USA > Iowa > The Iowa official register, 1904 > Part 3
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fre, which consumed a large portion of the interior work in the north wing of the building on January 4, 1904, will, of course, add to the cost of the re- pairs. The damage caused by the fire has been variously estimated from $75,000 to $125, 000 and the amount needed to repair this damage will vary according to how nearly fire-proof the repairs are made.
IOWA IN THE SPANISH WAR. The same spirit of patriotism which so gloriously emblazoned Iowa's loyalty to the flag of her country in the 60's was everywhere in evidence when the call was made in 1898 for troops to suppress Spanish tyranny in Cuba. The quota asked of Iowa was offered many times over. Four regiments of infantry, two batteries of field artillery, one signal corps company and one company of colored immunes were mustered into the service from Iowa. One regiment, the Forty-ninth, and the signal corps company saw service in Cuba, while another regiment, the Fifty-first, served in the Philippine Islands for nearly a year. The officers and men of these regiments and the signal corps performed valiant service in the nation's cause, and their deeds will ever be a credit to the State.
DESCRIPTIVE .*
Topography. The surface of Iowa is an extensive plain which is broken by few conspicuous topographic forms. The highest point in the State is on the divide towards the northwest corner, and the lowest is in the extreme south- east portion. The measure of the range of elevations between these points does not exceed one thousand two hundred feet. The ridge of greatest alti- tude is the continuation of the great watershed of Minnesota and Dakotas, across the western portion of the State. Minor ridges occur at various points, notably the Oneota and Turkey river watershed, and the divide between the head water of the Cedar and the Des Moines. The surface of the northeastern portion of the State slopes towards the southwest at the rate of more than seven feet to the mile as is shown by the following altitudes taken along a line at right angles to the drainage: Arlington, 1,113 feet; Oelwein, 1, 049; Fair- bank, 1, 000; Dunkerton, 945; Dewar, 889; Waterloo, 841. Farther west the sur- face rises to the crest of the great divide and then descends again towards the west and south to the borders of the State.
The larger streams occupy great trough-like depressions as is indicated by the elevation of the following points across the basin of the Des Moines river : Storm Lake, 1,440 feet ; Newell, 1,268; Manson, 1,238; Barnum, 1,178; Fort Dodge, in the axis of the trough, 1,008; Webster City, 1, 039; Druid Siding, 1, 196; Blairsburg, 1,227. Farther south and east the cross-section of the Wapsipinicon basin reveals the same fact: Delmar, 807 feet; DeWitt, 711; Noel, at bottom, 637; Long Grove, 756; Eldridge, 806.
In the north central portion of Iowa there is a distinct topographic area extending in width from Howard county to Osceola and reaching as far south as the counties of Polk and Johnson. Over this region the surface is generally level or gently undulating. Occasionally there are encountered knobs of drift which in places are so disposed as to enclose depressions forming lake basins. This is the newer portion of the State. The topography is young Drainage is imperfectly developed. Stream erosion is practically absent. The surface features have been moulded by the glaciers and have scarcely been modified since the later ice sheets withdrew from the State.
* The article on topography, rivers and lakes was prepared by T. E. Savage, assistant state geologist.
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West of this area to the border of the State, and south to the Missouri line the surface is intricately dissected by stream channels. The numerous streams, each with its series of pinnately branching tributaries, have carved the entire region into rounded hills and alternating ridges and ravines. The larger streams flow on graded floors which lie seventy-five to two hundred and fifty feet below the crests of the divides. The upland areas are usually narrow. The valleys are broad. The bluffs are rounded and the slopes of the basin are gentle. Over this portion of the State the superficial drift is of Kansan age. The topography is mature, and it has been carved by erosion out of the once level drift surface. In the lower portions of their flow the streams have expanded their channels to a width of from one to two and one half miles. At such places the broad, level flood-plains become features of topographic importance.
