SJN JOSL 27 



Dios and the Escuelas Mauro Fernandez, named for the 

 recent Minister of Education whose portrait appears on the 

 5 centimo postage stamps of this period. These Escuelas 

 were two-storied with a basement under part of them. The 

 Palacio de Justicia, a one-storied building with a small patio 

 planted in roses and containing courts of "Casacion" and 

 "Apelacion" and a law library, and farther west on the 

 south side of the Avenida Central the almshouse and the 

 Asilo Chapui for the insane also belong to this quarter. The 

 west-bound electric cars turned to the south at the west end 

 of the Avenida Central and skirted the southern edge of the 

 Sabana, a common forming part of the land bequeathed to 

 the "sons" of San Jose by the prelado presbitero don Manuel 

 Antonio Chapui de Torres in 1777. On various sides of the 

 Sabana and facing it were some handsome private residences, 

 gardens and club buildings; there was also a Sabana station 

 on the Pacific Railroad here. 



In the southeastern section was the magnificent Teatro 

 Nacional, the chief architectural monument in the country, 

 which was largely constructed of white and yellow Italian 

 marbles and has often been described. Here too was the 

 one-storied Museo Nacional, which, under the administra- 

 tion of Seiiores don Anastasio Alfaro and don Juan J. Ferraz, 

 has, with limited means, accomplished much for the explora- 

 tion of the country and its natural history. It was founded 

 by the Government May 4, 1887, as "a public establishment 

 where are deposited and classified all the natural and artistic 

 products which may serve as a basis for the study of the 

 riches and culture of the country." At the same time don 

 Anastasio Alfaro was named administrating Secretary, to 

 act under the direction of a Committee, appointed Jan- 

 uary 28, 1888, consisting of Seiiores don Jose C. Zeledon, don 

 Manuel Carazo Peralta, don Juan Rojas, don Juan Francisco 

 Echeverria, don Enrique Pittier and don Pablo Biolley. 



