El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-13

! quently carried through swampS by
! men; consequently, the matter of pack
ing must command special attention TO
| insure the articles arriving at their des-
! tinatiOn intact Not long ago several
J boxes of merchandise tOppled overheard
| from one of the lighters.
| Part of these boxes were from Europe
| and the others from the United States.
/ When the goods were recovered Il was
! found that those pieces which had been
/ packed in Europe were lined with oil
paper, and the contents We're not dam
aged. while those which We're packed in
! the United States were rendered value
I less from the mishap. II may be argued
I Jhat this was an unusual occasion, but
| almost every mule train that makes its
| way into the interior encounters heavy
| rains, and merchandise cannot be packed
| TOO securely TO warrant its safe ar
| rival
| Extravagant Government
| Although the smallest of the Central
! American republics, Salvador spends
more money for governmental purposes
I than any of the others. In a recent
| year it spent $4,4S0,O0O for such pur-
! poses, while Guatemala, next in order.
| spent 1852, 600. Much of this goes to
! internal improvements. The people are
| industrious, progressive and enterpris-
| ing, and these qualities are reflected in
| the state of the government.
I IAeT6 are no great NdClen0dS OF
( ranches, in Salvador, as there are in
+ Mexico and Guatemala The land is
! thoroughly subdivided, so that nearly
| every rural family owns and tills it's
! own little farm The soil is very fer
| tile, and the heavy rains make things
| grow incredibly fast. The coast of SAL
vadOr is almost the only place in the
world where the baIsam tree grows IN
| cultivated Here it flourishes so pro-
fusely that the territory is known as
| the Balsam coast. The balsam sap,
| which is gathered by indians, is used
! in making perfume and several kinds
| of medicine. Salvadorean coffee sells
for about 9 cents a pound. and some
of the larger coffee plantations yield
| several million pounds a season
indigo Is Exported
Indigo is one of the principal exports.
! 1t is made from a plant which grows
! where the ground is high and rocky
J The crop is planted in May and is ready
| for harvest in September, at which
| time the flower buds are richest in in
| digo. The plants are cut off a few
| inches from the ground. tied in bundles
| and placed in big water filled watts.
| Heavy pressure Is placed upon them,
/ not by the hydraulic process familiar
to US, but by piling on heavy stones
When all the juice has been pressed out
! Of the plants a kind Of shrub is placed
IN the wafer WHICH causes the SOAIU
matter to settle to the bottom like
grounds in a coffee pot Then the wa
ter is drawn off, and the residue is
sort of blue mud. ready to be dried and
powdered into indigo
Editorial Opinion
In closing this series it may be well
to quote from an editorial printed re-
Gently in a Central American paper com
menting on the trouble in Nicaragua
and the Intervention OF the United
States:
I'VE are soon to witness the sight Of
the eagle SwoOping down on its defense
less victim TO tear out its vitals- with
talons OF steel, robbing it of life as we'll
as liberty. There is to be written one
chapter more of those shameful and re-
prOachful pages Of which history is al
ready full, a chapter in which an indif-
ferent world will hear vibrating the
cry of a Poland, Of a TransvaaI, of a
Korea We have wished for another
government in Nicaragua, but We have
feared the Intervention of America,
which we consider an act worthy only
of naughty Rome, which fell at last,
ruined by the leprosy of her corruption.
We have wished that Zelaya would fall,
but not by the blow OF foreign inva-
der. Therefore, If necessary, We would
gladly see today the tyranny, which
yesterday we execrated, reuniting in its
against the hosts of the modern Xerxes,
leaving on the field of battle written
in blood the record OF the last struggle
for freedom"
Is the Editor Fair.
If the fiery philippe of this writer
really is a true reflection OF the con-
ception his people have of the United
States attitude toward Latin-America,
then indeed, our southern neighbOrs do
not possess the intelligence with which
they have been accredited Do they not
know that without the protection of
the Monroe doctrine every acre of their
territory would have gone the way OF
British Honduras? Do they not know
that instead of tearing out the vitaIS
of defenseless victims" the Americans
have helped Cuba TO its feet and then
sailed away-not only once, but twice?
Do they not know that If the Ameri-
cans had any intention of gripping them
with "talOns of STEEL" and doing all
the other awful things which they
charge that the job would have been
completed long years ago? The best
answer TO such an outbreak as the one
quoted above is. Forgive them. they
know not what they do"