The times dispatch. [volume], September 15, 1912, Image 19

About The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
STOP \l MMIIII. Ml. IJIOS."
"WK KNTEft KIM \ HU \ ?. I PORT I.IMOV
STREET SI-EVE IN SAN JOSE.
in I II \ Ms i.. i Mll'IM 1311.
OME wit Ii ma trill morn
for a t rl i> l hrdugli the
v?' ecrland <r Central Ariierl'
?
.ir?- cutting "iir great ditch at I'anati
?
It I? a lrir.'l rUggcd v
\t Ihr 1 nrlMirnn (Jetewaj
?'l north from fcoeaa <l< ! Toi
.San .loe.-. Costa Ktoa?
nicht ?f 6,000 people which unnuiilij
ships to um at least ?>ne-tonth of all
the tjuuaiitts we It exports every
? ?
'? " ?.1 to bananas, enough t? glv?
??He i, alm'cst every soul In the Vvorld
The (own belongs largely to the United
1 i :t Company, which does an Itntheiiae
I itiftha \- "-it.? ?? ? here hut i>j :\ < means
' r ?? winde. It h.is over 7,000 workmen
?
:n many more on the outside estates.
As oar shl;. i omcs to anchor we
at the wharves .ars filled with bananas
.-. 1 Vit h .in < ndll BS river of tin preen
Irult flowing ah th? long earryhig belts.
Into the holds Of the steamers. There'
are twr, ships now loading. One be
? :rs to the Hamburg-American nn<t
another to tlic Culled Fruit. Compsnv.
The hnnntia.? from here ere !iik.<n ti
Orleans Mobile. Xew Vbrk and
'. Ilostoi The- p.. also to Manchester
land Bristol. In England, and at last
find their resting place in .??methinc
like 1,500,000,000 ntomaohs all over Iho
world; Wo shall find bananas f jr gale
!it the stations as we go up the railroad
to San Jose, and will pay for them
I Just about the same us at home. The
i banana Is the poor man's fruit, and It
can be bought for frjin 1 to : cents
a finger, for that is what this single
fruit la called, in any pirt of the
Union.
Indeed, I do not know hut that it may
?..??? even cheaper vi ithln a few years
? from now. Tlie plantations are grow
11: ?. and a r'.vaj cj mpany :s being f irmed
h- re to compete with our trust. This
I la the \ttautlc Company, which, as I
; am told, has bought many of the out
sld? plantations and is about to make
fa light for tue trade. It Is backed by
some West Indian .lews. In combine
I tion with the Hamburg-American
. Steamship IJ.no. which wants a aiiare In
[the fr.dg'it. It has much to do, how
Ibefore it can tucceaafully com?
pote wuh the United Fruit Company
[ it will require a new port and win
have to build railroads to bring the
bananas down to their ships, This
l-atiana business is hat a small propo?
sition. Thie United ?Krtilt Company,
which has done more than any other
t'i give Us cheap fruit, has many great
Interests: here outside the bananas, and
:t has farms and ranches where tt
raises the cattle, horses and mules used
on its banana estates. The ranches
are In the highlands, and upon thein
there are now. 11.000 head Of stock.
Including horses and tnt:1es raised from
Imported stallions and Jackasses.
There an also 2,00,0 cows, from which
comes the butter used In the banana
trust commissary, and there ate other
farms for raising vegetables and vari?
ous supplies. The business Is so ex?
tensive that all efforts ar- made to cut
the Cast to the lowest possible notch,
and I should doubt milch t'ne ability of
th" Atlantic Company to compete as to
prices.
neautlful Coats lllcn,
nut let us come hack to th. beauty
Furniture of the Better Sort on Our
Easy Payment Plan
If you are living in :i rut you arc rustinC, out existing in the dark, friend. Why not come across into the sun
flushed Valley of Hope and Happiness? The road leads straight and true- why not take it and ftet those home fur?
nishings to-daj bj paying the "casj way" and just as you say? ''Credit dispels the darkness" it is the search-light
that brightens the r.>a.l that leads to a happy home of your own. Come in and ?et out of that rut!
