360 



HONDURAS. 



HOPKINS. MARK. 



option of exchanging for the preferred shares 

 of the railroad company to be formed. 



Telegraphs. The number of offices in opera- 

 tion in 1885 was 63 ; the length of lines, 2,158 

 kilometres. While the receipts did not exceed 

 $20,000 during the year, the expenses amounted 

 to $51,764. On Feb. 5, 1887, direct telegraphic 

 communication was formally opened between 

 Central America and -Mexico by the extension 

 of the Mexican land-lines to Guatemala. The 

 lines in every one of the states thus connected 

 are owned and managed by the Governments, 

 and there is a uniform rate. 



In April, telegraphic communication was 

 opened with the new station at San Francisco, 

 in the department of Santa Rosa. 



Mining. Early in 1887 a syndicate of New 

 York and Philadelphia capitalists obtained from 

 the Government of Honduras the exclusive 

 privilege of establishing customs works for the 

 reduction of ores in any part of Tegucigalpa, 

 El Paraiso, and Oholuteca. The syndicate 

 owns fifteen mines in the republic, having ac- 

 quired them under condition that they should 

 be thoroughly developed, and that roads should 

 be constructed from them to the coast. 



Boundary Question. Honduras and Salvador 

 have agreed to fix anew the boundary between 

 the two republics, the line drawn some time 

 ago by Sefiores Letona and Cruz having been 

 rejected by the Congress of Honduras. Pend- 

 ing the determination of the frontier, the line 

 existing in 1884 is to be adhered to. Mean- 

 while Sefiores Zelaya and Castellanos have 

 made an agreement as to the details to be ob- 

 served in fixing the new line, and the Congress 

 of Honduras has approved it. 



Colonization. Jacob Baiz, Consul-General of 

 Honduras at New York, has petitioned the 

 Government of Honduras for a land grant of 

 25,000 acres for purposes of colonization be- 

 tween Trujillo and Iriona, including the towns 

 of Limon and Cuzca in the Mosquito territory. 

 American settlers are to be procured, and the 

 land is to be planted with plantains, cocoanut 

 groves, oranges, and other fruit. American 

 capitalists are said to be interested in this 

 project. 



Prosperous Condition of the Country. In 1887 

 Honduras made rapid strides in progress. The 

 national debt was in course of reduction; 

 schools, colleges, and telegraph lines were es- 

 tablished, and high-roads built. Under this 

 favorable condition of affairs, American capi- 

 tal has been flowing into the republic, where 

 it is amply protected by law, and where valu- 

 able concessions are granted for public improve- 

 ments. The frequent visits to the Atlantic 

 coast of Honduras of steamers and sailing-ves- 

 sels, buying fruit for sale in the United States, 

 has led to a great rise in prices. Cocoanuts, 

 formerly worth from $12 to $14 a thousand, 

 now bring $45 to $48. Bananas, which could 

 be bought for 30 cents a bunch, are now worth 

 $1.30 a bunch. 



American Enterprise. Col. Hurley, Vice-Presi- 



dent of the Aguan Navigation and Improve- 

 ment Company, has proposed to the Govern- 

 ment the erection of light-houses on the north- 

 ern coast of the republic. The company has 

 displayed great activity during the year, not 

 only in the enterprise of canalization, which is 

 to connect the bay of Trujillo with the river 

 Aguan, but also in its banking operations. Colo- 

 nization of the lands granted to the company, 

 with American settlers, is proposed. 



In June, Gen. E. A. Lever, Consul of Hon- 

 duras at New Orleans, arrived at Trujillo for 

 the purpose of making a contract with the 

 Government in behalf of American capitalists, 

 about the navigation of the river Ulua and the 

 acquisition of tracts of land for settlement. 



HOPKINS, MARK, an American clergyman, 

 born in Stockbridge, Mass., Feb. 4, 1802; diet! 

 in Williamstown, Mass., June 17, 1887. He 

 pursued preparatory studies in the academies 

 at Lenox, Mass., and Clinton, N. Y., and was 

 graduated at Williams College in 1824. Soon 



MAKE: HOPKINS. 



afterward he began the study of medicine at 

 the Pittsfield Medical College ; but this course 

 was interrupted by his appointment to a tutor- 

 ship at Williams College, which he held two 

 years, when he resumed his medical studies in 

 New York city. He received the degree of 

 M. D. at Pittsfield in 1829, and in the follow- 

 ing year began practicing in New York city. 

 In August, 1830, but a few weeks after opening 

 his office, he was unexpectedly elected Pro- 

 fessor of Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy in 

 Williams College, and two years later he was 

 licensed to preach by the Berkshire Associa- 

 tion. From 1830 to 1836 he worked steadily 

 at his professorship, lecturing and preaching. 

 In the latter year the presidency of the college 

 became vacant by the resignation of Rev. Dr. 

 Griffin, and Prof. Hopkins, though then only 

 thirty-four years old, was elected to succeed 

 him. He held this office for thirty-six years, 

 resigning its responsibilities in 1872, but retain- 

 ing the professorship of moral and intellectual 

 philosophy. Thus his connection with Williams 



