Where
it
AMERICAN COFFEE PLANTATION
PimsiDLi u was aovioua Latin
I American politics, and possibly It
was merely straignt Latin-American
acquisitiveness, that led cer
tain dark, bare-footed Colombian
revolutionists under General Herrera to
seise or to be accurate, to steal, or to
speak In Herrera's language, expropriate,
certain thousands of bags of Chlrlqul. It
was only an Incident In the somewhat weari
some game of revolution that has been
dragging on for some time In the chaotic
affair that calls itself, between revolutions,
the Republic of Colombia.
But it was an incident that promises to
awaken a lively American interest in the
noisy game. For It happens that most of
the expropriated coffee belongs to American
citizens, and It happens that Chlrlqul Is on
the Isthmus of Panama and that the United
States has long had its eye on the spot
as being Juct the thing for a coaling sta
tion and base.
So it may be that, in unraveling the
tangle, Chlrlqul will become a place with
the American flag flying over It.
Central and South American republics are
only Just beginning to awaken to the fact
that it is not open season for Americans
whenever a Latin-American feels like
shooting. A few years ago the arrival of
an American warship was so rare in the
ports along the Caribbean sea that many
of the night-blooming governments did not
Inow what an American naval officer looked
like. But lately, and especially In the last
few months, the republics and dictator
ships whose coasts front on the great trop
ical ocean have not been able to open their
mouths real wide before a rapid fire bat
tery would peer at them from the deck of a
white cruiser.
Disorderly Republic.
The Republic of Colombia has given the
United States more trouble of late than any
of the other unquiet folk that follow the
pursuits of internecine war Instead of com
merce. Twice it has been necessary to land
American marines and blue jackets. The
last time was only recently as everybody
will remember. The affair before that was
In 1885, when McCalla took Colon and then
sent his men across the Isthmus in armored
vaim bii ii BftiTiLr sn r n a raVAiuiinni.t.
gitlrolsts alike Into "stonnlnor It whit.
ever ll was.
In the last seventy years Colombia has
had more than twenty-live recolutlons
that are considered big enough to record.
Of small sideshows in the same line, such
s local insurrections in separate provinces,
no full account ever has been made. If
there had been, the history of the country
would read monotonous'y like a police blot
ter. The Bureau of American Republics once
essayed to publish a handbook on Colombia
end the statisticians charged with the work
nearly lost the!r minds trying to devise
a polite way of giving a resume of its
history that should be truthful and yet
Polite enough to hurt no one's feelings.
The republic Itself has published such a
handbook and by actual count a "political
disturbance" is recorded on the average
in every five lines of a historical sketch
covering seven pages.
The Americans whose coffee was taken
n Chlrlqul are mostly from the Pacific
'ast. The nucleus of the colony was
rrrmed about seven years ago, when thirty
rPle from Stockton, Cal., cut a trail
"ough the primeval forests and estdb
iisfted their plantations on the sides of the
n-"untalns at an elevation of about 6.000
Among those whose success was
snV p Wer th6 ,n' the Dedham
th. rarns worths, who settled there with
work ' ,nd chlWr- For a time the
hirin Yf bard' owln t0 th difficulty of
Xh8, , r' ,nd tbs wome "A children
ne t "d he,ped- But tn- tract
t.,, t? ee mowing territory and soon they
thousands of coffee trees flourishing.
(sir v trei do not ber until they are
went k 0ld mn of tn Americans
Md m.mto 'u for tbe to develop
mo of them did not return to Colom-
United States May Get
, !
r
MRS. DEDHAM AND HER CHILDREN DRYINQ COFFEE.
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REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS UNDER
bia until a yeai or two ago, when they
found their trees bearing well.
Taleat of Expropriating.
It was hardly to be expected that the
thrifty Central Americans should scorn
the gifts of Providence thus displayed for
them any more than It was to be expected
that they should demean themselves by
clearing their land with their own lordly
bands snd raising their own coffee. The
natlcnal labor-saving device of expropria
tion Is far mere convenient. It covers a
multitude of valuables, from aephalt right
to coffee.
The persons who clamor aloud that they
are the legtt'mlsts, the enly real things
in the government, were very much disap
pointed about this particular expropriation.
As soon as they heard that the revolution
ists had achieved it, the governor of Pan
ama, General Salazar, sent two gunboats
to capture the revolutionists with the goods
on them. He expected that they would at
tempt to ship the coffee in order to raise
money. The good man's grief, when he
found that the villains had hidden it away
here he could not get it, is said to have
been profound.
He then appealed to the American consul
general to send a warship. Ha wanted
Philadelphia to go. But the consul general
wouldn't send It, possibly not caring to
play the game that way. However, Ranger
finally was dispatched to the city of David,
which is General Herrera's headquarters in
the revolutionary bus'ness, to argue with
that strenuous person about those bags
of coffee.
The city of David Is away up a river.
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ROYAL PALMS NEAR CITY OF DAVID.
It is a town that Is noteworthy chiefly for
Its unusual decorations In the way of shot
holes and cannonball punctures. It has a
stronghold where most of the fights are
"pulled off," apparently by mutual consent.
This Is the Quartel. The walls of the
tower there have even more cannonbal'a
sticking tn them than has the rest of the
town.
A really pretty fight was enjoyed there
recently, during -the last attempt by the
government forces to take the town. A
government captain got as far as the tower,
but unhappily bis troops had not cared to
Imperil their health by accompanying him.
