Vashon Island news-record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1919-1954, 1931-07-30


of an article by Prof. w. G. Parkes.
formerly Of Burton, telling of impress
sions and experiences he has been
storing up since taking up his resi-.
dence in San Salvador, the News
Record has had many inquiries in re-
gard to more such stories. We were
delighted when the following reached
us in last Fridays mail:
OF making many books there is no
end, have read somewhere, but
whether 1t is the books or the making
of them that has no end think is
open to discussion I know that I
have never found the end of many
books because / did not get interested
enough in them to get that far. But
which ever Interpretation is placed on
this there Is one book know of that
has many ends. 1t is diary some
times write in, or wrote in, or expect
to write in. It starts often, with
flourish, and ends more or less quickly,
with slight sizzle. like sky rocket
that didn't go up and hence can't get
down to a reasonable conclusion.
OF late 1t has been somewhat at
random that the spirits have moved
me to write in this book of many ends
and to the particular end that I may
contribute to the Vashon Island News
second chapter Of my impressions of
Central America Gull from 1t the fol-
lowing more or less disconnected ex-
tracts, factful, but somewhat fanciful.
leaving 1t to general intelligence of
the reader to decide which is fact and
which is fancy, And If you try to de-
eide you will probably conclude that
my mind has wandered farther than
my feet when write
OF sprinkling cans and mango trees
OF derby hats and dust and cheese.
But never mind perhaps you won't
read that far.
1t is Easter week and hot, fine
weather in the Capital of Ell Salvador
An ideal time for the ladies to wear
their Easter hats but they don't wear
hats. It hasn't rained since last No
vember, one or two occasional showers
not mentioned, and the rains are not
due for month or so, so heat and
dust prevail.
Easter in Central America Is a time
of vacations. All business is suspend
ed for at least three days and the
banks close for week. asked a
business man what they did with their
money with the banks all closed. ut
Just saves time" he said, 1--WE don't
have the trouble of putting it in and
taking 1t out again" Our man of all
work, so to speak, informed us on the
morning of Good Friday that this was
a day on which he did not work. This
in itself was enough to distinguish the
day for usually he doesn't say any
thing about 1t. One daily paper in
the Capital is issued for three days Of
the week, the others SUSPEND for all of
it.
Today, Tuesday, the news came of
the destruction of Managua, the Capt.
tai of the neighboring country of
Nicaragua, by earthquake and fire and
the paper we get will come out next
Monday with the news. We heard of
1t on the street in San Salvador and
read the first reports in the last issue
of The Prensa. The full particulars
will be out next week. ALI we know is
that Managua is in ruins, shaken
down and burned up and we can burn
up with curiosity or anxiety till the
papers come back from their vaca-
tions.
We felt q slight shock as we were
getting up on Wednesday morning but
| San Salvador pays little attention to
slight shocks. This city has twice
been destroyed in the last 20 years and
1t is built now so that it takes lot
to shake it up or down
Easter cannot stop the earthquakes
but 1t stops the trains on Good Fri
day through all the country and IL
stops all wheels from turning in most
| Of 1t. No autos or buses. Nothing
moves but the professions which mark
the Easter season. Easter in Central
America is spectacle, a pageant, and
its story Is enacted In professions on
the public streets so that those who
cannot read can visualize the Story OF
the Cross. Mounted on bamboo plat
form, float without wheel, the
Christ, clad in kingly raiment and
bearing His cross, Is carried in the
procession on the shoulders of rs or
| 80 men, most of whom are out Of sight
beneath 1t. Mary and Martha and the
other Mary weep and mourn on the
way to Calvary, in living representa-
tives or in carried images. John, the
beloved disciple, meets his Master on
the way and kisses his feet; Peter
carrying stuffed white rooster, as O
symbol of his denial, is seen lurking
and scurrying here and there among
the crowds; Judas, the detrayer, is
Missed and stoned and, afterwards
hung In effigy and laid out in the
street before the church for ignomin-
ious burial.
And at night, on Friday, while the
Christ Is In the tomb, sad and
solemn procession of 300 or 400
women, Marys and Marthas and other
Marys, march to slow and mournful
music In two single columns, one or
each side Of the street. They carry
lighted candles and are bowed in at
titudes of solemnity and grief while
in the middle OF the street some 81
women carry the cross on which the
Christ was crucified to be preserved as
n symbol and a cherished possession