The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-10-05
MRS. PURDY IS
 VISITING CITY
 AFTER , YEARS
Compares Her Presen Home Tn Costa Rica
 and Capital City

dilO Sdpltdi Sity
 Juneau residents will be pleased to know that the former Mrs. Percy Leroy Fearn, now Mrs. Henry T. Purdy, is making brief visit in Juneau and is guest at the Gasti neau Hotel.
 Mrs. Purdy was resident of Ju- neau about five years ago and when she left here she travelled di- rect to San Jose, Costa Rica, which is now her home. She is enjoy ing every moment of her visit here and is renewing old friendships.
 In speaking of her home in San Jose, Mrs. Purdy said:
 When we left Juneau, we went direct to Costa Rica, which is a little republic west of Panama, and settled in San Jose. This charm ing little tropical city is the capital of Costa Rica and lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Costa Rica is quite close to Nicaragua which has become such vital interest to the United States because of the proposed Nicaraguan Canal which will fol- low the San Juan River, the border line between Costa Rica and Mica ragua, to Lake Nicaragua and thence, after a little dredging, to the Pacific Ocean. Engineers are already surveying this part of the country for the contemplated ca nal.
 Trip Worth While
 q left Costa Rica several months ago, and after visiting my mother. Mrs. Andrew Onderdonk, in New York, I came to Juneau where the renewal of all my old friendships has been we'll worth the trip of several thousand miles that separ- ated me from them for the past five years.
 While we, of Juneau, have per- manent rain, the climate of San Jose is divided into the rainy sea- son and a dry season-the six months of rain is termed winter although there is no noticeable change in the temperatures and t'Ie dry weather, which by the way comes in January, February, March April, May and June, is invariably called summer. Sometimes, during the so-called summer season we have little rain and when sucE a thing occurs the Costa Rican: usually say they are experiencing winter weather.
 Tn the Costa Rican winter sea son, the mornings are delightfully."- bright and sunshiny, but the after moons are always rainy; and in tnt summer season there is plenty O. sunshine but there is also an ex ceptional amount of wind and duS- However, the climate seldom chang es and is quite definite"
 Wonderful Climate
 "The climate there is wonder ful, though, and has often been re ferred to as eternal spring. Ther' is a certain bouyant coolness il the air which is undoubtedly du' to the high altitude. It may b. of interest to know that all tn capitals of South America are 10 cated in the interior high up il the mountains. This was due t. two very powerful forces, one beinl that at the time when the Spanisl were settling this part of the coun try the waters of the Caribbeal Sea were infested with ferociou pirates who ruled the Spanish Mai
 with despotic power; and the othe force being that the coastal town : were situated in low marshy place that were conducive to malari fever.
 Transportation to these inter
 for capitals" continued Mrs. Purd5
 was carried on mainly by carret
 tas, which are wooden carts wit
 two solid wooden wheels and whic
 are drawn by oxen. This mode !
 travel was used before the adver
 of the railway. It was and : amazing how much furniture an what quantities of heavy ob1ec were carried up into these noun
 tainous towns. The Costa Rican 1, prefer the luxuries of life to tn comforts, you know, and you wi often find beautiful baby-gran
 piano in districts where little known of modern plumbing.
 Beloved Alaska And now I am back in my be loved Alaska and am delighted t be here where the foliage seem almost tropical to me with il
 devils club, wild raspberry bushe