Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1911-11-03


two highways and several byways converge at
Alanje and every few days he might look for a
pass 1, visit from some intelligent traveller His
duties occupied three four hours of the day
and the rest of the time he filed in with study,
for his ambition pointed to advancement in his
calling whilst his environment had awakened an
inherent taste for natural history
We left the table to walk to the church.
with its curious detached tower. | asked for the
records With righteous Indignation blazing in his
eyes the little cura laid before pile OF leath-
ercovered manuscripts, nodded, worm-eaten and
torn Not page was intact, hardly two consecu
tive lines legible
Such neglect is crime" said my host. fer
venty. II need hardly say that the damage was
beyond arrest when these came into my hands,
fully appreciated his feelings Indeed. dare
say that my regret was the keener Alanje
is older than David In fact. its history merges
with the times of the Conquistadores and there is
no knowing what wondrous tales may be hidden
in those sadly mutiated documents.
Our church has legend, remarked the cura.
leading me to large alcove on the left of the
chancel Drawing aside curtain. he revealed a
life sized painting of the Christ in his final agony.
1t evidently the work of artist. but did
not betray extraordinary ability
Il don't know when this came here but 1t was
certainly before the present generation" the
cura explained. with slight show of embarrass-
ment 1.-THE story goes that one evening a
stranger came to the village and declining shell
ter elsewhere. begged to be locked alone in the
church night. His request was granted.
When the curious villagers came early in the
morning TO look for him he had gone, and the pic
ture, with the paint fresh and wet hung where
you see it."
l looked at the little cura questioningly
"Oh. don't know" he said with a shame
faced smile and a shrug of the shoulders. AT
any rate. my people believe the story firmly. and
it does them no harm
Nv fha hatu T,{xo
crossed several streams. better watered coun-
try than this could not well be imagined
Divala is little settlement of so to so huts
and. perhaps, 300 inhabitants. who are entirely
dependent upon the ranch and insure 1t con
slant supply of labor The people cultivate little
patches, from which they derive almost all the
foodstu1s they need few weeks work In the
year at 60 cents day will produce enough money
for clothing and moderate indulgence in the
Injuries that are to be had at the village trading
store
Divala is Is miles from anywhere, but the most
unlikely place to look for an American family ia
a bungalow that has the appearance of having
been transplaned from a New Jersey suburb
Mrs. Wilson has lived in this outof-the-way cor
of the earth for five years. and has had the
conpanionship of her infant during the past
eighteen months. There is not woman of her
own race within 40 miles This is isolation. In.
deed. and suspected that she must find it irk-
some. though she would not admit much
Twelve years ago Leslie Wilson came out from
California and settled in the neighborhood of Di-
vala with half dozen Americans and Britishers
Thus the settlement of Dvala was formed and a
large proportion of the ranch turned into Potrero
without penny of outlay The disturbed condi-
ton of the country reduced the prices of all prop
erty. and Wilson able to buy the nucleus OF
his stock at very low figures
The owner Of Dfvala has worked hard and In.
telligently for ten years on the Improvement Of
his property. Today he has 5000 acres of as fine
land any in Chiriqui well stocked and fun
nished with all the necessary buildings The
ranch is easily worth $4,000. Not bad result
of enterprise started twelve years ago with
$500 capital