The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-10-01

~ "a SFtA4ttIlcII proposed h$
Costa Rica, and the debt has now
been refunded ., something Ike / Or
> per cent on par. bat with a big
uiscoUnt 10 the underwriters. IS am
told. The president Of Costa Rica
ooes not consider ! public debt a
pubic blessing, b L he believes tina,
money might be borrowed and If
properly expended it would be OF
great good 10 Costa kica.
asked hlS@cXcellency what he
would do If he had $1,000. o IN his
treasury. AS 4uIch A. ! nash he re-
piled:
would huiIl roads. TIA, is the
CRYING need OF this land. Ne have
PRACTICALLY no highways 81 eomme~
except the line Of railway which
crosses the country from o1e Side to
NE other. The only roads 10 the
interior are trails. and here and there
q wagon road. which during a part
or the year is Il river of mud. What
Costa Rica needs most is tnpap trans
portatIon, but | fear me il i long be
Tore We shall have what W should in
that line"
Pulling the Teeth OF the Tropics.
During our talk President Iimene2
referred 10 the great work that has
been done at Panama in What some
one has called pulling thu teeth OF
the tropics mean the sanitation
methods which have turncd oar Canal
Zone from being the pest hole of the
world to one of the healthieSt spots
u work is being studied by many Of
the Latin American republics, and
that new health methods are being
introduced everywhere. He referred
to u fight with the hookworm and
the discoveries made In Porto Rico.
saying that Costa Rica was fighting
this parasite in the am way.
Tho country has q mpHica hoard
which gives hOokworm medicine free
OF charge to all who apply, and it is
sending physicians out TO study the
disease and to treat the people. SO
far but little impression has been
made upon the health Of the country,
but the work is at it's beginning. and
in time it will do great good. Costa
Rica is noted for its live interest in
sanitary matters. 1t is now improV-
ing the WaterwOrks at San Jose, and
is bringing in mountain water through
a pipe something like eighteen miles
long. A new system of sewers is be-
ing introduced, and there are New
York parties here who are putting
down blocks. Of new streets with .
view to making contracts for repay
ing the capital.
An Up-to-Date Nation.
Indeed, | find this little republic in
habited by what might be called the
most ~up-to-date and progressive PEG
pie Of all the nations of Contra
America. It IS still overloaded witl
the debts due to the mistakes of tn
past, but nevertheless il is stTus
Cling along the road of modern civ
iliZation. 1t has u good school sy1s
tenn. Education is compulsory and j
is said hat there are more teacher!
in the republic than soldiers. Their
are 80, 900 children in the priInar,
and secondary schools and there ar'
I'M ~ n ~
most Of the cities. The government
is spending almost a dollar a heat
per mum on its educational branch
and the cost for every pupil is est
mated at $12 per year. At the sam
rate we should be spending some
thing like $90,O00,o00 per annum OF
our public schools.
The government has a secretary o
public instruction and the Who'll
count is divided up into circuit
and school districts. Each distric
has its school board and every circui
+ has its inspector. who goes about an
examines the schools and the teach
ers. Some Of the high schools ar
l upported entirely by the nationa
treasury, but these have norma
training departments to supply teach
: ers for the graded schools. The nor
NAL schools are for both mon am
women and they have many govern
> ment scholarships. AS it Is now tn
: national government buys all the text
!. books for the normal schools, but eN
: cept in the case Of the poor the chill
:. dren have to buy their own books.
In addition to the native school
there is a large numbe Of the wealth
: Costa Ricans who send their chlldrel
abroad to be educated. The most o
this class speaks several languages
including the English. More Of tn
young men go TO the United state
t for their education than to Europ
and many of h young women ar
sent to the colleges and converts @
e France.
u Books and Newspapers.
$ One can see something OF the II
I erary tastes Of the Costa Iican b
G A look at the book stores Of San jose
There are a number of excellent ore
S and in some you Will lind 4 GOOD SIP
plv of English, French and Germa
y literature, including our best mage
zines and the New Orleans and Me-
X NorL 1ai1v n3ner- tS to the nafiJ