332 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



though in France, Italy, Russia, Germany, and 

 the United States the smaller class is preferred. 

 The armor will be Harveyized. The projected 

 protected cruisers, the '"Powerful" and the 

 " Terrible," are to be much larger than any 

 afloat, 14,000 tons displacement, with a coal ca- 

 pacity of 3,000 tons, the vital parts protected by 

 a 4-inch curved steel deck, having a well-pro- 

 tected armament of 2 9-inch guns and 12 G-inch, 

 18 12-pounders and 12 3-pounder quick-firing 

 guns, and capable of steaming 22 knots. ^ Not 

 counting the vessels projected under Earl Spen- 

 cer's latest programme, the British effective sea- 

 going navy will, when the few uncompleted vessels 

 are finished, consist of 25 first-class battle ships, 

 all built within the last twelve years, and only 4 of 

 them having less displacement than 10.000 tons ; 

 9 second-class battle ships, all over 5,000 tons ; 

 11 third-class battle ships, all steaming more 

 than 11 knots; 23 iirst-class cruisers, deck-pro- 

 tected or belted, all of over 5,000 tons, built 

 since 1886, some having a sea speed of over 20 

 and none less than 16 knots, all having an elab- 

 orate modern armament of quick-firing guns, well 

 protected, and most of them 22-ton Armstrongs 

 also and 4 torpedo tubes; 12 first-class cruisers 

 of the older armored type, all but 1 over 7,500 

 tons, and of a speed exceeding 12 knots; 63 

 second-class cruisers of 2,000 tons or more, the 

 , newer ones strongly armed and protected, and 

 capable of speeding^from 20 up to 27 knots ; 103 

 third-class cruisers, including gun vessels, gun- 

 boats, torpedo cruisers, and torpedo catchers, all 

 steaming over 10 knots at sea; 86 third-class 

 cruisers whose speed is less than 10 knots; 42 

 torpedo destroyers, and 43 other first-class tor- 

 pedo craft of the first class ; 33 of the second 

 class, or such as are over 100 and less than 125 

 feet in length ; and 18 third-class torpedo boats, 

 not including those under 80 feet in length. 



Railroads. The length of railroads open to 

 traffic at the end of 1892 was 20.325 miles, show- 

 ing an increase of 126 miles during the year. 

 There were 14,242 miles in England and Wales, 

 3,188 miles in Scotland, and 2,895 miles in Ire- 

 land. The paid-up capital was 944,357,320; 

 receipts in 1892, 82,092.040. of which 42,866,- 

 498 was from goods and 35,662,816 from pas- 

 sengers ; working expenses, 45,717.905, being 

 56 per cent, of the gross receipts. The number 

 of passengers, exclusive of holders of season 

 tickets, was 864,435.388. Of the total capital in- 

 vestment, 777,138.895 was in English, 128,- 

 716,165 in Scotch, and 38,502,260 in Irish rail- 

 ways. There were 960 miles of street and road 

 tramways in 1893, with a paid-up capital of 

 13,708,349. 



Posts and Telegraphs. The post office in 

 1893 delivered 1,790.250,000 letters, 244,400.000 

 post cards, 535,200,000 book packets, 162,100,000 

 newspapers, and 52,300,000 parcels. The num- 

 ber of inland money orders was 8.963,032, of the 

 amount of 24,618,809 ; total money orders, 10,- 

 442,918, of the amount of 28,683,951 ; total 

 postal orders, 56,590,668, of the amount of 21,- 

 345.153. 



On March 31, 1893, there were 34,056 miles of 

 telegraphs, with 209,046 miles of wire. The 

 number of dispatches sent during the year was 

 (>9,!H)7.848 ; receipts, 2,487,000 ; expenses, 2,- 

 508,000. 



Commerce. The imports in 1893 were of the 

 total value of 405,067,690 ; the exports of Brit- 

 ish produce, 218,496,246 ; exports of foreign and 

 colonial produce, 58,935,595. The total volume 

 of trade was 682,499,531, against 715,434.048 

 in 1892, when the imports amounted to 423,- 

 892,178, the domestic exports to 227.077,053, 

 and the foreign and colonial exports to 64,563,- 

 113. The imports of gold bullion and specie in 

 1893 were 24,232,086; exports, 19,571,373; 

 imports of silver, 11,913,395 ; exports, 13,459,- 

 645. The imports of the various classes of mer- 

 chandise in 1892 and 1893 were of the following 

 values : 



The values of the classified exports of British 

 products for 1893, compared with the preceding 

 year, are given in the following table : 



The imports of wheat in 1893 were 13,08:5.4(52 

 quarters (1 quarter = 8 bushels), of which (5.452,- 

 570 quarters came from the United States, 

 2,012,400 from Russia, 1,549.120 from the Argen- 

 tine Republic, 1,236,720 from India, 631.471 

 from Canada, 531,040 from Australasia, 510.030 

 from Chili, and 72.420 from Germany. The 

 quantity of flour imported, not included in the 

 above, was equivalent to 4,081,650 quarters, and 

 of this 3,599,120 quarters came from the United 

 States. The imports of tea were 249.917,381 

 pounds; of raw sugar. 1(5.036.935 hundred- 

 weight ; of refined sugar. 11.5(59.739 hundred- 

 weight; of cheese, 2,077.482 hundredweight ; of 

 beef, 2,008,506 hundredweight : of bacon and 

 hams, 4,187,298 hundredweight; of fresh mut- 

 ton, 1,971,500 hundred weight: of spirits. 10.- 

 900.9S8 gallons; of wine. 14.680.939 gallons; 

 the number of live cattle. 340.045. The values of 

 some of the principal imports were: Grain and 

 flour, 51,299.802; raw cotton. 3(>.6S4.942 : 

 wool, 24,437,178; meat, 22.331.503: sugjir. 

 raw and refined, 22,085.241 : butter and mar- 

 garine, 16,410,457; timber and wood. 15.390.- 

 S94; silk manufactures, 11,607,391; tea. 10.- 

 217,071 ; woolen manufactures, 9,875,181 ; flax, 



