The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-05-11
THE FAVOREDLAND OF COSTA RIGA
ASSEM- BY MAJ. EDWARD HALE
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotent1ary OF
The United States To Costa Rica On Visit 10 his
Home at FAYETTEVILLE, Gives Interesting Interview
Concerning Its People and It's Places of Note.

make a brilliant sight as they go
round and round attended by gallant
gentlemen, young and old. In the
'parque n~aciOnal,' which is set upon
a height which it shares With the
| Presidential Palace nearby, and over
looking the city. is a magnificent
bronze group, cast in Paris, represent
| ing III expulsion in 1867 of Will
| liam Walker. our American flibuster.
President Don Alfredo Gonzales.
"The President. His EXcellency
L!cenciado Don Alfredo Gonzales, is
a young lawyer of high character and
fine ability and education. He is a
friend of the United States, and one
Of the most progressive Of all the
Latin American rulers. His palace
is a beautiful building Of Italian
architecture, and uniformed aides-de-
camp and liveried servants receive
the accredited visitor with the pretty
Difference which distinguishes these
Well-mannered Latins.
Mountain ranges, reaching at one
point II, ZOO feet above the sea level,
almost encircle the plateau of San
Jose. The sunset effect n the skies
generally are more h
those in Italy, in the Gulf of Suez, or
those seen from Mount Everest in
the Himalayas.
Probably the finest ranges, pine
apples and bananas are grown in
Costa Rica-the oranges and pineap-
pies IN the higher country, the ba-
nanas below 1000 feet altitude.
Curiousiy. there are few lemons, but
lines in abundance seem to TAX their
place. There are no apples, pears or
peaches, though big red apples from
the States are sold in the shops for
some Z or s cents. Sweet potatoes and
Irish potatoes of fine quality are
abundant; and tomatoes equal to our
ponderosa, as we'll as cucumbers,
onions, cabbage and beans. come
fresh from the market gardens
throughout the yea The celery, let
tuce and asparagus are not so good
as ours. Apart from and
cocao, coffee is the crop of export.
II has made many a planter and COM
mission merchant rich. Unlike most
| Of the other things that come from
the earth in Costa RIGA, it has a sea-
son, lasting some six months The
'Beneficio'. or series of descending
concrete floors over which water
} from the mountain treams is made
to flow, loosening the hull Of the
{ coffee fruit and otherwise treating the
coffee bean, is like our country cotton
gin Of the present day: too expensive
for every planter to nave one for him
self, and supplying a number in the
neighborhood. Costa Rica coffee is
l generally held to be the best. Nearly
; all of it goes to England and France.
No Applause For Rag Tine"
Il have spoken of the art sense Of
the Costa Ricans as expressed ir
e their talent for music-and, by the
3 way, the crowds will applaud thu
most severely classic of the operas
o but remain silent if rag-time is ven.
t turned upon. It finds expression alst
in architecture. If it be an arch tina
is constructed. it is perfect. If {
n gable, or a swelling baluster, it cor
n forms exactly to the classical mode
n that made Grecian and Roman ar
the standard of the worlds taste. Thu
great cathedral, 500 feet long, is
e perfect piece Of architecture. TIL,
National Theatre (Teatro Nacional)
situated in the same block as GU
Legation, is the third finest in an,
country following in splendor an
n cost only those of Paris and Milan)
and has no rival in all the Wester,
Hemisphere.
able and highly %traianed, many Q
them in oId-world universities. Thei
:, conversation and are de
!" lightful. and they are masters of di
!. plomacy.
There are considerable colonies c
~ french, Italians,
English ami Americans. The Englis
", and Americans, on account of the
A. common speech, form almost or
q colony. There is a finely equippe
golf club, with tennis-cOurt and clu
IS house. In the latter are dancing an
music rooms and kitchens and SCI
nd vice rooms. At stated intervals tn
er elder ladies give teas there, and ever
al Saturday night the young people Ell
re joy dances that borrow the best frol
es the modern ones.
Is, To The Dead.
al, You remember that when Suns
Cox came to Fayetteville to visit h
re colleague, Colonel Green and deliye
m ed an address Gin the eighties. n
al, iievel, he said that they made hi
lite SO S~orrOwful when they TOOK him
he Cross Creek cemetery, for it happe,
Int ed that his visit fell upon memor
nd day: and Dickens complained. ar,
pc his first visit to America tho. -,