Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/326

 306 VERA CRUZ of manufactures in 1873 was $2,374,400, the principal products being woollen and cotton cloths. In 1875 there were 528 public schools in the state, with an aggregate attendance of 19,702, 18 colleges or grammar schools, 6 schools attached to state prisons, and a mili- tary school. Vera Oruz is divided into 18 can- tons: Acayucan, Chicontepec, Coatepec, C6r- doba, Cosamaloapan, Huatusco, Jalapa, Jala- cingo, Minatitlan, Mizantla, Orizaba, Papant- la, Tampico, Tantoyuca, Tuxpan, Tuxtla, Vera Oruz, and Zonzolica. II. A city of the prece- ding state, in a marshy plain on the shore of the gulf of Mexico, lat. 19 11' 56" N., Ion. 96 8' 36" W., 190 m. E. S. E. of the city of Mex- ico ; pop. about 10,000. It is built in a semi- circle fronting the sea, and is enclosed by a wall 6 ft. high and 3 ft. thick, and defended by two redoubts on shore and the castle of San Juan de Ulua or Ulloa, which stands on an island of the same name about half a mile from the shore. The streets are regular and wide, and form 66 squares, and some of those running E. and W. have a stream in the mid- dle. The houses are strongly built of coral limestone, in the old Spanish style, enclosing a square court with covered galleries. Most of the windows are furnished with iron gra- tings, and window glass is not common. Among the principal buildings are the municipal pal- ace, built in 1609, custom house, provincial treasury, commandant general's office, and the old convent of San Francisco, the tower of which was fitted as a lighthouse in 1872. In the same building is the public library, founded in 1870. There are also several churches, a theatre, bull ring, exchange, casino, three hos- pitals, and an artillery school. The city is Vera Cruz. lighted with ga3, is supplied with water from the river Jamapa, and has a horse railway. The harbor is merely an open roadstead be- tween the city and the castle, and is very inse- cure. A new mole was finished in 1875, but it is unapproachable during northers by any but small boats. On one of the bastions of San Juan de Ulua is a lighthouse, and on an- other a watch tower. There are also a chapel and a cemetery on the island. Besides this island there are in the roadstead a small island called Verde, and the Sacrificios and Blan- quilla isles. Vera Cruz is the most important port of the republic ; its exports amount an- nually to about $25,000,000, and its imports to $26,000,000. Of the latter, about $2,000,- 000 are from the United States. During the year ending June 30, 1874, 3,449 vessels en- tered the port, of which 2,278 were engaged in the coasting trade. The chief exports are coffee, vanilla beans, hides, tobacco, cochineal, caoutchouc, jalap, fustic, and indigo. Smug- gling is common, and the official commercial returns seldom amount to more than half the real value of the trade. Vera Cruz is con- nected by railway with Mexico, with Medellin, and with Jalapa and Boca del Potrero, and by steamers with New York, New Orleans, the West Indies, and Europe. The city of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz was founded by Cortes in 1519, a short distance N. of the present site; but it was abandoned in a few years for a po- sition near the mouth of the Antigua, which was called Antigua Vera Cruz. About 1590 it was again removed to the present site and named Nueva Vera Cruz. Philip III. conferred on it the title and privileges of a city in 1615. The castle of San Juan de Ulua, which was the last foothold of the Spaniards in Mexico, was surrendered by them to the patriots in 1825. In 1838 Vera Cruz was bombarded and taken by the French, and in 1847 by the Amer- icans under Gen. Scott. It surrendered to the allied British, French, and Spanish squadron