The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-18
TENERIFFE ISLES.
A Kansas Youth Has a Visit in
Far Country.
Edward Walton on Voyage to
New Zealand.
NJ n n ~
LAND OF LAZY PEOPLE
Spends a Day i'm Santa Cruz and
Sees Strange Sights.
Women Are the FavOrite Beasts
of Burden There.

Sterling. Kan, March 1S-An inter-
esting letter has been received here
from Edward c. Walton, an old Ster-
ling boy. He is en- route from Eng
land to the South Sea. He says in
part:
Thinking that news from this part of
the world might possibly be of inter-
est, 1 am going to try and describe to
you the island of Teneriffe, at which
place I arrived yesterday, and the
events of the voyage on the way to
Wellington, New Zealand. First of all
l must say that we left London Aug
ust e. and have been very fortunate
SO far in having had a smooth passage
all the way, arriving at Teneriffe, 1,760
miles south, in eight days.
1t is a fine sight entering Santa
Cruz, the harbor of the island The
town lies at the foot of steep hills in
semi circular bay and the low white
houses hanked on one side by the sea
and by mountains on every other make
a sight never to be forgotten. The
place belongs to Spain, which is evil
dent the moment you land or rather,
as soon as the steamer drops anchor
in the bay, as a crowd of boats i'm
mediately puts out from the quay fill
ed with brown skinned, gesticulating
Spaniards, hoping to fleece the passen-
gers before their fellow townsmen can
go through them.
First of all though we have to pass
the quarantine officer who comes
aboard from his steam launch Hav-
ing satisfied himself that we have a
clean bill of health he leaves the ship
and we are at the mercy of the peo-
pie who crowd on board and from the
appearance of the majority Of them it
is very questionable whether our rec
ord of health will be as good at the
next port. There are men with fruit
to sell, grapes, bananas, prickly pears,
green figs, peaches and apples at Is to
25 cents basket. The top layer good
and the rest spoiled. Then there is
the man with the picture postcards of
the place, who is everywhere, also boys
who dive from boats for coins thrown
from the ship, and get them every
time, the water being so clear that
their bodies can be seen at almost any
depth.
AS the steam launches are now fill
ing up with passengers anxious to go
ashore after our week at sea, we get
in and in few minutes are landed at
the quay. Santa Cruz is the capital of
Teneriffe and has %, 5000 inhabitants.
The greater part of the town is COM
posed of narrow, badly paved street
with shattered gloomy houses on eth
er side, but there are several fine
houses and hotels in one quarter, which
I hear are usually filled with visitors
After having lunch at one of the hotels a
party of us from the ship took the cleo
trio car for Laguna a town of 10000 inhab-
Canary Archipelago The car, the only
modern idea one sees, and it must have
been one of the first made has to climb
1900 feet to the town, which cannot be
more than four miles from Santa Cruz.
The track winds in and out of the hills,
at one time overhanging preciptce and
at another almost tying itself in a knot.
Our car, like the people, is in no hurry,
and when a citizen in an energetic frame
of mind pulled into a street ahead of us
with a load of furniture, our driver and
conductor sat down and smoked until he
had finished unloading 1t into house,
when after finishing a little controversy
of their own with some people looking on,
by the way they are very. proficient at
than an hour reached Iaguna. The show
place here is the cathedral where there is
some really wonderful wood carving dat
ing back 400 years
If ever farming was carried out under
difficulties it is done so here for they
have to make their farms before they can
cultivate them. They are literally carved
out of the precipitous sides of the hills,
and the volcanic rocks that are picked up
are used to make terrace walls SO that a
farm is like a step ladder, some of the
steps being not more than six feet wide:
rained here for the last six months. OF
course everything has to be done by hand
work and I saw many places where they
small stack The women seem to be the
favorite beasts of burden carrying every
thing imaginable on their heads. One
thing noticed particularly among the very
primitive surroundings, that being several
iron mills with the name of well known
American Manufacturing company on
them.
On the way back we visited the bull
ring, the fruit market and the cathedral
of the Concepoioce, containing flags lost
by Nelson during his attack the town,
and which they take great pleasure in
showing to the English. Wherever you go,
however, you cannot get away from the
idea that it is a poverty stricken place. A
flock of beggars follows you everywhere,
whose only English word is penny, and