Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-04-14
THE GREAT AMAZON.
AVALLEY WHERE FORTUNES LIE IN
THE SAP OF THE TREES.

The great Amazon was described with
graphic words and with lantern pictures
before the Public School = r"hers' associa-
ton by Mr. Courtenay o' halb Of New
York at Harris academy concert hall. Mr.
de kalb has made two voyages over the
valley Of the Amazon, penetrating its deep
est Wilderness. He returned TO this coun-
try from a voyage through Central Amer
lea.
I'm the beginning, from the very day in
15l6,' he said, when Vincente Yanez Pin
zon entered the Amazon, or Maranon, as it
was known to him, Il glamor of seductive
romance began to gather about this river
and it's mighty forest covered valley. In
1910 Francisco de Orellana came across the
Andes, deserted Pizaro on the Rio Napo
and sailed down the Amazon TO the sea,
bringing wondrous tales Of the land of Gin
nAmon and gold and of kingdoms of war
rior women The fancies, fed by greed of
riches, added tales Of giittering unrealities
until in 1889 Padre CrisJOval de Acuna,
after his journey across the basin of the
river, boldly affirmed that here was stu
ated that famous III Dorado, which was the
Holy Grail Of sixteenth century seeking,
that here abided the Amazons In the richest
splendor the world had known.
But the tabled FL Dorado shrunk from
one impenetrable wilderness to another as
explorers unlocked their secrets The Anna
IONS were at length found TO be only the
mistak committed by Orellana because the
men Of certain cities did not dress differently
from the women, and the Omaguas became
known as nothing more than race of SUI
perior savages. The people Of the Amazon
slowly became disiilusioned, but the spirit
of incidence, the life Of penury, couched in
the luxury Of gilded dreams is still their
birthright from the past. New forces are
working also. The poetry Of each new FL
Dorado is dispellet as soon as found by the
brazen jingle of commerce, and the ANA
IONS have found their FL Dorado at last
not gold, not diamonds, not barbaric splen-
dor, but that wonderful gum frosi their
forests Of rubber trees whose uses in the
art of civilization seem to have no end
THE center of the rubber producing area
of the Amazon is the city of Manaos, 1000
miles from the mouth Of the river, with q
feet Of water at low tide, an important con
sideratiOn in commerce. There are three
lines Of steamships 20 Manaos, one Brazilian
line and two English lines of the latter one
being from New \ Ork and one from Liver
pool. They all receive subsidies, and we
have allowed them 20 obtain a carrying
trade on river tnaJ is increasing by leaps
and bounds and allowing the trade to be
come firmly fixed in English shipping lines,
whereas, by taxing advantage Of the mail
subsidy bill and seeking these Brazilian
subsidies ourselves, We could not only OBJ
tain the carry ing trade, but would vastly
benefit the chance, Of American merchants
and manufactured getting control of the
commerce of the valley of the Amazon
Efforts are hs-v made to establish tele-
graph communication in Manaos with the
outer world, and u.s. soon as this is done it
will become one OF tie greatest centers Of
trade. Il..' l.a's Uu the ground at the
time will Of course lave the benefit. | tried
TO get Americans TO- establish a bank in
Manaos several ear, ago, but no one would
venture. England has since done so, and
the enterprise has met with splendid sue
cess.
The rubber plant from which the Anna
zonian gum is obtained is not the variety
used AS am ornament 10 our homes and
greenhouses. This IS % plant from Inu,a
from which rubl vu. lls.- r..,e.ctc,L The
South American plant from which the rub
Der now in usu s obtained, is Que of the
spurge family, or euphorbisce,e. The rub
Der exists IN the sap of plant As an emul-
contain rubber which gains its strength
and elasticity after exposure to the air or
In burning. The common milkweed con
tains rubber, and the milky substance no
ticed when u lettuce stalk is cut is rubber.
The uses OF rubber are increasing enor-
mously in manufactures, and people who
are willing % wal, for their money can
reap immense haryests by planting rubber
orchards now In South America. The plants
take II years 60 mature. but after that no
further planting Is necessary aud the or
chards yield steadily for from soto % years.
Iquitos, capital OF eastern Peru, is an i'm
portant rubber center, and its exports
amount to between 81 10000 and s. 10000
ayear.
'The Amazon is considered by the bulk
of our people a. a dismal. interminable
swamp, vast miasmatic basin teeming
with every species Of obnoxious insects.
with a boa constructor ON every bough wait
ing TO seize you ia the forests, with an ALI
gator alert 20 devour you ON every sand
bank, and a hidoous vampire lowering over
every sleeper in the night. And yet, after
SO many decades OF assiduous explorations,
scientists are in doubt about the vampires
existence. Adventures with reptiles are as
exceptional there as ina the United States,
and alligators ART rs abundant and vOra-
cious in the lagoons of Florida as in Bra
nl. Neither have ! found it reeking
pestilential morass. lt is avalley full Of
strange delights. which even come down
to the sea TO greet one at the very thresh
old. To give an idea of the size Of Peru
let me state that Of the.4, 600 miles of the
Amazon's length 1900 miles flow in Peru
and 1000 in Brazil The Peruvans have
found amiable ia character, and even in
the wildernesses never found il necessary
to be armed against the Indians nor to
have a guard at night, trusting to their
courteous treatment, and in this not being
disappointed. baltimore American
Caution In Teaching = Child tn Walk
The culture Of child's physique can