The Holbrook news., 1912-07-05

i England takes the entire product each year and pays a higher price for it than the United States pays for Bra, gillian coffee. Costa Rican coffee is strong and black as served here in San Jose, and to the writer it seems far superior to the average coffee provid, ed in American homes and hotels. Il is better without milk.
 It cannot be doubted that if Amer. jeans were more familiar with the at fractions of Costa Rica more would visit the country. The climate of San Jose is considered ideal The city is 5000 feet above the sea and the cool air of this altitude is relief after the heat and sultriness of the Carib- bean ports. Today the air is as clear, cool and bracing as September day in the North Atlantic states. We arc told that 1t never gets any cooler. though sometimes warmer, so that there is no necessity for artificial heating in the houses. The city is pic turesque and interesting and surround' ed on all sides by mountains, the tops of which have been lost in the clouds since the arrival of the Knok party.
 scenery l8 6GdUllI0s
 The trip from San Jose to Port Linn on Is the more attractive because of the beauty of the scenery after tha first hour of the ride. The railroad follows the line of a torrential noun tain river from Port Limon to Car tago, 14 miles below San Jose. Though there are many railroads in the United States through mountains of greater altitude than those of Costa Ricas none of them have the tropical vegeta tion which distinguishes this country Mountains which in the states would be bare, bleak and desolate are here covered to their very peaks with the luxuriant growth that is found al Port Limon. The mountains are al ways green the year around.
 Dry goods and a great number oi household articles are bought from Europe. It is frequently declared by Americans in Costa Rica that if firm1 in the United States would study the Costa Rican market as carefully as tho European merchants do and make the same efforts to please their customera they would have no difficulty in gain ing a greater proportion of the trade of Costa Rica. The same applies to the trade situation in all Central American countries, according to opin- ions expressed here.
 For example, tons of concrete Is be ing used in Costa Rica in all sorts of construction. It is said that American firms would get all this business fl they would pack the cement in iron cans rather than in barrels, the metal containers being necessary because of the dampness on the coast, which spells about half of each barrel of ce- ment that is not used as soon as re ceived. Another criticism of Amer jeans in Central America Is that they are too anxious to get rich in one day.
 As 1t is, the United States receives more than half of the total exports of Costa Rica and sells Costa Rics nearly half of her total imports. The general view is that the sales of Amer ican made goods in Costa Rica will continue to increase. It is stated by Americans here that as the opportunf ties afforded in Costa Rica for agrt cultural development on large scale become better known in the states more American capital will enter the country The opening of the Panama canal will also help toward this end.