The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-09-21

foreigners who toady to the presi-
dent. so he lowered his gun but r.
manned cowling al us until we We're
out Of sight. l found out afterwards
that it was near this place that about
three weeks before the American Con
sui from Corinto had been rocked by
some boys, but whether Oh account of
his nationality or his color is not
certain.
On leaving Corinto I had to get
permission from the Government and
had to pay 50 Nicaraguan to the Com
mandaDte for graciously affXing his
signature to the document. 1t was
worth the price, however. for l have
never been in any country yet. not
even A~fghaniStan or Turkey, that is
governed in such a despotic. merCen-
airy manne or with so little regard
for the rights Of man. Guatemala I'M
der Cabrera and Venezuela under
Castro can hardly beat it. The peo-
pie are practically prisoners in their
sion to leave unless they are in ia
vor with the Government. The Gov
eminent and everybody in Nicaragua
except the president and his favorites
are on the verge Of bankruptcy.
From Corinto 1 went to Panama
where I was q~uarantined on an island
two days before 1 could land. Panama
IdS DCCH V1ItICI1 up ~ kluNI lidL
there is nothing new to say about it.
The Tivoli Hotel there is up to date
and was quite q relief after what [
had been enduring IN Nicaragua. The
canal work is progressing smoothly
and from all / could see and learn is
being conducted on a thorough bust
ness basis and in a manner that is a
credit to our nation. 1t will probably
be finished even before the date set
January 1st, 1915. The most remark
able feature l found about the isthmus
was the absence of mosquitoes which
struck me as wonderful after seeing
the swarms around Corinto and other
ports. Col. Gorgas has SO cleaned up
the isthmus that it is now healthier
than most towns in the United States.
From Panama / came to Costa
RIGA. / landed at Punta Arenas and
went by rail thirteen miles to Esparto
where I spent the night in q native
inn. There is a fifteen mile gap in
the road to San Jose that has never
been finished, SO I told the ma to
ave me a horse at three in the morn
ing. When he banged on the door
that night I sleepily drew my watch
and an electric flashlight from under
my pillow and snapped the flash to
see what time it was. My next rec
objection is of sitting on the table in
the middle Of the room. for as / snap
ped the light. / saw on the wall with
in a foot of my face a gigantic taran-
tula. I lit the candle and a we'll
aimed boot left a grease spot three
inches in diameter to mark where that
t%arantula departed this life. [ was
sufficiently awake by that time, SO [
dressed and Q d fifteen miles before
breakfast over as rough roads as +
have ever seen. At places the road
sloped precipitously down the sides OF
rocky gorges and. at other places in
the valley the mud was up to the
horses knees. At Santo Domingo I
struck the railway again and we left
there at nine in the morning, but in
two hours we struck a double land
slide and had to walk over a mile
to where another train awaited us.
At one o'clock we came to a gorge
where a bridge that washed away
some months ago has never been re-
placed. This we crossed in baskets
that were drawn back and forth along
q steel wire. Again we took train
and finally reached San Jose at s.
O'Clock OR forty-one miles In nina
hours. Part Of the time the train
only Crept along as the heavy rains
have made the track very dangerous
and at one place we saw an upturneda
car that had gone Off only the day
before and smashed up some passar-
gers. We went slow along the dan
gerous parts except for the bridges
which we rushed as being the safest
course.
Though reached by such dangerous
railWays-for the Atlantic Railway is
as noted for its washouts and land
slides as is the Paciic-San Jose is WEI:
worth seeing and is the most upto-
date city in Central America. 1t is
famous for its beautiful women and
for it's fine theatre. This theatre
nearly broke the Government to build
but they recouped by levying a ore
per cent surtax on all imports and
now that the theatre has been finished
the theatre surtax' is still continued
as a means of revenue. Costa Rica
i'm u rQSSaS one mora fa 1nrahIn tnan