Evening star., 1898-09-17
Where the Thermometer Has the
Easiest Sort of Time.
JANUARY And JUNE ARE JUST ALIKE
Ladies Go Seldom Abroad, Still
They Have Good Society,"
NICE THIN GS TO EAT
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
SAN JUAN DEL NORTE, Nicaragua,

| Nicaragua lies between the two oceans,
! Atlantic and Pacific the distance from sea
| to sea being about 175 miles, with Lake
| Nicaragua. large as Lake Erie, in the
center. Everything east of Lake Nicara-
| qua is called the east side ami west Of the
! lake the west side. The climate of the two
| sides is practically the same far tenn
| perature is concerned, but rain constitutes
| the great point of difference. The year in
| this country is divided into the wet and
| the dry seasons, the former from June till
| November and the latter from November
| till June. During the dry season not a
| cloud is seen in the sky. In June it may
| rain fifteen days out of thirty: in July. ten
| days; In August five days; in September
| and October. almost every day. This es-
innate applies only TO the west or the Pa
| cific side, for on the Atlantic 1t rains al
most every day in the year, the actual
rainfall reaching the enormous total Of
| 20 feet, probably the greatest on earth.
This rain belt extends to the lake (Nicara-
| gua). The temperature is very mild and
| equable. l have never personally eIpe-
| rienced any climate save that of southern
| California which L deem superior The
uniform range of the Fahrenheit ther-
mometer is between Us and 30 degrees day
| and night, weeks, months, years and CEN
turies, always the same. Colds are un-
known except in case of persons exposed
| to the Swanlps, where they are sometimes
| contracted. Summer and winter are pre-
| cisely alike, and there is no difference in
temperature between January and June.
| BY knowing the hour OF the day OF night
a person can always tell the temperature
within five degrees, because ii is practi-
| cally the same always at the different
hours. Between l. o'clock at night and q
| in the morning l have always slept under
a woolen blanket.
All of Nicaragua lying between Lake
NICARAGUA Ia iS tai,,
Folcanic origtn), well wooded, dry fertile
| and looks very much like the United States
save that the vegetation is different. From
Lake Nicaragua to the Atlantic the whole
country is tropical swamp or morass,
the home Of the alligator, snakes of ali
kinds, sharks the only instance in the
world of sharks living in fresh water)
lish OF all kinds, and mans arch enemy
the mosquito. by millions. On the west
side the mosquito is only met for one or
two months, and they are very mild then
IN comparison with their Atlantic rivals
CahaI men have surveyed the line from
ocean to ocean, those on the Atlantic side
wadtng in swamp up to their necks in wa
ter frequently. Witha1 there has been very
little sickness.
The fevers are malarial and usually
nnld yielding readily to treatment. There
has never been a case of yellow fever In
Nicaragua. On the west side il is afyis-
able to shake your shoes and clothes in the
morning before putting them on in order
to dislodge possible tarantulas SCORPIONS
or centipedes. An animal called tiger
which is spotted like leopard abounds or,
poth sides. but is seldom seen as thev
only go out at night. Wild cats arc also
conlmt n. The tigers are sometimes seNe,,
1eet long. The tapir. or mountain COW Is
frequently seen on the east side I'm the
sWamps, the manatee is found in the San
Juan river and lake. deer are very abun-
dant. wild monkeys called Congos rosarn-
bling apes, are an east side product and
the regular white and yelow-faced mon
tEf n
west side Parrots. macaws. wild piyeor-s
snlpe. wild turkeys pelicans and cranes
are found all over the country The wild
pig fs also found in great numbers Tho
river SHARKS seldom appear except to show
their fins. but do not rs a rule exceed five
feet in length. In the sea on either coast
they may be seen in the breakers. and
their size is enormous-anywhere from, tan
to twenty feet. The alligator has been 50
frequently shot at on the San Juan river
where the steamers run that they usually
lie concealed in the tall grass at the wat
er's edge or get out of sight before you see
them In the side creeks rivers and est1l-
aries where man seldom goes they may he
seen in all their glory by the exercise of
due diligence. 1t took me some time to
learn that the alligator can see as we'll
as L can. and about the time / discovered
the alligator he was making for the water
They look exactly like a log when living ON
sand drift, and their size varies from the
two-foot baby 10 the twenty-foot grand
father.
GreytOwn and BIuefeIds
Between Lake Nicaragua and the east
side there is only one means of communica-
ton, the San Juan river, starting at Fort
San Carlos, on the lake, passing Castillo
and emptying into the Atlantic at San Juan
del Norte, 125 miles away San Juan del
Norte is called Greytown by foreigners.
Sixty miles north, on the Atlantic. is Blue
fields, a city Of $500 and probably the most
enterprfsfng In the country. These four
towns are practically all on the east side
Greytown numbering 1900; Castillo 800
and Fort San Carlos ] 900. There are two
ports on the Pacific side, San Juan del Sur
at the southern and Corinto at the north
ern end Of Nicaragua. Neither exceeds 900
in population. The large cities of the coun-
try are on or near the shores of the interior
lakes, Nicaragua on the south and Mana
qua on the north. A railroad runs from
Corinto on the coast through Leon 10 600
to Momomtombo on Lake Managua From
there the steamer carries you down the
lake to Managua, the capital, where the
president lives in the palace Managua has
1000. Twenty miles south of there is
Masaya, 10000, called the city of the
Flowers, the population being mostly In
dian, and ten miles farther SOUTH on the
shore of Lake Nicaragua, is Granada, the
aristocratic town of the country, where the
richest people live, 10000 inhabitants
In Greytown and Bluefields on the At
lantic coast English is generally spoken
and the main part of the population is ia
maica negroes. On the west side the negro
is not found.
Leaving out of the calculation the Ger
man and English and American contingent
there are two classes, the native Indians
and those who have Spanish blood in theft
veins, either pure crossed. The Span
iards dress just as We do in the United
States, except that all goods are of light
material Overcoats are, of course un-
known, and so is heavy underwear, though
it is customary to wear light cotton or
woolen undershirts and drawers. Very few
white suits are worn by gentlemen in the |
interior, but they are much worn at Grey
town.
Lovely Woman Everywhere.
The Spanish ladies wear white and ap-
pear very much like their American sisters. |
They wear the mantila, either white or |
black, whenever they go out. Brunettes |
are almost universal though women with |
light hair are sometimes seen. Eyes very |
large and very black always The ladies |
are seldom seen on the street, and the only |
time got good look at society was at an |
operate performance in Granada. That |
night saw some of the most beautiful wo- |
men in the world. No hats and nearly all /
Wore the white cape jessamine In their |
black hair. The native or Indian popula- |