A LIVELY REVOLUTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 199, 23 August 1926, Page 7

A LIVELY REVOLUTION.

FIGHTING AT CAPITAL. j MAJHT REBELS KILLED. NEW YORK, August 22. It is stated in a message from Mantagua, the capital of Nicaragua, Central America, that the Mayor of the city and several non-combatants are reported to have been killed in a revolutionary outbreak there. Before evacuating Quezalguaque, the rebels burned part of the town, including the largest distillery in the country. All liable for military service are being called to the colours by the Government, no exemptions whatever being allowed. Government forces have reoccupied San Marcos, after a sharp skirmish, and the losses inflicted on the rebels is said to ■ have been severe. j At Tamarindo. a village of the Pacific j Coast, the revolutionaries were routed, many being killed or wounded. In their flight, the rebels abandoned 10 machine-' suns, 700 rifles. 500.000 rounds of ammunition, and other supplies.—, (Reuter.) The area of Nicaragua is estimated at 51.660 English square miles, and it has a coastline of about 300 miles on the Atlantic and 200 miles on the Pacific. The population, according to the census of 1920, was 638,119. At least 75 per cent of the inhabitants live in the western half of the country. The two halves of the Republic differ in many respects, and there is little communication between them, the journey by trail, and river being so slow and difficult , that passengers usually co by way of Costa Rica, while the small amounts of merchandise shipped from one side to the other are sent mainly via Panama. The people of the western half of the Republic are mostly of mixed Spanish and Indian extraction, though there arp a considerable number of pure Spanish descent, and many Indians. The population of the eastern half is composed mainly of Mosquito and Zambo Indians. and negroes from Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean Sea. with some American? and a comparatively smaller number of Nicaraarians from the western half of the Republic. The active army consists of 2.500 men in pence, risingr to 7000 in war. Military service is obliea- ! tory between 17 and 55 years of use. ' The navy consists of one very small boar. I capable of carrying a machine-gun and 25 men. j I