The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-08-07

A@aHAE
were as big as five feet Landing
the dinghy at one Of these ladders
was a feat.
Ships here are loaded and I'm
loaded by Costa Rican stevedores
whose pay Is four colons a day
Us cents). There are two crews
all the time. They spell each other
every hour. Two or three men are
used fer each job and there is no
work between eleven and two.
Usually the work continues until
midnight as II il much cooler then.
We were hailed from the dock
by someone crying Dewey
Dewey" Dave and went in. The
man on the dock was Captain
Brown of the Malicious. a San
Pedro boat. Brown had worked for
DR.. Ross when Dave was captain
of the Loop. Brown had been in
Costa Rica for several months.
spoke Spanish and knew everyone.
He was lot Of help 10 US in set
ting us right about the way of
things. II was rather pleasant TO
meet a friend so soon, 5000 miles
from home.
Puntarenas' outstanding point of
interest is Its buzzards. They walk
by the hundreds in the main
streets. 1t was early when we first
went ashore and the cleanup wa
CONS were on the streets. The buzz
yards were helping with the trash.
These buzzards were not ugly birds
as are some. but were all black
from crest TO toe and looked some
what like turkey. They were
everywhere. always; roosting in
trees. on roofs. watching for a
choice morsel OF garbage.
There are no paved streets in
Puntarenas; just sand. II was
plenty dusty whenever a car pass
ed. and when the wind blew-wow!
Except for few Of the better
class. all houses are built tight up
TO the sidewalk, presenting only a
boarded front with one window
and one door. These houses were
painted in remarkable colors; red
trimmed with yellow seemed TO be
favorite although they did not
draw the line at any combination.
Since each block was solid on
the outside II left the center of
the block open. This space was
filled with palms and other shade
trees so that in everyone's back
yard was a shady. cool spot for
siesta. During the day every house
was open to the street so that one
could see how the other half lived
The most that any of the homes
contained were a bed, a chair and
table; sometimes a radio or a
sewing machine. They were clean.
however, in spite of the dust on the
streets. Still il was a shock to
know that these people had so
little compared TO a similar class
in the states.
The laboring class here live on
rice and beans. The meat is very
poor. Beef is killed during the
night. cut up and sold before eight
in the morning. Cinnamon are the
butchers and butchers" is the
word. They do not cut meat into
the various cuts we know; they
just haggle 1t off anyway. No bone
is sold as they have no meat saws.
II is all cut off in small hunks like
stew meat.
We were able TO get the tender
loin each day. 1t was very good.
we thought. in spite of its newness
and poor quality. We also got
shrimps. or prawns. that had been
caught during the night. The only
vegetable that we could eat raw
was the tomato; all others were
taboo because of dysentery. The
tomatoes we peeled. the other
vegetables we cooked. The bread
made in Puntarenas was very poor.
forgot TO say that the tender
loin of beef was 30 centimos a
pound, which was less than is
cents. Oranges We're IS cents a
hundred, bananas from five to 20
cents a 80 to 50-pound bunch.
Potatoes were three cents but like
marbles. When we left we took
300 oranges, three punches of
bananas. u pineapple (12 cents
each). n sack OF potatoes. so
pounds Of rice. 20 pounds of beans.
cabbage. carrots. chayote (root)
All American canned goods were
from three to five times the Amer
lean price. Corned beef was 20
cents a can. such as we pay 20
cents for at home.
Jerry and Tim had dysentery
quite badly. Each had to 20 to a
doctor. / had a touch of II bu,
bought a couple of bottles of black.
berry wine that stopped it at once
The rest were not affected much
If any. Personally. I think the
dysentery was caused by the Costs
Rican beer, as it had lots OF hops
! (Confinued)