So he bad to fight for 'his life, which is
rare in Central American revolutlous,
where the non-combatants usually are the
only ones killed ss far ss both s'des can ar
range It.
This captain, however, was a real fighter.
He had a huge Colt's navy revolver, which
Is a weapon that disgusts Colombians, who
prefer to battle with the machete. He
managed to ensconce himself behind a
wall. By taking pains and paying strict
attention to his work, he managed to
shoot rr stab twelve men during his lone
stscd. The revolutionists themselves ad
mit it. But thirteen was his hoodoo. A
he swung his machete at the head of the
man with the unlucky number, a cannon
ball wandered along and took his heal
off.
laviie Chlrlqal.
Chlrlqul has seen the bloodiest scenes
In the present revolution. Non-combatants
have been slain without mercy, tn the city
of David alone fifty persons having been
a Coaling Station
- . . . a- , . vS." :
! 7 V ' i V i
-I : - -
QUARTERS OF DAVID. WITH REVOLUTIONARY
y ;: :
j"
TOWER WHERE MOST OF THE
FIGHTS HAVE TAKEN PLACE.
hacked to death because they did not de
clare for either party.
The native do not like "gun plays." at
least when the other person makes it.
What they love passionately is to drive
away at each other with machetes. Many
of them can fence wonderfully With these
immensely heavy knives. But most of
them are stronger in the art of hacking
away at their opponents from a distance
that is judged with fine perception of
danger, so that nothing fatal shall occur
to mar the day's war. They do not ob
ject to death particularly, but their anxiety
that it shall be confined to the other fellow
makes them cautious.
The lagoon of Chlrlqul would make an
excellent coaling station. The peninsula
of Tobolo shuts it in on the east and sev
eral beautiful islands protect It to an ex
tent from the sea. Columbus discovered
the lagoon in 1502. He found that the
natives had abundance of gold and he re
turned to Spain with glowing reports of
the prodigious wealth of the country in
minerals and vegetation. And he did not
exaggerate. Colombia Is a country that is
wonderful in natural riches. Coffee,
cacao, sugsr, tobacco, bananas, cotton,
vanilla, yucca. Indigo, rice and scores of
other foods grow almost wild. Ths for
ests contain nearly every valuable wood
known, and many rare and atrange and
beautiful kinds that appear to promise
vast commercial returns If they could be
brought to market.
The chains of mountains that cut the
country, from Chlrlqul province south,
offer all sorts of climates and soils and
TROOPS IN FRONT.
other conditions for every form of agri
culture from planting to raising cattle, ac
cording to location.
But besides being cursed with perpetual
revolution, the country Is cursed with fever
In the lowlands along the coast and tn
the deep valleys between the mountains.
A white 'man must learn to eat quinine in
doses that would be fatal in temperate
tones. Living along a greater part of the
coast is impossible for any except Indians
and certain acclimated classes of half
breeds and negroes. The sea coast towns
are filthy and the heat la steady and kill
ing. In some parts of Colombia It rains
for six months In the year. In some of
the valleys the ferer-bearlng vapors shroud
the land day and night. In other parts
life Is delightful. In the higher altitudes
on the mountain sides, one can often se
lect climate to suit one's self, obtaining
every range from sub-tropical to frigid as
he ascends or descends.
Land o nomine,
Colombia Is full of romance. A wonder
ful race once dwelled there, a race of wor
shipers of the sun. They built cities and
somewhere in the unknown recesses of
the land they had great treasure houses
that no man has been able to find since
their day.
Even In what may be called modern times
there were such treasure houses that now
are lost to man, but that surely will be
found some day. Somewhere in South Dar
len, on the track crossed by the grim
Balboa, there once were mines known ss
the mines of Cana or Esplritu Santo, that
produced ore almost pure. Those mines
were so vastly rich that In the seventeenth
century they were called "Potosl" and be
came a synonym for Inexhaustible wealth
as the name "El Dorado" is now.
When Spain held the Isthmus of Panama.
Cana attracted all the adventurous spirits
who were hungry for gold. Then began
that bloody time of attacks and raids by
the great buccaneers. Again and again
Panama was besieged by them. Again and
again their cruel bands marched on the
route over which Balboa had marched and
sacked and slew without mercy.
At last Spain, wisely designing to save
the territory even if she had to give uo
the gold, decided to clcse the mines, snd
If possible, destroy all knowledge of whers
mey were, bo in 1685 the great treasure
house of Cana was worked for the last
time. Then Its entrances were blown up
with gunpowder. The roads lesdlng to it
were destroyed. The men who knew Its
secrets were sent to distant parts of ths
world.
The tropics at once began to weave their
green mystery over the site of th world's
desire. Royal palms . grew and became
great. Creepers and orchids snd ferns cov
ered all. And the centuries passed, the
buccaneers passed, a new world grew but
no man has seen Cana, the Place of Gold.
'Ince then.
Pointed Paragraphs
Chicago News: An office boy who Is
taken on trial often proves to be one.
Some people are about as useful as a
third wheel to a bicycle.
DIstsnce doesn't lend enchantment to
one's view of a sliver dollar.
Every man may have his price, but it
Isn't every man who has his msrket.
There's always room at the top; people
will not live In attics It they can help it.
The husband who presents his wife with
a pet dog is evidently tired of his job.
Self-made men and home-made shirts
may be useful, but they are seldom orna
mental. In England gentlemen often ride to
hounds; in this country they frequently go
to the dogs.
If some people did nothing but mind their
own business they would soon become
rather narrow-minded.