In the northeast corner of the State there is a small area embracing the whole of Allamakee county and a portion of Winneshiek, Fayette, Clayton, Dubuque and Jackson, whose irregular surface has never been planed down by the action of ice. This is known as the driftless area. It is a picturesque region. A land of gorges and deep rock-cut valleys. A place where rushing streams are bounded by steep escarpments; where majestic cliffs are crowned with resistant ledges which have weathered into fantastic forms of towers and buttresses and castellated peaks. This area has appropriately been termed the "Switzerland of Iowa." Its topography was produced by long continued erosion acting upon massive beds of indurated rocks. The bluffs which border the Mississippi river and its larger tributaries in this particular region stand three hundred feet above the flood-plains, while the height of the dividing ridges above the water of the streams exceeds six hundred feet. The entire area is so gashed and tr enched by ravines and valleys that the lines of travel conform in the main to the courses of the streams, or wind along the summits of the divides. The topographic forms of this area illustrate features that would have been presented over the entire surface of Iowa had not the glaciers ground off the ridges and filled the valleys and buried them all beneath a thick mantle of drift.
Rivers. Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi river on the east and the Mis- souri river on the west, both of which are navigable. The great watershed of the State extends in a sinuous line from Dickinson to Appanoose county. The rivers east of this divide drain more than two thirds of the State and render tribute to the Mississippi. All of the large streams of this area follow courses that are approximately parallel and have a general southeasterly trend; of these the principal rivers are Des Moines, with a flow in the State of 500 miles; Cedar, 248 miles; Iowa, 240 miles; Wapsipinicon, 198 miles; Skunk, 187 miles; Maquoketa, 102 miles; Turkey, 90 miles, and Oneota, 88 miles. The main rivers of western Iowa that flow into the Mi-souri are Chariton, Grand, Nodaway, Nishnabotna, Little Sioux and Big Sioux. These streams are generally shorter than those which belong to the Mississippi system but they have a more widely branching series of tributaries. The most of the rivers of Iowa rise in lakes, sloughs or marshy depressions. As they flow onward their channels gradually become deeper so that in the lower courses their waters flow through broad flood-plains which are bounded by bluffs of drift or ledges of indurated rock. The principal forests in the State are found adjacent to the rivers and their dendritic series of branches. In early days boats plied on the Des Moines, Iowa and Cedar as well as the two great boundary rivers, but at present the traffic of the State is almost exclusively carried by the railroads.
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Lakes. The numerous lakes of Iowa are all of glacial origin, with the exception of the ox-bow lakes or cut-offs which lie in the flood plains of the larger streams. They are confined to the area that was covered by the latest ice sheet, known as the Wisconsin. The most of them occupy depressions which were formed by the irregular heaping of the material in the bordering moraine. Spirit Lake in Dickinson county is the largest of these glacial pools. It is four miles in length and almost as wide as long. It is sixteen miles in circumference and covers an area of ten square miles. A short distance south of Spirit Lake is Okoboji, considered the most beautiful of Iowa's charming lakelets. It has something of the form of a horseshoe with an irregular shore line. It is six miles in length, nearly three miles in greatest width and is seven square miles in extent. Its greatest reported depth is 185 feet. In this same county lie Gar, Center, Swan, Silver, Pratt and Sylvan lakes and numerous others, which together constitute the most attractive features of northern Iowa. Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo county, lies in the eastern arm of the Wisconsin moraine. It is about four miles in length, two and one half miles in width and has a maximum depth of fifteen feet. Among the other larger lakes of the State are Storm Lake in Buena Vista county. Swan Lake in Emmet, Pelican Lake in Palo Alto and Wall Lake in Wright. There is another Wall Lake in the county of Sac. Indeed, there are several bodies of water in Iowa which bear the name of Wall Lake on account of the peculiar embankments of bowl- ders or gravel or sand that border them. Nearly all of the glacial lakes are bounded by such walls or ridges which have been gradually pushed up by the expansion of the ice as the daily temperature varied during the winters of suc- cessive centuries since the lakes were formed.
