ; diarrhoea, 339 ; dysentery, 228 ; enteritis, 238. Besides the great rivers which bound it, Iowa has a large number of interior watercourses, many navi- gable, and others of less dimensions, but sup- plying abundant water power. All the streams of the state flow into the great boundary rivers. The Mississippi receives the Des Moines, the Checaque or Skunk, the Iowa and its affluent the Red Cedar, the Wapsipinicon, the Maquo- keta, the Turkey, the Upper Iowa, &c., all of which have S. E. courses, and generally run parallel with each other. The Iowa rises in Hancock co., in the northern part of the state, and empties into the Mississippi 35 m. above Burlington ; its length is about 300 m., and it is navigable to Iowa City, 80 m. The riv- ers flowing to the Missouri are short, and as to volume scarcely compare with the small- est class flowing to the Mississippi. The Big Sioux forms a portion of the W. boundary. The Chariton, Grand, Platte, Nodaway, and Nishnabatona rise in the south of Iowa, pass into Missouri, and join the Missouri river in its course through that state. The largest interior river of the state is the Des Moines, which flows from N. W. to S. E. not less than 300 m. through Iowa, and drains more than 10,000 sq. m. of its territory. It forms a portion of the boundary line between Iowa on the N. E. and Missouri on the S. W. Next in size of the interior rivers is the Red Ce- dar, which rises in Minnesota, and after a S. E. course joins the Iowa in Louisa co. about 30 m. from its mouth. One of the most im- portant streams of N. W. Iowa is Little Sioux river, which rises near the Minnesota border, and after meandering about 250 m. falls into the Missouri. In the northern portion of the state there are numerous small but beautiful lakes, which are a part of the system of lakes extending northward into Minnesota. One of the largest, Lake Okoboji, in Dickinson co., is about 15 m. long and from J to 2 m. wide. The surface of Iowa is generally undulating, and forms a country of unrivalled beauty. It has no mountains nor even high hills ; yet on the margins of the rivers there are frequent bluffs of calcareous strata intersected by ravines. These bluffs are generally from 40 to 130 ft. high, and are the breastwork of table lands which sweep away from them in gentle undu- lations. The southern portion of the state is the most picturesque, abounding with grassy lawns and verdant plains, interspersed with groves and meandering rivulets, and intersected by the larger rivers which flow to the Missis- sippi or by the numerous affluents of the Mis- souri. In the northeastern part the surface is more elevated, hills and mounds are not un- common, their tops covered with towering oaks, and the rivers tumble over precipitous ledges of craggy rocks. The N. E. section abounds in lead ore and various other metals, but nevertheless contains much excellent land. The unique and admirably diversified prai- ries of Iowa are, however, its most distin- guishing feature. These natural meadows are covered with a rich coating of coarse grass, forming excellent pasturage, and are not un- frequently interspersed with hazel thickets and fragrant shrubs, and in the season of flowers are decorated with a brilliant garniture of honey- suckles, jessamines, wild roses, and violets. A geological survey of Iowa was begun under the direction of Prof. James Hall, the chemical and mineralogical department being conducted by Mr. J. D. Whitney, and a report in 2 vols. 8vo was published in 1858-'9, which presents the general arrangement of the formations, with details of their fossils and economical impor- tance. The survey was resumed in 1866, under the direction of Dr. Charles A. White of Iowa City. The geological formations are exclusively paleozoic, their range being from the Potsdam sandstone to the coal measures, inclusive. The latter formation occupies the S. and W. portion of the state, and reaches within a few miles at its S. E. corner of the Mississippi river, from which it is separated by a belt of about 20 m., over which the carboniferous limestone is spread out. This limestone outcrop thence ex- tends diagonally across the state to the ex- treme N. W. corner. Toward the northeast