232 



CONNECTICUT. 



COSTA RICA. 



action that shall prevent their workmen from 

 joining labor organizations. Bicycles and all 

 other rubber-tired vehicles must hereafter carry 

 lights at night, and the stealing of bicycles is 

 discouraged by the new law for the supervision 

 of dealers in 'second-hand wheels. Restrictions 

 were put upon the evil of excessive interest 

 charges by dealers in furniture on the install- 

 ment plan. The name of Storrs Agricultural 

 College was changed to the Connecticut Agricul- 

 tural College. It was forbidden to desecrate the 

 national of State flag with advertisements, in- 

 scriptions, etc. 



Sheep culture was encouraged by an exemption 

 of $100 worth of sheep from taxation. The open 

 game season is now from October to December, 

 and snaring of game birds is prohibited, even by 

 the landowner. The trout season is extended 

 to July 1, and if there is a late fishing season for 

 shad and alewives the Fish Commission may ex- 

 tend the time. 



Statute Revision. Gov. Lounsbury selected 

 the following representative men of the ""State for 

 the commission to revise the stattites: Donald T. 

 Warner, of Salisbury; Gardiner Greene, of Nor- 

 wich: Henry <_.'. White, of New Haven; James P. 

 Andrews, of Hartford; Michael Kenealy, of Stam- 

 ford; William A. King, of Willimantic. 



Soldiers' Monument. The Camp-field Monu- 

 ment Association has decided on a portrait statue 

 of Gen. Griffin A. Stedman (who fell in the fight- 

 ing before Petersburg, Aug. 5, 1864) in connec- 

 tion with the soldiers' monument that is to be 

 erected on the old camp-ground site at the corner 

 of Camp-field Avenue and Bond Street, which has 

 been given for that object by John C. Barker, 

 of Hartford. 



Patents. In proportion to population the 

 State, as in previous years, had more patents 

 granted to its citizens in 1898 than any other 

 State in the Union. The total number granted 

 to citizens of Connecticut was 831. 



Expositions. The last General Assembly 

 passed a resolution authorizing the Governor to 

 appoint a commissioner to serve for two years, 

 who shall take such action as he shall deem ad- 

 visable " to secure a full representation of the 

 industries of Connecticut at the Paris Exposition 

 in 1900 and at the Buffalo Exposition in 1901." 

 The salary is fixed by the resolution at $1,200 per 

 annum and $500 per annum for expenses. Gov. 

 Lounsbury appointed ex-Senator Lee to be the 

 commissioner. 



Political. The town elections held in 162 of 

 the 168 towns of Connecticut do not reveal gains 

 by either party 'indicating any marked political 

 change. Of the 168 towns in the State, 79 voted 

 for license and 89 no license, a gain of 2 for license. 



Twenty-three towns voted on the question of 

 town instead of district management of schools, 

 and only 5 voted in the affirmative. 



City elections were held in Waterbury, New 

 London, Norwalk, and South Norwalk. The 

 Democrats made a clean sweep in Waterbury. 

 Edward G. Kilduff was elected mayor over 

 Thomas D. Barlow by 3,740 to 2,232. The Board 

 of Aldermen was saved to the Republicans by 

 only I plurality, and they lost control of the 

 Board of Education. 



The city election at New London resulted in a 

 Democratic victory by a small majority, 8 Demo- 

 cratic aldermen being elected to 'l Republicans, 

 and most of the city officers being Democratic. 

 The Board of Aldermen will be Democratic. 



In Norwalk Charles L. Glover, Democrat, was 

 re-elected mayor by a small plurality over A. B. 

 Woodward. The Republicans were generally suc- 



cessful on the remainder of the ticket, and will 

 control the Council. 



The Legislature re-elected United States Sena- 

 tor Joseph R. Hawley for the term ending in 

 1905. 



COSTA RICA, a republic of. Central America. 

 The legislative authority is vested in the Con- 

 gress, or House of Representatives, containing 

 32 members, 1 to 8,000 of population, elected for 

 four years, one half being replaced every two 

 years, by electoral colleges, for the members of 

 which any man can vote who is self-supporting. 

 The President, who is chosen by the Congress- 

 for four years, is Rafael Iglesias, who was re- 

 elected for the term beginning May 8, 1898. The 

 Vice-President is Jose Joaquin Rodriguez, with 

 Dr. Carlos Duran and Asencion Esquivel as al- 

 ternates. The Cabinet in the beginning of 1899 1 

 Was composed as follows: Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, Worship, Instruction, Public Charity, 

 and Justice, Pedro Perez Zeled6n; Minister of 

 Gobernacion, or the Interior and Police, and of 

 Public Works, Jose Astua Aquilar; Minister of 

 Finance, Juan B. Quiros; Minister of War and 

 Marine, Demetrio Tinoco. 



Area and Population. The area is estimated 

 at 23,000 square miles. The population was 

 243,205 at the census of 1892, divided into 122,480 

 males and 120,725 females, but 19,456 were esti- 

 mated to have been omitted, besides 3,500 un- 

 civilized Indians. In March, 1897, the population 

 was computed to be 294,940. Since 1893 the 

 Government has made efforts to induce immigra- 

 tion, granting concessions for agricultural colo- 

 nies and selling public lands to settlers on 

 favorable terms. There were 6,289 foreigners in 

 1892 Spaniards, Italians, Germans, British, 

 Americans, and British West Indians. Since 

 1894 the immigration has been about 1,000 per 

 annum. Education is gratuitous and compul- 

 sory. The sum expended on the schools by the 

 Government in 1896 was 354,723 pesos, the num- 

 ber of pupils in 1897 being 21,913 in the elemen- 

 tary schools. The number of marriages in 1897 

 was 1,763; of births, 13,012; of deaths, 9,925; 

 excess of births, 4,087. 



Defense. The permanent military force num- 

 bers 600 men; the militia, 12,000. In war all 

 Costa Ricans between eighteen and fifty years 

 of age can be called into the service. 



Commerce and Production. The soil and 

 temperature at different altitudes are favorable 

 for all kinds of vegetable products. The most 

 valuable is coffee, which enriches this nation even 

 when costly plantations have become almost val- 

 ueless in other countries owing to depressed 

 prices. The cultivation of cacao also is extend- 

 ing. Cattle are reared in some districts. The 

 people raise corn, rice, . and potatoes for food. 

 The value of imports in 1896 was 4,748,818 gold 

 pesos; exports, 5,979,727 gold pesos. The export 

 of coffee was 11,089,523 kilogrammes, valued at 

 4,318,286 pesos in gold. The value of bananas 

 shipped to the United States, the next most im- 

 portant export, was 670,072 pesos in gold. Other 

 articles of export are hides, cedar, and various 

 other woods. 



Finances. The revenue in 1898 was 8,424,104 

 pesos, and the expenditure 8,313,454 pesos. In 

 1897 the revenue was 7,435,611 pesos, of which 

 customs produced 2,766,248 pesos and excise taxes 

 2,242,174 pesos. The expenditures for that year 

 were 6,697,327 pesos, of which 3,501,354 pesos 

 went for the Government expenses and 1,072,690 

 pesos for the public debt. 



The foreign debt, which was 2,691,300 ster- 

 ling in 1887, with arrears of interest amounting; 



