642 



NICARAGUA. 



low Fifteenth Street, by the Broadway Surface 

 Railroad Company, and, in lieu of the consent 

 of property-owners, a commission had been 

 appointed by the Supreme Court to ascertain 

 whether the public interests required the con- 

 struction of such a road. This commission 

 reported favorably in March, and the report 

 was confirmed by the General Term of the court 

 in May, Chief-Justice Noah Davis dissenting. 

 The main condition of the franchise was the 

 payment to the city of $40,000 annually, in 

 addition to the percentage of gross receipts re- 

 quired by law. The construction of the road 

 was begun on the 23d of May, and on the 21st 

 of June it was in operation over the whole line 

 of more than two miles from Union Square to 

 Bowling Green. All the omnibuses that had 

 run in Broadway for many years were with- 

 drawn. A company was organized for the 

 purpose of constructing a railroad in Fifth 

 Avenue, but the project was vigorously op- 

 posed. The act authorizing the repavement 

 of that thoroughfare prohibited the laying of 

 railroad-tracks therein. A report favorable to 

 the scheme of railroad lines to be operated by 

 cable, as laid out by commissioners appointed 

 by the Rapid Transit Act of 1875, was made to 

 the Supreme Court in August by the commis- 

 sioners appointed by the Court to inquire into 

 the advisability of their construction, but had 

 not at the end of the year been confirmed. 

 A new company was organized near the 

 end of the year, under the General Tunnel- 

 ing Act, for the construction of an under- 

 ground railway under Broadway and Madison 

 Avenue. 



Statue of Liberty. The colossal Statue of 

 Liberty Enlightening the World, the work of 

 M. Bartholdi, presented to the people of the 

 United States by the people of France, arrived 

 on the 19th of June, and was received with 

 appropriate ceremonies. The pedestal on Bed- 

 loe's Island in the harbor, provided by popular 

 subscription, was not completed, but the work 

 was well advanced before the end of the year. 



NEW ZEALAND. See page 66. 



NICARAGUA, a republic in Central America. 

 Area, 51,600 square miles; population in 1883, 

 275,815. The capital is Managua, population 

 9,000. 



Government. The President is Dr. Adam Car- 

 denas, elected in 1883. His Cabinet was com- 

 posed of the following ministers : Finance, 

 War, and Navy, Gen. J. Elizondo ; Minister of 

 State, Justice, and Public Worship, Dr. F. Del- 

 gadillo ; Foreign Affairs, Settor F. Castellon ; 

 Interior, Seflor J. Chamorro, who is also Presi- 

 dent of the Senate, while Sefior J. Rodriguez 

 is President of the House of Representatives. 

 The Archbishop of Nicaragua is Setter F. Ulloa 

 de Larios. The Nicaraguan Minister at Wash- 

 ington is Gen. Joaquin Zavala. 



The Ship-Canal. The report of Civil Engineer 

 Menocal, U. S. Navy, on the Nicaraguan Canal 

 route recently surveyed, has been made public, 

 and may be summed up as follows: 



The proposed route extends from the harbor of 

 Greytown, on the Caribbean Sea, to Brito, on the Pa- 

 cific. Its total length is 169'8 miles, of which 38-98 

 miles will be excavated canal and 130-82 miles navi- 

 gation by Lake Nicaragua, the river San Juan, the 

 basin of the river San Francisco, and seven Jocks. 

 The eastern division, 19i miles in length, comprises 63 

 per cent, of the total excavation of the entire canal. 

 This portion of the line is upon an entirely new loca- 

 tion, beginning at the southern extremity of the pro- 

 posed inland lake. In the San Francisco valley the 

 canal runs nearly due east through a broad, flat valley 

 a distance of about 1,600 feet, trie average elevation 

 being 125 feet above the sea level, or 19-13 feet above 

 the level of the canal. Thence across projecting spurs 

 the divide is reached at an elevation of 280 feet in a 

 distance of 4.600 feet from the basin of the San Fran- 

 cisco. The line then curves with a radius of 10,733 

 feet for a distance of 2,500 feet across the little plain 

 at the summit, cuts a deep, narrow spur, enters the 

 valley of a stream called Deseado, the bed of which 

 it follows a short distance, then crosses to the left 

 bank of that stream and reaches the site of lock 

 No. 3 in a rocky spur of northern hills, 14,200 feet 

 from the canal-level on the other side, the aver- 

 age depth of the cut for this distance being 119-5 

 feet above the water in the canal. It is estimated 

 that the canal can be completed in six years, and 

 will cost, including a contingent of 25 per cent, added, 

 $64,043,697. 



Railroads. There were in operation, in 1885, 

 the line from Corinto to Chinendega, 12 miles; 

 and one from the latter place to Leon Viejo 

 ma Leon, 45 miles. In August the net earn- 

 ings of the eastern section were $1,187. A 

 railroad is in course of construction from Ma- 

 nagua to Granada, 32 miles. The grading is 

 done and track laid as far as Masaya, 12 miles 

 from Managua. The civil engineer for the 

 Government, under whose supervision the 

 roads are constructed, is an American citizen, 

 as is also the mechanical engineer. 



Telegraphs. Dating from Oct. 1, the cable 

 telegraph-office at San Juan del Sur raised the 

 rate of messages to the United States from 

 $1.25 a word to $1.35, and to England, France, 

 and Germany, from $1.88 to $1.90. All tele- 

 graphic messages sent to Nicaragua are subject 

 to Government censorship. 



In December the telephone went into opera- 

 tion between Managua and Masaya. 



River Communication. The harbor of San Juan 

 del Norte, through the changing of the course 

 of San Juan river and other causes, has almost 

 entirely filled, and great difficulty is encount- 

 ered in discharging freight. Communication 

 with Granada and the interior is by means of 

 the San Juan river. Steamboats ply between 

 San Juan del Norte and Granada ; but, owing 

 to the numerous rapids and low water, the 

 navigation of the river is difficult and requires 

 several handlings of freight. 



Earthquake. There was felt throughout the 

 republic, on Oct. 12, a violent shock of earth- 

 quake, lasting long enough to cause some de- 

 struction at Chinendega, Managua, and Leon, 

 and the loss of two lives. A good many of 

 the principal churches were reduced to a pre- 

 carious condition. Simultaneously, the volcano 

 Cosiguina opened wide chasms in its flanks, a 

 loud rumbling noise was heard, and stones 





