The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1936-03-13
Iashinntnr, car.-ino

lCAhAGUA mas an area OF
M some $4,000 square miles,
about equal to that of New
York state, and a population
of approximately 650,OO0, close to that
of the city of Buffalo. 1t is the largest
of the Central American republics ;
many consider it the most beautiful.
Much of the interior is mountainous !;
the coasts are generally fiat. 1t faces
the Pacific, with it's back door to the
Atlantic. Most of its people live in the
cities in the western part of the re-
public, for the rainfall here Is mod
crate as compared with that of the
eastern coast; the climate, although
tropical, is agreeable, and the land is
fertile.
The cities Of Chinandega, Leon, Man.
aqua, Masaya and Granada are located
near the west coast and along the one
line of railroad, extending from the
port of Corinto, on the Pacific, to Gran
ada, the main port on Lake Nicaragua.
Managua, the capital, is the largest,
and, although badly set back by the
earthquake and fire that almost de-
stroyed the city in the spring of 1881,
will in time again become the most i'm
portant business center of the country.
Leon and Chinandega, cities of ar
tisans and small proprietors, are To-
Gated among very fertile farming lands
and are the centers of the sugar trade.
Masaya is an Indian town and owes
its Importance to the coffee-growing
district on the Sierras, located between
the lakes and the Pacific.
Granada owes her early growth to
the fact that she was the chief port
for the trade between Central America
and Spain, by way of Lake Nicaragua
and the San Juan river. Her leading
citizens are not only landed proprie-
tors, but merchants who sell goods in
person over the counters of their
stores.
Matagalpa, the largest town off the
railroad, is the center of an i'm
portant coffee-growing district. Be-
cause of its altitude, it has a more
agreeable climate than the cities To-
Gated in the plains; but the absence
of railroad, or even good highway
connection with the outside world, has
thwarted its growth.
East and West Are Divided.
Eastern and western Nicaragua are
divided by mountains and jungle COW
cred country, which have effectively
prevented intercommunication except
to a very minor degree. The physical
separation has operated to prevent
close political union and a common ma
tiOnal outlook; to hamper trade and
commerce; and to obstruct desirable
interchange Of people and ideas.
In addition, the lack of practicable
route to it's east coast has forced vir-
tually all Of Nicaragua's foreign COM
merce to seek a longer and more
roundabout route via the west coast
and the Panama canal. For these rea-
sons it has been the desire of the
government of Nicaragua for many
years to open means of communica-
ton between the west and east, either
by the canalization of the San Juan
river or by the construction of high
way or a railroad. A highway has
been under construction from Mana
qua through Tipitapa to Rama, on the
Bluefields river, where boat connec-
lions can be made with Bluefields, the
largest port town on the Caribbean.
The population of the country is
overwhelmingly of mixed Spanish and
Indian blood, with Spanish the uni
versal language, although one finds In
Granada and the other large towns
many families Of pure Spanish blood.
Perhaps 10 per cent of the population
is pure Indian, found mostly in the
area around Masaya and Matagalpa
and in the thinly settled cattle-raising
sections of the province Of ChOntales
east of Lake Nicaragua.
Still farther to the east, along the
rivers that drain into the Caribbean
north of Greytown, the Sumo Ind;acs
have their homes. They are a wild
and timid race and have resisted ali
Spanish influence.
The Mosquito Coast.
Part of Nicaragua's caribbean coast
has the worlds worst real estate title
"The Mosquito Coast" 1t gets its
name not from the prevalence of mos
quitoes, but from the Misskito Indians.
Here there is decided evidence of negro
blood, partly heritage from the cargo
of a slave ship that was wrecked on
the coast years ago. These blacks, or
mixed Indians and blacks, called
"Sambos" or "Zambos," were aug
mented by escaped slaves from the
plantations that sparsely dotted the
coast in later years, and by renegade
slaves from Jamaica and other islands
of the West Indies.
The Mosquito coast was also a
refuge for buccaneers and pirates and