GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 
89 
cubic feet, and tlie tunnel is finished for a length of 32,140 feet. The 
grand drainage canal is nearly 30 miles long. 
Surveys have been completed for a cable road to connect the Interoceanic 
Railway with the summit of Popocatepetl, ascending from the ranch 
Semacas, on the northwest side. The railway is mainly for the transpor- 
tation of sulphur from the volcano, but it will be available for tourists. 
AVork has been commenced on a line from Baroteran, on the Mexican In- 
ternational Railroad, to Laredo, Texas, and thence to Mier, Mexico, on the 
bed of the Gould railroad, graded about ten years ago between these points. 
The government has modified its tax on minerals, which now amounts to 
5 per cent of the value of silver and gold. It is divided into a federal 
stamp tax of 3 per cent and a coinage tax of 2 per cent. Mexican smelters 
operating under governmental concessions are not liable for the coinage 
tax on silver extracted from low-grade lead and copper ores. 
CENTRAL AMERICA 
XrcAR.vGUA. A telegraph line has been built between Acoyapa and 
Rama. The work on the railway between Rama and San Ubaldo, 178 
miles, began July 28, 1895, and should be completed in two years. 
Tiie Nicaraguan government has extended its monopoly of irative dis- 
tilled spirits to its Atlantic coast districts, except to the free port of San 
Juan, and imposes corresponding duties on foreign spirits. 
SOUTH AMERICA 
The Emperor of Brazil once gave a concession to an Englishman to 
ojien the channel connecting the Orinoco with the Amazon, and the latter 
was to have the exclusive right to navigate the waters for a term of 
twenty-five years as a reward for his enterprise, but for some reason or 
another the contract was not carried out. 
The bronze statue of George Washington erected by Guzman Blanco at 
Caracas is believed to be the only statue of the Father of his Country 
outside the United States. The inscription upon it states that Washing- 
ton “ Filled one world with his lienefits and all worlds with his name,” a 
unique tribute to his greatness that was probably written by Blanco 
himself. 
DumsG the visit of Bolivar to the United States he spent a day at Alount 
A'ernon, where, placing his hands reverently upon the cotfin of AVasli- 
ington, he made a solemn vow to devote his life tn the liberation of his 
country. Reaching his native land, he became active in the revolutionary 
propaganda and soon had to seek refuge in Europe. Fifteen years later, 
however, after a struggle to which that of our revolutionary fathers offered 
no comparison, he sat in the capital of Bogota, the fimnder of five rejmb- 
lics — A'enezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Ihdivia — the last having 
been named in his honor. At that time tlie states were con.soli<lated 
under a single government, witli Bolivar as president. After having for 
the fourth time l)een electetl president he was driven fnjin the country 
and died in exile. 
