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all efforts of the provincial authorities to suppress it. It was pretty well understood among the natives that the Chekiang Futai intended imitating the Viceroy of Nankin, in trying to root out opium-smoking. This he hoped to do by shutting all shops except on the main thoroughfares, restricting these to doors three feet high, forbidding the use of beds, and compelling smokers to lie on the floor. He feared an uprising, it was said, were he to shut up all the shops at once. But, by thus making opium-smoking disreputable from the surroundings, he hoped to deter all who have any regard for respectability.

The railroad from Shanghai to Woosung, which was opened in 1876, and which at first met with great opposition, soon gained the favor of both the people and the Government. On the Chinese New Year, February 22d, the road transported great numbers of excursionists, while on other occasions it soon came to be largely used by all classes of the population. The Government accordingly, in the beginning of the year, made an agreement with the company that the latter should have control for another year, and that the road should then become the property of the Government, in consideration of 265,000 taels. The latter also intended to introduce railroads in other parts of the Empire, particularly on the island of Formosa, which contains valuable deposits of coal and petroleum. On October 31st, the railroad passed into the hands of the Government, when it ceased running.

On April 1st, United States Consul Sheppard, of Hankow, opened the new port of Ichang. On the same day Wuhu, Wen-chow, and Pahkoi were opened by the British consular agents. The value of Ichang consists chiefly in its being at the extreme head of the Yang-tse-Kiang, a terminus for steamer traffic; but Wuhu, Wenchow, and Pahkoi are all places of considerable trade, well situated as outlets and ports of supply for considerable and fertile districts. A General Conference of the Protestant missionaries in China was held in Shanghai, beginning May 10th, and lasting through 10 days. About 100 missionaries were present, and participated. Two chairmen were elected-the Rev. Dr. Nelson, of the Protestant Episcopal Mission, Shanghai, and the Rev. Dr. Douglas, of the Scotch Presbyterian Mission, Amoy. The second day's service was opened with the reading of a paper by the Rev. Dr. Williamson, of the Scotch United Presbyterian Mission, on Our Field of Labor in all its Magnitude." It treated of the extent of the Chinese Empire, its immense population, and the great intellectual capabilities of the people. It was followed by a paper by Dr. Legge, on "Confucianism in Relation to Christianity," in which the author maintained that the Confucian books teach plainly the existence of a God and the moral and spiritual qualities of man, although they say nothing of his immortality. These positions were disputed by other mem

bers of the Conference. The next subject was "The Popular Aspects of Buddhism and Taoism," and was introduced in a paper by the Rev. Dr. Edkins, of the London Mission, Peking. Papers followed on "The Practice of Binding the Feet of Chinese Girls," by Miss J. H. Woolston, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission at Foo-chow, and "Woman's Work for Woman," by the Rev. A. P. Hopper, D. D., of Canton, and Mrs. Crawford, of Tung-chowFoo, after which the different modes of work for women were discussed, as day-schools for girls, boarding-schools for girls, trainingschools for Bible-women, industrial classes, visitation from house to house, and medical service from qualified woman-physicians. A high appreciation was expressed of the value of the work of the women. The fifth day was devoted to the subject of schools and their relation to mission work. Papers were read on the subject by the Rev. R. Lechler, of the Basel Mission, Hong-Kong, and the Rev. C. W. Mateer, of the American Presbyterian Mission, North, Tung-chow-Foo. The importance of scientific teaching by the missionaries was insisted upon in the former paper. Other papers were read on "Day-schools," by Mrs. Gough, of the Church Mission, Ningpo; "Boarding-schools for Boys," by the Rev. D. Dodd, of the American Presbyterian Mission, North, Hang-chow; and "Girls' Boardingschools," by Miss M. Lawrence, of the English Church Mission, Ningpo. The sixth day was given to the subject of literature. The papers were: "Christian Literature-What has been done, and what is needed," by the Rev. C. C. Baldwin, of the American Board Mission, Foo-chow, in which the relative advantages of the use of the classical language, the Mandarin and the colloquial dialects, were fully discussed; "Secular Literature," by the Rev. W. A. P. Martin, D. D., LL. D., and the Rev. Young J. Allen, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Superintendent of the Presbyterian Mission Press mentioned the continued demand for scientific works published or for sale at that office. It was also stated that during the last 10 years about 50 books on Western science had been translated or written in Chinese at the instance of officials. The seventh day was given to the consideration of the interests of the "Native Church." Papers were read on "The Conditions to be required for Admission to Full Membership of the Church," by the Rev. J. N. Lambuth, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, South, Shanghai, and the Rev. C. A. Stanley, of the American Board Mission, Tientsin; on "The Methods to be used for Raising the Spiritual and Moral Tone of the Native Church," by the Rev. F. F. Gough, of the English Church Mission, Ningpo, and the Rev. H. L. Mackenzie, of the English Presbyterian Mission, Swatow; and on "The Means by which Foreigners in China can assist in the Work of Evangelization," by Dean Butcher, of the English Cathedral, Shanghai. On the eighth day, the subjects

