port of the Iowa Institution, and corrected so as to concede the superiority, in this respect, of the Wisconsin Institution:

The following table, derived from the reports of the United States census, shows the number of blind persons reported to be in the State at the dates of the three last enumerations:

The table shows what is otherwise well known to the officers of the Institution, that many blind children still fail to receive the advantages of the school.

The following is a list of the Superintendents of the Institution, with the year during which they have severally served:

J. T. AXTELL, March 1850, to August 1851.

A. MCDONALD, December 1851, to November 1852.
HENRY DUTTON, December 1852, to March 1853.

C. B. WOODRUFF, 1853 to October 1855.

P. LANE, October 1855, to March 1856.

W. H. CHURCHMAN, August 1856, to October 1861.

T. H. LITTLE, October 1861, and present Superintendent.

The operations of the school fall naturally into three departments. In one, instruction is given in the subjects usually taught in our ordinary schools. Some use is made of books printed in raised letters; but instruction is mostly given orally. In another department, musical training, vocal, instrumental and theoretical, is imparted to an extent sufficient to furnish to most an important source of enjoyment, and to some the means of procuring subsistence. These two departments were opened at the commencement of the school, and have been ever since maintained. A little later the third department was opened. In this the object is to teach a trade by which the male graduates of the school may earn their living. Brush making was formerly taught in this department, but it is now abandoned, and the only trade now taught is tha of making corn brooms.

The Wisconsin Institute for the education of the Deaf and Dumb is located on a valuable and eligible site, near the village of Delavan, in Walworth county. The original site of 11 64-100 acres was donated to the State by Mr. F. K. PHOENIX, a member of the Board of Trustees, and in 1857 the trustees purchased twenty-two acres of land, lying on three sides of the original site, for $2,000.

The Legislature legalized the institution on April 19, 1852, and in June, 1852, an organization was effected. J. R. BRADWAY was the first principal of the school, and JOHN A. MILLS the first teacher, himself a deaf mute and a graduate of the New York institution. An appropriation of $1,000 per year for buildings for three years, had been made. Plans and specifications by S. C. KELSEY, architect, were adopted, and a contract made for a building of brick 34x44, of two stories, besides the basement and attic; to be completed at farthest by June, 1854. Up to 1857, $28,800 had been appropriated by the Legislature for buildings, repairs and support of the school, and in 1857, $34,500 were appropriated for erecting main building, shop, barn and for other expenditures. In 1860, $98,000 had been appropriated for buildings and the support of the Institution. In 1862, there had been appropriated for all purposes, since 1852, $143,100, and in 1867, after a further expenditure, the west wings were completed, making a substantial and elegant building that would favorably compare with any public building in the State.

At the organization of the Institution, the number of deaf mutes in the State was estimated at 175. Eight scholars were then in attendance, who were temporarily cared for in a rented house. The census returns of 1860 show 312 deaf mutes in the State, and those of 1870, 314, or about 1 to every 3,000 of the population. In the years 1853, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, '64, '67, '69 and 1870, there were respectively 14, 31, 34, 49, 80, 73, 80, 85, 95 and 122 scholars in attend

ance.

The ages of pupils admitted must be between 10 and 25 years, and if there is room in the Institution, pupils from other States may be admitted on payment of $100 per year. The term of tuition is seven years.

In 1854, a committee appointed by the Board of Trustees to visit similar institutions in Indiana and Ohio, reported and recommended that the Board as early as possible, adopt one or more of the mechanical trades, as a part of the education of the male pupils, and in March, 1860, the cabinet and carpenter shops began running, and some time after, the shoemakers' shop. Although these shops at first expended more than they received, yet in 1870, the receipts of the cabinet shop were $35.73 over expenses, and of the shoe shop $132. 16, giving a profit from both of $167.89.

In 1853, H. N. Hubbell of the Ohio Institution was Principal for a short time, but urgent business matters compelled his return, and at his suggestion Professor Louis H. Jenkins of the Ohio Institution was engaged as Principal, and Mrs. Jenkins as Matron. In 1856, Mr. J. S. Officer, A. M., was Principal, and Mrs. M. Marshall, Matron. In 1857, Miss Orpha Taylor was Matron. This lady was succeeded by Mrs. Eddy, and then Miss M. J. Adams, the present Matron, followed. On the 3d of February, 1865, Mr. Officer, much to the regret of the pupils, and that of the many interested in the welfare of the Institution, died, and was succeeded by H. W. Mulligan, A. M., M. D. On the 9th September, 1868, Mr. Mulligan resigned, and Edward C. Stone of Hartford, Connecticut, was elected in his place.

The idea of the Institution originated with Ebenezer Cheesebro, a resident of Walworth county, he having educated a mute daughter at the Deaf and Dumb Asylum in New York State; and the practical and generous spirit with which the people of Wisconsin have realized this idea, has producod an Institution of which they may be proud, and which is creditable to their philanthropic consideration.

On the 23d of March, 1871, Mr. Edward C. Stone, the Principal of the Institution, was elected Principal of the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb; and George L. Weed, Jr., M. A. was elected Principal of the Wisconsin Institute. From October 1, 1870 to 1871, 149 pupils were in attendance, of whom 12 were dismissed.

The current expenses for the year commencing March 1, 1872, are estimated at $37,949. For the year ending October 1, 1871, the current expenses were

$35,730.77.

The census of 1870 shows that there were 1,274 deaf mutes in Wisconsin between the ages of 6 and 20, not in school.