THE TOWN OF CART AGO AND ITS LIFE 35 



Cartago was lighted by arc lamps and most of the houses 

 used electric lights. The town was well policed, clean and 

 orderly. 



We rarely saw the people carrying loads on their heads 

 or backs. There were some pack animals, but the hauling 

 was mostly done by bullock-carts, as the roads about Cartago 

 and San Jose are numerous and fairly good. The carts 

 often had solid wheels, each one the section of a tree-trunk, 

 but iron tires. They were often painted bright colors, blue, 

 red or occasionally yellow. The oxen were large, powerful, 

 handsome creatures, for the cattle in this grazing country 

 are of good breed. The yoke rests partly on the horns, to 

 which it is strapped, partly on the head, and there is an 

 odd wooden shield over the neck. The driver walks in front 

 of his team carrying the goad, a long slender staff with an 

 iron point, so that the sharp end rests on the yoke. Occa- 

 sionally the goad is laid across the yoke and the driver 

 walks beside his team. There was at least one horse cart 

 in Cartago and a few carriages but most people rode on horse- 

 back. Away from the line of the railroad, indeed, every- 

 one must either walk, travel in ox-carts or ride, for no vehicle 

 less sturdy than the ox-cart could survive the roads. 



The *' Hotel de Cartago" where we lived consisted of two 

 excellent native houses thrown together by doorways and 

 passages, and Mr. Weldon, the American proprietor, had 

 introduced sanitary features such as additional plumbing 

 and windows and in every room had removed one pane of 

 glass for which he substituted fine wire netting. The impor- 

 tance of the latter improvement was not apparent to us 

 until we learned — by transgressing — that the police regu- 

 lations of Cartago did not permit first floor windows to be 

 open or unfastened after midnight. These houses were built 

 around patios in the usual style and in each patio there was 

 a large cement sink with fine cold, clear, running water. 



