MADRAS'. A seaport city, capital of the Province of Madras, British India. situated on the Coromandel coast of the western shore of the Bay of Bengal, 835 miles southwest of Calcutta, and 640 miles southeast of Bombay: latitude 13° 5' N., longitude SO° 16' E. (Map: India. D (3). It is the third city in size and importance of India. and has railroad and telegraphic com munications by the main systems with the prin cipal towns of the Empire, but although much has been done to improve its harbor facilities, it is no longer a port of call for the principal Euro pean lines of ocean steamers. owing to the in security of its harbor. The city and its nine suburbs cover an area of 29 square miles, ex tending along the coast for nine miles and inland for nearly four. Centrally situated on the shore is Fort Saint George, strongly fortified and gar risoned by European and native troops and con taining the council house, civil and military offices, and Saint Mary's, the oldest English church in India, dating from 1678. Adjoining the fort on the north is the commercial district of Black Town, a low-lying, poorly built. and densely populated quarter, covering an area of a square mile, protected from inundation by a strong sea wall. Here are situated the mercan tile establishments, the Bank of Madras, the Post Office, and the old High Court. now occupied by the customs offices, its tower with a modern installation serving as the lighthouse for the harbor which extends along the larger portion of the water front of Black Town. To the south and rear of the fort is the island, formed by the encircling Cooum River, containing barracks and forming an extensive military parade and recrea tion ground. It connects by bridges on the north with the People's Park, and on the west and south with the residential sections. where are situated the handsome Government House, the clubs, marine parade, the Chepauk Park and buildings, the Scotch Church of Saint Andrew, the fine university buildings, and the native hos pital. Ou the Mount Road, commanding a mag nificent view of the city and its vicinity, is Saint George's Cathedral. containing several beautiful monuments by Chantry and Flaxman. Other noteworthy features are the New Law Court buildings in a Hindu-Saracenic style of architec ture. opened in IS92. the new Law College, the Christian College buildings. Pacheappah's Col lege and hall, the memorial hall, the grand ar senal, with an interesting military museum, the observatory founded in 1792, which gives stand ard time to all India, and several native mosques and temples. The southernmost extension of Madras is the old Portuguese town of Saint Thome, near the Adyar River, with the ancient Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint Thome, said to contain the remains of Saint Thomas. There are several charitable and benevolent institu tions, and Madras is noted for its educational establishments, which include the university, founded in 1557, colleges of agriculture, of engi neering, medicine and law, a teachers' college, six missionary colleges. Victoria Technical Institute,
a Government school of arts, a valuable museum, libraries, zoological and botanical gardens, and literary and scientific institutions.
The city's affairs are administered under a charter of 1884, by 32 commissioners, eight. in cluding a salaried president. being appointed by the provincial authorities and twenty-four heing elected by the ratepayers. Madras has under gone much modern improvement ; it has a good reservoir water supply, conveyed from a distance of seven miles. and a sewage farm disposal sys tem, and is lighted by gas and electricity. Harbor works, commenced in 1S75, were constructed after much difficulty. and consist of two breakwaters, respectively 3907 and 372G feet long. inclosing a large water area fronting Black Town. Pas sengers are now enabled to land in comfort with out the former perils attendant on a passage through the notorious Madras surf, hut during the cyclones of the monsoon periods the harbor is unsafe for large ships, which seek the open sea on receipt of meteorological warnings; an merous wrecks, many of historic interest, have occurred in the Madras roadstead. In 1897-98, 711 vessels entered and cleared a total tonnage of 1,158,897, valued at 129,885,783 rupees, of which 105,017,710 represented foreign trade, and the balance the coastwise trade. The chief exports are cotton, rice, coffee, hides, and skins. Local traffic is facilitated by the Buekingham, Cochrane, and Cotton canals. Madras has some large cotton mills, but its industries are purely domestic and of no great magnitude. The United States is represented by a consular agent. The mean annual temperature is 82'; during the hot months the thermometer frequently registers 96° in the shade, but the heat is pleasantly tempered by 'the doctor,' a sea breeze so named by the residents, which sets in at noon and lasts till night. The seasons are distinctly marked by the monsoons, the northeast lasting from October to February and the southwest from May to Octo ber.
The Portuguese founded Saint Thome in 1504, but Madras dates from a grant of land made by the Raja of Chandragi to a British subject in 1639, and the construction of a fortified factory. The Presidency of Madras was established in 1653. By 1743 Madras had developed into the largest city of Southern India; in 1746 it was captured by the French, but was restored two years later under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1741) Saint Thome was annexed by the English. Madras was again besieged, but unsuccessfully, by the French in 1758. Population. in 1891, 452,518; in 1901, 509,397, of which 79 per eent. were Hindus, 12 per cent. Mohammedans, and 9 per cent. Chris tians.