El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-12
COUNTRY RICH IN NATURAL RESOURCES

burn off a piece of ground- plant the
nuts 20 feet apart and wait five years
for results After that he is fixed for
life. with an income safer than govern
ment bonds.
The nuts are never picked but as they
mature they drop off. and this shower
of fruit goes on month after month for
a lifetime. Bananas. pineapples. man
goes. plums and oranges grow without
the slightest cultivation.
COcOanut By-Produets.
While cOcCanut growing may have.
some disadvantages not enumerated in
the above prospectus, it is undoubtedly
on industry of great possibilities The
by-products of this tropical luxury are
used in every conceivable way Its
sap and meat provide the ne tive with
delicious food and drink Its dried
meat is called cOpra. The shells are
valuable as household utensils. and can
be made into many kinds of Orna-
ments.
The tree provides lumber for the
construction of houses, and the foliage
makes an excellent roofing. There
are SO distinct uses to which the sub
stance of this wonderful tree may be
put, ranging from the manufacture Of
toothpicks to Ithe preparation of dye
and hair oil
Want Railroads.
The custom of giving concessions. a
practice which recently caused so much
trouble for Jose Santos Zelaya Of
Nicaragua. obtains also in Honduras,
though it may not be abused as it was
in the neighboring state
One thing the Honduraneans have
long desired is railway connection
throughout the republic With all the
enormous national debt. made to secure
a railroad. the capital city Of Hon
duras still remains without rail con-
nections with the seaports. and the
journey must be made by automobile
IT other conveyance. 1t is only in
recent years that even a good public
highway has been open.
The result is that the HOnduraneans
will give almost anything that is de-
manded to get a railroad. Recently a
concession of 1000 acres of land was
made for every mile of railroad the
concessionaire would build in one of the
provinces. AS the route for which the
concession was granted presents no
serious engineering difficulties, and the
land through which it passes is fine
banana land. capable of being made 10
yield q profit Of $50 per acre per year,
the concessiCnaire may secure for him
self a fixed income of S12O. 900 year
for every mile of railroad he builds.
even though the line yields him no net
profits during the period he is allowed
TO operate it under the concession
Liberal Concessions.
In another instance a concession of
$4,000 acres of banana land was granted
TO an american for an annual rental
of less than five cents per acre the
concession to last for long period and
the concessiOnaire to have the privi-
lege of buying the land at unimproved
land prices at the end of that period
Honduras well realizes that its con-
cessions are tremendously liberal and
that they offer opportunities for the
making of great fortunes. but il also
understands that Americans and Euro
peans Will not invest their money In
tropical America unless they are as
sured of great returns. Unlimited nat
ural wealth is of no account unless
there is capital to develop it.
British Honduras
British Honduras is not associated
with Honduras itself. except in name.
It was originally a part of Guatemala.
instead OF Honduras. as the name might |
imply 1t is British territory by rea-
son of The English lumbermen who set
tied there a hundred years ago They
saw the opportunity TO get themselves
under the protection of the mother |
country by claiming the territory In |
the name of the crown. and asserted |
livered his celebrated prOnunciamento. Y
The territory extends as far back into /
Guatemala as the lumbermen could !
reach in their quest for mahogany. To- I
day the section of country lying close |
10 the coast has been stripped of it's !
trees. but there are still plenty of them
inland Belize, the capital of the col /
ony. continues to be the foremos. ma Z
hOgany market of the world Other /
precious woods are shipped in large !
quantities.
Mahogany and It's Value.
Many people have supposed that ma
hogany is a wood of very slow growth
and some Of the best writer's on tropi-
cal matters have accepted this theory
The error Is due to the difference of
time in which the rings on these trees
are formed. In America and Europe |
one ring a year is formed. and it was |
presumed that the same ap-
piled to the mahogany tree. As a matter
Of fact it adds three rings a year. and
the tree whose rings indicated that II
was hundred years old. was. as mat
ter of fact. only SO years old.
The high price of mahogany is due
to the infrequent occurrence of the
tree and the dangerous swamps In
which ii grows a single tree is often
worth thousands of dollars Most OF
the work of cutting. hewing and get
ting the logs to market is done bv
night. the heat Of the day being too IN
tense for such operations
/