GOVERNMENT.
Departments. The powers of the government of Iowa are divided into three separate departments, the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.
General Assembly. The legislative authority of the State is vested in a general assembly consisting of a senate and house of representatives. Sessions are held biennially and commence on the second Monday in January of each even numbered year.
House of Representatives. The house of representatives consists of one hundred members. The members are elected at the general election in each odd numbered year for a term of two years. The State is divided into ninety- three representative districts. Eighty-six of these are entitled to one member each and seven are entitled to two members each. To be eligible to member- ship a person must be twenty-one years of age, a male citizen of the United States, an inhabitant of the State one year and of the district he represents sixty days preceding his election.
Senate. The senate consists of fifty members. Senators are elected for a term of four years at the general elections in odd numbered years. Under the present arrangement, twenty-one senators are elected at the general election in one odd numbered year and twenty-nine at the general election in the next
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odd numbered year. The State is divided into fifty senatorial districts and each district is entitled to one senator. Senators must be twenty-five years of age and have the qualifications of representatives as to citizenship and residence.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.
Governor. The supreme executive power of the State is vested in a chief magistrate, who is styled the Governor of the State of Iowa. He is elected for a term of two years in the odd numbered years. He must be thirty years of age, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the State two years next preceding his election.
Lieutenant Governor. There is also a Lienteuant Governor, who acts as President of the Senate and succeeds the Governor in case of his death, re- moval or disability. He is elected the same time as the Governor and must have the same qualifications as to age, citizenship and residence.
Other executive officers. The other executive officers of the State are the Secretary of State, the Auditor of State and the Treasurer of State, who are elected in the even numbered years for terms of two years.
JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.
The judicial department is vested in a supreme court, district court, supe- roir court, justice court and police court.
Supreme court. The supreme court consists of one chief justice and five associate justices. The judges are elected for terms of six years. One judge is elected at each general election. The chief justice is the judge whose term first expires.
Attorney General and other officers. The attorney general, the clerk and the reporter of the supreme court are officers in the judicial depart- ment. The attorney general is elected at the general election in the even numbered years for a term of two years. The clerk and the reporter of the supreme court are elected for terms of four years at the general election in every second even numbered year.
District court. The district court consists of a single judge, who is elected for a term of four years by the electors of the district in which he resides. The State is at present divided into twenty judicial districts and there are fifty-three judges of the district court. .
County Attorney and Clerk of District Court. The county attorney and clerk of the district court are also officers under the judicial department. They are elected for terms of two years in each even numbered year.
Superior court. Any city with a population of five thousand or more may establish by an election a superior court and elect a judge thereof for a term of four years. There are four superior courts in Iowa at the present time: Coun- cil Bluffs, Cedar Rapids, Keokuk and Oelwein.
Justice court. Justice court is held by a justice of the peace. Two justices of the peace are elected in each township in the even numbered years.
Police court. In cities of the first class where the superior court has not been established, there is a police court held by a judge who is elected for a term of two years. In all other cities and towns the mayor holds police court.
SUBDIVISIONS.
Counties. There are ninety-nine counties in the State. Each county is a body corporate. The government of the county is carried on by a board of supervisors, consisting of from three to seven members, an auditor, a clerk of
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the district court, a treasurer, a recorder, a superintendent of schools, a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner and a surveyor. These officers are all elected by direct vote of the people, the terms of the members of the board of super- visors being three years and the terms of the other officers being two years.
Townships. The counties are subdivided into townships. The govern- ment of the township is carried on by a board of three trustees, a clerk, an assessor, two justices of the peace and two constables, who are all elected by direct vote of the people in the township. The terms of the members of the board of trustees are three years, and the terms of the other officers are two years. The justices of the peace and the constables are in reality county officers, as their jurisdiction extends over the entire county.
