Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-01-25
CENTRAL AMERICA
The Romance of. the Banana and OF
Coffee.


Coffee.
When the American small boy eats
his daily quota Of bananas and when
his father and mother sip their
breakfast, luncheon, or dinner coffee
they are making important contribu-
tions to the prosperity of fellow
Americans of whom they know very
little-thc residents Of the five Cen
tral american republics which have
lately been discussing the formation
of sort of United States and Cen
trail America" says a bulletin issued
by the National Geographic Society.
Central America illustrates strsk-
ingly the effects Of geographic FAC
tors on q regions development" con-
tinues the bulletin. "All the five re-
publics lie on the relatively narrow
isthmus between the narrow ribbon OF
Panama on the south and Mexico on
the north. The Spanish settlements
made soon after the discovery oil
America were all on the Pacific side
of the isthmus, for the most part on
the plateaus and mountain slopes
and in the mountain valleys Of that
region, which temper an otherwise
tropical climate. Practically the en-
tire Atlantic side Of the isthmlis was
a low plain. covered with q dense
tropical jungle. This acted as
great Chinese Wall erected by nature
which discouraged or actually cut off
intercourse with the Atlantic coast
and turned the faces of all the coun-
tries toward the Pacific.
Isolated Both by Nature and Man
1.-The isolation started by nature
was continued by the colonial policy
of the Spaniards. who for three hum
dred years permitted the Central
American settlers to trade only with
the mother country and greatly re-
stricted even that commerce. The
various groups of settlements which
finally became the five republics OF
Guatemala, Salvador. Hondur-
as, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica-were
also effectively separated from each
other by the mountainous nature OF
the country and the lock Of means Of
communication.
AT the time of the throwing off
of the Spanish yoke in 1921, therefore,
Central America was made up Of
group of communities of rather primi-
tive development scattered along the
Pacific Ocean. The settlements were
as effectually cut off from the United
States as if they had been many
thousands of miles away instead of
being across the Caribbean Sea.
Steel Rails. Steam ShoveIs and Coffee
Bring Prosperity.
1.-The story Of Central Americas
growth in prosperity and importance
in the nineteenth and twentieth cen
turies is chronicle of engineering
achievement in the outside world and
q romance Of horticulture In the is
thmus itself. With the settlement OF
the Pacific coast OF. the United States,
the building of the Panama Railroad,
and later the construction OF trans
Mexican railway. the Panama Canal.
and railways across Guatemala and
Costa Rica. Central America has be-
come easily accessible.
Shortly before The construction OF
the Panama Railroad coffee was in
troduced into Central America from
the West Indies and was found to
grow to perfection! in the lava soil on
the slopes of the volcanic mountains
along the Pacific coast Of most Of the
region. Coffee soon became an export
OF prime Importance and has brought
much money into Central America.
The acquisition Of 4 higher standard
of living in the four republics in which
culture IS directly traceable to the
little bean.
Where the Banana Comes In
"rhe remainder of Central Amer
icas horticultural romance has as its
motif-the banana. In order that the
great American hunger for the slen-
der golden fruit might be appeased,
large fruit growing and distributing
corporations from the United States
acquired extensive tracts Of land in
tho Atlantic plain, reclaimed 1t from
the jungle. and planted great banana
groves which produce millions OF