Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-04-18

PRESENT REVOLUTION.
Correspondence Of THE EVENING STAR
Aspinwall-Spanish, Colon, l. e., Columbus,
named after the great discoverer, the scene Oh
the recent war furry. is the eastern terminus OF
the Panama railroad. 1t is located at the north
east corner of the little low island of Manza-
Mia, and is compromise between raw
western railroad town and u pestilential tropic
jungle. The jungle was on the ground first with
It's mosquitoes, alligators and fevers. and yields
slowly and reluctantly to modern improve
ments. The railroad dumped enough rock and
art to get q foothold for its track and sidings,
built sundry wharves and warehouses and then
apparently left the town TO work out its own
destiny. Under pressure of the immense trans
lstnm1an traffc and extensive public works the
tanning population estimated at 10000. New
streets have been blocked out in the swamp
houses, cheap and shabby, crowd the man.
grove bushes, often built ON poles over the
fever-festering waters of the numerous lagoons
wnlch In The rainy season are infested with
alligators.
Seen from distance, one approaches by
sea, the harbor is sufficiently lively and inter-
esting. Forty or fifty steamers and sailing craft
are seen lying at anchor. waiting their turn to
discharge cargo at the scant wharf accommodate
into the sea- raft IL ashore where il is laborious
~ pulled out of the water by gangs of naked
workmen-this to save the very costly wharf
age.
A walk through the town soon disabuses ones
mind of all favorable impressions. The railroad
occupies the main street, fronting the wharves.
Shabby shops, packed with goods in ineXtrica-
BILE confusion, occupy all available street 'front.'
age. There are no pavements, and in the rainy
| season the mud beggars description. Courage
and high-top boots are necessary To effect a
street crossing. There is no sewerage. and the
streets excel each other only in the amount OF
filth and garbage they contain. Vacant lots are
rap n 10 nf he hfAy hot
fuse and ofial Of the whole city, where they lie
fostering in the tropc heat, and emitting an odor
SO vile that, together with the emanations OF the
stagnant lagOons, the smell OF the place is no
torious in all this malodorous REGION Amidst
this filth, crowded into little wooden shanties,
live thousands of poor wretches, negroes. coolies
and Colombians, the scum of two continents.
many in a state of squalor and restitution that
invites disease and death to do their utmost
Apparently, by a process of exclusion, the re-
verse OF natural selection, the rag-tag and bob
tail of every nationality within a thousand
miles have gravitated TO this region of high
wages and higher mortality. People who can
get a decent livelihood elsewhere give Colon a
this tendency. traveller, detained in one OF
the hotels for few days, had roast fowl set
before him. What is this?' he asked the waiter.
Meat, sir" And what kind of meat:' "A
duck, SIR "And had it wings and could fiy?'
he continued. Certainly. sir With motion
thing that had wings, and was too blank foolish
to fly away from this blank place isn't lit for
human food"
RECKLESS OF
The recklessness of health and human life
that characterizes the people of Colon is phe-
nomenal. Men are seen dying on the wharves
or by the roadside with indifference A dead
car goes out to Monkey Hill, a suburban burial
place, with its dreadful freightage, in a box car
| in full view of the passers by. The bodies are
placed In implanted wooden boxes, Just as they
are clad, and within a few hours after DEATH
and deposited in the cemetery without burial
| service. 1t is said that the friendless
hian
are used again. l will not vouch for this. But
| the narrowing features of this business which
/ saw with my own eyes will not bear repet-
| ton. Drinking and gambling are IN progress
! at all hours OF the day and night Groups of
| little tables upon which lie heaps of silver dol
| lars, and venture their hard earnings upon a
turn Of the card, or the shake of the dice, with
utter recklessness. There is no attempt at con-
cealment. The tables stand almost in the street.
and several games are seen in progress at the
same time. Pedestrians are frequently crowded
| into the streets to get around the dense masses
| of human ebony gathered about these tables.
Every species of dissoluteness and crime is ram.
busiest day of the week in the groggeries and
stores. Murder is frequent white man cut
to pieces the previous Sunday night, lying at a
street corner, was one OF the last sights wit
| messed the morning left Colon on the Pacific
mail steamer.
HIGH ART IN COLON.
The only pretensions to the artistic which 1
witnessed in Colon can be briefly dispatched
bus Presenting America TO Europe" Column
bus is a benevolent-looking old duffer, who
| shows his disdain of mere climatic conditions
by wearing an immense cloak of furs, which
| falls down to his feet, in region where the
mercury rarely drops below seventy-five. Miss
America is q bewitching female, dangerously
suggestive of Partisan deni monde In features
and figure, but Clad SO far rs she is clad, in Q
| aboriginal style. The statue was the gift of
Eugene, ex-empress of France, to Gen. Mos
| quero, former president of Colombia. 1t is
unprOyfded with a pedestal, and when first set
up on the plaza, Columbus and his fair proteges
gracefully withdrew into the mud. as if dis
gusted with the prospect, and were only induced
10 face the stern realities of life by means of a
man-of-war hawser attached to the old naviga-
tors head, and by which he was set on his feet
again in the present location, near the French
quarters. Since then he has shown no DISPOSE
ton to elope to Plutos domains with mis- inter.
The other Illustration of high art was an ebon
black negress, seen one Sunday afternoon prom
enading the streets, clad in a lawn dress of daz-
Zling whiteness, a pair Of sky blue shoes on her
expansive extremities, a crimson neckerchief
and a string of gold beads around her neck and
an orange-colored silk turban surrounding her
kinky hair! A granite column, erected i'm honor
of Messrs. Aspinwall, Chauncy and stephens,
the orginators of the railroad, and an English
Gothic church, built and supported by the rail-
features eaH r Of Colon. p'''' ''' ''''S A''''
THE COLOMBIAN CONFEDERACY.
A few words about the political disturbances
in Colombia, which several weeks stay in Car
tagena at and during the outbreak OF HOSTILE
ties, afforded me a favorable opportunity TO
study.
The United States Of Colombia is q confedera-
tion of nine separate states, each of which re-
tains its own autonomy, elects president,
coins money. ETC., being to all practical pur-
poses en- independent sovereignty, feebly united
to its sister states by the central government at
Bogota. The feebleness of the central author
ity, the sparse population, scattered over an
immense territory, the lack OF rapid comrhuni-
cation, enable the factious local "chiefs," as
they are called, to organize revolution with
little likelihood of Immediate disturbance by
the central authorities. Bearing these facts in
mind, you have the key to the present stua-
Or. Rafael Nunez (by the way, the honorary
practitioners in southern countries; applied to
an official it usually means Dr.-at-law), who
now occupies the presidential chair, Is gentle
man of high attachments, trained In diplomacy,
having resided many years in Europe as a rep
reSentattve of his native land at various courts.
He is a thorough-going patriot loves his coun-
try and wishes to see 1t advance in wealth and
culture and position among neighboring ma
tions. Elected TO the presidency by the liberal
associate with himself in the administration of
the country, certain conservatives, land a lib
eral hates q conservative with holy hatred)
with the hopes of pacifying the nation, ending
the political vendettas, and to avoid the ever
recurring strifes attending presidential cleo
tions, proposes to lengthen the tenure of office
from two to six years. Like other reformers he
finds himself vastly in advance of his times. By
his conciliatory policy he has MORALLY offended
tt,n 1Sool 49, fv1xt