Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-09-29

but week The poor prisoiier in whose
behalf he had interfered was removed tc
the penitentiary, where for three success.
sive days he was flogged in the most brutal
manner, until after the third whipping he
too, died.
The Government of Costa Rica is sup
posed to be representative, and It's supreme
executive elected every four years., is not
eligible, according to the Constitution, to
two successive terms; but it sometimes
happens, as in Mexico, that President is
shrewd enough to keep himself in power
through many terms, by judiciops alternat-
ing with some obliging friend
The State is divided into three depart
ments-the Eastern, Western, and that of
Nlcoya. Each of these, again, is subdi-
vlded into districts, each with an Alcalde
IN charge Of local affairs. Costa Rica's
area is 26,000 square miles, and her re7e-
nue. approximates two million dollars per
annum. Some thirty-eight years ago the
| Government granted to NJ. Lafond. the
| French Consul-General, tract of land
extending from the Gulf of Dulce on the
Pacific to Baco del Zorro on the Carib
bean Sea, for the purpose of opening
route between the two oceans. That across
the lsthmus, by Saa Juan river, along part
ct the frontier line OF Costa Rica, is so far
opened that steamers ply, in connection
with others on the Lake Of Nicaragua.
There is also railroad on she Atlantic
side into the interior
The Ccrstillera of the Isthmus which is
really the connecting link between she
Andes of the South and the Sierra Madres
OF Alexlco, leading into Che Rockies of the
North---throTs off numerous spurs on
either side, running diagonally aceoss> this
little Republic, giving its surface eontin.
ual alienation of abrupt nights ana sud-
den depressions, lnterspersed with extern
slve forests and barren tracts. The pri-
mary range bristies with an unparalleled
series of volcanoes, extinct and active, in
Guiding Orasi, Notas, Cartigo, Irazu and a |
dozen others of that burning girdle" that
surrounds the Pacific From the summit
of the central table-lands, on a clear day
both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans can
be distinctly seen.
In all parts'of Costa Rica except along |
the burning shores. the climate is salubri1 |
GUS, subject neither TO excessive heat nor |
cold, and experiencing few changes EXCEPT |
from the wet season to the dry, 1t is |
therefore admirably adapted to agricult- |
ural purposes, especially in the table-lands |
and well-watered valleys. The remark |
ably fertile soil is capable of bringing to |
perfection most northern fruits and cereals |
as well as those peculiar to the tropics, but |
nothing is cultivated but coffee, sugar cane,
rice, tobacco, Indian corn, and a very little |
wheat. The yearly export Of coffee now
amounts to more than two hundred mill |
ions of pounds-though that berry was
first introduced into Costa Rica less than
fifty years ago. Previous to that time the |
people were very poor, and it is only since
the culture of coffee has been so extern
sively carried on that they have attained
to anything like prosperity
The woods of Costa Rica are partially
valuable, including tulip, aloe, rose and
other rare varieties, besides vast forests. of
cedar and lndian-rubber trees;
cocoa, sarsaparilla, wild indigo, and va
rious dye-woods are among the indigenous
products. Pearls are found on the west
ern coast, below Nicoya bay, and an
extensive trade is carried on in their
shells. An excellent quality of tobacco is
raised, which is chiefly shipped to Near
aqua, while some of it goes to British
markets. Costa Rica, "the rich coast"
derived its name from the once wonderful
gold mines of the eastern mountains, and
much silver and copper is also known to
exist. But for more than hundred years
little attention has been paid to the min
eral resources, for to wrest from mother
earth the treasures she has hidden re-
quireS, as rule, more enterprise and
money than these people possess.
So muzzled is the press in this country
that ''the news is extremely limited. We
read, the other day, in the leading paper
of San Jose, some astonishing items of IL
concerning the North Among
other happenings, it was gravely stated
that the State of Chicago had lately cap
tured in battle and hanged company of
revolutionists (the Anarchists p, and that
Vice-President Bayard had proclaimed war
against Canada. \ commission of scien-
lists, appointed by the Government of San
has recently returned from an.
examination of the mines of Copan, Hon
1llras, and report wonderful findings.
FANNIE B. WARD.