Evening star., 1924-08-12
NICARAGUA TRIES
TO REMAIN STABLE
Central American Republic
Makes Effort to Live Up to
Traditional Promise.

Nicaragua Is trying to live up to
the golden promise of her geography.
Her efforts to conduct her presi-
Dental election without the disor-
ders that marked the Honduras cleo
tons are Indicative Of the new era in
Central American affairs" says
bulletin from the Washington head
quarters OF the National Geographic
Society.
Nicaragua is the largest Of the
Central American republics ;many ac-
claim it the most beautiful. 1t has
vast, forests Of precious woods, un-
told resources of valuable minerals,
and soil SO fertile that it has been
said, If you tickle the ground with
hoe 1t smiles back with a yam
Volcanoes Fertilized q Nation.
There is darker side-no region
OF its size anywhere in the world has
been so beset by revolutions and VOL
canic eruptions. After a century of
almost perpetual civil war, Nicaragua
has settled down to comparative peace
In recent years, and already has be-
gun to reap the dividends in amazing
progress toward prosperity. Modern
science can ameliorate the. disasters
from volcanoes by approximate pre-
dictions of, their explosions, while 1T
also has taught the Nicaraguans that
the eruptions OF the past were bless
ings in disguise, because they fer
tilized the land to marvellous degree.
THE country is about the area of
New York State, and it's total popu-
lation Is only a little larger than that
of Buffalo. 1t has two mountain
ridges, which inclose the Great Lakes
of Central America Lakes Nicaragua
and Managua.
Worlds Worst Real Estate Sign.
"a glance at a Central America map
tells the story of Nicaragua's back
wardness in bygone years. Costa
Rica, to the south, and Honduras, to
the north, are accessible from the
Atlantic Ocean: all OF Nicaragua's inn
portant cities are on the Pacific side
Of coastal mountains. To the east OF
the mountains lie her lakes, and she
presents to the Caribbean a very un-
prepossessing back yard with the
worlds worst real estate designation,
the Mosquito Coast.
To-day, with Los Angeles, San
Francisco and Seattle to tap her mar
kets, Nicaragua's Pacific frontage is
a blessing. But yesterday when the
Atlantic ports of North America and
Europe were doing the worlds ship
plnS SQe was severely ndHulCdppcu.
"Curiously. too. her Mosquito coast
was appropriately named by error.
The appellation was not intended for
the insect, which abounds there, but
Is a corruption of the name of the
5000 Indians, the Misskits, who sur
vive there.
A Headline of Exploration.
"The country's northernmost Carib-
bean headline, Cape Gracias Dios, is
a headline of geography. Columbus
explored the Central American coast
on his last voyage and, cruising east
from Cape Honduras, was compelled
to take shelter from storm at a
point where the coast abruptly turns
Thanks to God and took possession
Of the country for Spain.
THAT was in 1902. A century be-
fore the Mayfiower touched at Ply
mouth Rock, the Spaniards were es-
tablished along the lake region in far
western Nicaragua, despite the un-
welcome volcanic outbursts. Es-
pecially vigorous was the explosion
Of Masaya, In 1922. The most sem
sationA single eruption, however, oc-
Cured within a century from our
day-when Coseguina blew off its
head in 1885. For days a black pail
obscured the sun, dust blanketed the
fields and forests, animals died by the
thousands from thirst and hunger.
Lava BeEat Repentance.
tradition says that it was into the
crater of the above mentioned Masaya
that Friar Bias of Castillo lowered a
bucket in 1884 in the hope of drawing
up molten gold. When it touched
the lava the bucket melted and the
good friar wrote home, One cannot
behold the volcano without fear, ad-
miration, and repentance of his sins;
for it can be surpassed only by eter-
nal fire.
"At the foot Of Mount Masaya is
a lake Of that name, and near the
lake is the little town of Masaya.
Were it not so remote one might sus-
pect the writer of a popular Ameri-
can song had plagiarized the cry of
the women fruit vendors who drone:
I have oranges, papayas, jocotes,
Melons of water, of gold, and IA
potes, will you buy?
"But Nicaragua has bananaS-She
exports between million and two
million dollars worth yearly. Only
one other crop nets her more aud that
is coffee.
Strangely enough revolution
in Sac Paulo, the worlds chief coffee
producing center, may well have the
effect Of increasing the value of Noe
aragua's crop to a point where 1t will
be worth Nicaragua's while to en-
ploy every means to stabilize her
government"