480 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



usually made it about 600,000,000 pounds. 

 Austria-Hungary produces about one third of 

 it, Russia one tenth, Germany nearly as much, 

 France about 35,000,000 pounds, and the 

 other countries a small quantity. Europe can 

 easily produce all the tobacco required, but 

 two reasons are prominent for importation of 

 tobacco from this country. It is very cheap, 

 and it is very desirable for mixing with and 

 fortifying European leaf. 



TEA AND COFFEE. 



Tea. The production of tea in 1888, by 

 countries, according to Mulhall, was, in 

 pounds : China, 290,000,000 ; India, 90,- 

 000,000 ; Japan, 40,000,000 ; Ceylon, 19,000,- 

 000 ; Paraguay, 10,000,000 ; Java, 7,000,000. 



The consumption of tea is estimated by the 

 same authority as follows, in pounds : Great 

 Britain and 'Ireland, 184,500,000; United 

 States, 80,000,000 ; Russia, 37,000,000 ; Can- 

 ada, 22,000,000 ; Australia, 20,000,000 ; vari- 

 ous other countries, 106,500,000. 



The importation of tea into the United 

 States in the fiscal year of 1896 was 93,998.372 

 pounds, valued at $12,704,440. 



Coffee. The total production of coffee in 

 the world in 1889 was 1,249,000,000 pounds, 

 of which Brazil produced 812,000,000, other 

 parts of America, 253,000,000, East Indies 

 and Africa, 184,000,000. 



The consumption by countries, according 

 to Mulhall, is in tons: United States, 215,- 

 000 ; Germany, 105,000 ; Brazil, etc., 78,000 ; 

 France, 65,000; Netherlands, 40,000; Aus- 

 tria, 36,000 ; Belgium, 25,000 ; Scandinavia, 

 25,000; Italy, 14,000; Great Britain, 15,000; 

 Russia, 8,000 ; Spain and Portugal, 5,000. 

 The importation of coffee into the United 

 States in 1896 was 580,597,915 pounds, valued 

 at $84,793,124. 



In 1897 the consumption of coffee in the 

 United States was 636, 340, 000 pounds, or 9.95 

 pounds to each individual. In all Europe it 

 was 610,300,000 pounds. 



The English are the greatest tea drinkers 

 among western nations, the Americans the 

 greatest coffee drinkers. 



CANALS. 



A Ship Channel, connecting the waters of 

 the Great Lakes between Chicago, Duluth, 

 and Buffalo, giving channel 300 feet wide, 20 

 to 21 feet depth, is under construction by en- 

 gineers of the United States Army. 



The Harlem River Ship Canal, connecting 

 the Hudson River and Long Island Sound, by 

 way of Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Harlem 

 River, wag opened for traffic on June 17, 1895, 

 and cost about $2,700,000. 



New York Canals The whole number of 

 tons of freight carried upon the state canals 

 during the season of 1896 was 3,714,894, of 

 which the Erie Canal carried 2,742,438 ; 

 Champlain, 802,510 ; Oswego, 57,245 ; Black 

 River, 57,953 ; Cayuga and Seneca, 54,739. 

 The tonnage was 214,580 tons in excess of that 

 of 1895. The increase of tonnage on wheat 

 over 1895 was 128,507 tons ; on rye, 77,050 

 tons ; on barley, 29,691 tons ; on oats, 103,434 

 tons; and on apples, 21,666 tons. 



Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is ninety-two 

 miles long and cost $ 102,750,000. One thou- 

 sand four hundred and fifty-eight ships, of 

 4,045,238 tons net, passed through the Suez 

 Canal during the first six months of 1897, yield- 

 ing $ 7,437,975 in dues. As to the nationality of 

 the vessels, the British were 908, German 161, 

 French 101, Dutch 106, Austro-Hungarian 37, 

 Italian 39, Norwegian 28, Turkish 4, Spanish 

 27, Russian 19, Egyptian 3, Japanese 18, 

 American 1, Chinese 2, Danish 2, Mexican 1. 



Manchester Canal. A statement of the 

 traffic for the year 1896 shows a total tonnage 

 of 1,509,658 944,558 of which were im- 

 ported and 565,100 were exported. In 1895 

 the total was 1,087,443 tons, of which 592,581 

 tons were imported and 494, 862 tons exported. 

 The chief articles of import in 1896 were as 

 follows, in tons: Timber, 179,859; paper 

 and paper making materials, 95,478 ; dye- 

 woods, 18,948 ; pig iron, 56,129 ; manufac- 

 tured iron, 22,980 ; iron ores and pyrites, 

 44,427 ; American cotton, 44,409 ; Egyptian 

 cotton, 22,419; grain, 75,265; flour, meal, 

 etc., 31,968 ; food stuffs (not described), 14,- 

 334; fruit (dried), 5,091; fruit (green), 

 27,137 ; sugar, 23,131 ; tea, 2,267 ; oil in 

 barrels (chiefly from New York), 17,449 tons. 



Baltic Canal. Also known as the " North 

 Sea and Baltic " and " Kiel " Canal. During 

 the year ending June 30, 1896, 16,834 vessels 

 of 1,505,983 tons passed through from one 

 sea to the other, the receipts and expenditures 

 amounting to about $200,000. The canal is, 

 of course, a waterway of great strategical im- 

 portance for the Imperial fleets. It permits 

 the German naval forces to concentrate them- 

 selves either in one sea or the other in a very 

 few hours. 



Panama Canal. The canal has been re- 

 organized under the corporate name of Com- 

 pagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama (the New 

 Panama Canal Company). The new com- 

 pany has not any governmental character, but 

 is organized under the general laws of Franc* 

 by the representatives of financial institu- 

 tions of alleged unquestioned strength and 

 powerful influence, with a capital stock of 65,- 

 000,000 francs, and is not inviting any out- 



