Rhode Island,               1,085               254.87
Massachusetts,              8,040               221.78
Connecticut,                4,845               128.52
Georgia,                   58,980                26.15
Illinois,                  56,000                54.96
Iowa,                      55,475                29.29
Maine,                     29,895                21.71
Michigan,                  57,430                28.50
New Hampshire,              9,005                38.53
New York,                  47,620               106.74
Pennsylvania,              44,985                95.21
West Virginia,             24,645                25.09

As inseparable as night is from day, so also are the ills of life from life itself.  Massachusetts is no exception to the inexorable law which defines the conditions of human society; but through her public and private charities so wisely administered, she humanely softens the asperities which shadow the life of her unfortunates.  To her lot fall 1,733 idiotic persons, 978 deaf mutes, 5,127 insane, 1,500 of whom are cared for at home, and 3,659 prisoners, 1,484 of whom are of foreign birth.  Human life teaches that the boundary lines of a smile and tear are the same, for where happiness is, there sorrow dwells.  In the general estimate of 391,960 annual deaths in the United States, about 33,000 occur in Massachusetts.

One evidence of her unswerving faith in the national credit is seen by her holdings in U.S. registered bonds.  The four leading states are reported as follows:—­

No. of                         Per cent. of
Persons.       State.            Bondholders.            Amount.

16,885        Massachusetts,     23.05              $45,138,750
10,408        Pennsylvania,      14.23               40,223,050
14,803        New York,          20.24              210,264,250
4,130        Ohio,               5.65               16,445,050

In the classification of the four leading states, of assessed valuation and taxation, it appears that the assessed valuation of her personal property exceeds that of any state.

The four leading states are thus classified:—­

Area        Real         Personal                      Total
State.  Sq.  M.      Estate.        Property.        Total.          Tax.

N.Y.   47.620  $2,329,282,359  $323,657,647  $2,651,940,006  $56,392,975
Penn.  44,985   1,540,007,657   143,451,059   1,683,459,016   28,604,334
Mass.   8,040   1,111,160,072   473,596,730   1,584,756,802   24,326,877
Ohio   40,760   1,093,677,705   440,682,803   1,534,360,508   25,756,658

The grandest monument of human skill in modern railway science is unquestionably the St. Gothard Tunnel which connects the valley of the Reuss with the valley of the Ticino, which is from 5,000 to 6,500 feet below the Alpine peaks of St. Gothard, being a little over 9-1/4 miles in length, costing over $47,000,000, one-half of which was paid by the governments of Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.  Until its completion in 1880, there was but one railway tunnel, Mont Cenis, that outranked our own Hoosac Tunnel of nearly 5 miles in length and costing about $10,000,000.