Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/636

 608 TEHUANTEPEC dry ditch and a thick mud wall, flanked at intervals with semicircular projections, and pierced by gates which are always guarded, and are closed after sunset. Inside there are many vacant spaces, gardens, and extensive ruins; but the streets are narrow, irregular, unpaved, and filthy. The houses are badly built and mean in appearance. Outside the walls are suburbs of considerable extent, sev- eral large caravansaries, and many enclosed gardens. The principal building of the town is the Ark or royal palace, which occupies a large space adjoining the northern wall, and is fortified. The bazaars are wretchedly kept and dirty. One of the mosques is roofed with plates of gold. In summer the climate is un- healthy, and the monarch and about two thirds of the inhabitants encamp on the plains of Sul- tanieh. On a hill in the neighborhood the shah has a palace and beautiful gardens. Tele- graph wires connect Teheran with the Cau- casian and Turkish frontiers. Not far from it are the ruins of the ancient Rhages, the capital of Parthia. Teheran was unimportant until made the capital of Persia by Aga Mohammed Khan about 1796. A treaty of commerce with England was signed here, Oct. 28, 1841. TEOUANTEPEC. I. An isthmus of Mexico, lying between the bay of Campeachy on the gulf and the bay of Tehuantepec on the Pacific, and comprising the states of Tabasco and Chia- pas and parts of Yera Cruz and Oajaca. Its breadth from bay to bay, at the narrowest place, is 130 m. It is drained by the Coatza- coalcos river, which flows northward, dis- charging into the bay of Campeachy, and ex- tending three fourths of the width of the isth- mus; and by the Tehuantepec river, flowing into the bay of the same name. There are several lakes and lagoons. At one time it was proposed to construct a ship canal across the isthmus, improving the navigation of the Coat- zacoalcos for a part of the distance, and sur- veys were made. (See CANAL, vol. iii., p. 690.) II. A town of the state of Oajaca, on Tehuan- tepec river, about 15 m. above its mouth, and 110 m. E. 8. E. of Oajaca; pop. about 14,000. The houses are generally of stone. Part of the town is occupied by Indians, who are civil- ized and industrious. It has salt works and cotton factories, and a considerable pearl fish- ery in which many of the inhabitants are en- gaged. Indigo is raised in the vicinity, a pur- ple dye is procured from a shell fish abundant there, and some cochineal is exported. The harbor is shallow, with a dangerous bar at the mouth of the river, and is little frequented. TEJADA, or Lerdo de Tejada, Sebastian, president of Mexico, born in Jalapa, April 25, 1825. He was educated in the seminary of Puebla and in the college of San Ildefonso, in the city of Mexico, became rector of the college in 1852, and received the diploma of advocate in 1853. He was a judge of the supreme court from December, 1855, to June 1, 1857, when he be- came minister of foreign affairs and premier, TELEGRAPH but resigned in September on account of his support of the new liberal constitution, in op^ position to President Comonfort. He was a member and thrice the president of the house of representatives during the sessions of 1861-'2. He opposed the treaty for arranging the English debt, and its failure led to the downfall of the Zamacona cabinet. His influence led to the ratification in December, 1861, of treaties of commerce and of extradition with the United States. He was member of congress in 1 8 62-'3, and followed the government on its removal from Mexico, during the French invasion. On Sept. 2, 1863, he became minister of justice, and on Sept. 11 of foreign affairs. He shared with Juarez the honor of the eventual recovery of the national independence. The presiden- tial term of Juarez expiring on Nov. 30, 1865, Lerdo de Tejada, to avert the excitement of a new election, caused the presidential term to be extended until the termination of the war. After the capture of Maximilian, he was vainly solicited to spare his life. After the return of Juarez to the capital, in July, 1867, Lerdo de Tejada suspended all treaties with those foreign powers which had failed in neutrality toward Mexico, or had joined in the intervention ; but he accorded to aliens the same security as to Mexicans. In 1868 he became chief justice of the supreme court. In that capacity, under the constitution, he became president on the death of Juarez in July, 1872; and on Nov. 1 he was almost unanimously elected to that office for the term ending Nov. 30, 1876. TELEGRAPH (Gr. r^Ae, afar, and -ypaeiv, to write),, an apparatus by which intelligence is communicated to a distance. It properly in- cludes the various methods of signalling. The Roman generals, as described by Julius Afri- canus, spelled words by means of fires of dif- ferent substances. The North American abo- rigines made use of regular stations over the western country for such signals ; and the In- dians of the northwest territory in this way made known the approach of Fremont, as he passed through their regions. Polybius de- scribes two modes of telegraphing by means of torches ; and Bishop "Wilkins, after giving an account of this in his book entitled " Mer- cury, or the Secret and Swift Messenger," de- scribes a method of conversing at a distance with three lights or torches at night, which may be so used as to indicate the 24 necessary letters of the alphabet, these being divided into three classes of eight letters each, which are severally designated by one, two, or three torches, and the number of the letter by the number of times the torches are elevated or displayed. Another method was also pro- posed by Bishop Wilkins, in which intelligible signals were conveyed by means of two lights attached to long poles ; and for long distances he suggested the use of the then newly invented telescope. A variety of systems of telegraphic signals were brought into notice by different inventors in the 17th and 18th centuries, one