The Topeka state journal., 1905-08-11
A BANANA KING.
Sherman Elliott of Kansas Is
Naturally Worried.
One of the Largest Banana
Groves in Central America.
PROFITS BY THE FEVER
His Plantation Near Coast and
Not Quarantined.
Incidentally Tells How Banana
Trust Operates.

in the interior of Honduras, few mlleS
from his big banana plantation, and
threatening to force the closing OF his
port for shipments for the next four
months, Sherman Elliott, member OF
the state board of control. is watching
with more than ordinary interest the
progress of the dreaded epidemic
1t is probably not generally known
that Mr.. Elliott is one of big banana
growers of Central America He has
served as United States consul at his
port, and his brother. Philip S. Elliott,
is now in Honduras in charge of the
plantation.
LAS it stands right now" said Mr..
Elliott today, 1.-The yellow fever is worth
thousands of dollars to me. All the in
terror plantations are quarantined, and
can not bring fruit down to the coast.
Our plantation, which is right on the
coast. is shipping fruit as fast as it can
be harvested. Big vessels are waiting
mpatiently for our fruit. and as prac-
tically all Of it is shipped direct to New
the Louisiana conditions. -
But if the fever should get down
onto the coast, they would slap block
ade down on US, and then II Woula pc
all off for four months. They never
raise one of those bIockadeS INSIDE Oh
four months.
There is no doubt that yellow fever
germs can be carried in the fruit, and L
suppose that there is some danger in
eating banans because the purchaser
does not know just where they have
from.
'AIl our banans are sold to the
one big company, or combine, Whlcn
controls all the fruit handled from that
part of the world. We could not ship
cut any bananas if we wanted to, be-
cause we could not get a boat to carry
them, and could not find q market II
we had q boat. 1t is the biggest trust
outside of the Standard OIL company
that 1 know of. We get rs cents
bunch for those punches which have
seven hands of bananas, and 81 cents
a bunch, for punches of over seven
hands. Some of the punches which we
raise are so big that it takes two men
to carry them.
'eThe bunch of bananas grows on the
end of a big stalk which is sent up
from the banana plant. Thls Stalk
bears only one bunch of fruit, but as
more stalks are coming up all the
time, the harvest is continuous. There
are ripe bananas nearly all the time.
1.-The laborers get from 81 to $1.25
day, in silver We imported a large
plantation. We have to give a bond
with the British government for the
good treatment of these laborers, ana
their return at the end of a specihed
than the natives. The days work be-
gins at sunrise, and never continues
later than noon, except IN the very
busy seasons, when the men will work
day and night for a few days: All the
afternoon the people do nothing. 1t is
too hot. Our house is near the coast,
and by it's location we get a land
breeze from the mountains in daytime
and a sea breeze at night. By keeping
out of the suns rays we are very COM
Portable.
1--WE don't know anything about the
evils of intoxication up here. Those
natives drink a kind of liquor which
would kill an American. 1t is made
out of the sugar cane, and it produces
a form of intoxication which is some
thing terrific. The natives won't drink
whisky; it is not strong enough for
them. The government sells this ma
tive liquor. 1t is manufactured in our
district by an American who has a
concession from the government. The
government takes it, doubles the
price, and puts in half water, and
turns it over to the mayors of the
towns, who also put in lot more
water. If it wasn't for the addition
of this water I think the natives would
not be able to drink the stuff 1t is
so strong that it literally takes the
skin off the inside of a mans mouth.
The only regulation the planters can
make is that no liquor shall be allowed
on the plantation. There is one pc
culiar thing about the law down there,
and it is that everybody must be off
the streets of the town by 9 o'clock
at night. Anybody caught out after
that hour is simply put in Jail until
| the next morning. No questions are
asked whatever. No excuses are ac-
cepted The idea is that they do not
want to keep up such big police
! force as would be required if they let
those natives stay up all night and
drink that bad liquor.
"Oh, yes, we have lots of revolutions
down there" said Mr.. Elliott in re-
Spouse to a question. There is some
| sort of a revolution going on most of
the time. We don't pay any attention
| to them. They are not like revolution
| would be in this country, however. Why,
not long ago the revolutionists and the
government troops got together near
our place and fought for three days,
and only two men were killed. They
really don't try to kill each other. and
they are such wretched shots that they
can't hit each other if they try. One
of them said to me once: We don't
want to kill those men. We may have
them all on our side in the next revolu-
! ton. What's the use in trying to kill
| them? You people up in the United
States don't fight fair; you try to kill
each other
"An American named Lee Chrisman
| is practically the military dictator of
Honduras. He used to be an engi-
neer on the Illinois Central. Once he
headed a revolution down there, and
after it was over the president sent
to him and said: you are a danger
Gus man, and we will give you $4,000
! to leave the country Chrisman re-
fused to go, and little later, when
the president was having a revolution,
| he offered to take 500 men and whip
a party of insurgents which was max
| ing trouble. He ambushed the in
surgents in good American fashion,
and killed half of the party. Then
the president put him at the head of
the army of 5000 men, and he is now
commander-in-chief of the army and
commander-in-chie of all the police.
He is making thousands of dollars
month in various rakeoffs. He gets a
rakeof on most everything. The
| president likes him because he knows