Let Him
Dream Care Away in
a Cozy Bedroom
$7 ? 00 Bedroom Suites $60.00
Si - 00 Bedroom Suites Ssn.fiO
$0- oo Bedn m Suite! (90.00
$150.00 Bedi om - lite $115.no
$175.00 Bcdrnoni Suites $110.00
$35.00 Fiffdroom - lites $24 00
$45.00 Bedroom Suites $36.00
$:; 00 Bedroom Suites $4?.00
$65.00 Bedroom Suite? . $52.00
Lifelong Friendships in Handsome
Dining-Room Pieces
SI 5 no Riffrt*. $9.75
$20.00 Buffets.$16.25
525.1 I Buffets.$!9.75
S3J 0 ? Buffet?. $2i.Srj
S6 50 Dining Tables.
40i
ri? Table?
Q? Dining Tables
SWjoVDlning Tables
$30*.'D Dining Tables
57.50
Si 1.50
$16.00
$22.50
Druggets from $9.50 to $50
CARPETS from 3(V up to $1.75 yard.
MATTINGS from 12j;cup to40c yard.
Parlor Suites
THREE-PIECE.
$25 OT Parlor Suites.$14.50
$10.00 Parlor Suite"; .$22.50
$40.00 Parlor Suites. $30.00
$60.00 Pirlot Suite?. $45.00
$30.00 Parlor Suites. $22.50
$35 0? Parior Suites . $27.00
$60.00 Parlor Suites. $40.00
$65 00 Pailor Suites .$55.00
S70.00 Parlor Suites. $60.00
Brass Bed
Eco
$P 50 Bra's Bed
c > Brass Beds
now.
$.M 00 Bra?? Bed?
now.
$37.50 Bras* Beds
now.
$J0 O) Brass Beds
now.
$12.00
$19.00
$22.00
$29.50
$32.00
Chiffonmiers
$6.50, now. $3.98
S 10.00. now. $8.00
SI2.00, now. $9.50
SIS.00. now.$14.00
$25.00, now.$19.00
Bargain Extra Special
Solid Oak Chiffonnier
FRENCH BEVELED MIRROR
THIS WEEK ONLY
Dressers
$10.00, now. $6.98
S15.00, now.$10.00
$22.00, now.$16.00
$30.00, now.$22.50
S40.00, now.$30.00
We Furnisjh
Homes
QjtNi Credit:
INCORPORATED
9 W. Broad St. Richmond, Va.
TYPIOAli COSTA RI CANS.
of this Costa Rlcan republic. The
banana plantations form bu? a small
part of it, and they arc confined to a
rtrlp of the lowlands along tho. Carib?
bean Sea, There aro similar lowlands
oh the Pacific, but the bulk of tho conn- i
try is made up of these mountains, |
which roll over one another in all sorts |
of shapes, now In great gorges and |
again In little hollows or nests ot I
comparatively smooth land, which are
covered with farms.
Some of the mountaius are over two
miles In height, and from one of them.
Irazu. you can see the two oceans, the
Atlantic and the Pacific, each being
only about seventy-live miles away.
That volcanic peak can be reached
from Cartage, which is Just ninety
miles from Llmon, and we may possi?
bly as.-end It before We leave Costa
Rica. Its two craters are now quiet,
but they are liable at any time to
burst into action. This country has
nineteen volcanoes, and some of them
are perpetually smoking. The average
height of tho mountains, however. Is
? >nly that of the tallest peaks of the
Alleghehles. and they can be cultivate,i
almost to Hie tops.
I 'own al Port Llmon It Is hot. It Is
so tropical that the native cannot
labor on account of the climate and
j Jamaican negroes have been brought
I tti to ab th-- hard work. Higher up we
shall Itnd the people cream-white. They
are the desci ndaiits of the. Oallloians,
a hardy and Intelligent race from north
Spain, who ar- far superior to the
descendants of the Spanish of other
parts of Central America, and aJso to
those of the South American continent.
They ate- an Independent people, and
tho most of them are properly owners,
and ilherty lovers. They do not be?
lieve in revolutions, and for more than
a generation they have had continuous
peace. This can bo said of no other
Central American State.