were discussed of "Self-support of the Native Church," by the Rev. S. L. Baldwin, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission, Foo-chow, and the "Native Pastorate," by the Rev. H. Corbett, of Chefoo, and the Rev. J. Butler, of Ningpo, both of the American Presbyterian Mission, North. On the ninth day, papers were read on "The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Employment of Native Assistants," by the Rev. T. P. Crawford, of the Southern Baptist Mission; "How shall the Native Church be stimulated to more Aggressive Christian Work?"

by the Rev. R. H. Graves, M. D., of Canton; and "The Opium Question," by the Rev. A. E. Merle, of the English Church Mission, Hang-chow. On the 10th day, papers were read on "Ancestral Worship," by the Rev. M. T. Yates, D. D., of the Southern Baptist Mission, Shanghai; "Questionable Rites connected with Marriage and Funeral Ceremonies," by_the Rev. C. Hartnell, of Foo-chow, and the Rev. D. Z. Sheffield, of Toang-chow, both of the American Board; and "The Treaty Rights of Native Christians," by the Rev. J. A. Layen

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berger, of the American Presbyterian Board, North, Ningpo. The Conference issued an appeal to the Protestant Christians of the world for help in extending the missions, stating that there were still eight provinces in the Chinese Empire in which there was not one resident missionary, while in other provinces there were only two or three, calling attention to the vast extent of the Empire, the vigor and enterprise of her people, and their disposition to emigrate to other parts of the

world.

Among the works of the year having information on China is F. von Richthofen's "China, Ergebnisse eigener Reisen und darauf gegründeter Studien " (vol. i., Berlin, 1877). CHRISTIAN CONNECTION. The Chris tian Almanac for 1878 gives the names of 56 conferences of the Christian Connection, with 1,250 ordained and 201 unordained ministers. The ordained ministers are distributed, by States, as follows: California, 2; Illinois, 115; Indiana, 193; Iowa, 120; Kansas, 27; Kentucky, 10; Maine, 66; Massachusetts, 40; Michigan, 55; Missouri, 33; Nebraska, 8; New Hampshire, 37; New Jersey, 10; New York, 146; Ohio, 215; Pennsylvania, 65; Rhode

Island, 17; Vermont, 22; Virginia, 10; West Virginia, 4; Wisconsin, 37; Canada, 18. The Christian Publishing Association is at Dayton, Ohio, where it has a business house, and publishes a weekly general paper and a Sundayschool paper. The Almanac includes Antioch College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, among the denominational institutions. The other literary institutions are: Union Christian College, Merom, Sullivan County, Ind.; Proctor Academy, Andover Centre, N. H.; the Eaton Family School, Middleborough, Mass.; Christian Biblical Institute, Stanfordville, Dutchess County, N. Y.; Starkey Seminary, Eddytown, Yates County, N. Y.; Weaubleau Christian Institute, Hickory County, Mo.; and Denver College and Normal School, Denver, Ind.

COAL. The annual report made by The Engineering and Mining Journal shows that the production of anthracite coal in 1877 was about 21,323,000 tons (2,240 lbs.), or 2,323,000 tons more than in 1876. The production of bituminous and post-carboniferous coals in 1877 probably amounted to more than 28,500,000 gross tons, making the total production of coal in the United States nearly 50,000,000 tons..

