724 



SELDEN, HENRY R. 



Vega Real, a beautiful wide valley, containing 

 the richest land in ISan Domingo. But at the 

 end of the bay the land is low and swampy, 

 and it was necessary, first of all, to construct 

 the road over a marsh nine miles across, over 

 which a cat could scarcely walk without sink- 

 ing. Authority was given in May to George 

 H. Blake to construct a railway that is to 

 traverse the island from south to north. Start- 

 ing from Las Cald.eras and passing through the 

 towns of Ayna and San Juan, then ascending 

 the Cordillera at Sabaneta, it is to continue in 

 a straight line until it reaches the bay of Man- 

 zanillo. In August a concession was granted 

 to the French engineer, M. Thomasset, to build 

 a railroad between the capital and the town of 

 San Cristobal. 



Tobacco. Bad crops, for lack of sufficient 

 rainfall, and poor prices in Gt-rmany, the only 

 market for Puerto Plata tobacco, have, of late 

 years, caused a notable decrease in tobacco 

 production. In 1872-75 Puerto Plata still ex- 

 ported 125,000 to 170,000 quintals 

 annually; between 1876 and 1881 

 the export fluctuated between 31,- 

 000 and 110,000 quintals; since 

 then it has recovered somewhat, 

 the export in 1884 being 105,514 

 quintals. 



Water -works. A contract was 

 made in August with Messrs. Man- 

 uel de J. Delgado and A. Pomayrac 

 to provide the city of Santo Do- 

 mingo with water from Higuero 

 river by means of an aqueduct. 



German-Dominican Treaty. The 

 new treaty of commerce, naviga- 

 tion, and consular service, signed 

 at Berlin on Jan. 30, 1885, con- 

 firmed by the Dominican Congress 

 on May 22, and since ratified by 

 the German Empire, regulates the 

 validity of marriages by Germans 

 in Santo Domingo, whether per- 

 formed in accordance with Domini- 

 can or German laws and rites. It 

 concedes to all commercial inter- 

 course between Germany and Santo 

 Domingo the clause of the most fa- 

 vored nation. German consuls are 

 to have the privilege of settling the 

 estates of deceased countrymen of 

 theirs in the republic, and vice ver- 

 sa. In the event of Santo Domin- 

 go ever throwing open the coast- 

 wise trade to any other nation, the 

 German flag is to enjoy the same 

 privilege. 



SELDEN, HENRY ROGERS, an American jurist, 

 born in Lyme, Conn., Oct. 14, 1805 ; died in 

 Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 18, 1885. He came of 

 a family that had settled in the colony of Con- 

 necticut as early as 1636, and had always been 

 in good circumstances and high repute; so 

 that, although he had little regular school train- 

 ing, he grew up in a home whose surroundings 



were in themselves a liberal education. He 

 went to Rochester in 1825, and studied law in 

 the office of Addison Gardiner and Samuel L. 

 Selden, his elder brother, both of whom after- 

 ward became Judges of the Court of Appeals. 

 He was admitted to the bar in 1830, and began 

 the practice of law in the town of Clarkson, 

 Monroe County, but removed to Rochester 

 in 1859, having had an office in that city for 

 some years previous to that date. Sept. 25, 

 1834, he married Laura Anne Baldwin. As 

 early as 1845 he became interested in telegraph- 

 ic enterprises, and was made President of the 

 Auantic Lake and Mississippi Valley Telegraph 

 Company. He had also an interest in the 

 New York and Mississippi Valley Printing 

 Telegraph Company, based upon House's pat- 

 ents. He was appointed reporter of the Court 

 of Appeals in 1851, and held the place until 

 the expiration of his term in 1854, publish- 

 ing six volumes of reports. He had in early 

 life been a Democrat, but he was earnest in 



HENRY B. SELDEN. 



his opposition to the extension of slavery, and 

 on that issue joined in the formation of the 

 Republican party. In 1856 he became the can- 

 didate of the party for the lieutenant-govern- 

 orship, and was elected, though compelled 

 be absent in Europe on professional busines 

 during the canvass. He served for the f 

 term of two years. He attended the Repub- 



