Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1879.djvu/62

60 The sanitary condition of the hospital is reported as satisfactory, and the general management of the surgeon in charge is commended by the board of directors and by the advisory board. The number of patients admitted during the year was 280. In hospital July 1, 1878, 19; total treated, 299; discharged, 272; remaining in hospital July 1, 1879, 27. The number treated in the dispensary connected with hospital, in addition to those admitted, was 418. Attention is called to the insufficiency of the present appropriation, and an additional amount is asked for the next fiscal year.

By act of July 1, 1879, the Secretary of the Interior Was authorized and directed to procure suitable and necessary rooms for the use and accommodation of the Court of Claims. In compliance with this requirement the first floor of the Freedmen’s Bank building was selected as offering the most available rooms that could be obtained in a fire-proof structure. A lease from October 1, 1879, to the end of the current fiscal year was entered into, and the rooms having been suitably fitted up and furnished, so far as the limited appropriation would permit, are now occupied by the court.

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The governor of Utah reports unusual drought during the past season, and serious effects therefrom on the crops of the Territory; the production in grain, vegetables, fruit, and hay being not more than one-half the usual amount.

The snows which fall in the mountains and remain there during the summer provide the main supply of water necessary for irrigation. During last winter but little snow fell, hence the short supply and the deficiency in the crops. Some of the largest streams in the Territory have gone dry; something never before known to the oldest settlers. Even the Great Salt Lake has fallen four or five feet. Stock has suffered severely on the mountain ranges. Despite the season's failure it is believed that the production will be sufficient to supply the wants of the people during the year.

On the subject of grazing lands the governor favors the adoption of some system by which title can be secured to larger tracts than are now allowed by law. Attention is called to the defects in the present mining laws, and suggestions are made as to the amendments necessary. The governor holds that “a man’s patent to his mine should be a perfect title to the property covered by his patent, and parties purchasing patented mines should be required to trace titles no further than to the patentees.” He also favors the granting of a larger surface area, and the confinement of rights within the lines granted. In other words, a