724
ASSAYING valley, and thence across the hills to Dibrugarh, at the head of 1SS6-87. 1896-97. the Brahmaputra valley, with a branch to Gauhati lower down the Brahmaputra. The hill section of this line has been found Schools. Pupils. ;Schools. Pupils. Schools. Pupils. exceedingly difficult of construction, and extensive damage was done by the earthquake of 1897. This railway is financed by the Colleges . 1 27 Government, though worked by a company, and therefore ranks Secondary Ill 10,574 112 10,353 137 11,623 as a state line. Up to the end of 1898 the total length open for schools traffic was 379 miles ; the gross earnings in that year were Primary schools 1,915 53,801 2,365 66,913 3,046 84,267 Rx. 130,812, and the working expenses Rx. 125,357. There are Special schools 18 529 25 635 41 743 several short lines of light railway, or tramway, in the province. Private institu245 4,826 298 5,737 309 6,881 The most important is the Dibru-Sadiya railway, at the head of tions the Brahmaputra valley, with a branch to the coal-fields. Its length is 78 miles; in 1898 its gross earnings amounted to Total . 2,289 69,730 I 2,800 83,638 | 3,534 103,541 Rx.78,141, and the working expenses were Rx.49,894. Trade.—The external trade of Assam is conducted partly by Earthquakes.—Assam is liable to earthquakes. By far the steamer, partly by native boat, and to a small extent by rail. In shock known is that which occurred on the evening of the Brahmaputra valley steamers carry as much as 86 per cent, of severest 12th June 1897. The area of this seismic disturbance extended the exports, and 94 per cent, of the imports. In the Surma valley over North-Eastern India, from Manipur to Sikkim ; but the native boats carry about 43 per cent, of both. In 1897-98 (which was undoubtedly in the Khasi and Garo Hills. In the was a bad year, owing to the earthquake and a poor tea crop) focus station of Shillong every masonry building r was levelled to the the total exports were valued at Rs. 5,33,00,000, of which ground. Throughout the country bridges w ere shattered, roads Rs.3,13,00,000 came from the Brahmaputra and Rs.2,20,00,000 were broken like ploughed fields, and the beds of rivers were from the Surma valley. The chief items were tea (Rs.3,52,76,000), dislocated. up the hills there were terrible landslips, which rice in the husk, oil-seeds, tea-seed, timber, coal, and jute. The im- wrecked the Inlittle railway and caused 600 deaths. ports (excluding treasure) were valued at Rs. 4,04,00,000, of which The total mortality Cherrapunji recorded was 1542, including two Europeans Rs.2,14,00,000 went to the Brahmaputra and Rs. 1,90,00,000 to the at Shillong. The damage done to public property is estimated Surma valley. The chief items were cotton piece-goods, rice not in the husk, sugar, grain and pulse, salt, iron and steel, tobacco, at Rs. 50,00,000. On the Assam-Bengal railway alone the cost s Co) cotton twist and yarn, and brass and copper. No less than three- of repairs was Rs.13,84,000. fourths of the total trade is conducted with Calcutta. The transAssaying*.—In its restricted sense the term assaying frontier trade is insignificant; and most of it is conducted with the Bengal state of Hill Tipperah. In 1897-98 the total imports is applied to the determination of the amount of gold or silver in ores or alloys; but in this article it will be used were valued at Rs.6,70,600, and the exports at Rs.3,03,236. Government. — The administrative staff for the province of in its wider signification, and will include a description of Assam consists of a chief commissioner, appointed by the the methods for the quantitative determination of those governor-general, who is assisted by a secretary, an assistantsecretary, and a personal assistant; a district and sessions judge elements in ores which affect their value in metallurgical for Sylhet, who is also sessions judge for Cachar ; a judge and operations. It would be impossible to give in detail here commissioner for the Brahmaputra valley; a conservator of all the precautions necessary for the successful use of the forests; a principal medical officer, who is also sanitary commis- methods, and the descriptions will therefore be confined sioner ; a director of public instruction; a director-general of to the principles involved and the general manner in police, and jails, who is also inspector-general of registration, commissioner of excise, and superintendent of stamps ; a director which they are applied to secure the desired results. of land records and agriculture, with an assistant; and thirteen Gold and Silver.