The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1888-06-01

90 aigAt I Aad occasion a Mn "A
- NATIVE monsylender ana ,etoee.
keepec.
! stumbled up two or three badlv
s ~ sseps INTO . room about 6fteen
~ square. lighted only ~ the coca.
nooa! glare OF q cigarette. Il WAS 90
eatk that I came full up against ths
woo9en counter ~ I Inquired q the m.
eivaduel. who I felt must be behind the
ea&arctte. II Don Mariana WAS at Home.
eold him I had . draft a9alnst him
soe 1900. This at least ieouirsd =
ueht-.the dark object rosa ma iisNt.d
2 stnst! candle. I handed him thn Sraft
~u.Sa ne oent over, restinv his elbows
Va tao countes to bctu3niEe. fIe was
= man moi mora than GO yaars of ~.
9us ne Appeared TO be past his nun.
ofedth year. His sr,a,e form. covered
Nth Q black, threAabsra coah oht ~
Tor otswhich. csme a hieS cni,sr
M wI.cn naa nev ~ seen \ lHunaress. his
S. .iso nan CT .nttasted strongly with tho
,sss l1 .eatp r. skin Of his face. Aa his
pa.ssea lands clutchel the draft I exa
anime. 4 tho store. There ~ w crc. shr,vcs
n 4 hocf to ceiling filed With pottery
: .~&hlSscolored Indian calicos, native
crown sugar, and, in fact, every article
useful to the native Of Honduras, from
9 ~"nAachete." or large knife, to u sad.
Ole, or bottle Of whisky. Surely, 1
snought, asI watched the old man, /
have Come 10 the wrong house for that
amount OF money, but at length he
grunted, %'bucno," and passed me q pen
to sign q receipt. He was very careful
70 spell out the signatutv, and to peer
into my face, with Q most villainous pair
OF little black eyes. He put away the
receipt, and, STOPPING down, took from
some receptacle on the floor and placed
before me on the counter fifty packages,
each containing 100 silver dollars, Q
good load for a pack mule.
1 looked at the pile Of money and
then at him. ..Pesa mucho" lit Is
heavyl said he. 1 told him I would call
again In the morning with q wagon.
Again he grunted, ..bueno," replaced
the money, wishing me good evening
and extinguishing the candle as I pass.
cd out.
Don Mariana is one of the richest
men Of Central America. His money
has been boarded for years, loaned on
good security ut 8 per cent per month,
S6 percent . ycar. He has "cornered''
corn. the principal food of the poor,
very often. aud in each operation neav.
en- seems to have aided him by failure
OF the crops. Several times in his life
he has been '.hit'' very hard. A cer-
tain president of his country was in
need Of 100000 and applied to Don
Mariana. Don Mariana knew very vel.
he would never see a dollar of it again
and pleaded extreme poverty. The
president made the application the sec-
ond time. Don Mariana again refused
the loan, hut he was summoned to the
palace, scnt to the p%eMitrntiarv, and,
with IL side of his head and face
shaved, was madcto work in the streets
as q member of the chain gang, much
to the joy of his many debtors. He bore
up bravely under this treatment for
nearly two months, when he turned
over to tho president the sum required.
This little cxpericnce proved of great
value on q subsequent occasion.
On the death Of a certain president
each n Of his cabinet ministers was
anxious to sicceed-but any successor
had to have the army on his side. The
vtce-president wentto Don Mariana for
100000. 1t was delivered in ten min
utes, tho army was paid-thc vice-pres-
ident succeeded, and tho former cabinet
was banished. 1t is next to impossible
to form any exact idea of this mans
wealth-he is afraid of banks and new
cr intrusts them with a cent. We know
he owns two az three coffee estates,
much real estate, hut no one knows but
himself. how much money he can show
ct Q moments nOtice.-NeW YORK., Times.
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