Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-12-19
CONSULAR GEMS OF WISDOM
VENTILATORS AT THE HAGUE. AND
RtMIE'S PRICE IN ~BOLIVARS.
Cash or Credit in Cntanin-COcOnnut
Bugs in Nicaragua That
Eat or bore Trees in
Some Way.

This is not written as a story OF consuin-
Ing. uninterrupted interest. 1t Is peilhtd
simply to show what brain fog attends up
on Il few OF the gentlemen We send abroad
at each change of administration TO rep
resent us i'll the effct. monarchieS oil the
Old World. Their curiousiy evolved state
ments are in marked contrast to the re-
ports that come from the body OF our
shrewd and capable foreign agents.
According 10 the New York journal, the
latest batch OF consular reports. sent out
from the state department at Washington
under date Of December 6. is gotten up
beautifully so far as the typography goes.
Tn" paper is hard laid and the margins
would delight the veriest hibliomaniac.
AS has been said before, they tell no con-
ncCtcd story. but they contain nuggets of
information that should make the judicious
leap for JOY. For instances. the gentleman
sent 10 the Grand DuChy of licSse at Il
compensation of $3.50 of the realm per
;nnum sends in, under date of October %,
1891, the following startling. if somewhat
he!ated. that in the year of
our Lord 1876 there We're slaughtered ac-
cordins TO the ministry OF state. in the
grand duchy, 2i6.6S5 hogs"
The man, woman or child from Key W est
TO klondike who will not whoOp with en-
thusiasm over this germ of earnest thought
should he numbered No. III, GNG.
Then take the gentleman at The Hague.
re Is not only more up TO date. for his
~ii!formation bears date of October II. 1874,
but he gives information of much moro
- '''' = ~ - &c." '''''
ordered here that VentilatorS. eXhauSters
and bellows which are worked by steam.
gas, petroleum or electric motor only, and
are used III factories or on ships, and only
IN exceptional cases elsewhere. may hence
forth. and for that reason. be admitted free
OF import duty"
The person who can guess nearest to the
meaning Of the phrase ard for that rca-
SON. should he able to get without trouble
the stperintendency Of any insane asylum
WITHIN the limits of North America.
The gentleman ut Venezuela. who raves
over. the "wetvinGs of cotton mixed with
ramis at five bolivars per kilogram," may
be passed over in charitable silence.
He Is not to ia mentioned in the same
day with our representative ut catauia,
who p%rattles artlessly on last years output
OF goat and kid skins But ut the end
of the prattle he comes with true Yankee
insight down to the true sense of the Oc-
casiOn by remarkinG: Terms generally
cash, but to good houses witt established
credit sixty days acceptance"
In Nicaragua our representative scars to
higher flight. He sends Il Pierre Lott essay
on the effect of bugs on cocoanuts. He
tells that Io.0h trees have been killed up
to date. leaving 100000 for the bugs to eX-
terminate.and then goes on to lucidly eX-
plain that the bug in some way gets to
,hc top of old trees and eats or bores Il
hole into them"
some way" and or should satisfy every
plodding taxpayer that Uncle Sans pro-
portion of the sweat of his brow is being
With what is evidently an attempt to
rival tina w~orld-renowned brochure. How
10 make two and two make four our
consul general at Nucvo Laredo says
wherever there is Il United States con-
sulate there are Americans who talk Gicp
Spanish and are familiar with the business
wants and methods of the community.
These are known to the consul. and.
through him. can he put in comnuuica-
ton with our merchants and made avail
able for the work of seeking trade here
with the rigor and directness ii is sought
for ut home"
These are only samples. culled with in
different care from the twenty-nine we'll
ttilcd pages of the latest contribution of
the state department TO the gayety of ma