6 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



LOCTOBER I, 1905. 





LOADING BANANAS ON A TRAIN. 



slides had time after time wiped out the railroad and even 

 dammed the swift flowing river, and to enjoy the wonderful 

 semi tropical luxuriance of the giant trees festooned with vines 

 and studded with epiphytes, to look down into deep gorges, 

 up the sides of steep mountains, and across broad and fertile 

 valleys, so photographing the scenery in one's mind that the 

 snail's pace of the train was not only not objected to, but was 

 most welcome. At intervals all the way up were to be seen 

 Castilloa trees, many of which had been tapped in the brutal 

 native fashion which amounts almost to girdling. At about 

 1500 feet altitude the rubber trees began to appear less fre- 

 quently, and when the aneroid read 2000 feet, they disappeared 

 entirely. 



After reaching an elevation of some 5000 feet, we descended 

 a thousand feet and finally reached the city of San Jose. The 

 city is situated in the midst of a broad and fertile valley and is 

 semi tropical rather than tropical, being surrounded by huge 

 fields of sugar cane, corn, and growing most of the well known 

 tropical fruits. San Joje itself is a surprise. With its well- 

 kept streets, its trolley lines, electric lights, fine stores, and 

 alert looking inhabitants, it is more like a modern American 

 city than anything else. Although it contains but 24 000 in- 

 habitants, it gives one the impression of a city of double that 

 size, partly, perhaps, because the buildings are nearly all two 

 stories only, as the frequent earthquakes do not invite the 

 erection of skyscrapers. The single unpleasant feature of the 



TEN MILES OUT OF PORT LIMON. 



city is the open sewage, which is said to invite typhoid. Aside 

 from that there is practically no disease, the climate is equable 

 and the people, except on rare occasions when they take too 

 much aguardiente, give the military police little trouble. 



Almost from the first of our landing in this country we 

 heard of the magnificent National Theater that San Jos6 pos- 

 sessed. The Latin American description of it made it more 

 elegant and on a larger scale than anything in New York or 

 London. For this reason, the first view of it was a bit of a dis- 

 appointment. It certainly was beautiful architecturally and its 

 decorations were most elaborate, but it is a question if it would 

 hold more than a thousand with comfort. Most of the deco- 

 rative work was done by artists who were brought from Italy, 

 and some $600,000 gold was spent upon the building. In the 

 foyer on the beautiful inlaid floor were some of the most gor- 

 geous rubber mats that I have ever seen, in red, white, and 

 blue, with green leaves, yellow trumpets, golden harps, etc., 

 and they bore the imprint of the well known firm of Pirelli & 

 Co., Milan. Italy. 



The city has large wholesale houses, chiefly in the hands of 

 the Germans, and substantial banks, the country being on a 

 gold basis, with the colon as a unit of value, worth 46 cents in 

 American money. The population of the country is 340,000, 

 none of whom are Indians. Spanish is the language in general 

 use, but almost everybody understands English, and it is a 

 delight to mingle with the people, for they have none of the 



CHIRRIPO, SHOWINa MINOR C. KEITH'S PLACE. 



RIVER SCENE NEAR PORT LIMON. 