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The most extensive and valuable coal-mines YEARS. in America are in Pennsylvania. The coalfields cover an area of 12,744 square miles, including the anthracite basin, of 470 square miles, in Eastern Pennsylvania. Of the 66 counties of the State, 24 in the southeast part, and Erie in the northwest, contain no coal. The anthracite beds are chiefly in Dauphin, Schuylkill, Carbon, and Luzerne Counties, and extend into Northumberland and Columbia Counties. Semi-anthracite coal is found in Dauphin, Sullivan, and Wyoming Counties. Bradford, Lycoming, Tioga, Huntingdon, Bedford, and Fulton, contain detached fields of semi-bituminous coal. Forty-one counties in the north and northwest produce bituminous coal. In Mercer County, on the west border of the State, are deposits of the most valuable coal in the United States. It is a species of semicannel coal, with a slaty structure, and a dull, jet-black lustre, with a thickness of from 3 to 4 feet. It is known as block coal, and is specially adapted to the smelting of iron. The annual production is about 500,000 tons.

The production of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania since 1860 has been as follows:

15,810,466 1877..

*21,823,000

The production of 1877 was mined in the following regions: Wyoming region (Luzerne County), 8,300,000 tons; Lehigh region (Carbon, Columbia, and Luzerne Counties), 4,400,000 tons; Schuylkill region (Schuylkill, Northumberland, Columbia, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties), 8,600,000 tons; and Loyalsock region (Sullivan County), 23,000 tons.

The amount of anthracite produced in Pennsylvania prior to 1820 was about 18,000 tons. The aggregate production since that year amounts to 381,887,832 tons, including 151,475,872 tons mined in the Wyoming region, 72,422,227 in the Lehigh, 157,776,236 in the Schuylkill, and 213,497 in the Loyalsock.

The coal production of the United States in recent years has been as follows, in tons of 2,240 lbs.:

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pany made arrangements to ship coal from South Amboy-a movement which resulted in increasing the winter competition by about 100,000 tons, the amount shipped by this company during the period that general inland navigation was closed. As a consequence, prices steadily weakened and stocks accumulated. On the opening of navigation there was a much better demand for coal; but the production increased so rapidly that prices continued their downward course, which was only checked by the strikes in the Wyoming region, which began in July.

At this time there had been shipped to market over 3,000,000 tons more coal than for the corresponding period of 1876, and there were very liberal stocks, which, with a fair production from the regions still working, and under advanced prices, sufficed to supply the requirements of the market until work was fully resumed in the middle of October. After this, and under the demoralizing influences of the auction sales, prices began to decline, reaching in November, at the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Company's auction sale, an average of $2.35 per gross ton, the lowest price ever recorded in the New York market; the nearest approach having been at an auction sale by the same company in the previous June, when an average of $2.37 per ton was reached. These ruinously low prices lent intensity to the movement for a renewal of the coal combination, which had been discussed from time to time since the resumption of work at the mines, and the somewhat widely-held belief that such a combination would be effected, resulting in steadily advancing prices, and, at the same time, decreasing the demand for coal.

The very open fall enabled shipments to be continued to an unprecedentedly late date; and although prices advanced at the last of the year, and new orders were not liberally given, yet the desire to have all 'old orders filled resulted in brisk shipments to the last, and, as a consequence, cleared the order-books, and left lighter stocks of coal on hand at the end of the year than has been the case for several years past.

Early in the year a large number of season contracts were made on terms which indicated that there was to be a war in prices. The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company clearly showed that its policy was to do a large business without reference to the other companies. To accomplish this, its management shrewdly foresaw that the best prices obtainable at the beginning of the year would be very libral ones later in the season, and it took large orders at prices then ruinously low, but which have since appeared very good. After exhausting its regular markets, this company was found, "pushing the war into Africa," and taking orders along the Hudson River, passing the shipping wharves of the Pennsylvania Coal Company and the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company.

The next step was naturally to compete with the Northern companies in the markets along the line of the Erie Canal and on the great lakes, which it did successfully. But more than this, it opened an office in New Haven, Conn., and distributed its coal throughout every portion of the New England States, opening many markets previously supplied exclusively from the Lackawanna and Lehigh basins. By this bold and well-defined policy. the Philadelphia & Reading Company demonstrated clearly that it was able to compete successfully in any and all the markets supplied by its Northern rivals, or, in combination term, that all the markets are "competitive." It also demonstrated to the satisfaction of consumers that, since the operators in the Schuylkill region have taken the same pains as their neighbors in the preparation of their coals for market, there is so little choice between the coals of the different fields that, for many purposes, a difference of a few cents a ton will change the market from one to the other. So dangerous a rival was, of course, vigorously opposed by the companies already in possession of these profitable markets, and a war in prices ensued, which resulted in rates so extremely and unnecessarily low as to leave no profit to any concerned.