Municipal corporations. Cities acting under special charters, cities of the first class, cities of the second class and towns are municipal corporations. Town sites platted and unincorporated are villages.
Cities acting under special charter. Cities acting under special charter are cities which have been organized under special acts of the general assembly. The government of such cities is conducted by, such officers as the special charter authorizes and such additional ones as the Code provides.
Cities of the first class. Every municipal corporation with a population of fifteen thousand or more, according to last State or National census, except special charter cities, is a city of the first class. Such cities are governed by a council consisting of two councilmen elected at large, and one councilman elected from each ward; a mayor, a solicitor, a treasurer, an auditor, an engineer, an assessor and a judge of the police court, elected by the voters of the entire city. The term of each officer is for two years. Where a superior court has been established, a judge of such court is elected in place of the judge of the police court and his term is four years.
'Cities of the second class. Every municipal corporation with a popula- lation of two thousand and not more than fifteen thousand at the last State or National census is a city of the second class. The government of the city is conducted by a council, consisting of two members elected from each ward, a mayor, a solicitor, a treasurer, and an assessor elected by the voters of the en- tire city. The officers are elected for a term of two years. In cities of the second class where a superior court has been established, a judge is elected by the entire city for a term of four years.
Towns. Every municipal corporation with a population of less than two thousand according to the last State or National census, is a town. The gov- ernment of towns is conducted by a council consisting of six members, terms three years, and a mayor, a clerk, a treasurer and an assessor, terms two years. All officers are elected by the voters of the town.
ELECTIONS.
General election. The general election for State, district, county and township officers is held annually throughout the State on the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November.
City and town elections. Cities of the first class hold biennial elections, and cities of the second class and towns hold annual elections. In all cases these
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elections take place on the last Monday of March annually or biennially as the case may be.
School elections. Each school corporation holds an annual election on the second Monday in March,
Registration required. Registration of voters is required in cities with a population of thirty-five hundred or more both for city and general elections, and in cities with a population of five thousand or more for school elections.
Polls. The polls in cities where registration is required open at 7 o'clock in the forenoon, and at all other places at 8 o'clock in the forenoon, In all cases the polls close at 7 o'clock in the evening.
Ballot. The Australian ballot system is in force both in city and general elections, but not in school elections.
Qualifications for voting. The voter must be a male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, a resident of the State six months and of the county sixty days prior to the day of election. In school elections the voter must also be an actual resident of the school district, and in city and town elections the voter must be a resident of the precinct ten days prior to the day of election. Women are permitted to vote only on questions of issuing bonds for municipal or school purposes, and for the purpose of bor- rowing money, or on the question of increasing the tax levy. When they are allowed to vote separate ballots and ballot boxes are provided and a separate canvass made.
SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Chief State officer. Superintendent of public instruction, elected by the people for two years; visits teachers' institutes ; construes school laws and hears appeals ; collects statistics; makes reports to general assembly ; is regent of the State University, trustee of the State College at Ames, president of the board of trustees of the State Normal School.
Chief county officer. Superintendent, elected by the people for two years; examines and licenses teachers, and may revoke licenses ; visits schools and holds institutes; makes reports to state superintendent ; decides appeals from decision of school boards.
District township officers. Board of directors consisting of one mem- ber from each subdistrict in the township; elected by the people; secretary and treasurer chosen by the board.
Rural independent district officers. Board of three directors elected by the people; secretary and treasurer chosen by the board.
City independent district officers. Board of seven directors in cities of the first class and cities organized under special charter, and five directors in all other cities; elected by the people; secretary chosen by the board ; teasurer elected by the people.
Duties of directors. Employ teachers, prescribe course of study, make rules, locate schoolhouses, levy taxes, divide districts, or by mutual consent of the respective boards of directors may consolidate two or more districts.
*The article on the School System of Iowa was prepared by John F. Riggs, superintendent of public instruction.
Iowa Official Register.
