San Jacinto
BATTLE OF, a notable battle that decided the independence of Texas. It was a desperate engagement between a Mexican force in command of Santa Ana, 1,600 in the ranks, and 783 Texans led by Sam Houston, April 21, 1836. The Mexicans were defeated and utterly routed. The scene of this event was on the banks of the San Jacinto river, 17 miles E. by S. of the present city of Houston.
SANJAK (Turkish, a standard), the name given to a subdivision of an eyalet or minor province of Turkey, from the circumstance that the governor of such district is entitled to carry in war a standard of one horse-tail.
SANT a JOAQUIN, a river of California, 350 miles long; rises in the Sierra Nevada mountains, in Fresno county, flows S. W. about 70 miles, then N. W., and unites with the Sacramento near its mouth in Suisun Bay. Tulare Lake discharges into it at high water. It is navigable at all seasons by vessels of from 150 to 250 tons to Stockton, about SAN JOSÉ 50 miles; in winter and spring steamers ascend nearly 200 miles further. Its chief tributaries are the Fresno, Mariposa, Merced, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Calaveras. The San Joaquin valley is world famed for its fertility.
SAN JOSÉ, a city and county-seat of Santa Clara co., Cal.; on the Guadalupe and Coyote rivers, and on the Southern Pacific railroad; 51 miles S. of San Francisco. It contains the State Normal School, the University of the Pacific (M. E.), the College of Notre Dame, the State Asylum for the Chronic Insane, United States Government building, Platt Home for Old Ladies, public library, Hall of Justice, Hall of Records, parks, hospitals, and court house. The city has electric street railroads, electric lights, National and State banks, and daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals.
Its manufacturing interest is large, including a woolen mill, silk factories, lumber mills, tanneries, iron foundries, machine shops, and canning establishments. It is the center of an important fruit growing region. The city was established in 1782 by Spaniards, and was the capital of California under its first constitution. Pop. (1910) 28,946; (1920) 39,642.
SAN JOSÉ, capital of the republic of Costa Rica, Central America. It stands on a table-land 4,500 feet above the sealevel. The streets are broad, and there are few public buildings worthy of note.
It is the center of the trade of the state.
The climate is healthy, and the town is surrounded with coffee plantations.
Pop. about 38,000; with suburbs, 52,000.
SAN JOSÉ SCALE, in entomology the Aspidiotus perniciosus, a minute tree louse, that is particularly destructive to orchards. It is no larger than a fly speck, and is often mistaken for such when appearing on fruit, but when examined with a microscope it is a most formidable six-legged insect. Though named from an American city, the San José scale is a native of Mexico. It has found its way into the United States and many parts of Europe, having been carried from country to country in shipment of fruit. It drains the juices from the trees, destroying the bark by sapping its life away.
SAN JUAN DE PORTO RICO diversify the surface. In the extreme S. E. sandy plains occupy an area of 965 square miles, and here also lies the large lagoon of Guanacache. The principal rivers are the San Juan, the Jachal, and the Bermejo. The country is rich in minerals. Gold, silver, and copper are mined and there are local deposits in a few places. The mineral springs, chiefly sulphurous, are used in the baths at Laja, at Pismanta, and at Florida, near San Juan. The dry climate is against the cultivation of the soil, excepting near the rivers, where artificial irrigation is used, and where maize, wheat, lucerne, fruits, and grapes are grown. Agriculture is a chief industry. The wine of this province is excellent. Area 37,865 square miles. Pop. (1918) 127,713.