CALCULATING
MACHINES — CALCUTTA
497
west coast of Samar, Philippine Islands, on a small river dty by country boat, by inland steamer, by rail, or by of the same name, in 12° 3' N. It does an important road. The following table gives the results of this export business in hemp, which is shipped to Manila. registration for 1897-98 :— Rice and copra are also produced in considerable quantity, and there is fine timber close at hand. The climate is Imports. Exports. Total. pleasant and healthful. The language is Visayan. Calculating: Machines. cal Instruments.
See Mathemati-
Calcutta, the capital of British India, and also of the province of Bengal, is situated in 22° 34' N. lat. and 88° 24' E. long. It lies on the left or east bank of the Hooghly, about 80 miles above the sea. It covers an area of 20 square miles. Its population in 1881 was 549,376, and in 1891 it was 681,560. Adding the suburbs, the total population was 903,374; and if Howrah be also included, the grand total rises to 1,018,980. Classified according to religion, Hindus numbered 444,137, or 65 per cent.; Mahommedans, 203,173, or 30 per cent.; Christians, 28,997, or 4 per cent., of whom 12,516 were Europeans and 9818 Eurasians, leaving 6663 for native converts ; Jains and Buddhists, 2693; Parsis, 166; “others,” 2394.' Of the total number of inhabitants, less than one-third were born in the city. The preliminary returns of the census of 1901 gave the population of Calcutta as 843,487, showing an increase of 24 per cent., the same rate of increase as in the preceding decade. Adding the suburbs, the total population is 1,121,664; and if Howrah be also included, the grand total rises to 1,279,511. Just twothirds of the population are males. Calcutta, is a busy commercial centre, but most of the industries are carried on outside municipal limits. Howrah, on the opposite side of the Hooghly, is the terminus of three great railway systems, and also the headquarters of the jute industry and other large factories. It is connected with Calcutta by an immense floating bridge, 1530 feet in length, which was constructed in 1874. A project is now under consideration to build a railway bridge across the river, with a central station in Calcutta. Other railways have their terminus at Sealdah, an eastern suburb. The docks lie outside Calcutta, at Kidderpur, on the south; and at Alipur are the Zoological Gardens, the residence of the lieutenant-governor of Bengal, cantonments for a native infantry regiment, the central jail, and a Government reformatory. The port of Calcutta stretches about 10 miles along the river. It is under the control of a port trust, whose jurisdiction extends to the mouth of the Hooghly, and also over the floating bridge. During the five years ending 1897-98, the number of vessels entering the port rose from 991 to 1235, and the tonnage from 2,567,440 to 3,562,373. New docks were opened in 1892, which cost Rs. 2,87,70,000 ; and a loan of Rs.15,00,000 was raised in 1898 for improvements in the docks and jetties and for new warehouses. In 1897-98 the total income of the port trust was Rs.61,85,000, and the total expenditure was Rs.61,05,000, of which Rs.21,19,000 represents debt and sinking fund. The total amount of liabilities outstanding was Rs.4,09,50,000, against which the port trust holds land, &c., estimated at a considerably higher value. The figures for the sea-borne trade of Bengal are included in those given for Bengal {q.v.) During the ten years ending 1897-98, imports of foreign merchandise rose in value from Rs.25,65,12,730 to Rs.27,85,49,500, or b}^ 9 per cent.; while exports rose from Rs. 36,63,69,890 to Rs.44,13,96,590, or by 20 per cent. In 1899-1900 the foreign trade amounted to ,£56,828,000 (imports, £23,511,000; exports, £33,317,000), of which 51 per cent, was trade with the United Kingdom and SH per cent with the United States. The inland trade of Calcutta is registered as it enters or leaves the
Rs. Rs. By country boat . 13,22,03,507 3,57,87,627 By inland steamer 7,72,75,288 5,37,08,677 By East Indian Railway . 27,99,37,306 23,23,18,027 By Eastern Bengal Railway . 9,30,86,345 5,58,64,506 By road 4,20,44,354 2,23,47,509 Total
Rs. 16,79,91,134 13,09,83,965 51,22,55,333 14,89,50,851 6,43,91,863
| 62,45,46,800 40,00,26,346 1,02,45,73,146
More than half of the total is carried by the East Indian railway, which serves the North-Western Provinces. Country boats hold their own against inland steamers, especially in imports. The municipal government of Calcutta has been reconstituted by an Act of the Bengal Legislature, passed in 1899. Previously, the governing body consisted of seventyfive commissioners, of whom fifty were elected. Under the new system, modelled upon that of the Bombay municipality, this body, styled the Corporation, remains comparatively unaltered; but a large portion of their powers is transferred to a general committee, composed of twelve members, of whom one-third are elected by the Corporation, one-third by certain public bodies, and one-third are nominated by the Government. At the same time, the authority of the chairman, as supreme executive officer, is considerably strengthened. The two most important works undertaken by the old municipality were the provision of a supply of filtered water and the construction of a main drainage system. The water-supply is derived from the river Hooghly, about 16 miles above Calcutta, where there are large pumping-stations and settling-tanks. The total length of the main is 315 miles. In 1897-98 the daily supply of filtered water was more than 20 million gallons, being 38 gallons per head of population. In addition, there was a daily supply of more than 5 million gallons of unfiltered water, being 12 gallons per head. The drainage system consists of underground sewers, which are discharged by a pumping-station into a natural depression to the eastward, called the Salt Lake. Refuse is also removed to the Salt Lake by means of a municipal railway. The following table gives the principal heads of municipal income and expenditure in 1897-98 :— Income. General rate Sewage rate Water rate Lighting rate . Taxes on trades, car riages, &c. . Market Sale of water . Conservancy . Roads Slaughter-house Miscellaneous
Total
Expenditure Rs. 17,79,106 3,74,540 11,23,621 3,74,540 5,31,809 1,33,550 1,55,219 64,790 34,975 41,148 1,37,756
47,51,060
Rs. Interest of debt 5,99,209 Repayment of debt 2.44.615 General establishment 4,02,025 Office 1,04,384 Roads 3,60,446 Street watering 98,278 Gowkhana 2,17,501 Conservancy . 1.57.616 Busti cleaning 80,231 Sewer cleaning, &c 1,28,480 Hospital and vacci nation . 67,102 Suburban improve 37,834 merits . Sewers 2,72,006 Water 11,79,085 Lighting . 4,56,098 Miscellaneous 4,40,682 Total . 48,45,592
The total amount levied by rate was Rs.36,51,807, the incidence of taxation being nearly Rs. 7 per head. The assessment of the annual valuation of the city amounts to Rs.2,08,54,607. The 8. II. — 63
