CHILI. 



149 



that diastase acts best in a slightly acid medi- 

 um ; or, if this is true, the amount of acid re- 

 quired is more minute than is usually stated. 



CHILI, an independent republic of South 

 America. (For details relating to area, popu- 

 lation, etc., see " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1883 

 and 1884.) 



Government. The President is Don Manuel 

 Balmaceda, whose term of office will expire on 

 Sept. 18, 1891. The Cabinet was composed in 

 1886 of the following ministers : Interior, Settor 

 J. I.Vergara; Foreign Affairs and Colonization, 

 Don Francisco Freire ; Justice, Public Worship, 

 and Instruction, Sefior E. 0. Varas ; Finance, 

 Settor Edwards ; War and Navy, Sefior C. Atu- 

 nez. The Chilian Minister to the United States 

 is Sefior Ambrosio Montt. The Chilian Con- 

 sul at New York is Don B. R. de Espriella ; and 

 the Consul-General at San Francisco, Don J. 

 de la Cruz Cerda. The United States Minis- 

 ter to Chili is Hon. William B. Roberts. The 

 United States Consuls in Chili are : D. M. Dunn, 

 at Valparaiso ; J. Grierson, at Coquimbo ; and 

 J. F. Van Ingen, at Talcahuano. 



Political Reforms. Important reforms are be- 

 ing attempted in Chili. One project provides 

 that no senator or deputy shall be interested 

 in any public contract ; another is, that neither 

 the President, nor any minister, shall give an 

 office to a near relative unless it be proved 

 that he is qualified in every respect to hold it. 

 Another project being agitated is, that the 

 President of the Republic shall in future be 

 elected by the Congress instead of by popular 

 suffrage. The agitation of this matter is due 

 to the terrible bloodshed in the last elections, 

 when upward of forty persons were killed and 

 a large number wounded. 



Army. The strength of the army in con- 

 formity with decrees of Dec. 26, 1884, and Jan. 

 9, 1885 was 7,100 men, commanded by 970 

 officers, the number of rank and file only to be 

 kept up for eighteen months, when it was to 

 be reduced to 5,541 men. The National Guard, 

 in conformity with the law of Sept. 26, 1882, 

 is subject to mobilization whenever required. 



Bfavy. At the close of 1885 the Chilian navy 

 consisted of the following steamers : two iron- 

 clads, one monitor, three corvettes, two gun- 

 boats, three cruisers, two transports, four 

 eseampavias, six pontoons, and nine torpedo- 

 boats. The law of Jan. 9, 1885, left in active 

 service only two iron-clads, one monitor, three 

 corvettes, three gunboats, three cruisers, two 

 escampavias, five pontoons, and 800 sailors and 

 marines to serve as a garrison of the fleet and 

 colony of Magallanes. The navy was manned 

 by 1,399 sailors. The Government has ordered 

 another man-of-war, according to the designs 

 of Sir E. J. Reed. It is to be an armored 

 cruiser of 4,500 tons, with a speed of 19 knots 

 an hour. The armament will consist of two 25- 

 ton 10-inch guns; one 14-ton 8-inch gun; two 

 6-inch ; four 6-pounders ; eight mitrailleuses ; 

 and eight tubes for firing Whitehead torpe- 

 does. The cost of the vessel, according to the 



designs approved by the late Admiral Lynch 

 and Capt. J. J. Latorre, is from $1,200,000 to 

 $1,500,000. 



Postal Serriee. The number of post-offices in 

 operation early in 1885 was 411 ; letters dis- 

 patched, 13,438,439; registered, 98,899; sam- 

 ple packages, 28,668; law notifications, 15,598; 

 Government dispatches, 669,160 ; newspapers, 

 15,615,069 ; aggregate number of items of mail 

 matter, 29,865,833, against 24,231,967 the pre- 

 vious year. The receipts were $388,425, an 

 increase of $41,647 as compared with those of 

 the year preceding ; and the expenses amounted 

 to $326,980, being less than those of the pre- 

 vious year. Postal orders were issued to the 

 amount of $1,448,608. 



Railroads. There were in operation on Jan. 

 1, 1885, the following-named lines of railway : 



GOVERNMENT. Le ngt h in 



LINES. kilometres. 



Santiago to Valparaiso 186 



Santa Kosa branch 45 



Santiago to Palmilla 304 



Maule to Talcaguano 413 



Total 948 



PRIVATE. 



Arica to Tacna 63 



Pisagua to Tres Marias. . '. 106 



Iquique to Tres Marias 194 



Patillos to Salitreras del Sur 93 



Mejillones to Cerro Gordo 29 



Anto Fagasta to Salinas del Dorado 128 



Taltal to Kefresco 82 



Chanaral to Salado 60 



Calera to Copiap6 242 



Carrizal Bajo to Carrizal Alto 86 



Coquimbo to Serena 15 



Coquiinbo to Ovalle 123 



Serena to Vicufla 60 



Tongoy to Tamaya 55 



Laraquete to Maquegua 40 



Total 1,326 



Those planned and partially in course of con- 

 struction, by the Government and by private 

 companies, are the following lines : 



LINES. kilometres. 



Quilpu6 to Melipilla 150 



Calera to Ovalle de Norte 250 



Pelequen to Peumo 50 



Talca to Constitucion 85 



Parral to Cauquenes 55 



Coihue to Mulchen. 25 



Eenaico to Osorno 300 



Angol to Traiguen 74 



Concepcion to Caflete 160 



Total 1,149 



Congress also gave authority to private com- 

 panies to undertake the following extensions of 

 lines now in operation: To prolong the Anitp- 

 fagasta line to the Bolivian' frontier, and in 

 . another direction to the Aguas Blancas nitrate- 

 fields ; to construct a line between the port of 

 Guasco and the city of Yallenar; from San- 

 tiago to the Las Condes silver-mines, east of 

 the capital ; Chagres to Santa Rosa de los An- 

 des ; Nilhue to Catemo ; Concepcion to Lota ; 

 and Lota to Colico de Sur. 



Work on the Chilian section of the Transan- 

 dine Railway was begun in July, and as the 

 section between Buenos Ay res and San Juan 

 was finished on May 8, Chili and the Ar- 



