The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-11-26
LAND OF NO WORK.
ONE-THIRD OF GUATEMALA is
SO DESCRIBED.
Vast Sources of Wealth, but Inhabitants
shirk All Labor and Indulge In Idle
ness = In the Afternoons All the
AgriculturIsts Sleep.

The department of Peten comprises
about one-third of the area of Guate-
mala, but it is separated from the rest
OF the republic by the lofty cordilIera
Oh Alta Verapaz. Its population is
about 5000. of which number four
fifths are Indians. 1t is acknowledged
to possess the richest soil of Central
America and the most easy of cuIti-
.Vatlon. OF the natural products suf-
hcient has been already said. Ma
hogany, hundreds Of thousands of
cords, and ebony in small quantities
are found in the vast forests. The
wild caoutchouc brings in a small rev.
enue to the Indian trapper. Crude
rubber from a wild tree is worth 40
cents a pound. The product of the Gull
uVated tree brings S1.08 for the same
quantity Logwood is used for fences.
But 1t must be remembered that there
are no routes of transportation. To
the east and south a gently rolling
plain extends to the Gulf of Honduras.
very little grading would be required
to build railroad from the coast to
Lake Peten, but such a road would
have to cross the English territory of
Belize, where concessions are not cas-
lily obtained. The principal occupa-
ton OF the people is said to be agricul-
ture. However, man is seldom seen
at work. In the morning the ladies of
the higher class roll cigarettes for
their husbands and themselves. In the
afternoons all sleep. With the sun
casting shadows toward the south. and
such intense heat, it is impossible to
do anything else. The farms are very
small. Each family raises Just sufi-
Client for its own use, no more. Flows
and harrows are unknown. The
ground to be planted is burned over.
That is all the preparation. Fallen
trees are not removed, nor is the dead
brush cleared away. Nature will at
tend to that in due time. Then man
with pointed stake or mattock digs a
little hole, drops therein a few grains
OF corn, covers it with his foot. and
the field is left until time for harvest
By this method only few yards
square can be planted each day. and
ten-acre cOrnfield is something I'M
heard of. Next to corn, sugar is the
important crop-not white sugar. but
the dirty sticky, cane-favored pamela.
1t would be well if the cane were
planted for pamela only Unfortunately
four-ffths of the pamela is trans
formed into a-ua ardiente. a literal
fire water" OF course, drunkenness
is the prevailing vice among the men
of all classes. They get drunk early
in the morning. get drunk in the after
noon. and are always drunk in the
evening. Even the present abnormal
price of liquor ($5 per quartz does not
bring the demand down to the sup
ply. One day in the week is an ex-
ception to the general rule Every
body is supposed to be at work on
Monday, and a person found in a sa-
loon before midday is arrested and
fined S. For a long time the balmv
breezes from the Caribbean have driv-
en- the storm clouds far from Lake
Peten. Other portions of the depart
ment have had rain and to spare. but
Flores is suffering from the drouth.
Corn brings SIS (silver) per bushel;
flour, $40 (gold) per hundredweight:
sugar, so cents per pound. The only
food in abundance is meat. and meat
is not a wholesome diet in a tropical
midsummer. True. there are fish in
the lake, great gamy fish, but it takes
work to catch them, and who wants
to work? Not hundred miles away
there may be an abundance of food
stuffs. In all of this great department
of Peten there is not single mile of
public road, or road of any other kind
for that matter. not one bridge. Every
thing is carried on the backs of In
dams. Freight in here from Belize
costs from 10 cents to 20 cents a
pound.-Chicago Journal.