Morning journal and courier., 1888-12-10
JOHN BULL MADE HIM RICA.

Thousand Dollars for Each of the
 OoEnmandante,s Lashes.
 From the San Francisco Examiner
 Many queer scenes are witnessed by the traveller on the Pacific Mail steamers which. ply to and from this city and Panama along tEe Spanish American coast. One of the oldest stories Illustrating the primitive life down there is told an Examiner representa- tive by Chief Engineer Matthews, of the steamship Grenade.
 ''At the time of the recent revolution in Salvader," said he yesterday, President Zaldivar was very short of troops. He had friendly ally in the commandante of Costa Riea, who sent some of his subalterns out in quest of soldiers in aid of Zaldivar. These men went forth in the interior of Costa Rics and lassoed fifty peons and brought them in to the conmandante, who sent them forward to Zaldivar with the following note: ''tMy Dear MT. Presidsnt-I herewith send you fifty volunteers, and if you will kindly send the ropes back I will send you some more.'
 "A soldier in Salvador or Costa Rica gets one real, or twelve cents, day, and boards himself out of this.
 "When the government needs more troops l it simply sends out a lot of soldiers, them |
 manRer, and somewhat drilled in their arts of war, with ropes to press others into the | service.
 ssThe luckiest man in Guatemala is an Irishman named John Msgee, and although | lucky now and worth five million dollars, ' being the richest man in that republican, | there was time when he considered him. self the unluckiest of mortals. Twelve years ago he was a nomadic collector of in- 1 sects in Guatemala. In some way he offend ed the authorities, and Jose Gonzales, the commandante at San Jose, ordered that he receive seventy-five lashes. When his back had been barred and the poor naturalist had 1 received his quota, the commandante obi- | gingly concluded to donate him twenty-five more, and so ordered 1t.
 stMagee was British subject, and through | the British minister he at ence communioa- | ted to Great Britain the story of the gross | indignities he had received. A reply was l promptly cabled from England to the Guate- ! maian authorities that they at once pay to John Mcgee one thousand dollars for each | and every lash, else gunboat would at onee leave the nearest station for Guatemala. It | was further demanded that summary pun I ishment be meted out to the commandante te l who had thus inflicted such an unwarranted l punishment upon British subject. Twelve
 hours only were given for compliance, and the notification to the British authorities to
 that effect was given.
 
 ply. They paid the poor naturalist one hun l dred thousand dollars in cold coin and im- l prisoned Jose Gonzales, the commandante for term of years.
 "With the money which Magee got from the Guatemalsn government he formed coz alition with Barrios the new President of the republic and thus being protected by | the government, he became interested in 1 many profitable enterprises. He became one of the largest coffee growers in Guatemala,
 and to-day his crop is indicated by thousands of kintels.
 "Magee also got exclusive franchises for
 building docks at the ports along the coast. As nobody else could build dock or com l plete with him, he had and yet has it all his own way. No passenger can land from any
 boat at any one of these docks without pay ing from one to two dollars, and he must
 pay the same sum when he leaves port again.
 All the natives must also pay this tax, and
 not 8 pound of coffee other freight can
 leave these ports or be brought off from any
 vessel without paying tribute to this Celtic l 6nancier.
 'In consequence he has grown very | wealthy and is the great man of Guatemala, l as Henry Meiggs was in Peru. Although he
 has a magnificent estate on the coffee pla- teaus of Guatemala aud an elegant residence
 in Guatemala city, in full sight of the water
 and fire volcanoes. he spends most of his
 time in Paris, where with his family he en- 1OYB the 1uAur1eS or 6QOtuoE hhuSAOu HAIcA l he owns there.
 'sThe only vehicle which the millions oi
 natives use in the farming regions of Guate mala is two wheeled cart, the wheels being } sawed off the end of loR. They do no' care for anything better than this, and tc ! this cart are attached two oxen, which dc
 not wear yokes, but have straight bar o1 strong timber bound with thongs to theil horns.
 7 "A man last year came down from New York with the intention of using yokes or . l the oxen on his coffee estate recently pur chased The natives laughed at him ana t called him 8 fool, and when he tried tn yoke on the oxen and they shied away, beins 1 as vet unused to them, they said that evel
 the oxen knew him to be fool. s'The natives carry all the freight to sns from the mountains on their backs. Fron Retalihen, ascending eight thousand feet t Santa Quasaltenago, 8 town of thirty thou sand people, these natives carry all the need ed freight. The distance is forty sevel miles, and they ascend, carrying two hun dred pounds each at time, for but cen , and half per pound. These Indian native are descendants of the Aztecs, who have eve
 since the oonquests of Cortez and Pizarro been kept in one form of slavery or another : | The natives are ruled in bands of two c I three hundred each by another native 8 lit !. 1 tle in advance of them in intelligence, ana , the latter hires them out to employers o : lobor, much as contractor on Calitor 5 l nia railroad goes to head ChinamRn ant engages horde of Mongols to do grading. !