New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-30
CHARACTERISTICS OF GUATEMALA,
PEOPLE AND PRODUCTS hF THIS CENTRAL AMERICAN
STATE AS DESCRIBED BY A TRAVELLER.

The work includes the preparation Of ranie
fibre and the manufacture of coarse textiles
hats. shoes, clay products. cigars, foundry
products furniture musical instruments, agri-
cultural implements and liquors. Guatemalas
trade with this country is considerable, as you
can see from the fact that in 1901 she i'm
ported from the United States goods to the value
of 81, 522, 1888, as against S41SO417 worth Of
Guatemalan exports taken by the United States.
The most important city is. Of course.
Guatemala. the capital, where this tragedy oc-
CURED. The city has population OF 72,102.
The second city in the country is Quezaltenango,
which is the capital of the department Of the
same name. and has a population of %. 265.
There are other large towns in the interior,
among them being Coban, with a population
of "a 47j; Totonicapam, with a population of
% 1885, and San Pedro, with a population of
11.1S9
You know, Guatemala has seacoast on both
oceans. 1t has about 115 miles of coast the
Gulf Of Honduras and about 1872 miles the
Pacific The principal ports the Atlantic
coast Livingston and Puerto Barrios. This
last port I have named is important, because it
is one of the terminals of the trans -isthmian
railway that is now being built On the Pacific
coast the centres of commerce are San Jose,
the other terminal of the railway. and Cham
perico and Ocos
And let me tell you about the railroads.
That is what is the matter with Guatemala;
lack of proper railroad facilities When those
are supplied that will be a wonderful country.
Its railroads are of narrow gauge, and the only
trunk line is the from Puerto Barrios, on
the Atlantic Coast to San Jose, on the Pacific
Coast. At last accounts this road was still in
complete. The southern portion. from the coast
to Guatemala City, the capital, a distance of
seventy-fve miles, is in operation. and about
159 miles of the northern portion has been
finished. About the only other road of mpor-
lance is that connecting Champerico with San
Felipe a distance of about forty-one miles
For the rest the railroads are small traders
, lines.
And the country is not without its water
ways. Why. Lake Petan. the largest lake in the
country, has an area of 1S5 square miles On
Lake Atitlan and Lake Isabal regular steam
ship navigation has been established. The
principal rivers are navigable for small craft.
They are the Usumacinta, which is formed by
the junction Of the Negro and the Rio de la
Passion; the Sarstoon. the Dolce and the Monta-
qua rivers, emptying into the Gulf of Honduras;
the Polochic into Lake Isabal, and the Micha-
toya into the Pacific.
The people elect their President for six
years. but they even things up by making him
ineligible for the succeeding term. Their ad-
ministrative affairs are in the hands of an APP
pointive cabinet. and administrative matters
are vested in a national assembly and a council
of state. The republic is governed under
situation adopted in 1879 and modified in 1885,
1887 and 1889 The republic was first established
in 1S47, after secession from the early fedora
ton Of Central America
Perfect freedom in worship is accorded all
sects. but the prevailing religion is Roman
Catholic. Education there is free, and is COM
pulsory. Statistics which / have show that in
1895 there were 1855 government primary
schools, with total enrolment of 5000 pupils;
40 private and secondary schools and 10 insti-
tutes. normal schools and professional and
technical institutions. The State expenditure on
education, exclusive OF a polytechnical school,
was 500, O62
The climate in Guatemala is much like that
IN all OF the countries OF Central America, mild
Out varying with the elevation. It has been
l estimated believe, that the average ten,nsr-