| Show NL I 1 UA ram 7 fint aw A K MW W 41 1 ajr PV f r y AP t 2 1 1 I 4 nl amu PM I 1 g w Z 4 railroad building in nicaragua prepared hv bv the national geographic society washington D C service has an area of byork NICARAGUA some square miles about equal to that of new york state and a population of approximately C i close to that of the city of buffalo it is the largest garmt of gf the central american republics many consider it the most beautiful lluch of the interior is mountainous the coasts are generally flat it faces the pacific with its back door to the atlantic most of its people live in the cities in the western part of the republic for the rainfall here Is moderate as compared with that of the eastern coast the climate although tropical Is agreeable and the land Is fertile the cities of ChIn chinandega andega leon managua 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 ua the capital Is the largest and although badly set back by the earthquake and fire that almost destroyed the city in the spring of 1031 1931 will in time again become the most important business center of the country leon and chinandega Chin andega cities of artisans and small proprietors are located 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 rowin district on the Sl sierras erras located between between the lakes and the pacific granada owes her early growth to the fact that slie she was the chief port for the trade between central america and spain by way of lake nicaragua and the san juan river iier her leading citizens are not dot only landed proprietors but merchants who sell 7 goods in person over the counters of their stores matagalpa the largest town off the railroad Is the center of an important coffee growing district because of its altitude it has a more agreeable b climate than the cities located in the plains but the absence of a railroad or even a good highway connection with the outside world has thwarted its growth grov th east and west are divided eastern and western nicaragua gua are divided by mountains and jungle covered country which have effectively prevah prevented ted intercommunication except to a very minor degree the physical separation has operated to prevent close political union and a common national outlook to hamper trade and Colli commerce merce and to obstruct a desirable interchange of people and ideas in addition the lack of a practicable route to its east coast has forced virtually all or of nicaraguan Nic araguas forel foreign n com bierce berce to seek a longer and more roundabout route via t the he west coast and the panama canal for these reasons it has been tile the desire of the government of nicaragua for many years to op open en a means of communication between the west and east cast either by the canalization of the san juan liver or by the construction of a highly way or a railroad A highway has been een under construction from managua through tipitapa Tipi tapa to rama on the bluefields Blue fields river where boat connections can be made with bluefields Blue Bluer fields ields the largest agest port dort town on the caribbean the e population of the country Is overwhelmingly of an ani of an ani spanish indian adlan blood with spanish the universal unta unia language although one finds I 1 in a granada and the other large towns any families ot of pure spanish blood perlin perhaps DS 10 per cent of 0 tile the population Is 18 pure indian found mostly in n the area ea around masaya and matagalpa find and in the thinly settled cattle raising sections actions of the province of chontales Chon Clion tales clat t of lake nicaragua the mosquito coast still farther to the tie east along the rivers vera that drain into the caribbean th of Grey town the sumo indians indiana have ave their heir humes homes they are a wild find aa elloid bild race and have resisted all spanish danish part ut of nicaraguan Nic araguas carridean Carrl Carri bean coast has the worlds worst real estate title the mosquito coast it gets its name not from the prevalence of mosquitoes qui toes but from the indians here there is decided evidence of negro blood partly a heritage from the cargo of a slave ship that was wrecked on the coast years ago these blacks or mixed indians and blacks called or were augmented by escaped slaves from the plantations that sparsely dotted the coast in later years and by renegade rene ade slaves from jamaica and other islands of the west indies the mosquito coast was also a refuge for buccaneers bucca and pirates and was visited by many trading ships seeking turtle shells As a result the blood of the inhabitants became badly mixed and characteristics of many races can be detected in the present day population san juan del norte Grey town at the mouth of the san juan river has a an n en english lish speaking tl negro population long ong ngo ago the port had an excellent harbor and was a thriving community but drifting sands have closed the entrance from the sea and now only an occasional schooner calls in the boom days when the marl time canal company undertook the construction of a canal Grey town had bad visions of bein being a metropolis now it is only a dreary community of rusted tin and frame shacks with a population of people in spite of the financial difficulties that have been general throughout the w world orld and have been particularly trying in nicaragua the president t of the republic has improved the public schools and built new roads and railroads along the count rys roads 30 3 you 0 u will occasionally meet a ill high gh powered car snorting its way over ruts and bumps carrying some government boffl iceal or landed proprietor on business best known to himself the car has a number of occupants 9 usually half a dozen in excess of its normal capacity for the government official travels with his guards his friends and perhaps a large part of his family while the usual car owner always has his entire family in the car and baggage and other impedimenta strapped on the running board and else eise mac it can be suspended or attached practically all cars are of american make and it is a tribute t to 0 their sturdiness that they can stand tho the usage to which they are subjected new cars are frequently equipped with willi extra spring leaves as spare parts are hard to get and for servi service ce on nicaraguan roads springs have to be strong coffee Is the main crop the prosperity or of the country depends upon tile the coffee crop and itt it t price crops have been good in recent years but the price lias has been very low for its future I 1 Nl carm looks to tho the building of the canal linking tile the ila ia cefic and the caribbean A prosperous nicaragua will no doubt mean a quiet nicaragua for prosperity will mean roads railroads and other public improvements ments A hungry man in nicaragua prove Is a prospective recruit for one of tile the bandit gangs banditry probably will cease when any man scell seeking work can get it and when every man can around boast of the f few e dollars rattling in his pocket been gold cold la in sma small 11 quantities has 1 in nicaragua for ivi hundreds ivi produced richest mines are in the the of years province of Chon Chontal chontales tales cs this area Is also bandit infested and the mines are field lor for bandit activities favorite a the installation has prevented situation the the or machinery lation of modern stal on 01 a development of the properties large scale iloni mine at la libertad the bab babilonia Babil onla had a ot of having has the distill distinction ebion herbert named eli engineer ineer young mining with its connected 0 at one time II 11 hoover connect the richest jere here only management worked the ore being D now OW are strikes pack in mule ule the to t the e mill by brought ro ight domingo Is mine inin at it santo lavall scale and ai at c considerable 0 worked on a larger to ito its ow owners sid erable profit |
