Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1918-03-06
ADAMS FAMILY PLEASED
With Central AMERICA
C, l.. ADAMS WRITES OF CONDI.
TIONS OF COUNTRY THEY
NOW CALL HOME
TROPICAL FRUIT IN ABUNDANCE
Expects To Raise One Hundred Acres
Of Sugar Cane, Which Yields
Heavily.

left for Nicaragua, Central America
is now located on his land, and is
getting settled down to the line OF
work of the fruit grower Of the south
Mr. Adams promised the editors of the
Democrat that when he reached his
destination he would write us of the
conditions and possibilities of the
land to which he was going. 1t will be
indeed pleasure to the many friends
of the family to read that they are
nicely situated and that they are more
more than pleased with the country
Mr.. Adams writes as follows:
! Pearl Lagoon, Nicaragua, C. A. Feb
IA, 1918. ,.----
Editors of the Democrat:
In accordance to my promise l will
write you a few lines to let you know
we arrived at our new home safe and
sound.
We left Manchester January 5th ar
irving in New Orleans on the eve
ming of January 9Th. We were in
Chicago a few hours and saw them
sh0veling snow. New Orleans did not
have any snow but l believe they
suffer just as much or more from the
cold weather. Some days you could
not get any COAL and wood sold for
five cents stick, u inches long. and
half rotten at that. We went to church
on Sunday and almost froze as they
did not have sh. ldru toc-upbd ! hrdd
had no fire.
New Orleans is a great city. So
many of the buildings are so queer
and the streets so narrow, it seems
almost like a foreign country. But
when you get down to Canal street
there is some push and it is more
like northern city. The shipping
docks interested me the most. | never
saw anything like them before There
are ten miles of modern docks and
ware houses, and ships from all parts
of the world loading and unloading
When you visit such place you cease
to wonder where the produce goes
So many fruit ships hauling bananas
cocoanuts, and other tropical fruits
from Central America and the. West
Indies. Some of the boats carry 40
O00 punches of bananas. Train after
train loaded with fruit leave here fol
the north.
We left New Orleans, January 10Th
on the Roma, ship which carries
freight and passengers. There were
sixteen in our party that were going
to Nicaragua to live or look for land
and party going to the mines. We
were five days going to Bluefields or
shipboard Not any Of.us got serious
ly sick Some of us lost one meal
The ship furnished us plenty of food
We were all glad to see land and wall
on solid ground again. This is sucf
a different country: everything sc
lovely and green. Cocoanut trees
were about the first thing we saw
We had to land at Bluefield Bluffs
about six miles from Bluefeld proper
and take a small boat to Bluefield
Blueleld is a city of four or five
thousand. The people are mostly ma
tives, Jamacans, Chinese, few Ger
mans and fewer Americans. Thl!
surely a wonderful country, natuh
ally cd has given this country more
than any other country Most every
ting grows here. You could live here
and have more than in any othel
country in the world without import
ing anything They send to the United
States for onions, cabbage, butter
canned meats, etc, not because the!
! cannot raise them here, but because
they do not want to put forth thu
effort. l was in a small garden il
Bluefield, that had growing and bear
ing, cocOanuts, paupa, bread fruits
grape fruits, oranges, lemons, cocoa
pears, apples, lines, bananas ant
plantains. l never saw so many diff
ferent kinds of fruit growing in 81
small a garden.
Most of the business houses ar
carried on by Chinese, and some Ger
mans. The Germans are watched pret
ty closely here. Uncle Sam has NOR
to say than the people OF Nicaragua
do. I hope some day this country viii
belong to Uncle Sam.
The natives are friendly and peac'
full class Of people but are very 1g
norant and you cannot believe Wha
they say; but as a class | think the!
are Just as honest and more peaceabl'
than a good many that live in thu
states. | will cite you one instance
l had some chickens that | brough
from the States and put them in
vacant lot for two weeks and no
one of them have disappeared.
Pearl City is thirty two miles nortl
of Bluefelds on the Lagoon. A yer!
pretty lit iieEho a-foge.j tufhoa,o r.
beautiful place for city, but 0nl.
small place at present.
This part of the country has higl
hopes of it's becoming the best cit.
on the east coast There has beef
a party of engineers here for the las
a part 70 fengineers here for the las
year, surveying for the new railroad
to connect the east coast with th'
interior and the west coast. The!
are employed by an American corpo
ration and are American engineers.
One of the things this country mos
needs is better trans portatlOn, als'
some American brains.
Our plantation is about twenty-five
miles northwest of Pearl City on th'
Wasashan River, river navagabl'
for large boats. Water transportation
is all they have on the east coast
we are lOCdleu JuSl dCi ooS tiS law
from a large sugar mill. 1t is op
Grated by an expert American suga
man from Louisiana. They keep sew
enty men employed on their planta
tion, and have contracted their sugar
at 12 cents per pound. They cal
handle about three thousand acres o
sugar cane. Sugar cane yields from
twenty-five to forty tons to the acre
l am going to plant one hundred
acres. I have contracted my cane il
the field for $4.25 per ton, and d'