NICARAGUA. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



623 







Citizens' Improvement Party. Sheriff. Gabriel 

 Marks. 



Also for Judge of the Court of Appeals, Robert 

 Earl, Republican and Democrat ; Silas W. Mason, 

 Prohibition ; Francis Gerau, Socialist Labor. 



For the first time the new ballot law was en- 

 forced and the Tammany society again succeeded 

 in electing every one of its nominees by majori- 

 ties of 20,000 and upward. A feature of the 

 canvass was the organization of the People's 

 Municipal League, whose ticket received the 

 approval of the Republican party and of the 

 County Democracy. 



Other political events in the local history dur- 

 ing the year were : The resignation, on Feb. 4, 

 of Richard Croker from the place of city cham- 

 berlain, with the subsequent appointment of 

 Thomas C. T. Grain to that office ; the resigna- 

 tion of James A. Flack, on March 26, from the 

 office of sheriff, to which Gen. Daniel E. Sickles 

 was appointed on March 28 ; the appointment of 

 Patrick J. Scully, on Oct. 20, to the office of 

 county clerk, made vacant by the death of 

 Edward F. Reilly on Sept. 28. 



The Board of Aldermen chosen is composed of 

 25 members, exclusive of the president, of which 

 19 are adherents of Tammany Hall, 3 are County 

 Democrats, 2 Republicans arid 1 Ind. Democrat. 



NICARAGUA, a republic in Central America. 

 The Constitution of Aug. 9, 1858, vests the legis- 

 lative authority in a Senate, which consists of 18 

 members, and a Legislative Assembly, which has 

 21 members, elected by the suffrage of the nation 

 for six and four years respectively. The presi- 

 dential term is four years. The President is Dr. 

 Roberto Sacasa, who succeeded on the death of 

 Evarista Carajo in August, 1889, as acting Presi- 

 dent till March 1, 1891, and in October, 1890, 

 was elected for the full term ending March 1, 

 1895. The members of his Cabinet are Benja- 

 min Guerra, Minister of Foreign Affairs and 

 Public Instruction ; F. Paniagua, Minister of 

 War and Marine ; J. F. Medina, Minister of 

 Communications and Public Works ; Dr. Delga- 

 dillo, Minister of the Interior. 



Statistics. According to a recent calculation, 

 the area of the republic is 123,950 square kilo- 

 metres, or 47,442 square miles. The population 

 at the end of 1888 was 282.845, of whom 136,239 

 were of the male, and 146,596 of the female sex. 

 Not included in this enumeration are the uncivil- 

 ized Indians, numbering about 30,000. Managua, 

 the capital, has about 16,000 inhabitants. 



The two railroads, connecting Corinto with 

 Momotombo and Managua with Granada, have 

 a total length of 95 square miles. They and 

 the customs revenues are mortgaged for the 

 6-per-cent. loan of 285,000 raised in London in 

 1886. Beyond this loan the amount of the pub- 

 lic debt, according to an official statement, is 

 $1,592,000. The chief exports of the country 

 are coffee and India-rubber. The cultivation of 

 bananas has been introduced on a large scale, 

 and considerable quantities of the fruit are sent 

 to the United States. Of the total exports, a lit- 

 tle less than half go to Germany, France, and 

 the United States in nearly equal proportions, 

 and the rest mainly to Great Britain. Germany 

 furnishes more than one third of the imports, 

 the United States over one fifth, France less than 

 one sixth, and England one eighth. 



The Nicaragua Canal. A treaty to permit 

 the construction of an interoceanic canal across 

 the territory of Nicaragua was signed between 

 the United States and the Republic of Nicaragua 

 Dec. 1, 1884; but this treaty was not ratified 

 within the stipulated period of two years. The 

 American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Com- 

 pany, organized in 1886, obtained the exclusive 

 right to build a canal and to own and manage it for 

 eighty-five years from the time of its completion. 

 Nothing but preliminary work was done by this 

 company, and in 1887 the Nicaraguan Govern- 

 ment declared its charter invalid. A new con- 

 cession was issued to the Maritime Ship Canal 

 Company of Nicaragua, which was incorporated 

 in the United States by an act of Congress ap- 

 proved Feb. 20, 1889. This company engaged 

 to complete the canal before 1900. It began 

 operations, and, according to the report of the 

 Nicaraguan Minister of Public Works, made in 

 November, 1890, it has more than fulfilled the 

 requirements of its charter, having expended 

 during the preceding year more than $3,000,000. 

 The pier at San Juan del Norte had been ex- 

 tended 700 feet, and a depth of 10 feet of water 

 secured where there had been dry land in May. 

 Six dredges bought from the Panama Canal 

 Company, and much other machinery, were on 

 the spot, besides 2 large suction dredges from 

 Charleston, and 2 of the dredges were engaged in 

 deepening the channel to allow the regular 

 steamers from New York to enter and discharge 

 in the harbor. The route of the canal had been 

 cleared of timber as far as the divide cut, 10 

 miles of railway were completed, the trestle 

 bridge across the harbor was nearly finished, and 

 the machine shop, equipped with the best modern 

 tools and machinery, was rapidly approaching 

 completion. The right of way from Lake Nica- 

 ragua to the Pacific had been acquired and paid 

 for, the work of clearing the route on that side 

 was already begun, and a party of engineers 

 were engaged in surveying the route for the rail- 

 road there. There were 1,500 men employed on 

 the ship-canal works at the time, whose general 

 health, according to the report of the chief sur- 

 geon in charge, 'showed a most satisfactory op- 

 eration of the sanitary service, no deaths having 

 occurred from climatic or enteric fevers or other 

 similar disorders. 



NORTH CAROLINA, a Southern State, one 

 of the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution 

 Nov. 21, 1789 ; area, 52,250 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census, 

 was 393,751 in 1790; 478,103 in 1800; 555,500 in 

 1810 ; 638,829 in 1820 ; 737,987 in 1830 ; 753,419 

 in 1840 ; 869,039 in 1850; 992,622 in 1860 ; 1.071,- 

 361 in 1870; 1,399,750 in 1880 ; and 1,617,947 in 

 1890. Capital, Raleigh. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Daniel G. 

 Fowle, Democrat ; Lieu tenant-Govern or, Thomas 

 M. Holt; Secretary of State, William L. Saun- 

 ders; Treasurer, 'Donald W. Bain; Auditor, 

 George W. Sanderlin ; Attorney-General, Theo- 

 dore F. Davidson; Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction, Sidney M. Finger ; Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, John Robinson; Chief Justice of 

 the Supreme Court, Augustus S. Merrimon ; 

 Associates, Joseph J. Davis, James E. Shepherd, 

 Alphonse C. Avery, and Walter Clark. 



