Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-05

potaered beaches, torres t-crowned bluffs and
crescent-shaped coves Of white and Clisten-
/ ing sand, back Of which run fertile valleys
| cultivated to the tops OF the hills The
| channel takes us close to the beautiful
| beaches and almost within han OF the fish
| ers' cabins en- the shore, giving glorious
| contrasts between the deep blue water, the
! silver sands and the varied vegetation OF
| the hills.
| A few negroes cultivate the lands ada
| cent TO the beach, and their huts of palm
| ieaNeS occupy blum above the water The
peach OF pure white sand is overhung by
cocoa palms in ranks and groups and an
| islet off shore breaks the force of the in
| coming waves.
Harbor Within the Gulf.
The real harbor Of the great bay of Ar
rows lies five or six miles within the gulf.
/ ahd' together with the town adjacent. is
| KNOWN as Santa Barbara. A series of small
Gays lies opposite town and harbor, between
| 'he lslets and the main, being a perfect
cul-Ge-sac, with deep water close TO shore.
sleep cultivated hills rise directly from the
| sAore' win oHshoots Offering choice sites
| Tor dwellings; the lateral valleys are fertile
anu hlled with every tropical product The
pedShes are smooth and fringed with nalms
| ing, boating and fishing.
Inc SANTANA peninsula is about forty
iiies IN iength, and consists of range ~
Mills thrust right out into the ocean to the
HoTtn or the bay. These hills swan, h,,
cooi Dreezes, covered with tropicaI ,,aeats
lion' ana with their feet on either siSa
plunged into the sea, offer desirable sites
hoi farms ana winter settlements
A Successful Colony
rhty or sixty years ago a colony of
oiachs was settled here from the states.
anu lhe american traveller will have the
pressure of hearing his own language
| spoken, instead of Spanish, which prevails
ELSEWHERE In the island. These black ueo-
| pie have held their own. have buiIt scbooIs
anu churches and have set a good ey
ample OF thrift and sobriety 10 the shift
! less natives. They were, President Heur-
eauX once told me, the most reliable ana
| peaceful of his subjects. That is thev IiiJ
not aspire to furnish a presidential possi-
plhty every few months, like their neigh
oois, ana had no political ambitions likely
10 prove disastrous to himself
AT the head of the bay is the strappIins,
| settlement of Sanchez, hardly more than a
streak OF buildings showing against a
ppachground OF forest-covered hills The
pay Is shallow here, but great Importance
attaches TO Sanchez, on account of its be-
ing the coast terminus of the only railroad
OF account in the island. This road is be-
tween sixty and seventy miles in length
and extends to the town of Concepcion de
| Ia vega, but was projected to unite the
bay with the important city of Santiago de
los Capaleros. and perhaps with Monte
Niisui' near the mouth of the Rio Yaqui.
Scotch Thrift There.
n SohceSsioh was granted in 1850, and
the road was built by a Scotchman, Mr..
Alexander Baird, with his own capital A
swamp nine miles long was filed and made
| passable for the road bed: a port was ere.
ated where only forest existed before. and
| IN hve years after the first work was be-
gun the road was opened as far as La
Vega.
Aside from the important town of La
Vega, along the route are the smaller
| places of Macoris and Moca, though not on
| the line. 1t was at Moca that President
HeureauX was assassnated, in a small set
| Element reached only by a horse trail and
| about eqni-distant from Macoris, La Vega
and Santiago.
Beautiful and Fertile.
So far as its natural features are con-
cerned, this Vega Real is one of the most
beautiful regions in the world, the soil Is
fertile and the productions limited only by
the labor of the inhabitants. Unfortunately
| the natives are lazy and shiftiess, working
only for the satisfaction of their present
needs; their dwellings are mere huts of
straw and slabs of palm bark, without win
dows and floors, except for holes closed at
night with boards, and mud hardened by
the passing of feet
But in this portion of the island dwell
greater relative number of whites than in
any other: the old city of Santiago de los
Caballecos still containing many descend
arts of the original conqUerors. This city
was founded only a few years after Isa-
bella, 1904, and from its healthful and COM
mercially advantageous location soon rose
to superiority. 1t has long been a center
of political intrigue and has frequently lost
its best citizens through the terrible energy
OF ex-Presiderft HeureaUx. On the occasion
of my first visit to the city bore letter
to a resident of influence who materially
assisted me in my Investigations: a few
months later, when l inquired for him
was told, with bated breath, that he had
been incarcerated in the castle, ard would
q hG hot rf
were those who had conspired against the
president.
The city is situated on bluff above the
river Yaqui, and, the center of a prov
ince containing some 10000 inhabitants
Santiago de los Caballeros has maintained
10 a great extent the prestige of its early
years. In the center of the city is large
plaza, around which are churches and
dwellings, the finest structure being the
cathedral, which for many years has been
in unfinished state. Here, or in the ad-
joining church yard, the late president was
buried, but here he is not likely long TO
remain, for if some political disturbance
does not disturb him an earthquake or
landslip may.
tiago to its port, the hourishing town OF
Puerta Plata, betw cen which for centuries
mules and dcnkeys have slipped and Stun
bled with their packs of pr oduce.
Westward toward Monte Cristi and the
Yaquis mouth. there is a fairly good road
but that leading easterly toward La Vega
dl2u Is the most aWIul highway in
the civilized world. That road was opened
by the Spaniards 400 years ago yet today
Is in worse condition than when the first
surveyors passed through the original will
derness. do not eXaggerate when L saw
that there are thousands of holes In Il in
which the horse rode sank belly-deep at
every step, and from which l was spIashed
with mud and water from head to heels.
1t is as much from the things that Lee
lee left undone-the roads he did not make
the schools he did not found and the high
Ideals he did not strive after-that we must
Judge this recently departed president of
Santo Domingo, as from the evil he posi-
lively committed. He has been called the
Napoleon of the West In6ies but he more
resembled President Diaz of Mexico. for he
encouraged the introduction of foreign cap
ital and was careful not to kill the goose
that laid the golden egg. He was brave and
modest, but cruel and INSCRIPTIONS with
personal magnetism to which I can tes-
tify.
He left a few friends, who also feared
MIN; he left few enemies. because he took
care to remove them. His death has re-
leased the island from despotism. but may
plunge 1t into anarchy.
r. A. ODER
do Won think fhe bicycle will evar f1-