CHOLET

cholet, a town of western france, capital of an arrondissement in the department of maine-et-loire, 41 m. s.e. of nantes on the ouest-etat railway between that town and poitiers. pop. (1906) 16,554. cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the moine, which is crossed by a bridge of the 15th century. a public garden occupies the site of the old castle; the public buildings and churches, the finest of which is notre-dame, are modern. the public institutions include the sub-prefecture, a tribunal of first instance, a chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, and a communal college. there are granite quarries in the vicinity of the town. the chief industry is the manufacture of linen and linen handkerchiefs, which is also carried on in the neighbouring communes on a large scale. woollen and cotton fabrics are also produced, and bleaching and the manufacture of preserved foods are carried on. cholet is the most important centre in france for the sale of fat cattle, sheep and pigs, for which paris is the chief market. megalithic monuments are numerous in the neighbourhood. the town owes the rise of its prosperity to the settlement of weavers there by edouard colbert, count of maulevrier, a brother of the great colbert. it suffered severely in the war of la vendee of 1793, insomuch that for years afterwards it was almost without inhabitants. cholon ("great market"), a town of french indo-china, the largest commercial centre of cochin china, 31⁄2 m. s.w. of saigon, with which it is united by railway, steam-tramway and canal. cholon was founded by chinese immigrants about 1780, and is situated on the chinese arroyo at the junction of the lo-gom and a canal. its waterways are frequented by innumerable boats and lined in some places with native dwellings built on piles, in others by quays and houses of french construction. its population is almost entirely asiatic, and has more than trebled since 1880. in that year it had only 45,000 inhabitants; in 1907 it numbered about 138,000. of these, 42,000 were chinese, 73,000 annamese, and 155 french (exclusive of a garrison of 92); the remainder consisted of cambodians and asiatic foreigners. during the rice season the town is visited by a floating population of 21,000 persons. the chinese are divided into congregations according to their place of origin. cholon is administered by a municipal council, composed of french, annamese and chinese traders. an administrator of native affairs, nominated by the governor, fills the office of mayor. there are a fine municipal hospital and municipal schools for boys and girls. the principal thoroughfares are lighted by electric light. the rice trade, almost monopolized by the chinese, is the leading industry, the rice being treated in large steam mills. tanning, dyeing, copper-founding, glass, brick and pottery manufacture, stone working, timber-sawing and junk building are also included among the industries.