Show ON THE EQUATOR I Queer features of Life and Travel on the Southern Pacific Ocean The Illahret tea and lp nt 01 lea WoIA T lleK Atarkele Prime WI of ColomhliiMlmof flnl and IIIud w110 the Inallh are ltnrkingA IIIv 01 11 inr a ArnnA Mon 1 bleb mil Col t I ean T hn C ArtqYr wood lbb loop Iteuorrh ee1Y Pill Fruit stud lb uulnino TrerTree I bh Fnwn Ik and I llUehr ti blb tlrol Cott And ChorMalesome Cut I C unreinnA Und U-nd IA I PAUAInAM Ameriva coaOAnut Inlllnn And tow II le I AIAUAged Copyright 1835 by Frank a Carpen i ter IOn I-On the Equator March 15 18JSAs I begin this letter I am on the hottest geographical line on the tutu of the globe I am sitting on Ihe deck of the steamship Santiago opposite but out of sight of the coast of Ecuador and almost exactly on the equator Wo hall cross It within an hour If It were not for a slight breeze which still follows us from the northeast trade winds the air would be stilling I and as It is I the very sea seems 10 tam At my right there In I a vest extent of reran which the suit ha turned Into molten Bluer Ten billion diamond are dancing up and don upon the wavelets and although I am under cover the light of the sun no re flecteil from the water dazzle my eyes as the direct rays of a July pun at home On the opposite side of the vessel In thc shadow the water Is I of nn Indigo blue and as I stand up and look about me I sea nothing but OUt I n vast expanse nf what In the hot hazy air erms to be n steaming ern I To the westward stretches the Pacific a distance of about 10000 milts before It reaches the lower part of Asia and r to the east Is I the equatorial region of South America Including snowcapped Antes and the mighty Amnon my present Held ot travel It Is now three days since I left Punama for Ouaja gull the port wit Ecuador and until this morning we have been sailing by the coast of Colombia but In many place ICO miles from tho shoe In this may me have saved four or five da Fit of travel and will make Guaya lull In four das while the tousling steamers take ten A SOUTHERN PACIFIC bTEAMEH The boats of thc southern Pacific are for different from those on tt blob I j hae crossed at different times to Asia They are unlike the steamers of I any other part of the world The cabins are larger and the quiet of the ocaIor you eldn Hate a Iorm harkenn decks or stories them and llbo hke keep several ever y I f g en Taste In about quaver of a mile of nlklng apace on and Iwo upper decks of the Santlngo and cn the lop one them are Places where you could almost lay cut a croquet ground and have room to snare I wako I lery morning thinking I am on lilY mountain farm In Virginia There I a bleating of sheep a mowing of corks I l and a quacking and cackling of geese and ducks Now still then a cow mate I or a pig squeals Wo carryall cur I meal with us On the upper deck I within len feel of he I am welling there ale Iwo blK cue lull of chick tnt ducks and geese The coop are 10 story affair wII11 wllh slats The chicken are In the top slorysome roosting and other poking their I 1 11118 out to gt al the Inter and corn In the trough outside Th duck nd geese are on the ground floor A liu lie further over tIre are crates filled will llOtato and rlons and others contlnlng orange and plneRMIR Th there and cattle are In pen and stalls 10 tlours below They are In the steerage near the butcher shops and kitchens find where there Is I what i you do not fled on other ships a trav lIng market There are men who pay I 119 nm for the Ptlvllege of eking on the mouth Iaelfle mile to the People at the part Our marklmon have In their stock at ornl about a don wit eon load of oranges still plnol I lien from Ianuma and Ion rattle fran Chile and they will load Ul with other things at Clua > aqull They will take I this stuff to the ports along the desert of Peru and Chile and ns nothin grows there will get sect high prices I Travel Is I very cosily In these ships There are two lines which sail betnee Pan imn and Valparaiso One below go to the Pacific Steam Nailgallon com I puny and the other to the Chileans The two comranl have eomhlnd and ns they halo n monopoly of the business they keep up the rates I have never Pnil so touch for olcnrn I hill travel en I am now doing Thor Tho-r In OuayalulI from Panama Is I lot In gold for n distance of about s00 mile 01 moro then 8 cent u mile The fore to grope by the fleet clo Atlantic line do not run more than 3 Pont a mile and nn rime of the hot you can go for 2 cnt or less Theo freight rte hr Are The-o very high being about one cent a Pound for thl trip Theme line lair steamer euy week north and