—Ores containing gold or silver are almost indeputy commissioners. The total number of civil and revenue variably assayed in the dry way ; that is, by fusion with appropriate courts is 68, and of criminal courts 102. The total strength of fluxes and ultimate separation of the elements in the metallic form. the police force consisted in 1897 of 2833 military police, 2253 One of the customs which has grown out of our peculiar system of civil police, and 6993 rural police. The proportion of civil police weights the form of statement of the results of such an assay. Inwas one man to 19 square miles of area and to 2356 of population. stead of isexpressing amounts of gold and silver in percentages of The daily average number of prisoners in jail during 1897 was the weight of ore, the are expressed in ounces to the ton, the 1499. The total number of municipalities is 14, only one of ounce being the Troythey and the ton that of 2000 avoirdupois which (Sylhet) has a population exceeding 10,000. In 1897-98 pounds. _ To simplify ounce calculation and to enable the assayer to use the aggregate municipal income was Rs.2,51,819, of which the metric system of weights in all chemical calculations, Rs.90,186 was derived from rates and taxes, and Rs.88,844 from the assay ton (“ A.T.” =employed 29'166 grammes) has been devised, Government contributions. There are 19 local boards, with an bears the same relation to the ton of 2000 lb avoirdupois that aggregate income of Rs.12,28,131, of which Rs.6,46,000 was which one _ milligram does to the Troy ounce; when one assay ton of derived from rates. Of the expenditure, 64 per cent, was devoted ore is used, each milligram of gold or silver found represents one to public works, 18 per cent, to education, and 8 per cent, to ounce to the ton. medical. In 1897 the military force in Assam consisted of three assay of an ore for gold or silver consists of two operations. battalions of Gurkhas, one of which was stationed in Manipur In The the first the gold or silver is made to combine or alloy with and one regiment of Bengal infantry. In addition, there are metallic lead, the other constituents of the ore being separated three volunteer corps : the Shillong Rifles (60 strong), the Assam from the lead as slag. In the second, the lead button containing V alley Light Horse (373 strong), and the Surma Valley Light the gold or silver is cupelled and the resulting gold or silver button Horse (350 strong). weighed. The second operation has been fully described in The net revenue and expenditure of Assam for 1897-98 in tens is the ninth edition of this work (vol. ii. p. 725) and need not be of rupees (Rx.), distributed under the three heads of imperial further considered. The first is conducted in one of two ways, provincial, and local, was as follows — net revenue
imperial* known respectively as the crucible method and the scorification ^x-f>626 ; provincial, Rx.660,100; local, Rx.63,953 ; total’ method. The crucible method is generally used for ores containing Kx !, 140,679. Net expenditure : imperial, Rx.62,517 ; provincial, Rx 631,468 ; local, Rx.92,585 ; total, Rx.786,570. Surplus- gold in small amounts and for certain classes of silver ores. The of ore taken for assay is generally one-half “ A.T.,” but in imperial, Rx 354,109 ; provincial, Rx.28,632; local, Rx. -28,632; amount very low grade ores one, two, and sometimes even four’£A.T.s” total, Rx. 354,109. During the previous ten years, the gross land are used. In the scorification method one-tenth of an “ A.T.” is the e Cr Se fr Rx pVe f Rx S 2<?m -429,939 to Rx.596,123, excise from amount commonly taken. While in both methods the same result X oTo 0 oo7 t0 6 T> 'Q^ Ar^ - ^ U91, and stamps from Rx.78,683 to is sought, the means employed are quite different. In the scorifixtx.o7,051. cation method the ore is mixed in the scorifier (a shallow dish of Education.—TWq following table gives the chief statistics of burned clay) with from ten to twenty times its weight of granulated a 10n in A ssam r 1 ?n^ ^ andi - 1896.97. f° The ^e three quinquennial 1886-87 lead (test lead) and a little borax glass, and heated in a 1891.92, SgutesUhow steadyyears, progress the metallic muffle, the front of which is at first .closed. When the lead melts rate of increase being considerably higher than for India gener- and begins to oxidize, the lead oxide or litharge, as it is called, ally If we compare the number of pupils with the estimated combines or dissolves the non-metallic and readily oxidizable conpopulation of school-going age (15 per cent, of the total popula- stituents of the ore, while the gold and silver alloy with the lead. tion), the increase has been from 9-5 to 12'7 per cent. Takino- As the slag thus formed flows off to the sides of the scorifier, the girls alone, the number at school increased from 5136 in 1891-99 assay clears and the melted metallic lead forms an “eye” in the to 8276 in 1896-97, or by no less than 61 per cent. ; while the The door of the muffle is then opened and the current of proportion to the female population of school-going age rose middle. air which is drawn over the scorifier rapidly oxidizes the lead, while 0 1 3 er cent f? ™ ' P This improvement is mainly due to the melted litharge gradually closes over the metal. When the the Welsh missionaries m the Khasi Hills. “ eye ” has quite disappeared the door is closed and the temperature
