NICARAGUA. 



653 



NEW ZEALAND. See page 65. 



NICARAGUA, a republic in Central America. 

 Area, 51,600 square miles; population in 1884, 

 259,794. The capital is Managua, population, 

 15,000. 



Government. The President is Don Evaristo 

 Carazo, whose term of office will expire on 

 March 1, 1891. Pending the formation of a 

 new Cabinet, the acting ministers retained their 

 portfolios. They were : Foreign Affairs, Fi- 

 nance, War and Navy, Gen. J. Elizondo ; Jus- 

 tice and Public Worship, Dr. F. Dedgadillo ; 

 Interior, J. Chamorro. The President of the 

 Senate is Senor G. Lacayo ; the President of 

 the Chamber of Deputies, Senor M. Osorno. 

 The Bishop of Nicaragua is Sefior F. Ulloa de 

 Larios. The Nicaraguan Minister at Washing- 

 ton is Gen. Joaquin Zavala, the Consul-General 

 at New York, A. Cotheal, and the American 

 Consul at Managua, Henry E. Lord ; the consu- 

 lar agent at San Juan del Sur is Charles Holman. 



Army. The army was reorganized in the 

 summer of 1886, and has been placed under 

 the command of Gen. J. Urtecho. 



Finances. Nicaragua has no foreign debt. 

 English capitalists have spontaneously offered 

 the Government a loan to the amount of $1,- 

 445,000, to enable it to pay off its internal debt 

 of $843,000, and withdraw from circulation 

 its paper money, the loan to be secured by 

 the net earnings of the Government railroads. 

 Simultaneously another loan has been tendered 

 the Government for the improvement of the 

 river and port of San Juan del Norte, the cus- 

 toms receipts at the latter to serve as guaran- 

 tee. The actual income of the Government 

 during the fiscal year 1884-'85 was $1,835,000, 

 and the outlay $1,767,000. Dating from May 

 1, 1886, the duties on imports were raised. 



Frontier Dispute. In November the Govern- 

 ment sent its representative, Don Gilberto 

 Larios, to Guatemala for the settlement of the 

 boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Eica, 

 hitherto ill defined. 



Railroads. There were in operation, in 1886, 

 the line from Corinto to Chinandega, 20 kilo- 

 metres in length; the one from Chinandega 

 via Leon Viejo to Moabita, 72 kilometres; and 

 the one from Managua via Masaya to Granada, 

 52 kilometres. 



In June the Government made a contract 

 with Don Pedro Ramirez for the construction 

 of a railway along the shore of Lake Nicara- 

 gua to the Atlantic coast. 



Telegraphs. There were in operation, in 

 1884, 2,090 kilometres of wire, and 640 kilo- 

 metres projected. The number of offices was 

 45; messages sent, 123,141, of which 18,694 

 were Government messages, and 12,840 relat- 

 ing to the working of the line. In 1885 the 

 receipts amounted to $26,000, and the expenses 

 to $36,200. 



Early in 1886 there went into operation a 

 telephone between Managua and Masaya, and 

 soon afterward one between San Ubaldo and 

 Acoyapa. 



Lake Navigation. In September the new lake- 

 steamer "Progreso" made its trial-trip, with 

 President Cardenas on board, between Mana- 

 gua and Momotombo, the distance being cleared 

 in two hours and fifteen minutes, at the rate of 

 15 miles an hour. The machinery was made in 

 England; the boat is 134 feet in length. 



Postal Service. In 1883-'84 the Nicaraguan 

 post-office forwarded inland 1,261,808 items of 

 mail-matter; abroad, 423,127; total, 1,684,- 

 935. The receipts in 1885 were $12,000 ; the 

 expense, $25,000. 



Government Aid to Agriculture. In May the 

 Government decreed, for five years to come, a 

 bounty of eighty cents per quintal of 101 

 pounds avoirdupois, to be paid to wheat-pro- 

 ducers, by way of encouragement, provided 

 the farmer raised over twenty-five quintals; 

 to those laying out cocoa-plantations, for ten 

 years, ten cents yearly on every cocoa-tree 

 that has reached the age of five years, in the 

 departments of Chontales, Matagalpa, Nueva 

 Segovia, Leon, and Chinandega, provided the 

 plantation exceeds in number 3,000 trees. 



Education. The Nicaragua University, called 

 the Oriental National Institute, is described 

 as being in a flourishing condition in 1886. 

 The number of students was 140. 



Volcanic Eruption. A column of fire sudden- 

 ly rose from the crater of Momotombo on May 

 22, accompanied by a shower of ashes and 

 earth, spreading westward as far as Chinande- 

 ga, and toward the south all the way to Nu- 

 garote, the glare during the night being re- 

 flected by Lake Nicaragua, and perceptible 

 from the Pacific Ocean. Managua and other 

 towns experienced an earthquake simultane- 

 ously. The volcano remained active till May 

 25. A second, less violent, eruption took place 

 in November, when a shower of fine ashes 

 filled the atmosphere at Leon and other places. 

 Leon being nearest the volcano, fears were en- 

 tertained that eventually it might have the 

 fate of Pompeii. 



New Lighthouse. On August 7 the new light- 

 house at Cojunto was lighted for the first 

 time, its light being clearly discernible a dis- 

 tance of 18 miles at sea. 



Commerce. The imports and exports in four 

 years have been as follows : 



The Central American war immediately 

 affected Nicaraguan trade in 1884-'85. The 

 chief export articles were India-rubber, coffee, 

 fustic, indigo., hides, cattle, and cedar-wood. 

 There entered Nicaraguan ports in 1884-'85 

 275 vessels, measuring jointly 272,549 tons. 

 The American trade with Nicaragua in 1886 

 was: Import into the United States, $1,067,- 

 902 ; domestic export to Nicaragua, $471,671. 



The Ship-Canal. On Jan. 6, 1887, Senator 



