The Florence tribune., 1900-10-27
)EATH FOR ELOPING.
Capital Crime Among the San
 Bias Indians.
Iarriage with White Men Forbidden Under Their Laws--strangers Are Excluded After
 NightfnIl.

0uth America. To the few traders who sit the spot for cocoanuts and yege- .ble ivory they are known as the San las Indians. Of their origin and his- ny but little can be discovered.
 One tlliag is certain, that although iendly to the government of the Unit States and 10 foreigners who may en- IT or find themselves weather-bound , the harbor of San Bias, there is no cord of their having ever been con uered or subjugated by any other tribe power.
 ltis quite probable that they havede- eended from the ancient Toltecs, but hat vicissitudes of tribal lifo they may ave passed through will probably ever be known.
 Although inclined to be friendly they 'ok with most jealous eyes upon any fort to cultivate c closer acquaintance ian the necessities of trade require. matter how many vessels may lie at achorin the harbor, or how much trad pgmay have been carried on during the ny. every white man at sundown must 9 on board his ship, or at least quit the .rritory of the tribe until the follow ag morning. This is a tribe law, gainst which protest is useless.
 The maidens of this peculiar tribe are lite attractive, and many jack tar IS risled his life in the effort to win capture dusky bride. Love, as in her lands, occasionally overcomes all ostacles, but if the unfortunate girl is .ught or returns to her people the unishment is death.
 The young mate of an English bark ing in the harbor became enamored agirlwhose home was near the beach. he mates attentions were persistent Id his love was secretly returned. One night. just before the ship was to il. the Indian maiden secreted her flor boy in the thickets until after lrk, when they stole q canoe and start to paddle out to the vessel. But an gful tropical storm came up which used the eloping couple to lose their sarings, and only with difficulty did ley manage to keep afoat. When orning dawned they were washed 3hore, almost exhausted. The enraged ldians seized both and made them cap yes, condeInning the girl to imme- ate death.
 The captain of the bark, anticipating ouble, sent boats crew ashore with rescue party. A demand was made r the prisoner, whereupon the mate as released, but the girl was held for e death sentence.
 Finding argument useless, the desper- e youth, with few sailors at his lck, made ? rush to rescue his sweet art, and had almost accomplished it, hen he was struck down by spear rust from the hand of the girls ther. She broke from her captors, aged with grief, and, seizing the spear, owe the head of it into her own breast. ne sailors managed to carry away cir wounded mate, but were driven to their boat and away from the iore.
 Theterritory held by the tribe is quite tensive, although it's boundaries are ,t very accurately defined. Itaxtends on cape San Bias far back into the oTatains.
 Cocoanuts are the source of the na- 1n's wealth, which is considerable. -obably the largest groves in the orld are just back of San Bias, and long to these Indians.
 A kind of commonwealth or coop ative system seems to exist among .eIn, and each member of the tribe fleets and carries each day his share the cocoanuts and adds it to the ormous pyramid of them near the ore, which is the tribes treasury. illions of nuts are thus stored and in liting for a profitable market. The craze price for them is from eight 10 n dollars per thousand in Colombian yer, or about 55 per cent. of that 1ount in gold. One-half of the pay is ken in cash and the other half in mer- andise.
 The nuts are carried from the "great le" to the beach in palmetto bags. le natives with these loads, each ..ighing 50 pounds, travel at brisk lot all day long and seemingly without tigue. Although slender. wiry race, icy will accomplish with ease a task at would kill or prostrate Anglo-Sax- s.
 The Indians are excellent sailors, and en in the rough weather make the p from cape San Bias to Aspinwall boats hollowed out of logs
 "A cocoanut grove is Q source of never ling revenue to its owners, as the ae from the fourth year of it's exist Ice bears indefinitely and has few if v enemies. The nuts intended for mmerce are allowed to ripen and op to the ground. Every one that Us is worth about half cent where it s.
 All day and all night the owner of the ate may listen to his wealth drop lg to the earth around him. In fact, is necessary to exercise care in walk Z among the trees. to avoid having e's skull fractured by the descending 1it.-Boston Globe.
 DUST LAID BY OIL.
 " York CentraI Rnilroad Tries