I he Republic In n Nutshell,
But before I take you on the trip up
the mountains let me put this little
land In a nutshell You know where
It lies Considering Panama as tho
hinge which Joins the North and South
I American continents. Costa lihri. Is
the lowermost country of our grand
j diviston. it borders on Panama, and
Just now a parly of American scten
' tlsts. headed by Mr. John llayford, the
i eminent geographer and scientist, is
'. mapping the boundaries which are now
I In dispute. (In the north is Nicaragua,
and San Jose, where 1 am writing, lies
in the centre of the highlands, just
I about half way between. The country,
till told, contains a little more than
IS.0(>0 square miles. It Is Just twice
the size of Vermont or New Hampshire,
j It Is twice as large as Maryland; more
; than half as big as South Carolina,
! about one-third the area of Illinois and
j more than two times that of Massa?
chusetts.
The most of Costa Rica, as 1 have
J said. Is made up of theso highlands.
'They aro so broken that they remind
one of the Illustration which one of
' the explorers of the days of Columbus
j gave to tho King of Spain to show him
, tho character Of the Island of Haiti.
That man took a sheet of paper and
! crushed it up into a ball in his hand.
I Ho then pulled It apart and threw It.
; all wrinkled nnd crumpled, on the
table, saving:
1 "Your Majesty, Haiti Is like, tliat."
Well, the same may be said of Costa
j Rica. From one end to the oilier it Is
a mass Of great wrinkles and folds,
but the soil whn h fills up the wrinkles
! and env.-ra the folds Is composed of
j volcahip ashes and mud. ami Is one of
tho richest soils upon earth. The land
will produce both temperate and
tropical fruits. Most of the country Is
so high above the sea lh.it the climate
is porpetural spring, and at far as the
weather goes. It reminds one of that
j Inscription which was carved on the
marble room in the naluce of Delhi: I
?'If thero is a paradise on earth It Is
this! It Is this! It is this!"
< limbing Iba Central Imcrlcan Andes.
But wo can bcO the country hotter;
by taking a trip from the Atlantic sea
coast up to this highland city of .San
.lose. Tho Northern Hallway, which
is leased by ?tho I'nlie.i Fruit Company,
stalls ai Fort Union and climbs right
over the mountains, it Is about ninety
miles to the top of tliv pass and In
thut distance we ascend almost r,,0DO
feet. Tho road then toes down In the
neighborhood of 2,000 feet to the capi?
tal, leaving us at about three-quarters
of a inllo over sea level.
There Is now another road which has
been continued down the westei it
side of the mountains to the Pacific.
That wns completed only last year, and
It hna given tho country -i railroad
trunk line from ocean to ocean. The
fare on the Northern Railway Is about
G c.-nts a mile and freight rates are
comparatively high. The road la a
narrow gauge, but the roadbed Is well
ballasted, ami as the locomotives and
other rolling Block was made in
America, the trip is unite comfortable.
Leaving Port Lim?n, we go out Into
tho Jungle, and for tome miles skirt
the Atlantic, whose silvery waves are
rolling up on tho shore. On our left
are many cocoanut groves, the trees:
of which are so oloso to tho cats that
tho nuts might fall down und crack
the heads of the brakemen. After a
while wo coino to the banana estate!
and ride for un hour or so through ii
dense forest made up of these wide
tea fed rustling green plants. They |
reach as high as the enrs and are so|
? lose that wb can almost pull tho fruiij
ft'dm the stems.
We sen them cutting the bananas
and laying them oh beds Of leaves
by the tracks. Later on they will be
carefully corded up and transferred to i
the cars.
As we go on the land rlsos. We stop
at Madro do I>ios, and a. little later
reach the valley of the Keveniaaoti
Htvcr, an emerald green stream Which
flows down the wild valley which forms
tho greater part of the route t? the
highlands. This river winds In and
out, now passing through gorges be?
tween greal walls Of Pr.glit gro n. One
bend. Is known as the bevii'a Elbow,
and iiboye thli are precipitous greeti
walls a thousand feet high. The track
winds along ll'ic sides Ol them and as
you look up >uur view Is bordered with
emerald cliffs und roofed by tho sky
Except for Its green tint the water of
the river Is beautifully clear, save
where It rolls over the stones, foam?
ing and dashing, transforming Its
emeralds to silver.
A llotanlcal Garden.
