The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1911-10-05

jenjebrillo, which bears close resemblance to
the famous blue grass" of Kentucky.
The region Is abundantly watered. Every few
miles river or creek intersects the forest, but
in the dry season all but the largest of these
fall. 1t Is where the interval between streams is
unusually great say, seven or eight miles, that
the monte gives way to open grassland. The
slope Of the ground and the porosity of the soil
insure perfect drainage, and there is entire abb
sence of swamps save for the inevitable mangare
strips along the coast.
When the development of Chiriqui shall have
fairly set in, irrigation will surely become i'm
portant factor in the agricultural industries Good
reservoir sites are plentiful, and the lay of the
land is perfectly suitable to the installation Of
simple, inexpensive gravity systems.
The climate of this section is subtropical and
somewhat like that of Florida. The mean tenn
perature is about IS degrees F.. and the extreme
variations do not exceed Is per cent. in either d.
rection The heat of the day is usually tempered
by Dreezes and the night is cool at all times The
dry season extends over the first four months Of
the year, and recurs for few weeks in September
and October. During the remaining period there is
almost uSny rain which seldom extends through
more than three or four hours in any a. and Is
preceded and followed by clear weather. Exces
sive humidity is of rare occurrence. Destructive
storms hurricanes and tornadoes are virtually
unknown.
The climate is distinctly favorable to man and
beast Few diseases, if any, are attributable to it.
The inhabitants of Chiriqu enjoy exceptionally
good health, and this statement applies to the
natives Of Europe and America, of whom there
are a number settled in the province.
In the past 20 years, and perhaps much longer,
no epidemic disease has appeared among men or
animals in the province. Cattle are singularly
free from the complaints which commonly at-
hct them elsewhere Pleuropneumonia and anth-
rax have never been heard of. Blackleg
made its appearance, but was readily checked by
vaccination.
The land in this portion of Chiriqui is of a
generally level character with a gentle, but con-
stanty prevailing slope toward the ocean. The
Ilanos may be traversed in any direction by the
lIghtest vehicles with the ease which would be eX-
perienced in crossing a lawn. Cart roads are
easily constructed through the forest stretches,
in many cases nothing more being necessary than
to clear the monte and remove rocks and the
larger stones. The existing roads maintain com
muncation between all centers Of habitaton and
are quite equal to the requirements of any traffic
which they may be called upon to support for
some years to come. They are not macadamized,
but the natural material of which they
posed is such as to pack we'll and erode but lit
tie have extremely heavy downpours OF
rain run off them without mring 1t may be
peated that the drainage Of the entire section
der consideration is perfect
In the Divala country all nonfordable streams
are brldged. Telegraph and telephone wires con-
meet all the principal points. Extensive improve
ments are being carried out, which will affect the
highway system and other of ntercom-
Inunication.
The Pacific Mail and National Navigation CON-
pany maintain weekly service between Panama
and David, carrying passengers, mail and freight
including live stock and calling at way ports on
journey occupying from three to six days. The
length of time is mainly to be accounted for by
the difficulty in navigating the rivers at low tide
A fast service has lately been introduced with