smith from Pnnnma 10 olpnralo a dllaurn of 3000 mil The through rote 10 1 11M hut nil pn noer are chag extra for stop over at the hn rte and the local noes are correspondingly hlgh r SOMETIIINO ABOUT COLa MiliA I am astounded at the extent of these oulh American countries Thn republic re-public of Colombia along whkh we have hen lIIng anl of hlch tire Iethmue of Panama forms a Part I e longer hum north to mouth than the distance belwcen St Paul and New Orleans and wider In Prime parts than n beeline from New York to Chloago 11 contains more than 0000 square mile It 10 1 onoIth the size of the United State without Alaska and It would make over nine Ptalee the Ie of New York or ten I as big us Oho cr Konll1ck Th1 Ithnu or department 01 Panama has an area almost four times IUI big a that of Iaohut and the Colombian state M Cauca U I almost a large n Texa I have meta met-a number of Americans wind others who have recently travel In many parts of Colombia They tell me the country le I an undeveloped empire and PWtrd tint n great Ther part 1 m It l mom I4 an AtneriCnns yen unex I 1 another In lIFlo I one kind nr another In eololnblo extreme Some are In the xl name north In the ChiriquI lands cf thh upper Ithmu rIPene coffee and oth ern have bon hl1 huInK lands I n the enu a t nile This tnnry is I over the mounln a little bich ot tl ho Pacific 11 Is I swop il hundred mile Ions and abort tntnty or more morn I wide red It Is toed to have Pomrthe < most fer rnnInnnoed the Iohe On Amrl on md I ier oche Innsr mntlY dirt le I all to have left a big fortune mado out of hI Toffee plntaUon I M t herd Il 0101 that loll Inom was SIM > OO a Year from thm A rid mother hud a eonlra1 for a rallroa 1 UIon which h red so little work tu1rhe COlnnhan ovrnmonl sanity paid a mlllln < 1 1ollar to gt rid of him This toss In the ee of the rnneea Inn for the Caucn YolIy railroad which was to rnnnt this rich rgln wllli the Port 01 lIunaenturo 1 nm toM that English capltnllxts t have now the con Ion cool that they VIII complete the rod It I MW ahoot twenty miles I long end the Intention Is to build It on n I in 1100 cut of ter provln e tin city of Call which Is I Phtytour mil troll IIneMenlur 10 addition to tiles road there ore a half dozen other little allrnad In the country comprising altogether shout 411 toile of track more than one fourth of which he I been built Ir mrlon Th chief Lank of laMma that cl henry Ihr man 11 I ncrlcnn The head of the trot came to Pannma with 25 cents thirty years ago lie H I now worth curial million dollars and lives In 1 P 1 A niVEU OF VINEOAH Tho chief means of gelling about though Colombia I on the rlwere and Ion the mule and donkey paths which There Toros li no country mountains which has everywhere n greater great-er number of here rurlous streams What would you think of a filer of tlnegnr Colombli I has one t1 Is the upper part of the Cnuca river The CUca rises In the southern Part of the country near Ecuador and flown OSO miles north and empllea Into the Mag dan Durln the lint part of Its course It hM waters mhlch contain 11 parts ot sulphuric field and 9 parts ot hydrochloric acid In every Ihouannd It Is I so sour within some miles of Us source IImt nn nh can live In It and It gois by the name of the Too Vlnngrc which means the I I negar river The rnP mfr ot Aingdalena I the chief I river of Colombln carresPOnd with our li111sloslplit II IS I more than 1000 miles long It In I as ade hut nol ao deep nn the MII ls 1111 but It cut the country right lu Iwo tamer of light draft sail weekly week-ly I frolll lIrrauolll nn the Carib han sea nl p the Malaleuo to t Hood whore you take mules wind climb up to lire great plain of Dota on which Ilogola the Colombian capitol Is I pit noted Then there are lmnch of the Moron and of other 11 rivers In Colombia no that the country I almnOI ns well watered as China Iren 01 the little steamers on the Colombia more mal at Pltlsburg and brought from New York In pieces and here put to gather IIOOOTA Just a word or so about lIgto TI I i n town of 100000 Inhabitants and It has electric lights and a trect allroad allroadU tt ihlch were pul In by Aloe rlcan U ban n lint tarn Y r 1actv ate Tore old a national theater library ofro 000 t olum an tronmlral oherm fury and a poor hone The ton la I on a plain About n half mile higher up In the air Un Duvr nod its climate 111 I am told much the wore Chem Is I the headquarters of the army And the scene of n revolution now and I then A LAND OF FAr CONCESSIONS It li I at lIgota that the president lice amt here that congress met It Is I here that the fat coneetoo are