104 



CHILL 



CHINA. 



A rupture of diplomatic relations took place 

 between the Bolivian Minister, Dr. K. Bustillos, 

 and the Chilian Government, toward the end 

 of the year ; but friendly sentiments were after- 

 ward reestablished between the two countries. 



An International Exhibition was inaugurated 

 at Santiago in September. Among the meas- 

 ures to be taken into consideration by Congress 

 at the close of the year, during an extraordi- 

 nary session, was the petition of Messrs. Clark 

 & Company, soliciting an exclusive privilege 

 for a period of twenty years for working a rail- 

 way line that shall cross the Andes and con- 

 nect the State lines with the provinces of San 

 Juan and Mendoza. 



The value of the commerce between Chili 

 and the Transandine provinces, in 1871, was 

 $1,412,198. Sixty thousand head of cattle are 

 yearly imported from the Argentine provinces. 

 The yearly number of passengers by this line 

 it is calculated would be 90,000. The line of 

 steamers of the Compafiia Sud- Americana was- 

 to be extended as far as Callao not later than 

 January, 1873. The first of the new steamers 

 to arrive in Valparaiso will probably inaugurate 

 the extension of the line to Callao. 



A proposition of the Peruvian President to 

 impose an import duty on nitrate of soda 

 created a feeling of uneasiness in Chili. It was 

 alleged by well-informed persons that, if the 

 measure was sanctioned by Congress, Iquique 

 would be ruined. 



A subscription was opened for the purpose 

 of defraying the cost of an expiatory column, 

 and a small chapel also, to be erected on the 

 site occupied by the ill-fated church of La Com- 

 pafiia, in Santiago. The Hon. J. P. Root, Uni- 

 ted States minister, addressed a letter to the 

 Minister of Marine, thanking him, in the name 

 of the United States Government and in his 

 own, for the assistance rendered at Punta Are- 

 nas to the survivors of the crew of the American 

 vessel Golden Hyde. A postal convention be- 

 tween Chili and the United States of Colom- 

 bia was approved. There were exported from 

 Lota, in July and August, for foreign parts, 

 2,086 tons of coal, 619,146 kilos, bar copper, 

 and 40,000 fire-bricks. 



A joint-stock company was about to be es- 

 tablished for the construction of a telegraph- 

 line between Caldera and Lota, communicating 

 with all the principal intermediate towns upon 

 the coast. According to published reports, 

 from the 15th to the 22d of September, there 

 arrived at Santiago, over the Southern Rail- 

 way, 8,375 persons, being at the rate of 2,000 

 persons daily. This shows the interest which 

 the late exhibition has excited throughout 

 ( Hi ili. The enterprising Intendente of Santiago, 

 Senor Vienna Mackenna, decided upon two 

 other exhibitions : one, in December, was to 

 be of flowers produced by plants or seeds fe- 

 cundated and grown in the open air, and of 

 flowers the product of hot-house plants or 

 seeds; the other, from March to April, 1873., 

 will be of fruits and vegetables, 



The National Society of Agriculture, an in- 

 defatigable toiler in behalf of the agricultural 

 interests of Chili, was preparing to send a col- 

 lection of various agricultural products to the 

 great exhibition to be opened at Vienna on the 

 1st of May, 1873. 



A company was to be formed at La Serena, 

 for the construction of a railway from that city 

 to Elgin ; and the Copiapd Railway Company 

 are to extend their line to the Cordillera. Con- 

 siderable interest has been awakened concern- 

 ing the development of the carboniferous de- 

 posits of the republic, in consequence of a recent 

 and unexampled advance in the price of coal. 

 Successful explorations have been made in the 

 south, and numerous companies formed for the 

 purpose of working the seams that have been 

 hitherto discovered. 



CHINA,* an empire in Eastern Asia. The 

 present name of the Emperor is Tung-Khih 

 (signifying "United Order"). -At first the 

 name Kee-tsiang had been adopted for the new 

 government, but it was subsequently changed. 

 The Emperor was born in April 21, 1856, and 

 has ruled since August 21, 1861. 



The area of China proper is estimated at 

 from 1,294,000 to 1,548,000 square miles; of 

 China and its dependencies at about 4,700,000 

 square miles. The population of China proper 

 is about 420,000,000; of the dependencies, 

 Mantchooria has 3,000,000 ; Mongolia, 3,000,- 

 000; Thibet, 11,000,000; Corea, 9,000,000 ; ag- 

 gregate population of the dependencies, 26,000,- 

 000 ; population of the empire and its depen- 

 dencies, 446,000,000. 



The army is said to consist of 678 companies 

 (of 100 men each) of Mantchoos ; of 211 com- 

 panies of Mongolians, of 106,000 Chinese, all 

 cavalry, and 500,000 native infantry. To these 

 must be added 125,000 irregular militia ; total, 

 820,000. The soldiers when not in active ser- 

 vice carry on a trade in their own houses, and 

 China has, therefore, not a regular army like 

 the countries of Europe and America. 



The customs returns show the following 

 amount of duties paid : 



Duties paid in Haikuan Tads (1 Tael equal to $1.52) 

 at 8 Francs, 



The following is the official report of the 

 foreign commerce of China in the years 1869 

 and 1870 the commercial tael at $1.43. It 

 embraces a list of the countries with which a 

 trade was carried on, with the imports from 

 and the exports to these countries; also the 

 trade at each of the open ports : 



* See AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA of 1871 for nn 

 account of the Council of State.. 



