138 



COLOMBIA. 



grant-steamers take up room that is sometimes 

 desired for the cargo, and their stowage often 

 occasions inconvenience. They are usually 

 packed between the deck-beams, and it may 

 be that in the crowded space between decks 

 they sometimes harbor the germs of infection. 

 It is necessary that passengers should be made 

 acquainted with the use of life-preservers. In 

 the catastrophe of Jan. 19, 1883, when the 

 English coal-steamer Sultan collided with the 

 German passenger- steamer Cirnbria, only a 

 small portion of the life-preservers came into 

 use, and those were of little avail, as the swim- 

 mers soon perished in the cold. The four 

 boats which set out from the sinking vessel 

 rescued 65 persons, but the rest of the passen- 

 gers and crew, who numbered altogether 522, 

 were lost. Life-rafts are now regarded by 

 many as preferable in most respects to boats 

 or any other life-saving appliances. 



The inspection of foreign passenger- vessels 

 in the United States is assigned to boards of 

 inspectors at six of the principal ports. The 

 boards at Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New 

 Orleans, and San Francisco consist of two in- 

 spectors each, that at New York of six. Rules 

 for their guidance were issued by Secretary of 

 the Treasury Folger on March 10, 1883. The 

 law requires that the tackle for disengaging the 

 life-boats should be capable of being worked 

 by a single person, and so disposed that the 

 boats can be launched, both ends being lowered 

 at once, when the ship is going at full speed. 

 This provision is not insisted upon, as no work- 

 able single-hand disengaging apparatus has yet 

 been invented. The rule of the British Board 

 of Trade respecting the number of life-boats 

 to be carried is, that there should be six or 

 seven boats, 1,892 cubic feet in total capacity, 

 for vessels of 1,500 tons, and an additional 

 boat with the capacity of 495 feet for every 

 500 tons additional. For the larger Atlantic 

 steamers, running up to 8,500 tons, this re- 

 quirement is incapable of fulfillment. Even if 

 it could be carried out, the total complement 

 of boats would accommodate less than half the 

 number of persons usually carried on the emi- 

 grant-steamers. 



Mid-Ocean Disasters. To enable vessels in dis- 

 tress to be relieved in the Atlantic ocean, the 

 adoption of fixed routes or lanes for all ships 

 crossing between Europe and America is advo- 

 cated, one for the east- and one for the west- 

 bound navigation. To guard against collisions 

 with icebergs, which was the probable cause 

 of the loss of several steamships, a delicate in- 

 strument on the principle of Edison's heat- 

 measurer has been devised by an English in- 

 ventor, which can herald a sudden fall of the 

 temperature by means of an automatic alarm. 



COLOMBIA (Rtados Unidos de Colombia), (For 

 statistics relating to area, see " Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1877.) The republic is composed 

 of nine States and five Territories, the States 

 being Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyaca, Cauca, 

 Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panama, Santan- 



der, and Tolima. The names of the Territo- 

 ries are Bolivar, Casanare, Goajira, Providen- 

 cia, and San Martin. The form of government 

 is democratic, and the system federal. 



The executive of the confederacy is Presi- 

 dent Dr. Jose E. Otalora. The Cabinet is 

 composed of the following ministers : Secre- 

 tary of State, Sefior Ezequiel Hurtado ; War, 

 Senor Juan N. Mateus ; Finance, Sefior Anibal 

 Galindo; Public Works, Sefior Manuel Laza 

 Grau ; Foreign Affairs, Sefior Antonio Rol- 

 dan ; Public Instruction, Sefior J. V. Uribe ; 

 and Treasury, Sefior Alejandro Posada. 



On Sept. 2, 1883, Dr. Nunez was elected 

 President, and he will be inaugurated in Feb- 

 ruary, 1884. Dr. Nufiez is fifty years of age. 

 He was First Consul-General at Liverpool, and 

 subsequently President of the State of Bolivar. 

 He was a candidate for the presidency of 

 Colombia in 1875, when Dr. Parra was elect- 

 ed, but in 1879 he was elected President, his 

 successor being Gen. Zaldera, who died on 

 Dec. 21, 1882, and whose successor was Dr. 

 Otalora, the present occupant of the presi- 

 dential chair. 



The United States minister at Bogot6 is Mr. 

 W. L. Scruggs. 



The population of Colombia is estimated at 

 4,000,000 souls. 



According to the last census, the population 

 of the capitals of the States was as follows: 

 Panama, 36,000; Santa Marta, 3,500; Carta- 

 gena, 7,800; Socorro, 16,000; Medellin, 20,- 

 000; Tunja, 5,471; Bogota, 40,883; Ibague, 

 10,346; and Popayan, 8,485. 



The General Government possesses the 

 right of intervention in matters relative to 

 lines of interoceanic communication at pres- 

 ent existing, or which in the future may be 

 opened in the territory of the Union, and in 

 the navigation of rivers flowing through more 

 than one State, or which pass to or from a 

 neighboring power. 



The Magdalena river flows into the Atlantic 

 at a point called the Bocas de Ceniza. At a 

 distance of fifteen miles from its mouth, on the 

 left bank, is the city of Barranquilla, the seat 

 of an extensive import and export trade. 

 Barranquilla is connected with the port of 

 Sabanilla by means of a railroad fourteen 

 miles in length. The Bocas de Ceniza, which 

 for a long time were obstructed by a sand-bar 

 at the entrance, are now open to easy access 

 by vessels of large tonnage, and, on account of 

 the privileges conceded of late years by Con- 

 gress to the commerce of the country, they are 

 frequently visited by steamers and sailing-ves- 

 sels from abroad. Owing to the shifting of 

 the bar, however, steamers do not at present 

 enter the river. To aid the entry of sailing- 

 craft, the Government has established a tug- 

 boat service. 



For the purpose of navigation the Magda- 

 lena is divided into the upper and lower Mag- 

 dalena. The former is included between the 

 cities of Neiva and Honda, 200 miles, and tl>e 



