The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-02-17

on tlit Itu-huS bi''7f 'NN
Amer Picon for the fever, little qui-
1jnc for malaria. and brisk pony rue
lowp the Savannah road. or a cayuco
rim IN the Chagres. or a tossing, heart-
shakinr press through uneasy seas Ill
rasoliuc launch 70 Porto Bell0-tnat
fascinating Month of the Treasure OF
he World" as Sir Henry Morgan
,allcd it--littlc adventures like these
act ones fancy going. The lsthmus is
hen not merely II small republic, by
ionah's gOurd, as horsc-brceder
would say, out of Il bribe-bousht reVo-
lution. it is the scene OF acts lhat
minds have delectably dwelt upon,
when Young. during twenty genera
lions. Here are the jungleS, here are
he seas. and here are the masonry
settlements which Balboa cut through.
he plate-flccts sailed. that Pizarro
nuilt and that Drake and Morgan
.acl,ed. These were the seas in which
sir Francis Drake in two small pm
laccs had ravaged plate fleets of Spain
when conveyed by three armed gal
Icons"
Bells rang when we reached Porto
Bcllo: small dugout cayucos put out
from shore. When we entered one.
all standing, like pictures Of Columbus
discovering America, the gunwales sank
below water amidships. IT took more
than mere water and mere wetncss to-
affect US now. Drawn up on the shore
we're most Of the villagers, and the
American Consul Rodriguez, who, l
think. never has seen North America
ike many another American Consui
down by the equator. But he trades
with New York, sends ivory nuts TO be
made into buttons. etc. and has the
sense Of hospitality highly developed.
wanted 10 30 first to the Royal
| Treasure House. which was the Mecca
! ds it an anachronism to use the
phraseD of the brethren of the coast
Here it was-solid masonry. Tropical
vines. which need only sun, rain and
sir to grow. had branched from its
mortar, bad separated the careful lay
| ing and ccmentiDg. The roof was on;
| there were openings which showed
where the doors had been.
Look at those arches" said the con
tractor. who had come along; they
have no keystoncs" or course they
hadn't; ancient peoples had advanced
ways of accomplishing ends. Consider
the Pyramids; consider San Lorenzo
fort, up the Chagres River, i'll Panama.
No ore knows how they did it without
steam dcrricks bigger than we are
acquainted with. It's fine old pile,
this skeleton of q treasure house. II
mean 10 restore il as custom house,
remarked the contractor, pulling red
blossominc plant from a crevicc. "All
I'll bave TO do is TO supply doors and a
roof
| We debouched upon coObiestone
street, long street, connecting with
Jungle ut both ends, with wbitewashed
Ialf-stucco. balf-wood, and occasionally
coral.stOne houses along it, Wild Wig
waggings attracted us to the American
Consurs --Sr. Rodriguez's home, spa
cous. pretty for those parts, showing
wealth i'll its decorau uon-ipteresting
chromos from an early American
period, grasses in vases, mirrors with
the name of his dead wife emblazoned
at the bottom. There is no irony in
this description am simply speak
ing literally; it should be read like
wise. Sr. Rodriguez gave us more than
any stretch of the meaning of hospi'
tality in America, north or south, west
or east, comprises; and lie gave 1t out
of his heart; he was what you honestly
!ook for when Spanish blooded person
says, in conventional fashion, MY
house is yours" He showed us his
family Bible, with the names and dates
of his offspring written down. "Thir
ty.two children" he said, proudly, and
we read their names. Against some
of them was the record. DIED
The mother. too, was dead.
Under guidance of the principal citi
zens we went to the two old churches
old beyond anything known OF IN
Christian America. One was in ruins
one is still worshiped in. The latter
indeed. was the church which rang
its bells when it saw men with Amer
! lean raincoats coming ashore. thinking
they were priests In cassocks. The
chief citizens of the place for 400 years
We're buried under the flags of The
floor. Il knew IT," said !, thinking OF
Mayor De Icons cslmncss during oui
voyage; here are De Icons to beat
the band" They ranged. under oul
feet, back 10 1900, twenty years before
the Mayfower at Plymouth, New Eng
land.
Along here Columbus passed looking
for "a strait connecting the Atlantic
with another great ocean" Indians
at Honduras had told him Of one, OF
so he understood them. What they
really .apprised him OF was that only
narrow neck of land here separated
the two oceans; but his mind was fixed
upon navigation, and he searched for {
water passage, and stopped lew
miles beyond Porto Bello at Nombre ds
Dios. from which point. some twelve
years later, young Vasco Nunes de
Balboa, noble but poor. energetic, en-
gaginp. and wonder with the sword
made a march inland to that peak II
Darienp from which he discovered th'
Pacific Ocean. and fell down and
prayed in emotion. OF supreme mo
ments IN the civilization of the woilt
few are greater than this. Francisco
pizarro was with Balboa on thii
march. according 10 old Peter Martyr
and 100 men with arquebuses, cross
bows swords, pixies and hloodhoundi