The morning call., 1893-03-19


the deep forests OF the tropics. an unbroken
waters Oh every SIDE.
In the widest jungle of this vegetation.
gone.mad place they began to clear ground
for the coaling station So dark, impenefra-
Bile, invincible stood these eternal thickets
that surveyor who squeezed himself few
inches into the dense mass for the insane
purpose of taking "a sight had to be dug
out with an AK. They hacked and save
| into this bank of virgin wood until they had
semi-civiliZed about forty square feet OF the
Republic of Costa Rica and then they
| knocked off work and hunted snakes.
Catching venomous insects and reptiles
was Joy forever to the idle and danger
loving sailor, and it is strange that some
unusually active and nOXious creature did
not start graveyard in the sylvan depths
of Dulce.
When the suns rays fell from the hot sky
upon the open beach with blistering yehe-
mence within those leafy corridors Que felt
the GOODNESS of dewy midsummer's eve.
After the men were sufficiently &C.
quainted with the locality to leave tile land
ing with some certainty of finding their way
back to it they made short excursions into
this green cavern-iike world. They found
little lakes dark as the sunless seas Of
kubla Khan, and pale, ghostly flowers be-
reft of solar life growing amid the dark
shadows.
They ate everything fruity they could
find. green, ripe or rotten, and were healthy
if not wealthy and wise. swinging a lead
over the bay or dragging surveyors chain
around the shore. They threw away all
superfiuOus clothing, and ran barefoot up
and down the beach like sandcrabs. They
traded biscuit for parrots and monkeys,
and taught the former TO swear and the
latter 10 steal. Many began the study of
the Spanish language with startling enthu-
siasm, and knocked off when they could
the natives fnr apu9T6ipn
| with lame tluency.
They fought with myriad hosts of keen
singing hornets and ants that had feet
shod with fire for the ownership of the
neighboring cocoanut trees. They captured
big sea-turtles and dumred the great, harm
less things alive on the deck to crawl
around at leisure and be capsized with
h andspike in the hands of the cook and
slaughtered Tor the soup-kettle. They went
in swimming with the ground-sharks and
chased the baby alligators up the shallow
bayOus.
1t must not be inferred that the object of
! this wild summer frolic was lost in the ex-
| quisite delights of killing snakes and rob-
| bling banana patches. In desultory way
| the work went on.
Jack is at best an Indifferent woodman,
and ii he succeeded in hacking down tree
and getting out of the neIghborhoOt ere it
| Tell on him, he did very well and was to be
| ranked as an artist IN forestry. He thought
| so himself, did Jack, and took every oppor-
| tunlty to search for new and untried fruit
locations, or to surreptitiously procure fresh
supplies of the hot and vitslizlng aguar-
| diente.
When the site for the coaling piles TO
| come was cleared in fashion, the painter
| put up sign for the purpose of distinguish
| ing the place from the surrounding woods,
| and the work was finished.
Several months had slipped by, and in
| the meantime the Colombian Government
! had heard OF the Kearsarge working her end
| Of the Chiriqui belt and had ordered the
| valiant little destroyer of the Alabama
| away. Her commander loaded his battery,
| put his guns at half cock and didn't go.
! President Cervera threatened to send
1000 men to interview him, and the CON-
| mander loaded his battery some more, put
| his guns at full cock ana chung fast to his
| lagoon buried anchor. Then the Colon
| bian executive turned to Minister Dickman
| TOR Enlightenment he was told that the
! war vessel was there 10 stay. that the
| United States Government was not pleased
! with the action of Colombia; that the
| ChlTiQui shore was part Of a concession
| of many years ago, and that Colombia
| claim 10 II was H!mSy one anyhow.
At about this time General Guardia, the
! dictator of Costa Rica, was passing down
! his coast in the single war vessel of his Gov
! ernment. and steamed into the gulf. Possibly
| he heard the sound of gringo axes and
! voices and concluded TO investigate. Thi:
was the first intlmatiOn he had OF the annex
| alton Of forty square feet of his territory by
! the United States Government.
Captain Howell of the Adams, in accord
! ance with his instructions. had only otiiied
| the acalde of the nearest village, and that
| official dirty barefoot Silenus who slept
! all day and got drunk at night, had awak.
ened, gEunted "bueno," and gone 10 SLEEP
| again.
| The dictator looked at the marine SQUAT.
| tiers scattered around the bay and then al
| the small hole they had made in the grea
! compact bank of vegetation on the shore
| Possibly lie did not even see the United
! States coating station trespassing on hi:
grass.
The American commander went on board
| the Costa Rican vessel to explain the objec
of having the blue-shirted gang on shore
hOurishing axes and hunting among the
! fallen tree-tOus for cOntostents in future
taran tnla fights.
Guardia protested, but was told that the
| naval officer only had his explicit order:
| from Washington and was referred t.
| Minister Dckman.
The dictator denied the cession of the
| ChiriQui belt, ordered the coal station build
| ers of the premises, and went home tC
| mobilize a few regiments and rustic every
| gringo out OF Dulce.
| While MI Dickman was standing off the
! two Governments that were clamOring
| around his Office door, Secretary Thompson
! suddenly resigned his Cabinet position and
| accepted the presidency OF the American
| branch of the Panama Canal Company al
salary of S25 OGO year.
Then, all at once, change came over the
| spirit of the Hayes administration.
| Hayes Secretary of War, acting also for
the navy, immediately ordered the vessels
| away from Central America and the 1000
| COlombians and the few regiments of Costa