BELGAUM.
236 inland,
no
without
railway
or
navigable
the
river,
District
possesses
Cotton is the only article for which the demand is not purely local. European manufactures and other articles required for the European population in the Belgdum cantonment are brought by shopkeepers from Bombay. In several villages throughout the District markets are held at fixed intervals, usually once a week. These markets supply the wants of the country round within a radius of about 6 miles, containing as a rule from 25 to
30
foreign
villages
Next
of
trade
importance.
and hamlets.
to agriculture,
hand-loom weaving forms the chief industry are generally Lingdyats or Musalmans,
The weavers
of the District.
with a small sprinkling of Marathas.
The
finer
sorts
of cloth are
two or three towns. With the exception of a small quantity of cloth sent to the neighbouring Districts, the produce of its hand-looms is almost entirely consumed in Belgaum. Simple dyeing and tanning is carried on over the whole District. Gokak town was once famous for its dyers, and is still noted for a coarse kind of manufactured only
in
made in large quantities. Gokak toys, made both from light wood and from a peculiar kind of earth, are also celebrated. They consist of models of men and gods, fruits and vegetables. paper
kinds of
Adtnmistration
divided into
7
.
— For
Belgaum District is Athni, Belgaum, Bidi,
administrative purposes,
idluks or Sub-divisions,
viz.
Chikodi, Gokak, Parasgad, and Sampgaon. The administration in revenue matters is entrusted to a Collector and 4 Assistants, of whom For the settlement of civil disputes 2 are covenanted civil servants. In 1 880-8 r, the total cost to the State of the there are 5 courts. and the amount realized from maintenance of these courts was court fees and stamps ;£i3,^96.
There are 20
officers for the
admini-
whom
6 are Europeans, 4 being covenanted civilians and 2 military officers. In the same year the excise
stration of criminal justice, of
revenue amounted to ^^12,898, and the license tax produced ;^45i4. In the year 1881, the total strength of the District or regular police 1,330. force was 674 officers and men, maintained at a total cost of These figures show i man to every 6*9 square miles as compared with the area, and
i
man
to every 1497 souls as
compared with the popula-
cost of maintenance was equal to ;^2, 8s. per square mile, In 1881, the Belgaum jail contained a or 3d. per head of population. showing daily average of 683 convicted prisoners, including 13 females
tion.
The
—
prisoner to every r265 of the population; the total cost was ^3864, or ;,^5, 13s. 2d. per prisoner. The District contains 18 post-offices and I
I
telegraph office at Belgaum town.
The
District local funds for
works of public
utilitj',
and
for the
spread
of rural education, yielded in the year i88o-8r, ;,^i2,203. The disbursements amounted to ^6460, expended in the construction of new
