Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-19

sumed at home / am told that that
which is sent abroad brings very h!gh
prices, and the Central Americans think
Salvador coffee better than that nf Brazil
and superior to the coffee of Jamaica or
Java.
indigo grows almost everywhere and it
once was the chief export of the country.
1t is produced from a plant which four
isheS upon nearly all soils. The ground is
first burnt over and then scratched with
the plow The seed is scattered broad
cast and the plants soon grow to tie
height of your head. They are thea cut
and the indigo extracted by soaking them
in water. in watts. 1t takes alb )ur enc
hundred pounds of the green plants to
produce four. five or six ounces of indigo.
The business is not so profitable As 1t
was IN the past when as much as eight
cen hundred thousand pounds were pro-
duced in one year. value equal to about
three million dollars The output today
is much less. the indigo dye having been
largely driven out of use by the cheap
analne dyes
Another queer Salvador export is the
balSam OF Peru. whose name reminds me
of that which Senator Palmer chose for
his log cabin home outside Detroit. He
called the place Font HILL and when
asked why replied that it because
it had no fountain and no hill. This is
the case with the balsam of Peru. 1t
does not come from Peru, but from Sal
vador and this is about the only place
where it grows we'll. This balsam is
largely used in perfumery and medicines.
1t is sometimes called cocoa balsam be-
cause it was once shipped in cocoanuts.
1t really comes from a great tree of the
tropical forests which when full grown
is over yard thick and from eighty to
100 feet high. The tree has a white bark
and the wood is hard and durable. 1t
has white blossoms and it's fruit is much
like a bean pod with single seed.
These trees grow in the forests and the
halsam is collected almost altogether by
Indians, who tap the trees in the winter
by Scraping off the bark in patches to
the depth of ONE tenth of an inch After
this the scraped places are heated with
burning torches and then covered with
scraps of old cotton cloth. The cloth
sticks to the tree and in a day or two
the sap has soaked into it. The rags are
now taken off and boiled in big iron pots.
They are then put under pressure and the
balsam juice squeezed out. 1t must now
be refined and put up in cans for the
market. The product is a grayishred
mass which smells like vanilla. 1t is said
10 be especially good for skin diseases
and an antiseptic. 1t sells for two or
three dollars a pound.
Secretary Knox took a run through
Salvador. during his stay in Central
America. and he has proclaimed it one
of the prettiest of our sister republics
The lowlands and sides of the noun
tains are covered with farms The viii
lagos are quaint and the cities have
many beautiful buildings.
The biggest town is Santa Ana, with
about thirty-four thousand; then comes
San Salvador. with thrty-two thousand,
and then San Miguel. with twenty-three
thousand. Sonsonate. where the railroad
shops are. has twelve thousand, and the
port of La Libertad is almost as large.
The total city population. including towns
ranging from three thousand upward. is
about one hundred and eighty thousand.
The capital San Salvador. is one of the
beautifully located towns Of Central
America II lies in the foothills of the
mountains right under a magnificent vol
cano and about two thousand feet above
the Pacific ocean. In some respects it
compares with Mexico City. Near it is
Lake Ilopango, a beautiful green sheet
of water with shore line of perhaps
thirty miles All the country about IS
volcanic and this lake formerly had is
lands which some years ago dropped out