Weekly journal-miner., 1908-12-30
GUATEMALA LEADER HAS FUN WITH
 GR|NGOs
RumorC ConsiStsOf Hitting Landlord in Face
 With Fist
By Edwin Emerson.

ho''ipie cfueities Withib prison walls, or of the poisoning, hanging and shoot. ing of political prisoners.
 These tales are generally told by political exiles, the socslled emigrsdos of Guatemala who, fleeing from the wrath of President Estrada Cabrera, have forfeited all their property and rights of citizenship. Having lost their all, they have nothing more to lose by telling the truth about their country. But not all the truth is told in these tales. Guatemala has it's moments of gayety. and these moments are so far prolonged sometimes, that much of the public debt of the republic must be credited to the score of holiday 6estas. At time when the public exchsquer is too poor to pay the interest on the national debt, too poor to pay the sal aries of the public school teachers and other governmental officials, too poor to mend the dilspidsted highways or broken.down bridges, there is always money to be found for public 6estas and entertainments.
 | Take last years record alone. There was tbe opening of the Guatemala Railroad in January, establishing rail connections between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. For this purpose speci- al delegations were invited from the United States and from other countries all, of course, at the expense of Guate mala. After their arrival fiesta fol lowed fiesta, banquets, military re. views, balls, fireworks. picnics, and ex- cursions, at all of which champagne flowed like water. Finally, after two weeks of such festas, the foreign guests left the country 90 laden with expensive gifts that some of the party had to provide themselves vita extra boxes and trunks to carry their pres ents. After that came the prolonged fiesta of the Control American Medical Congress. Nothing whatever was ac' complished for medicine or science, not a single original contribution was re- ceived. but no end of money was spent again for banguets, pienics, exeur' sions, military reviews, balls, concerts and gala performances, with th usual torrents of champagne. To enliven the sessions of the medieos an Italian opera company was persuaded 10 come to Guatemala to give a series of per
 formances for which the government paid a subsidy of $40,O00 in gold. The medical visitors had scarcely
 left the country when the time arrived for the regular mid summer fiesta oi
 one week, with public fair, horse races each day and an elaborate flower festival and banquet at the end oi each week.
 , One month after this, in the middle of September, came the foor hesi' day. in celebration of Guatemala [ Declaration of Independence, when tb'
 whole country is given up to public
 concerts, banquets, torchlight proees
 sions. fireworks and general drunken
 ness.
 It is during ;his fiesta, at nigh time. that the fireworks of the pubh
 squares are enlivened by the so-ealle'
 toros or bulls, i. C., men bearing rud' frame works resembling bulls wit horns which shoot fire crackers an'
 rockets into the dense crowd of on
 lockers.
 One month after these celebrations
 which always cost tae government hun dreds of thousands of dollars, come th
 'Mineryiales. They are Estrad
 Cabrera's pet fiesta in honor of Mn ' erya. the Goddess of Wisdom. The thousands of children of the seho'
 age are brought to the capital at tn public expense and there are made | march in parades and appear 'n Howe drills while the proud fathers g' drunk, and the government officials ? public banquets pledge President Cal ' rera as the benefactor of the eountr ' in brimming cups of champagne Then about Christmas time come th bull fights, when audiences of eiel
 and ten thousand attend, and so ' goes on, year in and year out in Guat' + mala, until the exPesse for hest' l- alone runs into many millions. Henc n the government, to meet its rnnnin , expenses, is driven to hypotheea' q Guatemalas customs receipts, and 6 pay l4 per cent advance interest '' d well as s per cent commission, in O
 der to obtain . loan of so per cen
 tho bulk of which is furnished in ti !. ds.erioratsd paper currency of Guss