Omaha daily bee., 1900-01-11
STORIES OF THE DAY
Peter 0'Hanlou Talks Interestingly About
Porto Cortes, British Honduras,
SH PIERS NINE MONTHS IN The SADDLE
Interfering with Mnils-a Of
Hand DccciVcs Ese-Hobo who
Has Hirh Oninion of His
orntory-Cnt out of Bag.

aANE
orntory-Cnt out of Bag.
Peter O'Hanlon. for many years proprietor
Of one Of the leading hotels in Chadron, and
who has a wide acquaintance with travel
ers, was recently in Omaha. Accompanied
by his wife and son, John O'Hanlon, he is
enroute to Chadrcn from Porto Cortez, Brit
ish Honduras, where he has been for the
last year.
II was delighted with Central America,
said MIR. O'Hanlon. THE limd1e is elegant.
l lived in Porto Cortez, which is the leading
port in that section. II is situated on the
bay of Honduras, and even there the tenn
p%erature in the hottest season never rises
above 80. OF course, the humidity of the
air makes 1t hotter there than It would be
in Omaha, for instance, at a higher degree.
The nights are delightful. During my stay
there was not a night but that a covering
was necessary for comfort. In Porto Cortez
and along the coast there is a great deal
of malaria, caused by the low altitude and
the abundant vegetation. My son was
afflicted with malaria. and for this reason we
are returning north. No other reason would
have prompted me to leave British Hondu-
ras. Usually people going from the north
to that country are affected by the malaria,
but they get over 1t, and in most cases are
immunes after a few months residence.
There are great opportunities for making
money in British Honduras, but one must
have capital to start with. The most
profitable industry is the raising Of bananas.
After the first year a man can realize hand
somely on his Investment. There are many
coffee plantations, but these are not pro-
ductive at this time because a sack of coffee
consisting of 30 pounds is only worth $2i
in native money. A RAILROAD runs from
Porto Cortez into the interior for .ffty-seven
miles. 1t is the expectation to extend THIS
line through to the capital, about It's miles
from the coast, and having a population Of
about O,OOO. That railroad is a funny sight.
My eldest son, James, has been in British
Honduras for several years and is a con-
ductor on the road. Most of the employees,
however, are natives. The roadbed is eX-
tended through the swarnps and very little
effort was made to ballast, so that the rails
and the ties change their course quite fire.
%uuently. The trains run on the ties about as
much as on the rails. 1t is a profitable piece
of road, however. The natives use it eX-
tensively and all freight for the capital and
the interior towns is carried to its end.
British Honduras is on a silver basis. l
have always been a democrat, but l GOT my
fill of the silver standard there. Our money
is only worth 45 cents of native coin. l
could see no advantage of the silver stand
ard and it was easy to see its many disad-
vantages. Why, a man has to be accom-
panied around by servants to carry his
money il he ventures out with enough to &C
complish any business"
C. V. Shepler of Pierre, S. D., arrived in
Omaha last week after having spent nine
months in the saddle along the watershed of
the Missouri river. Mr.. Shepler has been
gathering an interesting collection of data
regarding the different brands of horses and
cattle throughout the northwest. The in
! formation is now practically all in hand,
after a trip of about 5000 miles on horse
, back through Nebraska, the Dakotas, Mon
tana, Wyoming and western Colorado.
The book is designed for the use of cattle
men and horse breeders and will be in type
r before the first spring roundup on April 10.
When the data is all collected stockmen will
be able to determine the number of head OF
e cattle and horses in the states covered, to-
gether with the number of ranches and va
{ rieties of brands.
The method employed in gathering the in
5 formation was laborious and tedious. Mr..
{ Shepler and different agents had ridden
along each creek to it's source, calling at
. every ranch along the route. The country
| was thoroughly secured and no ranch, how
ever insignificant was left out. A correct
i reproduction of each brand will appear in
the collection. For instance, the ranches OF
Buffalo Bill in Nebraska and Wyoming
=, are described as to area and number of head
= maintained and cuts Of the three brands,
ct. e., "94' and a clay pipe, are shown.
A similar work has already been compiled
. for Kansas, Oklahoma, Panhandle Texas
u and northeast New Mexico and when the
u .,oco,t honL ;c IscItad rorrant data will he
= obtainable as to the number of cattle and
. horses in the entire western country.
at seems that i am to be compelled TO
. police this state with the assistance OF
three deputy marshals instead of nine, as
, my predecessors have had" said United
States Marshal Mathews the other night
For the present 1t will work a hardship OF
=, the marshal's Office to arrange to attend
satisfactorily to the duties OF the office witt
. such a small force, but / am confident tina:
4 matters will eventually regulate themselves
o properly. The present deputies will work
on a salary instead of receiving fees. as
n heretofore"
a An interesting point was raised relative tC
9 the Jurisdiction of the United States mar
It shal's office by a question whether the United
: States authorities should have taken the
1DllldllNt lO"dIu dppi Li'hhiHb II ippbNi
who recently held. up the passengers in a
Missouri Pacific Pullman sleeper.
Y 81 do not think said Mr.. Mathews, "that
the federal authorities would be expected &c
take the Initiative toward capturing these
robbers unless it could be construed that
they had intcrefered with the operation Of
a mail train. A case something similar tC
this came under my notice not long ago
An escaped convict from the Wyominf
10 penitentiary, who, by the way, had been
"a fairly prosperous cattleman at one time anC
A was incarcerated because Of getting mixed
on brands, attempted to get away by steal
ing a ride on the blind baggage OF a pas
a senger train on the Burlington. He rod'
z during the night, and when morning CANT
A, considered that it would be better for hin
l. 10 alight on the Nebraska ~prairies ratheI
than take chances on getting into SOM
0. town where his escape might be adver
tised. He climbed over tho tender to tn
g. engine and commanded the engineer, at III