Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-31
AS OTHERS SEE US
South Americans Do Not Hold
Us in High Esteem.
DISLIKE FOREIGN Frs
AND REALLY THINK THERE IS
NO GOOD IN THEM.
Colombia and Venezuela Defy the
Wofld-Consider Us Barbarians
Some Queer Views.
DISLIKE FOREIGN Frs

IL " yOuISells CASidiAleN
the excited Colombian, as he slipped his
aguadiente in a posada at Cali. town far
| in the interior of his country. You Amer
leans would construct the canal at Panama,
| and you say it would bring much commerce
and great riches TO our country. Bueno!
But what then? You would make slaves of
our people. You would overrun the coun-
try. introducing all manner of vice and
crime and disease. You would even" this
as a final, unanswerable argument"
railroads"
Well" asked the American. land
wouldn't that be good thing for you?'
"A good thing!" The Colombian grew
more excited than ever. and waved his
arms frantically. why it would spoil my
| mule business. What should we all do with
our mules when everybody sent goods by
the railroad. We should have to eat them!
Foreigners Are Disliked.
1--WE do not want you strangers 10 come
here and worry US. You cannot make even
| cents in your own country. so you come
| to ours to make money out of the honest.
| trusting, truthful Colombians who know
nothing Of your scheming ways. We wish
to have nothing to do with you. We get
along very well by ourselves"
This man expressed the sentiments of his
idCC dilu VI ulOSt americans. Even
wealthy and educated Colombians share his
views. They dislike and deSpise foreigners,
and firmly believe that Colombia is the big
| geSt pebble on the beach," Outside of its
| borders they hold, there is little or moth
| ing worth counting. Spain is the one for
eign country they indorse.
The jewellers on the Isthmus of Panama
are the only exceptions to this general rule.
They believe in foreigners and foreign in
situations. and are naturally anxious to see
4 the canal finished. But then a Panamaian
| Is not reckoned as a Colombian by the
other Colombians. He IS a despised
'gringo.' just like an American an Eng
liShman.
The untraveled South American IS abso-
| lutely incredulous when he is told about
| the wonders of foreign lands.
Queer Views Of the United States.
when lived In Cali" said an English
man. who had just come to this country
after a residence Of several years in Vene-
zuela, there was a man from Dayton,
| ONO, staying there. One evening we were
| with some COlombians, and he started tell
ing them about the wonderful things in
| Dayton, Ohio-the cars that ran without
| mules, the four-story buildings and the fire
engines. They We're politely incredulous,
| SO L thought / would strain their faith
| bit more by telling them about New York.
Il described the Brooklyn bridge and the
| twenty-Story skyscra persI dared not 20
1 higher. When told them there were seven
| roads on the bridge and that hundreds of
thousands of people passed over it every
| day, they looked at me sadly and reproach-
| fully, and / overheard one of them whjsper
| to another, 'Caramba! That man lies
| much better than the other one"
| DO you have butter and milk in New
| York;? another Colombian asked an Amer
| lean. You can't have, You say that the
| place is nothing but houses closely packed
together. Where, then, do you keep the
| cowS?"
Are you married." the same man In
| quired You can't be. You were not mar
| ried here, and know there are no churches
| in your country. You are all heretics there,
although some of you pretend to be Catho-
| lies when you come here"
And nothing would persuade him that
| the United States We're not entirely desti-
| tute of the means of grace.
| In Colombia and other South American
| countries the people have curious ideas re-
| sarding social clubs. They think a club is
| simply a superior kind of saloon into which
| any well-dreSSed man can walk and order
| up drink. Their own clubs are conduct
ed on that principle
When the foreigners resident in certain
| Colombian town started a club of their
/ own, they found it necessary to put a no.
| tice over the door, The Strangers Club is
| not public place" That enraged the ma
| tives. How dare they forbid Colombians
| to enter their club?' one of the local news
| papers asked Indignantly. IF they have
1 the insolence to do this now, what will
| they do when the Yankees build the
| canal?"
Colombia Defes the World
| OF the power of foreign countries the
| average South American has no concep-
| ton. The Colombians, for example, think
! that their two or three leaky, rusty little
| gunboats constitute the greatest navy in
| the world. A few months ago, when irri-
| tated by foreign criticisms, the newspa-
DerS In BOgOta advocated immadia q
declaration of war against Ecuador, We
nezuela, the United States and Germany.
They put the four countries on a level for
military purposes.
LET u.s." they said, SHOW these people
| that we will not endure the things they say
about us. Let us fight them all, and show
| the whole world that Colombia Is able to
punish those who malign her."
During the last revolution, in the course
of which over hundred thousand Colom-
bians persisted, Gen. Bonilla, the governor
of the Cauca department, wanted to trans
| port some troops from Buenaventura to
Panama. A British mail steamer happen
| ed to be at the former port, SO he wired
from Call to the officials there to seize her
and use her transport
The captain and crew refused to work
the ship, and the British consul cabled to
Panama and brought down a British
cruiser, which trained its guns on the
town.
Gov. Bonilla received a telegram telling
was at a public banquet. He scrubbed a
reply, and then rose and made a flamboy-
ant speech.
Il have ordered the officials at Buena-
ventura, he said, Ito seize the cruiser as
well. We shall find it useful in fighting
the revolutionists. Colombia will brook no
interference in her affairs. If the strangers
trouble US any more, we will close the port
Of Buenaventura. and the United States
and Europe will not get any coffee. That
will punish them effectually.''
The Satanic Incubator.
An American living in Europe once i'm
ported an incubator and astonished the
natives by telling them that he was going
to hatch chickens without the assistance
of the mother hen They shifted fncreGu-
lousy. and said that he was a loco"
Qunatic). but when the apparatus was in
stalled they crowded around eagerly to see
what would happen
1T is ridiculous" declared the women.
The man ought to be put In the casa de
Iocos.r"
When the eggsheIIs began to break the
women fell on their knees and crossed