An then the vegetation. Our way
up thi mountains la through u botani?
cal garden more gorgeous and more
beautiful than the famed creations of
Java, Hongkong or Ceylon. The plants
bliange as we rise, and wo have hun?
dreds of flowers and trees the names
of which we have never heard and
which few Americans have ever sceh;
The Jlrst purl of lite journey Is
through pttlm trees. 1'nrllier on we
Und tropical giants of other arboreal
Vnrltles with trunks as big around as
a. Hour barrel and 100 or 200 feet high.
I The I'mba of some nr.- covered with
I vines and their trunks are wrapped
around with long llamas or vegetable
ropes which extend to tho ground and
tool themselves in tho earth, ,In places
these llamas have vines connected
with them and the trunks of tho trees
seem to be draped In cloaks or man
tics with great hobllo skirts of bright
green.
I wish I could picture the orchids.
They cover the dead branches and hung
from tho live ones. They are of sev?
eral hundred varieties and now and,
then ivb see one in "lower There are,
other air plants of every description,
and. in rhort. seen a dense mass of
stranso luxuriant and beautiful vege?
tation, Including llowers, trees and!
V>nes!, that the- eye alone can comprey
bond Its great beauty. U la impossible*
f'U- the pen to describe It.
The splendor of the mountains for-',
responds with tin- vegetation. 1 havef]
traveled along the Andes from Panama?
to tho Straits of Magellan. Tho slopo.-f
<>f the west coasl from Ecuador to Val
patalso are ragged and rocky, and ut
bard as the most arid parts of th?
.sierra Nevadas. They ore bordcreif
by the gr. at desert winch, beginning;
at the south end of Ecuador, skirt*
tho western coast of the south Ameri?
can continent for 2,000 miles, and they
are as dry as Us sands. The Andes of.
Costa Un a an covered with green and?
the green ends alone In the clouds.
The air Is full of moisture, anu there*,
are clouds everywhere. They chasai
themselves along the greon canyons.
They nestlo In tlie hips of the moun?
tains and cover their tops. They blow?
up to the railroad cars und envelop utt,
lit mist, and tl moment later the loco-'
motive and train shoot out Into tho
pure air beyond.
1 \- i- ih 1 could show ynu the windings*,
oi tins Northern railway trai k as ib
goes up tho hills. It has not yet been
discovered by the tourist who flies off
ev< ry summer to Europa to see tin*
Swiss Alps, but In many respects It
equally grand with the railway*
of Switzerland and the most interest?
ing because it is almost unknown, The,
road winds about like a corkscrew a t
it climbs up th-- Centra] American
mountains. It lias horseshoe curves
more wonderful than those of the Penn
sylvanla Railroad?curves which aro
sharper and rounder and aro more like)
hot-shoes, In fact.
Moreover, th,- hills riso above thesel
curves tor hundreds of feet, and w-j
wlnd our way about what seems to bo
a mighty cul-de-Sac of the densest of
gren. At times we are half way ui>
tho sld'Vi of a gorge and by looking
down and following the lines of tho
er-..-. wo . in see the Roventazon
River, splashing Its silvery foam as It
rolls over the holllers. In one place the
eye can follow the silvery strcait for
intone. i lie Coffee I'lmitatloii*.
Ther.- arq hut few townh on the road
it|i tho mountains. They aru mostly
>? k of one story with the roof*
overhanging so as to vocer tho porch li>
front and behind), Outside tho porches
the average house Is not more than
twelve feet square and the wnole
family lives In one room. In sorai
I . es too see villages of '?uch house*
and rising higher wo Und the comfort-,
side little country ho-ies of the coffoo
planters, The plantations devoted to
coffee are 2.000 or 11,000 feet above tho
fefi They Increase as we near San
lose, and wo tlnally pass through a,
ouhtry whore there is nothing but
cbftee, Tho tieca aro shaded by ba?
nanas or plantains They are not
more than ten or twelve feet in height.
They are spindling and ihe trunks at
the base are about is big around as
your wrist They have shining gre->n
leaves like those of the hollv. and the
red berles containing the-* beans aro
now ripe for the picking. The berries
ar? Joined close to trtfl branches with?
out, stems and each onlaln the two
little seeds which form the coffee of
commerce, ll Is wonderful haw th*
I coffee lands ate utilised. -
(C ? by Crank a
'Ca/i>-.ntcr.>