Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1916-09-29

resort" purposes, as there is neither
winter nor summer in Guatemala.
The train passed through miles and
miles of tender, green, young sugar
cane, as well as cane In full growth,
being cut by the Indian laborers, or oc-
casionally by Jamaican negroes, whose
villages of matched cottages lined the
tracks and were visible in the valleys
down which the train sped. Some cot
tages were matched with banana
leaves, some rooted with red, native
tiles of beautiful tints.
Indian Fruit Sellers.
Indians came to the train with pine
apples in size and flavor far superior
to anything one obtains in the United
States, and with coconuts, grapes, al
ligator pears, rich, juicy, fruity man
goes of fresh pink and red and pale
green tints, as different from the dark,
picked mango Of United States con
sumption as can we'll be imagined.
Everywhere, from Guatemala City
to San Jose, on the Pacific, there was.
in truth, a very garden of Eden"
with immense tracts of land not yet
taken up, ready for the enterprising
citizen of the United States, whom the
government of Guatemala is ready at
every turn to encourage and to assist.
At Esquintia, a modern city of brick
and stone and cement, there are me-
MORALS of the Spanish domination, and
of the times when the aristocracy OF
Guatemala went there each January
and February for diversion. 1t is Il
city filled with palms, and there are
many beautiful baths.
There are other memorials, too, and
some of these attracted immediate at
tention upon arrival at Pantaleon.
These are of the Indians who are max
ing that great estate, the greatest in
Central America, still greater. In the
patio behind the manor house was a
great group of stone idols, visible
through the open doors of the resi-
dence, with fountain for a foreground
which was surrounded by four i'm
mense coconut palms, studded a few
feet up with that parasite of the trop-
ics-Orchids. No one knew when or
how the idols had come there.
1t is said that all along the west
coast once extended the tribes of Cho-
lula, who founded many 'lordships. y
Sculptured stone idols were first found
in this neighborhood in 1860. Excava-
lions brought to light pillars, statues,
stone obelisks, etc Bas-reliefs were
found which contained the representa-
lions of the horns of cows. Oxen We're
not known in the new world before the
arrival of the Spaniards.
Some psychologists and historians
therefore, believe that these bas-reliefs
represent the goddess Isis of the Egyp-
tians. But this has to do with ancient
history and the mystery of the civil
zation and settlement of Central Amer
lea, theme for the scientists. AS We
turned away from the sculptured stone
idols and monuments at Pantaleor
plantation we found ready waiting 6
most up-to-date steam locomotive anC
private car, to transport us through the
miles and miles of sugar cane to Sar
Vincente, a coffee beneficio (cleanins
factory, and another beneficio named
San Gregario, also belonging to Her
rarra Brothers, the owners of Panta
leon sugar plantation and mill.
Coffee and Sweetening.
The coffee trees had just come int
flower and their fruit was not ye
ready to wash and put through the
various processes, but we were in lucl
on the sugar plantations, for it wa:
cutting and grinding season, and aftel
we had watched the 5000 cattle grain,
knee deep in the great pastures anC
the Indians cutting the cane we came
back to the mill and the manor house
In the mill we saw 1000 bags of ion
pounds each of refined white suga
being turned out each day. Sugar can'
was fed in and refined sugar in sacks
1000 of them a day, taken out. TIL,
mill worked night and day, "a hours OIL
Il stretch. Grinding season began a
Christmas and continued until the mid
die of May. There are 10000 tons o
cane in a crop.
, The white granulated sugar goes t.
, the United States and white Demarr;
crystal sugar is made for export t.
London. Every Indian on the place ha
been taught there. There is a splendi,
laboratory equipment, with perfec
chemical and scientific control of tn
, product.