The Republican journal., 1902-08-14

and the putrid stencil arising from it on
the hot moist air must yearly sIay
more thousands than all the armies
have done. The habitations of the city.
as they approach the walls, dwindle
down to small novels, built of posts
driven into the earth. rooted over with
banana leaves; and these are palaces
compared to the homes of the camp
followers and other degraded creatures
who burrow i'll holes i'll the walls. or
grovel under tents made by stretching
a rag or two on sticks against the side
of a rock
Descending from the walls at the
Ataranza gate, the seward entrance to
the city, a few minutes walk brings YOU
| to a place of curiosity to strangers,
known as columbus Well" on the
| river bank, about a quarter of mile
from the Custom House. Whether or
not 1t was dug 10y the Admirals order
| | do not know, but from earliest times
| 1t has been used by vessels taking in
fresh water for sea voyages The well
itself is only about three feet deep, with
a stone bed and is st We'll back on the
| hillside, covered with IA substantial arch
ed building OF succeed brick, about
twelve feet by SIX. In front of it is a
large stone basin. with conduits from
within for the water to pass out of the
well. and surrounded by low walls which
| form a sort of court. Judging from
these arrangements, it looks as if the
we'll must sometime have yielded
higher level of water NOWADAYS the
basin is dry as dust, but the water in
the we'll is cool and sweet, and particle
| larry refreshing after a long tramp.
pom the Quays between this well and
| the city walls You may always find
large quantities of the rich woods of
the country. such as liguum. fustic.
| rosewood, ebony, mahogany, and various
dye-Woods. being weighed in huge scales
preparatory TO shipment. Tie quays
are also devoted to wholesale traffic in
fruit and vegetables. The country peo-
pie from far up the O2ama river come
down to these landings in their "cano-
tes.' OF canoes. Followed out of big
palm trunks. each propelled by one-man
power. Perhaps the canote has come
forty OF fifty miles to bring down a
couple of hundred bananas. worth fifty
cents the hundred: or maybe its owner
the shape of two or three bits of ma
hogany or rosewood. The average size
of cutting the wood is in pieces three
feet long by two feet square, each piece
worth from eight to ten dollars Back
of the quays is a line of rude sheds. |
where the Workmen regale themselves
with san cacho' a kind of stew, sec
ond cousin to the Mexican chili-con-
carnie,( rum and cakes
In plain sight access the river are the
remains of the first settlement founded
by Columbus, called La Murva Isabella,
| which was destroyed by hurricane in
1902. 1t is said that the present city,
| which Bartholomew Columbus built at
| the command of his seafaring brother
Christopher, was named Domingo. after
their honored father, Domingo Column
bus; but most persons believe it was
called after the canonized parsonage
who figures at the head of the long array
of patron saints with which Spain is
blessed.
OF course you must visit the Column
bus church, which has been kept in
| fine state of preservation. In front of
it is the quaint but still useful sundial
that the discoverer caused to be built
a column OF stoccoed brick. twelve feet
high, with the dials so adjusted as to be
seen from the pedestal. Think of the
eyes that have watched those dials
| through five hundred tagging years.
Close by is Jesuit college, fine build
ing, massive in proportion and construc-
ton, but much out of repair and now
used as theatre. The cathedral we
have visited before, but were so en-
crossed with Columbus bones that we
hardly noticed its other points of in
tereSt. 1t is of Gothic architecture, in
solid stone, richly carved, with nave and
two wings, and is said to have been
modelled after a church in Rome.
Though worn with hurricanes, wars and
earthquakes, it is still most imposing
To mount the roof you ascend by a
spiral stone staircase, and you wonder
how they ever got cannon up there
as they certainly did, in defence of the
town in 1909. By this means they won
the day; but you may still see bomb
shell embedded in the broken tower,