The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1902-06-18
BEAUTIES OF COSTA RIGA.
Remarkable Fertility of the Soil
Natives Peaceabie and Fine-Look-
ing-City of San Jose.

i
Inhabitants. is practically owned and
controlled by Americans. IL is the
headquarters Of the American Fruit
company, which owns 90 per cent. Of
the banana plantations In that vicinity.
II employs about 500 persons, says the
Milwaukee Free Press.
At the company's plantations are
grown some 400 acres Of banana
trees. They cut from 1000 to 6,O00
punches a week. Bananas are a sure
crop and easily grown. requiring al
most no cultivation, and trees will
bear In from IL 20 IL months after they
are set out. They are planted in hills
like potatoes and grow up TO consid-
, srssls height and gre sqt Of yhsn
fruit Is cut and send uPhew shoots,
bearing fruit the year round; a plan.
tation is good for 20 or 30 years.
There Is good opportunity for
young men with energy and little cap
itai, as land Il cheap and everything
stuck In the ground grows. 1t is 4
fact that the very telegraph poles
branch and start 20 grow. ! saw sew
eral Of them with green shoots on
them. II Il said one can't put n pole
In the ground that II doesn't start to
grow.
The weather IL not excessively warm.
Al Port Limon II was e5 degrees In the
shade. but In San Jose. the capital city.
the climate Is fine and the scenery
beautiful. The tropical trees and
plants. the deep mountain gorges and
canyons, the waterfalls and abundance
81 ferns and flowers make Il quite an
ideal place 20 live in. The country
seems well governed and the natives
are fine looking and peaceabie and con-
tented with their lot. They can't work
very hard-not that they are lazy, but
the climate and the fevers and their
general rundown physical condition
seems TO be against them. They die
quickly II stricken by any disease. A
great many work on the coffee planta-
tions, which Is one Of the chief indus
tries OF the country.
One man, q German. think. is grow
ing rich exporting alligator skins. He
sold about 1000 last year. theyteli me.
Another man has made fortune In
fine woods, such as cedar and mahog-
any.
San Jose. the capital. Is n city Of be-
tween 10000 and 10000 people. II Is
situated 1000 feet above the sea level.
The buildings are all low. one-story af-
fairs. on account Of the frequent earth
quakes they have there. Most Of them
are built Of adobe, few Of wood or
brick.
The city has'a magnificent theater,
one OF the finest In the world. II has
beautiful frescoes and paintings by
Italian artists. marble statuary and
gold leaf decorations and inlaid floors
Of rich woods. II was erected at cost
Of si.5oo.0o0. The exterior Is not pre-
possessing and the whole thing has
proved TO be an elephant on the peo-
| Piles hands. as they have little good in
the amusement line at any time Of the
year. There Is fine church, Catholic.
Of course. I attended a military mass
there one day. The military band
played during the entire service, which
was an elaborate and enigmatical one
TO q stranger.
The streets are narrow and unpaved
and there are no sidewalks. An Eng
lish company runs an electric line In
the city and there 10 telephone serv-
ice. All the real work that Is done In
that country Is done by foreigners.
mostly English, Americans and Ger
mans. A great many Of the men who
once owned property and were wealthy