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Support. School revenue is placed in three funds. The amount expended from each fund for the school year 1902-1903 was as follows: Teachers' Fund :
Paid teachers $6,242,926. 38
Paid for library books 16,619.30
Paid for other purposes
57,998.96
Total
$ 6,317,544.64
Contingent Fund :
Paid for fuel, rent, repairs, insurance and jan- itors
$1,575,691.57
Paid secretaries' and treasurers' salaries 150, 803. 41
Paid for records and apparatus. 55, 630. 95
Paid for library books and dictionaries 20,823.67
Paid for free text-books
33, 491.22
Paid for general supplies.
128, 283. 64
Paid for other purposes
346, 964. 87
Total
$ 2,311,689.33
Schoolhouse Fund:
Paid for schoolhouses and sites $ 998,242.72
Paid on bonds and interest 450, 669. 68
Paid for other purposes
215,892. 41
Total
$ 1,664,804.81
Total for all purposes $10, 294,038.78
For the year 1902-1903 the number of school days taught was. 162
Average monthly salaries (males). $45.99
Average monthly salaries (females). 32.60
Number of male teachers employed.
3, 733
Number of female teachers employed. 25,554
Number of pupils enrolled . 550, 202
School age. School age is five to twenty-one years. Children between seven and fourteen years are required to attend some public or private school for not less than twelve school weeks each year.
Educational institutions. The school system has at its head a State University, an Agricultural College and a State Normal School. There are 187 high schools in the State in cities and towns of over one thousand population. These schools enrolled for the year 1902-1903, 9, 621 boys and 13, 943 girls. The parochial schools, private normal schools, business colleges and denominational colleges number 285, employing 1,637 teachers and professors. These schools enrolled last year 46, 011 students.
SYSTEM OF TAXATION .*
Assessment. The laws of Iowa governing the assessment of property and the levy and collection of taxes apply to the entire State, except the cities of Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Dubuque and Keokuk. These cities, operating
* The article on System of Taxation was prepared by James Parker, Deputy Auditor of Polk County, Iowa.
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under special charters, levy and collect their own taxes for city purposes upon whatsoever basis of assessment they desire.
By local assessor. All property, except that hereinafter mentioned, is assessed between the second Monday of January and the first day of April at its actual value by the township, city and town assessors.
By Executive Council. All property used in the operation of railroads, interurban railroads, sleeping car companies, freight transportation companies, express companies, telegraph and telephone companies, is assessed annually in July by the State Executive Council at its actual value and one fourth of the assessment thus made is apportioned to the counties according to the mileage in operation in each county. The county auditor then places the amount reported to his county upon the tax books, apportioning the same to the several taxing districts on the mileage basis. .
Personal and real property-when listed and assessed. Personal property is listed and assessed each year in the name of the owner thereof on January 1st. Real estate is listed ard assessed in each odd numbered year. In each even numbered year new buildings erected since the last assessment are assessed and added to the value of real estate as shown by the prior assessment. New buildings on leased ground are assessed as personal property.
Exemptions. All public property, all property used by literary, scientific, charitable, benevolent, agricultural or religious institutions not exceeding 160 acres in extent, is exempt from taxation ; all property used by public libraries, including libraries owned and kept by private individuals, associations or cor- porations for public use and not for private profit, is exempt ; also farm produce of the person assessed, harvested by him, and all wool shorn from his sheep, within one year previous to the listing; all poultry, ten stands of bees, all swine and sheep under six months of age, and all other domestic animals under one year of age; obligations for rent not due; private libraries; professional libraries to the actual value of $300; family pictures ; household furniture to the actual value of $300 and kitchen furniture; beds and bedding requisite for each family ; all wearing apparel in actual use; and all food provided for the family. Union soldiers and sailors or their unmarried widows, of the Mexican or Civil wars, are allowed $800 exemption if they have not $5, 000 worth of property. Assessors may exempt, in whole or in part, persons who by reason of age or infirmity are unable to contribute, subject to reversal by local board of review.
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