GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



HON. JOHN W. FOSTER ON MEXICO 



THE phenomenal economic and 

 social progress of Mexico during 

 the last twenty-five years is clearly de- 

 scribed by Mr. Foster in the leading ar- 

 ticle of this number. No man living is 

 so well fitted to contrast the new Mex- 

 ico with the Mexico of twenty-five years 

 ago. General Foster began his diplo- 

 matic career as Minister to this Republic 

 in 1873, and for seven years represented 

 the United States. After an interim 

 of twenty years, during which he was 

 Minister to Russia, to Spain, and Secre- 

 tary of State, he again visited Mexico, 

 this time as the guest of the nation. 

 The present prosperity of the young 

 Republic impressed him on every side. 



MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES 



THROUGH the courtesy of Gen. 

 A. W. Greely, the National 

 Geographic Magazine is able to pub- 

 lish as a supplement to this number the 

 magnificent map of the Philippines pre- 

 pared under his direction by the U. S. 

 Signal Office. 



Every town or hamlet known by the 

 Jesuits or reported to the War Depart- 

 ment by its many officers throughout 

 the islands is indicated on the map. It 

 is a compilation of everything now 

 known about the Philippine Archipel- 

 ago. Sheet I gives the Northern Phil- 

 ippines and Sheet II the Southern Phil- 

 ippines, as officially divided by the 

 United States Government. 



A glance at the map shows how much 

 exploration is needed in large sections. 

 For instance, on the Island of Mindoro 

 only a few names along the coast are 

 given. The interior of the island is a 

 blank. 



The tremendous progress made by 

 the American Government in the islands 

 is graphically illustrated by the red 



lines, indicating cables, telegraphs, and 

 telephones, which penetrate to nearly 

 all corners of the archipelago. Nearly 

 seven thousand miles of wire are now 

 strung, whereas three years ago there 

 was not one mile in service. 



All the telegraph lines are owned by 

 the Government and operated by a Gov- 

 ernment department — the United States 

 Signal Corps. The stations noted as 

 commercial stations are open to messages 

 of a private and commercial character, 

 while from the stations noted as military 

 only messages of a military nature can 

 be sent. 



This map is the first map of the Phil- 

 ippines that has been prepared by Amer- 

 ican officials. The spelling of the names 

 is that adopted by the United States 

 Board on Geographic Names. 



It may not be inappropriate to re- 

 mark that the War Department printed 

 an edition of only 400. The demands 

 of the army posts in the Philippines and 

 in the United States exhausted nearly 

 the entire edition, so that only a few 

 remain for public distribution. The 

 National Geographic Society was, how- 

 ever, granted the use of the plate and 

 has printed a large edition, so that each 

 of its members may receive a copy of 

 what is really the only up-to-date pres- 

 entation of all that is now known of the 

 geography of these islands. 



GOLD MINING CONCESSION FOR 

 NORTHEASTERN SIBERIA 



THE expedition of geologists re- 

 centlj 7 sent out to the Chukches 

 Peninsula by Von Larlarski, who owns 

 the concession for gold mining in that 

 region, report that the geological forma- 

 tion of the peninsula is like that of Cape 

 Nome opposite, and that much gold is 

 to be found there. The Russian Gov- 

 ernment has been much criticised by the 



