Items of Interest June 9, 1917 Issue

Items of Interest

With a view to the obtaining of electrical power for the operation of the Swiss Federal railways, the authorities have already acquired a number of waterworks, and are endeavoring to obtain other concessions. Altogether, ten power works have been planned so far, with a maximum capacity of some 500,000 horse-power. The building of all these works would have to be distributed over a considerable period of time, as the electrification of the railways would require immense sums. The administration is therefore arranging to grant subconcessions with regard to waters on which it already holds concessions but which are not needed for the present.

The Dominican Republic, in the eastern part of the island of Haiti, has an area of nearly twenty thousand square miles, being about twice the size of the republic of Haiti, or more than five times that of Porto Rico. The latest estimate of the population is 700,000. The land is fertile virgin soil. Roads, bridges, and other public works are being built, harbors improved, and a general reorganization of all utilities is taking place. The climate is healthful. The blowing of trade winds most of the year makes the nights cool, and only a short part of the day can be called hot. From early December until June there is very little rain.

As the Galapagos Islands have long been economically worthless to Ecuador, there is a growing inclination on the part of the people, it is said, to offer them for sale to the United States. The price paid for the Virgin Islands, formerly Danish West Indies, is said to have made a great impression on them. The islands lie about eight hundred miles southwest of the Panama Canal, close to the road of steamers plying between the canal and New Zealand, Australia, and the rest of Oceania, and the lower East Indies. The population of the group is about four hundred.

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