Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-09-11
GUATEMALA.



cace.
Mr.. ,. L. wooten, who was formerly a
citizen Of Abilene, Tex, and whose
father is prosperous farmer and stock.
man living near by, tooA Il into his head
to cmigratc 10 Guatemala last winter, in
search OF adventure aud warmer weather.
lie arrived 10 that land last December,
stayed there several months, and has just
returned 10 his old home with n very in
tcresting budget Of his experiences. lie
found Guatemala an extremely warm
country, IN fact, a regular sweat box OF
the most approved pattern. This chief
employment Of Americans who 20 there
l. to swob the fast accommodating sweat
of their bodies aud 10 fight mosquitoes
aud galley-nippcrS, and strange races Of
creeping insects, which delight to- bury
themselves under the human skin, there
growing fat, laying eggs and hatchlng out
a numerous andyery pcstitcrous progeny.
Snakes, frogs, alllgators aud strange
birds abound, nearly all OF them possessed
Of remarkable vocal organs, which they
exercise chiefly at night, making the
woods, rivers and swamp- rcsound with
an unearthly sound, exceedingly destrac-
tive OF sleep
He describes the natives as y conglosa-
Grated mixture OF Spanish blood, lndnn
blood aud negro blood, SO COM
plctcly blended as TO make very pccu-
liar race, such AS the world has not seen
before and probably never win see again.
They are the chiefs of all Mossbacks, and
every man IL a sworn Bourbon, who
never learns anything 10 forget, aud
therefore never forgctS anything that he
has learned. II they lived IN the United
States, every ~on-of-n gun of them would
4 be voting for Andrew jackson and
( straight whisky to this day.
/ The humber classes usually 10 stark
naked, except for sort OF breech.cloui
hung about the waist. The arlstocmcy,
/ IN addition 20 the brecch-clout, usually
( tie sort of scarf or handkerchief OF
bright colors about their uecks, whose
ends hang down on their breasts, giving
them quite an Important and lordly APP
pearance They believe that laSiness Is
u virtue and that work Is altogether be-
meath their dignity, lnsomuch that they
4 seldom or never wash their bodies.
Like monkeys, birds aud squirrels
they live almost solely ON the sponta
lneous products of nature, such rs cocoa.
nuts, plantains, bananas, hrcHd-lrnit and
oranges, which grow with Wild luNurl
ancc In that country,
A few cultivate a patch OF corn Ia make
tortillos and tamalcs. They never pillow
the ground at all. They simply punch &
hole In II with sharp stick, into which
they drop grain or two of corn and GOV
er II up. Then they cay, GOOD bless you
make for me good crop," and their labo'
Is then done until harvesting, II the corr
thus planted makes them good crol
they bcstow the praise on God, On III,
contrary, II II fails to make good crol
they say that they have sinned and offend
ed God In some way aud they then try b.
way of atonemcnt Ia be extra good ant
busy TIL next planting.
But there are som0 live people In Qua
tcmala, mostly Europeans aud Americans
! who cultivate large plantations of coffee
: and quite an amount Of this Is shipped /
, foreign markets, Two lines of steamer
are kept busy In transporting coffee an
, the Wild fruits Of the country and II
: from these products that the people dc
: rive all their money.
{ MIR. Wootcn speaks OF the death &
, Barrols-kllcd In battlc--as u grca
= misfortune TO that entire countr,
] lie says he was n man OF large abilit,
$ finely educated, and filled with the spir
y of modern enterprise and progress. lln
!. he succeeded, he would have made h
country light 10 that region of the worl'
As II j. now,. the outlook for Gautcna
+ seems to be only darkness, ignorance IN
@ poverty. Under Barrols American cntc
!, prise was entering that country, and a
ready several miles of railroad had bee
Z built. These enterprises have bee
stopped indefinitely.