Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/682

 676 LOUISIANA purposes. The interest upon this fund at 6 per cent, per annum, the rents of any unsold lands, and the interest of the United States trust fund deposited with the state under the act. of congress of June 23, 1836, are appro- priated for the support of public schools. Ac- cording to the report of the state superinten- dent for the year ending Dec. 31, 1873, there were 272,334 persons in the state of school age ; number of school districts, 483 ; of pub- lic schools, 864; teachers, 1,296 (685 males and 611 females); pupils enrolled, 59,030; av- erage salary of teachers per month, $42 50; average number of months each school was taught, 4|; estimated value of school prop- erty, $661,962 ; number of school houses built during the year, 101. So far as the grade was reported, there were 3 high schools, 1 high grammar, 81 grammar, 124 intermediate, and 331 primary; of the pupils, so far as distinc- tion of sex was given, 28,371 were males and 27,089 females. The average daily attendance in 34 parishes was 35,061. No public schools were reported in seven parishes, and^in six of these neither public nor private schools were returned. The whole number of private schools reported was 296, with 794 teachers and 21,434 pupils. The receipts for the sup- port of public schools, including $91,917 19 on hand at the beginning of the year, were $678,473 52, of which $254,249 50 were from state apportionments, $204,995 94 from cor- porate authorities, $44,883 78 from sale of school lands, $34,600 from appropriation for salaries of officers and office expenses, and $47,727 11 from other sources. The disburse- ments, of which $144,323 74- were paid in school certificates, were $723,826, of which $551,460 92 were for teachers' wages, $42,- 966 62 for rent of school houses, $13,419 88 for repairs of school houses, $13,966 35 for purchase of school furniture, $4,038 07 for school-house sites, $14,995 39 for building school houses, $30,632 04 for fuel and inci- dentals, $802 40 for school apparatus, $16,- 944 33 for previous indebtedness, $34,600 for salaries and contingent expenses of superin- tendents and other officers ; balance on hand at the close of the year, $98,971 26. The number of schools of all classes in 1870, ac- cording to the United States census, was 592, with 926 male and 976 female teachers, 29,- 854 male and 30,317 female pupils, and an an- nual income of $1,199,684. This number in- cludes 178 public schools, 36 classical (8 col- leges and 28 academies), 4 professional (1 law, 2 medical, and 1 theological), 8 technical (4 commercial, 1 for the blind, 1 for the deaf and dumb, and 2 of art and music), 293 day and boarding, and 73 parochial and charity. The following table exhibits the statistics of the principal colleges of the state for 1872-'3 : NAME. Location. Date of organization. Denomination. Number of instruc- tors. Students. Volume* in libraries. Centenary. Jackson .... 1825 Methodist Episcopal South 5 124 5200 St Charles Grand Coteau 1852 Eoman Catholic 13 82 4000 Louisiana state university. . Baton Rouge I860 None 13 140 11,611 St. Mary Jefferson. ... St. James 1861 Eoman Catholic. 14 112 Straight university. New Orleans. 1869 Evangelical 15 429 1500 New Orleans university * New Orleans 1873 Methodist Episcopal 1 823 1,000 The Louisiana state university was established by act of the legislature in 1855, on grants of land made by the United States at various times between 1806 and 1827 for the establish- ment of "a seminary of learning." It was opened at Alexandria for the reception of ca- dets in January, 1860, under the superinten- dence of Col. (now Gen.) W. T. Sherman, but its operations were interrupted during the civil war. It was reopened in October, 1865. On Oct. 15, 1869, the building was burned, and in the following November the institution was removed to temporary quarters in the asylum for the deaf and dumb at Baton Eouge. The university embraces a preparatory and an academic department, a special school of civil engineering, and a commercial school. The academic department comprises literary, scien- tific, and optional courses. The organization is military, and there are daily drills and pa- rades. The apparatus in the various scientific departments is valuable, and the collections of specimens in natural history are extensive. Applicants for admission are required to be at least 15 years of age. A legislative act of 1870 provided for the education and mainte- nance of two indigent youths from each parish, and 20 from New Orleans, who after remain- ing four years at the university are required to teach two years in the state ; but since 1873 the necessary appropriation has not been made. The professors of engineering, mineralogy, geology, botany, and zoology are required to make surveys of the state, and four annual re- ports on its botany, geology, and topography have been submitted. Straight university is open to all without distinction of race or sex, and embraces seven departments, viz. : elemen- tary; academic, designed to impart a higher English education, or to furnish a preparation for college ; normal, for the training of teach- ers ; collegiate, which comprises the usual classical course of four years and an agricul- tural course of three years ; law, medical, and theological. The New Orleans university, like- wise making no distinction of race or sex, has preparatory, normal, collegiate, and theologi- cal departments. The other colleges in the
 * 1873-*4.