The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-08-27
Copyright, 1912, by Frank G.. Car.
penter)

ones eyes bulge out like saucers. This
Is the heart Of the tropics. and the
sun works like a dynamo. Neverthe-
less ! have here seen boys SNOWFALL
ing at MONDAY: They had real snow
and were plugging away at each other
under the c%ocoanut palms. Tropical
plants were growing luxuriantly about
them and orchids hung from the
pOrches OF a government building
nearby. The snow came from the
cold storage plant, and it was made
up of the ice ShavingS of Uncle Sans
factory. The government is now
making several thousand ons of ice
every month, and it can turn out 400
gallons of ice cream a day. 1t sends
out an icy cold storage train every
morning. and ice cream Is sold at such
rates that every canal family can have
ii Sunday, and, if it will, several times
during the week.
Streams Which Flow Oil.
Another strange thing is the streams
which flow oil. We have hundreds
OF them on the zone. They are coat
ed with scum, and the scum is petro-
leum. You look about in vain for
derricks and flowing gas wells. There
is nothing Of the kind. The oil comes
from the sanitary department. and it
is supplied by an army which coats
every stream. This is to kill the mos
Quitoes. and the means Of furnishing
1T are various. In some places it
leaks out Of reservoirs from pipes
which drip, drip, drip oil all day and
all night. In others the oil is from
machines which spray it over the
vegetation and into the streams, and
III still other places from great tin
cans made for the urpos which are
hung over the ponds, dripping only 50
much at a time. All this is to fight
the mosquito, the little beast being
hunted as though he were a lion or
a tiger on the banks of an East Indian
river.
The Fruits Of the Isthmus.
n would you think of a fruit
which contains 50 much pepsin that
1t will digest buckwheat lakes welsh
rarebit and greasy pork chops? We
have it down here. 1t looks like a
D1uskmelOn n it grows at the top Of
q tree not unlike a small palm. This
fruit Is the papaya and you may have
1t any morning at almost any hotel.
It is eaten with sugar or salt. / find
It delicious.
And then we have alligator pears
AS big as our fist and as green as new
peas. They have a hard outer shell.
which. when cut Though. shows a
butter and Of an o~leaginous taste.
Dress his fruit with salt, pepper and
vinegar, and it makes q delicious salad
which melts in your mouth. You
may buy alligator pears in New York
at so cents or upward apiece, but they
ere not so good as those Of the 18TH
mus, which you can ave almost fol
the asking.
And then our grapefruit? Those
We eat here come from Jamaica, and
are far better than any raised in the
states They are sweeter and juicies
and their Q~uinine-like flavor just suit:
the stomach. We hav delicious ba'
nanas from Bocas/ del Toro and ripe
pineapples from the Island Of Tabogs
which you can eat with a spoon
We have mangoes fit for a queen ant
have fresh vegetables all h yea
round. Moreover, Uncle Sam is week
~ shipping down apples, pears and al
the products Of the temperate zone
and we have also tropical vegetable
such as yucca, chayOteS and yams
indeed, the average mans table a
Ianama has a greater variety than i
could nave at home.
4 Land OF Game.
one always thinks of cold countrie
AS the only ones fit for hunting
Strange to say, Panama is a land O
game and wild fowl. h country i
IS rough as the Allegheny mountains
ana it is full Of deer, wild hogs an
"1c may now and then meet a tapil
no tapir is a kind Of cross. as far a
rCts are concerned, between a hos
/" horse and an elephant. 1t has
nose which is almost a trunk 1t ha
'@9la like a horse, save hat they en-
- sharp toes. It's tail is like that G
pig and it is often the size Of
StotkN pony, measuring about a var
"nd q half from the ground to il
shoulder. One of Uncle Sans ION
.udees who spends his vacations hunt
liis tells me he shot a number Of thes
boasts and that the meat is deliciou
te has shot scores Of deer, and as fC
NHd ducks l see great focks of thel
very time l pass the o fast risin
lake of Gatum. Back from h Can;
zone. where the population is scant
mere is plenty Of game, and veniso
IS frequently served at the hotels
''cn and Panama.
one Of the strOnge kinds Of Wi
l'a>ts seen in the markets is tt
l&uana. What would you think