The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-10-27
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Punf4 Arenas. 90

Punt1 Arenas. Costa RtcA.
4 HAVE come over the new railroad
down the mountains Of Costa Rics
: 20 the Pacific Ocean. and l am now
AZ the chief port ON this side Of the
continent a~aittne . steamer for Nc
afa2 The port Is named PuntA
Arenas. The words mean SANDY Point.
and there IL enough sand here TO plas-
ter tise locks OF the Panama Canal.
Everything js sand The roads are OF
q black sand and the beach Is covered
With sand OF sombre hue.
Punta Arenas has shout 5000 popu-
lation II is built on sandy spfe
81 land which runs out into the Bay OF
Nicoys being bordered on one side by
an estuary nine miles long, mp which
one can go into the interior OF the
country. Thie part Of Costa Rica 10
hcaytly wooded. II has forests or
ccdAs. eocoboia. mahogany and other
hard woods. and on my way over the
railroad I passed many little sAwmiiis
which were cutting timber for ship
ment abroad / passed also the ROAD
10 the AbanSarez gold mines. which
are located some distance away In
the woods. Those ,nises belong 70 an
american company and II lie taking out
something like $Ss.e99 worth OF gold
md are now employing over 1000
men.
A Costa RSess Resort.
Punfa Arenas liz sometimes called the
Atlantic City OF Central America. DIR
Franklin the American druggist here
says 1t deserves the name. Sut have
yet to find any reason for the state
,nsnt Alta ntsc City has white SAND
and II II comparatively clean. The
sand Of fsurta Arenas Is as black as
your hat and II Is mixed with the
f.At-ts OF the eastern Par!hc The
hashins IL good al Atlantic City. al.
though now and then the water Is cold
The sea here IL ~ warm as boarding
house somp and 10 is 50 infested with
sharks that one II lncky not TO lose
= leg ehiic swimming. Indeed. there
Il only one place that IL safe. This
10 inside an Enclosure wherN the sea
Il Hnced around br a woven wire fence
- nna that the sharks cannot get
through Inside the fence ts . public
ha;Ahouss With steps leading down In
TO tie water, The oathhouse has union
suits. which u lets for IL cents swim.
hut these suits are so poorly knitted
that il SOU get near the wire fence
YOU may break thread ana be I'M
rsyeIed 70 s,udity before yc.. Sc. s..
moreover. the dark s1nn 0ISc0scrs
the water. and when the tide comes in
4, 10 somewhat like swimming through
mud Punta Arensa Hike Atlantic
City. has promenade walk with con-
crete seats on each side and a band
stand ~ me end II ~ about one
aftieth as long as the walk at Allan
tic CITY
A. TIE CeA4Hal Americas Seo0s0e.
This town rs nothing like any of
our American seaside resorts Take
me hotels. The one AZ which I am
stopping il called la Europa ard II
~ about the best in the place. It In
. two-story building made OF wood
with . roof Of galvanized iron. Last
Right we had an eacthquake. which
Ynads the wood creak ana the gal
vani3ed iron rumble like % much stage
thunder but otherwise no damage was
done. Thers-is no plaster On the walls
10 fall and none on the ceiling. The
wallis consist Of plain boards nailed 70
studdinz aSsou. four feet apart. and
the ceiling. which Is fifteen feet high.
has lattice work around II about ten
feet fnom the floor that the air may