The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-16
BY Will r. Hamilton.

the tropics. mot only Is IL one OF the
most picturesque but II Is one OF the most
important. important because OF IT'S pc
Ing Costa Ricas cnief seaport tnrousn
which are shipped the countrys extern
sive products 70 the OUTSIDE Worlo.
Port Limon has Famous haroor wnlch
opens into the great Cartopean sea. Inc
pier and wharf are among the best IN tne
world proportonateiy, having oeen punt
in England ana sh!ppeo 10 Lmoh.
The city lies Embedded at the base OF
range OF mountains, some OF whfcn are
1000 feet In altitude. On the west ana
south the town Is bounded by tne sea.
The population OF Lamon IL apout o'VV'
principally Spanish. French. American
and Costa Ricans. The color scheme Oh
the buildings is white and green, SO ex-
tensively used In all tropical coast towns
Is conspicuous here. THESE coiors give
the buildings radiant appearance from
the harbor. The streets are long, mario"
and clean and the health repute OF the
city 10 great.
A small island stands beautifuliy con-
spicuous in the harbor. On this island
Is situated the lighthouse and the guar
antine Hospital.
No more profitable nor enjoyable week
sea trip can be imagined than one from
Mobile or lew Orleans to the Central
American countries. No short vacation
trip can be more interesting to one who
has been accustomed to the buzz OF trav-
cling cars, the hum-drum and whirr OF
a busy city life and the hurry of work
a-day world.
The Kitty, the vessel on which made
the voyage. Is a Norwegian fruit steamer,
chartered by Mobile fruit company. 1t
is manned by a crew of twentyone, Cap
tain B. Martemen, an experienced Nor
wegian sailor, commanding. The Kitty
sailed from Noodle to Port Hmon, the
purpose Of the vessel being to bring back
a cargo of bananas.
On board were ten Norwegfans. three
Germans, two Englishmen, two Danes.
two Swedes and two Americans. Ito say
nothing Of the dog" as Jerome puts 1t.
I was one of the Americans. and the
only passenger on board, for these fruit
vessels do not carry passengers, except
with special permission from the head
quarters of the fruit company by which
they are chartered.
The steamer was built In Norway for
the purpose of transporting fruit. Bana-
mas. principally constitute the vessel g
bimonthly cargoes. Its capacity in ba-
nanas is rs, o0o punches, equal to 1000 tons.
The Kitty Is one of the many foreign
vessels chartered by various fruit i'm
porters Of the United States. The reason
that foreign vessels are much more extern
sively used Ia that they are cheaper ia
charter and foreign labor Is cheaper to
hire. The sailors on foreign vessels work,
It IL said, one-third cheaper than Ameri-
can sailors and are not near so expen-
sive to feed.
These numerous "fruiters," as.fruit YES
sells are called, have assigned routes The
regular route of the Kitty is from Mo
bile to Bocas Del fora, Colombia, but
| on account of such an immense produc
| ton of bananas in Costa Rica the pas
season she was placed on the Port Limor
| route.
After gliding over Mobile Bay tire,
| hours we passed Fort Morgan, a dist
| ance Of thirty miles from Mobile. Her,
| 1t was that the Federal Admiral Farra
| gut forced entrance into Mobile Bay IL
| the year 1866. In the capture of this for
| Farragut found a hard proposition, bu
| with the historic words, Damn the tor.
pedoes, go ahead" upon his lips he fear.
lessly fought his way through and cap.
tured one Of the Souths strongest bat.
teries.
Fort Morgan Is in Baldwin County
Ala. and is owned by &.e United States
Government Over 200 soldiers are now
stationed there.
Soon after Fort Morgan had been left
in the distance. we had crossed what IL
called the bar" where the bay and gull
meet, and were on the Gulf Of Mexico
The weather was clear. A stiff breeze
rolled the waves which tossed the ship
Sea-birds of numerous varieties. flying
fish and porpoise were seen. Dolphins
the most beautiful species of sea-fish
could be seen near the ships rudder FLY
ing fish are among the most peculiar in
habitants of the briny deep.
During Thursday. the fourth day of our
voyage, we passed Swan island. a large
beautiful and productive strip of land
owned, I was told. by a Boston LAWYER
Cocoanuts grow in abundance on this
island and small tropical homes could he
easily seen from the ships deck. An i'm
mense quantity OF cocoanuts are shipped
every year from Swan island IN the
United States. usually ON sailing vessels
Cocoanuts. owing to the protective
shells can be shipped in sailing Vessels az
less expense than by steam. The trans
portation of bananas must necessarily he
speedy and directed with much care
During the voyage we met MANY sbips
flying the flags of all nations save the
American. Foreign ships are much
cheaper run. hence the usa Re of them 90
extensively by fruit corporations Of the
United States. History saws that Ra
phael Semmes. whose monument stands
at the foot of Government Street in Mo-
bile, the commander of the once terror
of the sea-" the Alabama. drove from the
ocean the Stars and Stripes and as vet
the American flag has failed to gain its
lost prestige