Evening star., 1912-09-08

shirt. and sometimes the shirt is omit
ed.
The fertile soil in return for almost no
labor supplies the necessary food, and so
the nat."e sits out the long day in his
hammock and dreams attends fieStas
or cockfghts He can be idle and com
Portable and so he does not work. This
is strictly true only Of the people in the
low or tropical portions of the country.
In the mountains and on the table lands
more effort and energy is necessary. But
Nicaragua. with it's fertile soil, could
with comparatively little effort become a
garden spot OF the world.
1t stretches from the Atlantic to the
Pacific and contains every variety of
land. low, swampy districts on the east
ern coast. grassy cattle raising plains In
the interior. jungles and forests in the
north and northeast. and mountains In
the central and western parts 1t numbers
among it's natural advantages several
navigable streams. and it's great water
way system. composed Of the San Juan
river and its tributaries, Lakes Nicaragua
and Managua. The waterway extends
from the Atlantic to within twelve miles
of the Pacific ocean.
The Pacific or western coast Is much
higher and drer than the eastern, and is
economically and geographically separate
from it. In this region are the famous
old cities of Leon and Granada and, IN
fact most of the important towns. For
centuries Leon and Granada have been
rivals. After Nicaragua together with
Mexico and the other Central American
states, threw off the Spanish yoke in III
these two cities had separate govern
ments. and the fact that Managua is now
the capital is due largely to the un-
auenchable rivalry between these two
larger and more important towns.
Leon is the largest and most important
city of Nicaragua. 1t has population Of
10000 or 10000. and is the center of re-
ligiOus and industrial life of the section
The people are liberal i'm their political
views, and this is the root of the disputes
that have always existed between Leon
and Granada. The latter place is the
stronghold of old-time aristocracy and
conservatism. Leon has the unique dis
tinction of being one of the few towns
that ever moved en- masse from one site
to another
Its original situation was at the foot of
the volcano Momotombo, twenty-five
miles from its present site. In the early
part of the seventeenth century there was
an eruption that did some damage to the
city. The inhabitants were assured that
this was a punishment for their wrong
doings and a warning that they must
move. The people formed procession.
with the mayor and the bishop at its
head. and marched out with all their
possessions and founded the present city
of Leon.
1t is the gateway between the outside
world and the great agricultural and
cattle districts and coffee plantations.
1t is we'll kept town. Its streets are
long and straight and paved with cobble-
stones. The houses. though not preten-
tious, are neat and comfortable. AS
rule, they are one-story tiled buildings.
Electricity is not used, and acetylene
gas is but just making its appearance.
Nevertheless. it is a town of which no
country need feel ashamed
Granada. its ancient rival, is a quiet.
sleepy place. beautifully situated on Lake
Nicaragua It's population is about 81. .O90.
In the middle ages ii had an open way to