Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-01-27
SAN DOMINGO.
Interesting = cconrf Of its flarscter.
Climate, Inhabits 3 + Is, Il escurees, Etc

Climate, Inha bite is, # RescuIoe es, Etc
From the CHICAGO Journal.
The little State Of San Domingo
in the West Indies, occupies at this
time Il large share of the public at
tention. The recent spirited debate
in the Senate, and the possibility thai
ere many months that distant land
may become part Of the United
States territory, will give interest t.
the extracts we make below from the
private letters of a very intelli gent
officer Of the United States squadron
stationed there The officer writes
under date Of September "a, 1870, as
follows:
est. Domingo city, where we are
now living, is he capital Of Domini
ca. 1t possesses, but little external
beauty, the houses being but one
story high, constructed OF wood and
surmoun;ed BY earthcn roofs. Th,
weather is so warm-the thermome
ter ranging all winter between "a
and s5 degrees Fahrenhcit-that
with the exception OF the Dictator's
| palace and one or two other public
buildings, none of the windows con
tain glass. The streets are filled
with odd-looking little donkeys (calI
ed h"rns), scarcely larger than New
toundland dogs, on which everybod,
rides. Crows and buzzards fl,
| through the streets, deyouring tn.
d@i,i%, and thus constituting them.
selves natural scaycngcrs. The Die.
tator's palace is really an elegant
| building. The commandant dincd
with His Exccllency yesterday, and
as ] am resplcndent now with gold
buttons, rs was Dickens fat boy, he
took me along as a sort OF showy bob
tail to his official Kite The great
man, Bacz by name, proved dark
mulatto, seemingly very intelligent,
speaking English indiflerently, but
French and Spanish with fucncy. ii,
gave us an admirable dinner-thus
much | will say for his dusky High
ncss--his entertainment being varied
by the really fine music ofa large ma
tive band. He was wonderfully po.
lite, considering we were only white
| trash''
"Our country here would be a par
adise for any fruit lover. Groves OF
oranges, mangoes and bananas
stretch in every direction. The larg
est and most luscious oranges and
bananas are sold four for cent
There is no paper money in Dominic
ca, and as we are all paid in gold VIC
enjoy the sight of more of the shin
ing metal than we have previously
done before the war"
Again, under date of November
"The Island of Santa Domingo re
minds me more than anything else
Of the old hymn stanza, from Green
lands icy mountains where it is
said that
Every prospect pleascs
And only man is vile.
"The country itselfis is almost gar
den of Eden. The shores along which
we sail are lined with trees and
plants whose foliage, Of the richest
and most brilliant hues, forms a
background worthy of the greatest
pa nter's brush. Birds of most yor-
gcous p|umage fill the air with their
melodi"us notes. Within a hundred
yards of our stopping places we can
walk through beauteous groves OF
orange, banana and cocoanut trees,
and without let or hindrancc pluck
the delicious fruit, " hich, in size and
lusciousness Of taste, far exceeds any
thing ofthe kind we see at home. But
the peoplc-alo, g-side ofwhose com
plextion ebony itself would assume
an ashen hue-are indolent, shift
less and dirty. With a soil so rich
that, 'if tickled with hoe it would
laugh with harvest they make no
attempt at cultivating, raise no crops
and laugh at the idea Of internal i'm
provements The national profcs-
sion is 'loating;' the national char
actcristics superstition, lying and
stealing. The only thing that keeps
them from utter sluggishncss is their
intense passion for Office holding.
The garrison Of the capital city con
sists of 46l private soldiers and 81
Generals-one General to every
eight soldiers. These chaps are tin
scled and ornamentcd and trickcd
off till they look like so many black
peacocks."
"Wc sail on Monday next for San
Domingo city the capita! Of the in
land. This is one ofthe oldest cities,
probably the very oldest, of the
Western continent. twas founded
by Columbus in 1902, partially de-
stroyed by a hurricane and earth
quake in 1904, and rebuilt in 1924.
Columbus, who returned thithcr to
die after the unjust treatment he met
in Spain, is buried in the massive
cathedral of Santa Domingo. The
cathedral building proper was be-
gun in 1860, but has been enlarged
and added to until it is at least three
or four times as large as the Phila-
delphia cathedral, which is about
1.-THE largest church in the United