The number of miles of paved streets, and the nature of the paving, in 188o, and the increase since, is shown as
follows by the City Engineer:

                YEAR.      INOWLDR.  U Y'ADAM.  WOODEN.  GRANITE. ASPHALT.  GRAVEL.  STONE.  TOTAL.

         1880.    ..   ...    13-55    io6.03    7.64   . .. .       .20     2.76       .lo     130.18
         188i. .       .      13.55    105.93     7.92   . . . .      .20     2.76       .10     130.26
         1882. . . .. .  .   1 I3.55    107.96     7.47      .45       .20     2.76       .10     132.49
         1883. . .   . . . I 3.55      109.90     7.47      .45       .20     2.76       .10     174.03
         1884. . .   . . .    14.10    107.00     6.io     5.28      3.62     2.76       .10     138.99
         i885. .   . . .      14.91    108.20     6.1o     6.40      3.62     2.76    .   10     142.21
         1886. . .   . . .j 15.65      108.80     6. io    6.90      3.82     2.76       .10   1 44.15

                                                     ALLEYS.
             1880... .  . . . . . . .    .   .     25.71   1884. .     . .......                 28.90
             i88i.25.71 1885 ..........                                                          30.47
             I882. ............. .. . 26.77                1886..........                        31.06
             i883. .                               27.50
    Number of miles of sewers in 1886, 47; number of fire-cisterns in i886, 4,314; number of public pumps in 1886,
z,z x8.
    The police force of i886 consisted of: Regular force, 150 men; supernumeraries, twelve men; on patrol-wagons,
six men. Cost of maintaining Department of Police in I886, 117,610.
    For a great many years the losses by fire in Louisville have been under the average of other cities. In i886, when
the value of the buildings of Louisville was assessed at 26,967,965, the loss by fire was 366,8o8, or a little more than
one-tenth of one per cent. Tle cost of the department in that year was 126,130. The fire department has always been
liberally supported, and its celebrity among other cities for extraordinary efficiency is due to the general distribution of
storage cisterns of water all over the city. These cisterns are filled from the water-mains and hold from 300 to 2,000
barrels each. All the engines needed at a fire can be massed at one or two cisterns within a few yards of the conflagra-
tion, and only a short line of hose is necessary. This unusually safe and effective system has not been introduced any-
where but in Louisville. The department has always been exceptionally well managed for effectiveness, and there is a
strong public pride in its standard. The number of fire engines in commission, thirteen; number of hook and ladder
companies, two.
    Following is a comparative statement of the losses and insurance and insurance premiums for seven years:



                                   YEAR.                  C-         .,SINSURANCE           URAtRCNC
                              YEAR.                PREMIV      FIRE LOSS. M  LOSS.      INSURANCE.

              i880......                  .               475,379   191,66863   114,32363 ......
              881                 .                646,343     173,82600 a  144,769a) ......
              1882.                                  661,683 146,271 82 1 110,931 83 ...
              i883. . . .............95,445                      119,662 65  112,642 00  664,627 87
              1884. . . .                            712,300    151,34809    132,389 56   520,47500
              1885..  ... . . . . .. .. ....         712,209     193,86 021  146,706 07 ! 873,276 76
              i886. .. . . . . ....                  751,687    366,808 12   213,458 36  I,801,002 19

    This table shows that the gross average annual loss by fire in Louisville is a little over one-twentieth of one per
cent. of the value of the buildings, while the net loss over insurance is so trifling as not worthy to be computed.
    The total value of property assessed for taxation in 1887 is 66,89o,ooo, a very small amount, because capital, stock,
and a great many other sources of productive wealth taxed elsewhere are relieved here in order to permit of its increase
and to encourage investment. The tax levy for 1887 was 2.04 on the 1oo, and for 1888 will be 2.0g.
    The report of the Sinking Fund Commissioners shows the bonded debt of the city January 1, 1887, to have been
9,352,ooo, and has not been increased since. There was at the same date cash on hand 513,988.63, and an investment
in bonds of 1,343,000; which, taken together, will reduce the bonded debt to 7,495,ooo. After the year i888 the levy
for the Sinking Fund will not exceed fifty-five cents. The average current expenses are i8,ooo per year, and the income
for 1887 in round numbers was Soo,ooo.
    The census of 18So shows that the debt per capita of Louisville is very noticeably less than that of most cities of its
class and above. The debt has been created to build railroads, sewers, granite streets, and other public improvements
that will be monuments of the city's greatness for a century. The payment of the debts has been guaranteed by a
Sinking Fund, which has been managed with such conspicuous fidelity and ability, as to the main object of its existence,
as to insure the payment of the debt as it matures, and the consequent steady reduction of the present low rate of tax-
ation. A comparative table of debt per capita of cities is as follows:
              Boston ... . . . ..                77 84 I New York ..9.0........ . 90 71
              Brooklyn . .     .     .           67 13   Newark . . N e       w    ark        66 44
              Chicago.                            25 43 Philadelphia ..... . .... 64 oi
              Cincinnati.86 2o Pittsburgh .... .                                               90 38
              Cleveland.... . . . . .             40 38 St. Louis .... 65 i8
              Jersey City .. .    . . .     .     127 45  Washington..     .......            127 66
              New Orleans .........               82 o8   Louisville.......... .. . 39 19
    It will be seen that Chicago is the only city in the list whose debt per capita is smaller than that of Louisville, but
the tax rate of Chicago is much higher than in Louisville.
    The educational facilities are of the most extensive and complete character. The public school system was of small
efficiency before the war, and the present schools have been built up since 1865. This accounts for their practical and
advanced nature, the organizers of the system being weighted by no established prejudices. The excellences of systems
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