"The course of the anthracite trade during the year," continues the Journal, " has afforded some important lessons. With a consumption more than 2,000,000 tons greater than in 1876, the prices have steadily declined throughout the year; and though they have been so low as to be quite inadequate to meet the 'fixed charges' of nearly all the large coal companies, and have been but little above cost of production to the most economical and lightly loaded of the producers, yet even these minimum prices have not succeeded in driving bituminous coal from the market, though they have, no doubt, checked the growth of that trade. Had the price of anthracite been as high during the year 1877 as it was under the combinationwhen, as events have proved, the companies were rapidly drifting to bankruptcy-the amount marketed would not have been within 3 or perhaps 4 million tons as great as it has been, while the consumption of bituminous coal would have largely increased. A large part of the manufacturing and productive industry of the country has grown far beyond the requirements of our domestic markets, and must seek in foreign countries an outlet for our surplus production. The ability to do this is largely dependent, in more ways than one, on a supply of cheap fuel. The growing competition of bituminous coal will also act as a check on the exaction of high prices for anthracite. From these and other reasons it would seem, therefore, that the average price of anthracite in future will range lower than in the past, and it is to large production and economy, rather than to high prices, that the companies must look for profit."

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COLOMBIA (ESTADOS UNIDOS DE COLOMBIA), an independent state, occupying the southeastern portion of Central and the northwestern of South America, and extending from latitude 12° 21' north to 1° 20' south, and from longitude 68° 52′ to 83° 5' west. Its boundaries are on the north, the Caribbean Sea; on the northeast and east, Venezuela; on the southeast, Brazil; on the south, Ecuador; and on the west; the Pacific Ocean and Costa

Rica.

The present state of the question of limits pending with Brazil is set forth in the article on that Empire in the present volume.

For the territorial division, population, etc., of Colombia, reference may be made to the

ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1874 and 1876.

The President of the Republic is Señor Aquileo Parra, inaugurated April 1, 1876.

The Cabinet is composed of the following members: Minister of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Manuel Ancizar; of Finance and Public Works, Dr. C. N. Rodriguez; of Treasury and Credit, Señor Luis Robles; and of War and Marine, Señor Rafael Niño.

The chief magistrates of the nine states were as follows, respectively:

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Treasury..

Public instruction
Pensions
Post-office..

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$2,779,410

By comparison of the foregoing tables, a surplus will be observed of $335,209, against $1,725,596 for the fiscal year ending August

31, 1877.

For details concerning the national debt of Colombia, reference may be made to the ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1875 and 1876. Fears were entertained in London financial circles, at the end of 1876, that Colombia would be unable to meet her engagements with the desired promptness, in the matter of the installment to fall due in February, 1877, as will appear from the subjoined extract from a London financial publication, under date of December 30, 1876:

sions lately expressed regarding the service of the We very much regret to say that the apprehenColombian Loan are likely to be realized. We have received a communication from the Council of Foreign Bondholders, that, in consequence of the civil war in Colombia, the Government have been obliged to discontinue temporarily the monthly payments for the service of the debt made to the agent of the bondholders at Bogotá. There is not, therefore, enough of money in the hands of the bankers to pay the coupons of the 1st of January. £7,700 have been remitted to the bankers; £7,300 are still in the hands of the agent at Bogotá (who is unable to obtain means of remittance), so that one-third of the coupon has still to be provided for.

A more encouraging aspect of affairs is presented by the author of the subjoined sketch, which, giving as it does a view of the present condition of Colombia in more than one respect, will not be out of place here. The date of the publication is August, 1877:

There is nothing which affords us more real pleasure than to witness evidences of improvement in the condition of this country. It is our greatest delight to believe that the Colombian Union possesses all the elements of national success, and that it only requires a long and uninterrupted season of peace to insure the development of these elements and the secure establishment of unbounded prosperity. The boundaries of few countries embrace so splendid a realm. Few lands can boast of so liberal endowment of natural resources. Its geographical position, its diversity of climate, its fine rivers, rich other on the face of the globe. It is no wonder that soil and mineral wealth, cannot be excelled by any Colombianos are proud of their country, and enthusiastic about its future. They may well be pardoned

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