The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-02-18
Information About Nicaragua.

1,ne-iai Correspondence of The journal.
N> snip BOARD, Jan. 2, 1897 Off the
.aslpu coast of Central America, we are
..ya. Nicaragua with many regrets,
tsa.ua that the half has not been told
,r--rnng the manifold beauties and
e.,.sihities of this most important of the
re-.tr5l American Republics. Sailing
-erthward along its shores, on our way to
salvador its magnificent line of volcanic
.ues all day in sight between shifting
5en looking over my note books, and
agd-ag therein a mass of information
atat Nicaragua, picked up here and
there aud jotted down at random. AS
,.,-t af these odd bits and items have not
.-. ouohed upon in my desultory let
The Republican journal, | am
.a Fl to collect them in an addendum,
after the manner of women post
may contain the gist of the whole
ucation. As the result will neces-
be somewhat jerky and disconnect-
, neg my readers indulgence in view of
lcumstances.
sragua contains 40, 600 square miles,
Cea which Just about equals that of
Massachusetts,, Rhode Island and
lieut., combined; yet its popula
cording to the last census, was a
Ss than $50, 600 OF this number
200 are white, 1913, 600 being In
n- 500 negroes, and the rest a mixed
. This makes about eight inhabitants
square mile. How different from
area in our country, the States
igentioned, with their 4, 600, 900 in
..5.iuTs. Las Casas and the other early
rs tell us that Nicaragua was once
populated. War, slavery, tor
rl pestilence rapidly decimated the
nal inhabitants, and within few
.., 4fter the conquest, not enough re-
rrl to serve the Spaniards. In 1856
slavery was introduced to supply
demand for labor, and continued to be
s. allied institution for nearly three
u'ies, until abolished in 1924, by act
ra. congress of the then Republic of
4.rai America The docile and in
ous Indians of to- day formed the
of the laboring class. Free to work
Themselves or for others, as interest
'etate, they make an excellent rural
ation. Strangers passing through
untry, sometimes going a days
without seeing a house or meet
.= person, are likely to estimate the
NrHarIon at less than it really is. In
-at America, where so called 'revo-
-Itls are continually occurring, peo-
not live on their scattered farms,
the United States, but those of the
istricts are collected in towns and
for mutual protection, often ne
atng journey OF several miles
Lay TO and from their fields of labor
ume to time, schemes have been
,et TO secure immigration to Mic
1AA IpIlt nave l'lcNcu SuCtGSSlu III
re scale, principally owing to the
~ of getting products out OF the
ty from the Atlantic sea board
ii the ports on that coast are deepen
boy removing the bars from the mouths
She Iiy0s, giving access to the markets
'e NWhi, thele is no doubt that Mic
-awil have her full share of immi-
Peter Heylyn says in his
-raphy, which was published in
i'll 1862, nicaragua is stored
eury of cotton, wool and abundance
.-r zane. and is SO pleasing to the
the Npanards call by the name
Nabomet's Paradise" Its pro-
of the present day are not
..e TO the staples mentioned by the
.rapher, but are of the most varied
.ter, though SO imperfectly cultivat-
QH although facilities for transporta-
ave been so poor that little more
we enough for home consumption is
It present. The chief agricultural
A is in coffee plantations. The in
Is still in its infancy, but every
witnesses its growth, and the
is coming when Nicaragua cot
ssh" lake its rightful place among the
the world. 1t is estimated that
.f' are two million acres of land in the
tly which are specially adapted to
raising. India rubber has been an
-er important industry, but is decreas-
wing to the reckless slaughter OF
'rees Even with the most careful
ea,1nent, the rubber tree (Siphonia elias
VIII stand but few years tapping.
ice the day of the conquest, the gov
enent has taken no steps to prevent the
eSs destruction of the valuable
iHe~-Out of late years it has endeavored
simulate their cultivation by giving a
rmlum of ten cents for every rubber
'sr planted, where the number does not
&" below 250 trees planted by one person.
l1e decree also provides that the trees
W3a be planted in squares, of not less
t,u 8 feet for each plant. In all the
'@er region of Nicaragua, particularly in