SAXE, JOHN GODFREY. 



733 



medium of 44 offices, forwarding 226,535 let- 

 ters and postal cards, and 92,077 newspapers, 

 the receipts being 35,100 francs, and the ex- 

 penses, 87,264 francs. 



Railroads. The suppression of the rebellion 

 in the summer of 1886 was so swift, and pacifi- 

 cation so prompt and thorough, that work on 

 the railroads was not interrupted. On June 

 10, 1886, the Samana and Santiago Railway 

 went into operation from the newly-created 

 port of Las Cafiitas to Almacen, thirty-seven 

 miles. In May, 1886, a concession was given 

 Messrs. Horatio C. King and Henry L. Bean, 

 of New York, to build a railroad from the Cal- 

 deras. Puerto Viejo, or Barahona, in the south 

 of the republic, terminating in the north at 

 Manzanillo Bay. The city of Santo Domingo 

 took, in October, 1887, the necessary steps to 

 procure capital sufficient for the construction 

 and equipment of a line from the port of Bara- 

 hona to Neyba, fifty miles. The railroad be- 

 tween Sanchez and La Vega went into opera- 

 tion in August, 1887. 



Harbor Improvements. For the past three 

 years the work, undertaken by Engineer Tho- 

 massett, of improving the harbor of the capi- 

 tal has been proceeding steadily. 



Sugar. In spite of the low price of sugar, 

 sugar production, by virtue of the introduction 

 of central sugar-houses and improved methods 

 and machinery, combined with the high degree 

 of saccharine matter in Dominican cane, has 

 been rapidly on the increase, enabling Puerto 

 Plata to export in 1885 4,665,374 pounds, 

 whereas the preceding year the export had 

 not exceeded 2,961,773 pounds. 



Commerce. The imports into the ports of the 

 republic in 1885 amounted to $"2,104,369, and 

 the exports to $2,544,403. There were ex- 

 ported from Puerto Plata, during the year : 

 Leaf-tobacco, 10,493.524 pounds; beeswax, 

 118,752 pounds; cocoa, 263,680 pounds; sugar, 

 4.065,347 pounds; coffee, 84,776 pounds; divi- 

 divi, 36,795 pounds; turtle shell, 99 pounds; 

 mahogany, 440,952 feet ; cotton, 600 pounds ; 

 fustic, 235 tons ; logwood, 246 tons ; lignum 

 vitae, 237 tons ; molasses, 35.043 gallons, and 

 honey, 7,310 gallons; hides, 21,115, and goat- 

 skins, 3,595 dozen. 



Rebellion. The presidential election took 

 place during the last three days of June, and 

 the defeated candidate, Gen. Casimiro N. de 

 Moya rebelled against its result in July in La 

 Vega and Monte Cristy. On the 24th the 

 country was put under martial law, and in a 

 series of bloody encounters the rebels were de- 

 feated in August. The number of casualties on 

 both sides exceeded 1,100 dead and wounded. 



SAXE, JOHN GODFREY, an American poet, 

 born in Highgate, Franklin County, Vt., June 2, 

 1816; died in Albany, N. Y., March 31, 1887. 

 He was educated in the local district schools, the 

 grammar school in St. Albans, Vt., Wesleyan 

 University in Middletown, Conn., and Middle- 

 bury college, Vt., taking the degree of A. B. 

 in 1839, and that of A. M. in 1843. He 



then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 

 1843, and practiced in St. Albans from that 

 year till 1850. It was during this period that 

 he began to give rein to his poetic gifts, his 

 first verses appearing in " The Knickerbocker 

 Magazine." In 1846 he published "Progress: 

 a Satire"; in 1847, "The New Rape of the 

 Lock"; in 1848, " The Proud Miss McBride "; 

 and in 1849, "The Times." In 1850 he 

 entered the profession of journalism, taking 

 charge of " The Burlington Sentinel," and 

 in 1856 was Attorney-General of the State. 

 Subsequently he was a candidate for Governor, 

 but, being defeated by the Whig nominee, re- 



JOHN GODFREY SAXE. 



nounced politics, and thereafter devoted him- 

 self to literature and lecturing, in which fields 

 he was eminently popular and successful. In 

 1859 he published " The Money King, and 

 other Poems " ; in 1864, " Clever Stories of 

 Many Nations rendered in Rhyme"; in 1866. 

 "The Masquerade and other Poems"; in 

 1872, "Fables and Legends in Rhyme"; and 

 in 1875, "Leisure-Day Rhymes." Up to 1874 

 he contributed frequently to " Harper's Maga- 

 zine," "The Atlantic Monthly," and other 

 periodicals, lecturing in the mean time to 

 large audiences in all parts of the country. 

 He settled in Albany, N. Y., in 1872, and 

 became one of the editors of the " Evening 

 Journal." In 1874, while on a lecturing tour 

 in Virginia, he met with a railroad acci- 

 dent, and barely escaped with his life. Soon 

 after this he lost his wife, three daughters, 

 and a son, and the combined shock brought 

 on extreme spells of melancholy, from which 

 nothing could arouse him. He shrank from 

 the world, and in his retirement became al- 

 most forgotten. Mr. Saxe will be best remem- 

 bered as a writer of humorous and satirical 

 verse, although many of his serious poems, 

 like "Jerry, the Miller," "I'm Growing Old," 

 "The Old Church Bell," "Treasures in 

 Heaven," and " Boyhood," will keep his name 

 alive for generations to come. 



