118 / 236
INTERN.A.TIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE.
113
Of these great highways of modero ci
vllization there are but
:55 miles in actual
~peration,
with a few more
in
process of
immedia.teconstrnction
a.ndmany more in
the contempbt ion of the Government. T
hislittle line of road lead
ing in the direction
of the capital mus out from Acajutla, the extreme southwestern sea-port of Salvador
to the village of Atios. This point has bnt recently been reached aud a depot es–
tablished.
Although there have ueen many concessions or grants made by the Government to
parties to constrnct railroads through sections of its territory, it seems that the pe–
culiarly rugged topography of the co
untry has hitherto interposed insuperable ob–
stacles to the consummation of their
pla.nsand purposes. The Government, how–
ever, haing tha proprietor of a section
of thisroad ancl of alarga interest in that over
which it does not exercise exclusive supervisiou with the reserved right to pnrchase
at will, appreciating the ueeds of its people and the advautages of the prompt aud
rapid intercha.uge of pl'oducts ancl comrnoditias, has set to work on its own accouut
to exteud this line of road to tbe capital, atul the work is ueing executed under the
supervio~iou
and directiou of an enterprisiug American, Mr. Brannon.
It
is contempla.ted by the Goverument to extend thi11 roacl, when
circumstance~
favor, throug h its eutire length of territory, making La Union, which is oc.e of the
finest harbors on the Pacitic, at the base of the great mineral district of San Miguel,
it.s other terminus.
Iu the meanwhile the road will ha. ve traversed one of the richest
mining and agricultnral districts (now almost unexplorerl) in all Central America.
\Vhen this work shall llave beeu accomplishad, in counection with the prospective
con tructiou of the Nicara.gna Canal, a new era will dawn npon this comer of the
Westem Hemisphere.
(Report by Thomas T. Tunstall, U. S. consul, San Salvador,
Jnly 4, 1&;9.)
NICARAGUA.
Nicaragua is distinguished from the other Central American countries by it.s lower
level and tbe great lake, which offers so iuviting a route for an interoceauic canal.
Geologica.lly, Nicaragua is no less rich than Honduras:
The only port on the Caribbean Sea
is
San Juan del Norte, and this is nota very
good one; tbe Pacific coast is bold and rocky, but has the conveuient harbors San
Juan del Sur, Brito, and Realejo.
Among thecitie are Managua, 1 800; Granada, 16,000; Leon, 25,000; Rivas, 10,000;
Chinaudega, 11,000; Libertad, 5,000; l\fatagalpa, 9,000; Ocotar, 3,000; Greytown,
1,512; Blewtields, 1,000.
At Rivas the annual min-fall is abont 102 inches; elsewhere the snmmer
ra.in-fall
is about 90 inches, and in the winter lesa than 10 iuches. The mean annnal temper–
atura is about 0° l<'ah., falling to
100
at night aud rising
to
90°
in
the hottest weather.
This does not refer to the highlauds.
RAILVVAYS.
Tha ouly railway in operatiou consista of two seotious, the first from
Corinto to
Mo-motombo
(Lake Managua), 58 mile , beguu in 1879 and completad December, 1883;
the econd from
Managua
to
Granada
(Lake Nicaragua), 32 miles, opened March 1,
1886, and of 3 feet 6 incbe gange. · Connectiou is made between these two sections
by steam-boats on Lake Managua, owned by private partie ,
a.ndwhich are soou to
be replact>d by
boa.tsowned by the Goverument.
The road is owned by the Government and operated under the general direction of
the ministnr of public works.
In 18
the cost of maintenance was 55 per ceut of
the gross earnings.
A railw:¡y has been projected by the Government from San Juan del Snr vía Rivns
to San Jorge, ou Lake :Nicaragua, but no work has yet been done.
A branch from Chiuandega to El Viejo, about 19 miles, has been surveyed and lo–
cated. Another Govcrumeut survey is in progress for a line to conner:t the City of
tfatagalpa with sorne point ou the east side of Lake Managua.
A conce siou for a railway counecting the City of Matagalpa with the ea
t-coa~t
at the mouth of the Ramos River has beeu granted by the Government tu Don Peüro
R~mirez,
of Managua, who
has
sold
it
to Eng1ish capitalists. The road
~s
to h
911
!J!Ü!)Il
long, "'nd will
t~p
the rioh
miqin~ regio~
of _
cu:vspa
sud La
Lib6rtad.
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