The Republican journal., 1902-05-15

IldN taken lIlS SlAl!l ppll4e SIG was sOuLN ana
DR.. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets should be
used with Favorite Prescription when
ever laxative is required.
you are well aware if you ever bought
bottle of the real Curacao" -is about
equal to its weight in gold
Though the dry fields of this island
are covered chiefly with cacti and spinv
shrubs. it has been proved that all trop-
zeal fruits would grow here to perfec-
ton If only water could be supplied
pineapples, paw-paws, mangos, guavas,
sour-sops, custard-apples, aguacates-
the whole citrus family. There is only
one tree that thrives in this stony desert.
and that is the nispero, or sapadillo,
famed throughout the Spanish Main
for its vast green bulk and tasteless
yellow fruit They say there is excel
lent hunting here-enough to keep the
ordinary sportsman pleasantly employ
ed the year round. Every little salt
| lagoon between the shoreWard cliffs is
fairly crowded with tall herons. t1amin-
goes and other water-birds; all the rocks
| covered with lizards iguanas and arma-
dillos: while Oh all the old plantations
are rabbits. turtle-doves, curleW, trou-
peals and paroquets Wild pigs and
some larger game frequent the high
Lands and mterOrfOrests: and the shade
/ OF every Wides spreading niSpero tree is
| lighted up by golden candelaris and
! leWeIled lmmlning- birds. darling among
! the leaves. Nowhere is there a healthier
place for the invalids sojourn especial
/ u if he be OF consumptive tendencies.
nor pleasantel in which to dream the
time away. Constantly blowing trade
winds temper the remarkable dryness
OF tile atmosphere. and there is plenty
OF kennebec ice in store TO make palat-
able the filtered cistem water, of which
every household las usually sufficient
supply. All around the extensive bay.
which occupies the crater of long-ex
tlnct volcano. are commodious country
residences where hospitality to the
stranger is unbounded. Occasionally
! an opera troupe. OF a vagrant circus.
strays through the tropics and fingers
week or two in Curacao. When these
fail, there is always the music of the
| band III the moon-lighted plaza mild
festivities at the governors residence.
christenings. weddings and funerals
and above all, for advertisement, the
/ constant arrival and departure of steam
ers bringing news from all the world
There are clubs, too, by the dozen
though mostly mems clubs: and the
first society of Curacao has resolved
itself into an amateur dramatic COM
pany, which aspires even to the plays
! of Shakespeare. The Roman Catholic
religion prevails throughout the island,
except perhaps two thousand Protest
ants and half as many Jews The latter
race controls the retail trade, while the
wholesale is mainly in the hands of the
! Dutch. Curacao is a free port, you
/ know, and business is pretty brisk. One
vast bookstore, the "Libreria Bitan-
court is said to supply the whole of
! Venezuela and the north coast of South
America with books in the Spanish
language. A deal of business is also
contraband and smugglers flourish, as
along the Mexican border You can
! buy pure Holland" for three dollars
case that never felt the touch of Gus
toms official nor saw his froWn, though
Holland gin is the chief article of i'm
port. The one local bonanza in bust
ness, aside from that of the phosphates,
is the pontoon bridge, by which throngs
of people continually pass from one
portion of the city to another, across
the clover-leaf- shaped bay. The bridge
was built by the genius of a Yankee
captain, whom fate disguised by the
leyeling name of Smith, and who was
for long time our consul at Curacao.
He is a living witness to this beneficent
climate, for lie came here a chronic in
valid, whose days were apparently num-
bered, and now weighs somewhere in
the nelgnDorhOod OF two hundred and
twenty. He established, and still con-
ducts, a flourishing ice business; but his
great achievement, which brought him
wealth and undying local fame, is The
pontoon bridge which spans the Skatts-
gat. Before he constructed it, all those
who wished to cross the lagoon were
| absolutely dependpnt unOn the negro
boatmen, who number about two hun
dred and charge for ferriage five Dutch
coppers, each way.
Twice, at least, has Curacao been in
innate with events which are of inter-
est in our American history; once in
the coaling of the Confederate cruiser
Alabama" when vice-consul of the
United States, but native of this