El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-18

told that that winch IS sent abroad
brings very high prices, and the Cen
tral Americans think Salvador coffee
better than that of Brazil and superior
to the coffee of jamaica or Java
Indigo grows almost everywhere and
it once was the chief export of the
country. It is produced from a plant
which flOuriSheS upon nearly all soils.
The ground is first burnt over and then
scratched with the pillow. The seed is
scattered broadcast and the plants soon
grow to the height Of your head They
are then cut and the indigo extracted
by soaking them in water in watts 1t
takes about one hundred pounds of the
green plants to produce four, five or
six ounces of indigo.
Perfumery from Salvador.
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 De-
troit. He called the place Font Hill,
and when asked why replied that it was
because it had no fountain and no hill
This is the case with the balSam OF
Peru. ItNdOes not come fl ON Peru, but
from Salvador and this is about the
only place where it grows well. This
balsam is largely used in perfumery
and medicines. 1t is sometimes called
cocoa balSam because it was once
shipped in cOcOanutS. It really comes
from a great tree of the tropical forests
which when full grown is over yard
thick and from so to 100 feet high The
tree has a white bark and the wood is
hard and dura Die 1t has white dos
SONS and its fruit is much like a bean
pod, with a single seed TheSe trees
grow in the forests and the Da4Sam IS
collected almost altogether by indians,
who tap the trees in the winter by
scrapine off the bark in patches to the
deepth of One-tenth of an 1nch- after
this the scraped places are heated with
burning torches ami thcn covered with
scraDs of old cotton cloth The cloth
70 10 frnn nd a
the sap has soaked into it The rags
are now taken off and boiled IN Dig
iron pots They are then put under
pressure and the balsam juice squeezed
out It must now be refined and put up
I'D in cans for the market The pro-
duct is grayish-red mass which
smells like vanilla It Is said to be es-
pecialIy good for skin diseases and as
an anuseptic. It sells for two or three
Cities of Salvador.
Secretary Knox took a run through
Salvador during his stay in Central
America, and he has proclaimed 1t one
of the prettiest of our sister republics
The lowlands and sides Of the noun
tains are covered with farms The VII
lagos are quaint and the cities nave
many beautiful buildings.
The biggest town is Santa Ana, with
about 81, 600; then comes San Salvador,
with 80, 600, and then San Miguel with
% 0OO Sonsonate. where the railroad
La Libertad is almost as large. The
total city population, including towns
ranging from 5000 upward, is about
10000.
The capital. san Salvador, is one OF
the beautifully located towns OF Cen
trail America. 1t lies IN the IootnllIs
of the mountains, right under a mag
nificent volcano and about zOOO 1eet
above the Pacific ocean In some re-
spects it compares with Mexico City
Near it is Lake HOpango, beauttul,
green sheet of water with a shore line
of perhaps 80 miles All the country
about is volcanic and this lake formerly
had islands which some years ago
dropped out Of sight at the time OF an
earthquake, while another island DIV
feet in diameter rose out OF the lake
TO a height of $50 feet. At the same
time the water became intensely hot
although it is ordinarily cold mere
are now villages and hotels about Ilo-
pango and it is the faVorite resort OF
The capitaI Of the republic is well
built Its streets are wide and wei
paved. and its public offices compare
with those of the great cities OF
Europe The new cathedral is magnificent
and the white house. or casa blanca
the university. the theater and the Ma
tionaI institute are worthy of mention.
There are fine homes. consisting OF one
or two stories surrounding open courts
full gardens and not a few nave 1oun=
tains The houses are painted in bright
colOrs and the roofs are Of tiles me
sidewalks are paved with slabs or rocks
from the quarries nearby and there are
tramWayS which give a ten-minute ser
vice A new theater is now building
which is subsidized by the city. 1t VIII
cost about a million francs and viii
seat 1900
President ArauiO.
San Salvador has numerous parks, IN
which the people walk about during
theAevening, when the bands play 1t
is a great club center, and is the social
hub of the republic. II IS where the
president lives and where congress
meets. The present executive IS Don
Manuel Enrique Araujo, who was vice
president under the last administra-
ton, and who, I am told, is very popu-
lar He was elected by both parties
and great things are expected of him.
He is one of the young men of the
country and has long been noted for
He is a physician by profession and is
well known as a surgeon. He IS also
an inventor having designed some
delicate instruments, which are now
in common use in the big hospitals of
Europe.
The government of Salvador, as Is
the case with all the Central American
states, is modelled after that of our
country. The republican government
is divided into three branches, Iegls-
Iative executive and judicial The
legislature has but one house, which
is known as the national chamber OF
deputies This consists of AZ members,
who are elected by popular vote for
term Of one year. All males have the |
right to vote after they reach the age
of IS and they are compelled to do So /
There is no mugWumping or Sinking
the polls in Salvador
The army of Salvador is small but
quite large enough for the country. 1t !
numbers about 5000 men as a regular
force, 1000 as a first reserve and 10
600 as a second reserve. In case of
war, military service is compulsory, !
and the country can put into the field /
on short notice something like $4,000
men,
UPtOdate Sanitation.
Salvador is now becoming live to |
the new sanitation Some of the fin
est buildings of the country are it's
hospitals among which is that of Ro-
sales, which has an endowment Of
more than $4,000. 600. This building is
at San Salvador. It was be-
queathed to the nation by Don Jose
Rosales and was sustained by him dur
ing his lifetime. There are other hos
pitfalls at the capital and also in the
chief towns, and something like 5000
patients are treated in them every
year.
Not far from San Salvador is a tu-
berculOsis Sanat0rium, where the open
air treatment is employed, and the
people claim that they have a less
death rate from consumption than in
any other SDaDiSh- American CaDffa1