Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1920-06-25

then come with me &c the hotel an
introduced re to the wner, Mr.. Ol
sen. Mr. Olsen is q Swedish gentclmal
and speaks english perfectly. Their,
arc quite number of English peo
pie stopping at the hotel and the wal
:. ers speak English very well. I have
q beautiful room on the second floor
It is as large as any we have at homo
and the ceiling is about twice as
high, aG are al ceilings here. It has
IL enormous French E'indur. which
"opens On little balcony. When the
windows are open it is just like TAX
ing out one side of the room. can
!Cct cn cxccll&nt view e The ocean
It.Gr2 ;nsv:.Ne n T'S ra1'a IN can
- !. ."cl ~iCW tf tie nCi,n tains toe
5'..'1 I'd = 4 dctiIs;c one, and very
- -,~it2h;,' with posts projecting up
.,.....! c;,ch corner, over which netting
/; izrr0>t. VIC k2y'a quite q Number II
;i.cS> S>i.:tc IS here and the 2iics are r@ly
Iv::c;SU@. Tie meals are cT:s.,tEt and
ic>nsist '.f ct least five coIy:''s., it is
roing to cost me considerably less
than I had pay in London, and am
ucl tc.aDl& much mere pleasantlp and
IcoraS0i tatly situated than ! ever was
in the hotel or boarding house in Lon
don.
The office is just about four Lin
utes walk from the hotel. I was very
much surprised when. I saw what a
nice place we had for an office. We
have the whole building. The up
stairs is not used as an office but
there is some furniture there. Alr.
Stiles and his family lived there when
he was consul here, but Mr. Henry is
rot married.
We have been very busy since ar
/ ived 1 have been clc&ning Up things
arranging files and putting every
thing in order. Besides Mr.. Henry
and myself there is a Spanish clerk
end a messenger. The clerk is leaV-
ing at the end of this month. Mr.. Her
IYy is going to England during Aug
rst and September, the hot period
here and l am expected to know en-
'ough Spanish to carry on by that time
without the assistance OF an interp-
reter. I guess 1 have quite little job
cut out for me. Any way ! an gaining
a.little self confidence and will eth
er make it or bust it. an arranging
-, to take four Spanish lessons per week
beginning on Monday, and of course
II~will put in a lot of extra time be-
sides.
MIR. Henry advises me to join Brit
Iish Club here as ali the nice people
are members and the tariff is quite
reasonable. However, l have not yet
decided to do this as I want TO find
out just how much things are goin
to cost here. think, however, that I
will be able to join. Of course l will
have to buy my whites within a
month as it will begin to get hot then
The weather has teen absolutely de-
Il.ghtful so far.
Yesterday Mr.. Henry took me to
his hotel for tea. 1t is up on the side
ICf the mountain. The tea was not as
good as the tea I have been accustom
ed to, but I saw one Of the prettiest
gardens I have ever seen. When
say garden I don't mean onions and
things. There was eight acres Of this
The walks were all around the eight
tacres and cut across in several places
and each side of the walk roses, sweet
Ipcas, and the most gorgeous lilies l
have ever seen. There were lots Of
FLOWERS new to me. Then within the
walks it was just one bed after anoth
er-some round some square, triangle
and all shapes. Then there we're oran
ge trees, banana trees, palm trees of
all description and sizes, and the
+, famous dragon tree. Every once in q
while there was fountain with big
geese or ducks, and marble statues
and everything.
4 We took a long walk UP on the
mountain There are no trees or scare
lely any Vegetation except cactus and
ipoppies. The hilisides are dotted with
tanks and reservoirs. as water must
be stored up during the rainy months
(January and February for irriga-
tion purposes during the rest of the
year.
Bananas are the chief source of in
conc here, and they have q very de-
licious flavor. I eat about four ev-
cry meal time. We examined the cac-
tus for cochineal which is another eX-
port 1t is a scrt Of fungus or very
low order af animal life, which sticks
On to the cactus plant and which is
crushed up and exported for manufac
turing into dye.
| Right ncc:t to the office is the Eng
llsh Church. II is closed at the pres
cnt time IS a preacher is sent here on
lily during the winter when there are
qu.tc few mere English people here
Gh2 church yaId is absolutely beau
tifu1. there ere whole trees of some