The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-02-24

! AlvaradO. not necessarily navlgaDle Tor
boats. but easily threaded by canoes.
! Water abounds in that portion Of south
/ ern Mexico. while On the other side Of
/ the narrow neck known as the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec. the s5il IL far drier.
( Going across the I.sthmus they visited
/ the Columbia plantation, where they met
/ five Americans connected herewith. in
Guiding MIR. Spencer and Major Switzer
! the latter one Of the heroes If san Juan
/ in the Cuban campaign. Chicago people
! control this plantation of some $3.50
! acres. and they cultivate IL for rubber
OF rather are planting rubber. native
( gum almost Of as good quality as the
/ famous PARA. OF course the rubber
! does nat mature for tapping in less than
six years but there are immense wild
rubber trees on the Isthmus and other
/ portions Of southern Mexico that stand
eighty feet in air. The Ubero was an
/ other plantation visited, and there they
\ found four Americans engaged in the
i business Of cultivaung or planting pine
/ aDples. coffee and rubber. T. /. Torres,
/ one of the brightest young men on the
( Isthmus is in charge. The coffee is be-
ing now set out The town of XuchiI
ouDosite Columbia was famous in the
/ DAVIS of 1919 as a stopping of place for
stream Of gold seekers who crossed then
en- route to California. At san Luis
plantation an American is in charge and
there are five on the Dos Rios place
Mr.. Waite stopped off also at Santa Du-
crecia, the dead-and-aIlve little tropical
hamlet of d dozen huts, destined TO be
the tapping point OF the Veracruz and
Pacific railway, connecting some time In
the future thus with the road that now
weds the ocean north and south While
at Coatzac5alcos, on his return towards
Tobasco. Mr. Waite attended a party on
New Years Eve attended by some fifty
Americans and English. with their fami-
lies. They had come thither by rail and
river, car and canoe, frem various por-
tons of the Isthmus for that purpose,
and enjoyed themselves in the hearty
manner 50 Characteristic of the Anglo
Saxon.
Returning to Veracruz Mr. Waite took
steamer from Fronera. and was accom-
panied southwark by Mr. Kirby Smith,
who has lived in that part of the country
for some years past. and is wonderfully
well posted on matters fin Chiapas and
Tabasco. Frontera was found place
that was feeling a healthy boom 1T is
located at the debouchre of three rivers,
and IS the port Of entry of san Juan
Bautista and the entire state Of Tabasco.
The steamer ride from Veracruz to From
terra is Of twenty-six hours After leav-
Ing Frontero they visited the plantation
Of the Lumaja company. close to which
is the property Of ar. Lawrence Bedford
and that of Mr. Ellsworth all closely 10
Gated to the celebrated Salto de Aqua,
or rapids in the Tulija river The town
Of salto is the head Of navigation, the
rapids cutting off the steamers at that
point though after passing the rapids
the river is navigable for 80 miles in
land and is known there as the Rio san
Pedro Nor are the rapids triding insig-
uiicant affairs. but they are swirlins
sweeping currents dashing madly among
cruel naked rocks and cliffs that cut the
river here and there with hmty faces,
and making even canoe navigation a
most perilous undertaking. for their en-
tire extent of five miles. The rapids are
superb and the scenery decidedly trop;-
Cal. the overhaueing cliffs and sharply
defined walls Of rocks on either side Of
the river being densely wooded to the
Very waters edge AT Salto de Aqua the
river is fully o thousand yards i'm width
and the waters even at that distance
from the ocean are alive with allieat0rs
cruel fellows. whose hideous shapes are
seen all along the banks summing them
selves. After leaving Frontera the party
went for two days by steamer. through
--f-r,