given out Colombia I a land nf coo rtsslons I I lie told you of the big fortunes nhlch Americans have mad out of the Panama railroad which now I pay a quarter 61 a il11lof n jear to the government Another val liable conclon is I the Pull monopoly Sfo1 all can bc sold axe pt bj the party owning this JoncMKion At I present the owner Is Mrs Nunez Its widow of the late Prtsldenl Nune I She has salt mines and furnlhes the 5000000 people l of ColomWa nllh a cry high Prices Tobacco poor article nt very < s bacco Is I another concession and playing play-ing I cards another The gambling houses nt nor pay 11000 n year f n-or the right to keep other people out of the business t rind ns far as I can learn they are glad to do It Then Is I of course nothing Ilk tin money afloat now that the w 1 during the old canal dais but ever once In n while 1 they cntcli a sucker as they dill duel befoY 7 arrlCd hn a onnk Irishman lost 15000 In one nlht al roulette Another cneelon et 1 ana In fs I the lottery This Is owned by n pack company which has n capital of J200000 The stock pns dividends of 15 Per cent n year and MQUO > tickets al n dollar a piece are oolt rv pry wOk The peters rang from 13000 010 award Yn PPP the lottery ticket peddler eery hre llei momen and chlld Ten black and hlle novel You In the hotels on the street and In the railroad rail-road train and offer you chances for the next drawing I hnlpened to be pnsslng the lottery office on Sunday tthen the drawing won going on and stepped In A llllle buy of about eight genre of ae hd been 1lcke not of the trod and put upon a table In front of him won n rat alt ing tt Ire ba kt flIt d with hollow Ivory I boll Path rontalnlng one of the mmber from i to 10 The basket wa whirled and the boy picked 01 a ball Th number In It was the lhoundo of the prize I annthr hlrl Rave the nor for rile hundreds a third for tho tens Rod a fourth for the units The Whole thing Wa fair enough only R s the afraid nr the city Judge In charge told me there man all ahout ore eh0nc < III live hundred of n ticket holder drawing elhrg The president of till corn pony Is a naturoll mhan 1 clllon nomad Iuquo lie I Ihe owner of the only leper In Panama wind hi profits firm hla JSOOto worth of lottiry ntnnK i ur < nliout I iOOO In siller each yrnr There In I a rhane for a 0101011 here Ir walwork Pua Is I nov supplied With Water hy 1ldlrr tth gn not through the etr t crated no boreal rort1 Ach nf ii hUh Is I pullet hy n mule In the wet Peron the city rlI08 on the rllrn Terre > Is I I nn told good 1 writer In the hills twelve mil obey and It could entilly h 1 Ito I-to the city Panama ha about 2000 people THE GOLD JUNES OF COLOMBIA The Idea prevails In the United Shies thai the greeter part or South America I1 I low motet wind unhealthful This I nIl no There ore 01 areas pore hlch are no alulrn 00 any Port of North America Mr nndy an min mining cnolnr he he Prospected In all Part of cur conll neat tU < veil an In many parts of this tttl me that for every habitable square mil In North AmclcR there Is I an equally rich and healthful ouoro mile her and that null > nf the equator thr are at areas of undeveloped yrlcultural territory which have not hern tnuohe III ae that this 10 I the 1I Ionllke of the future In gold an well n In other things an1 pdpt that the 1 Ys of the worhl Ill soon hp tUrlrd e 0ulhworI In Colnmbla mot the tropic live baric from the Toni where there Pro nlln 001 valleys of 01 extent from 1000 to IS ono and more tat shove the CAthmhb I a land of roll It li I like Alaska In that you ennnnl trash the Poll anywhere alone the rivers without nnng went the miner c1I rotor I sun mn womb the Panda of the me a In the hay of Pnnama and though the > 0101 the y dhl not get murk I have been told l they hove hen doing the Fftmo wok for venre it tins horn thaI ROme of the ronr < l not scone nl their first cold and since the conquest an Aggregation et I700000000 worth of the precious mtal has been tan < en 01 of Colombia A grant deal of mining Is I now going Oil In the dpartmeot cr tate of tlo it 00h qua which Is I reached by going seeral hundred of olbm up the ahlldalena river here mall diamond are sometimes some-times found with the gold ingllsh parties ono R nuinlr of the l ital mines I Ihl rcon and much capital I InnMId There are now between a1 and 400 gold mines bring worked In Colombia A GOLDEN IltlLI roil ALL DISEASES DIS-EASES Neatly all of tho Indian tribe have more or less R old I hae been told of a curious method which the church has of getting the Indians to give up their gold They on prone to board It hut as they are tery utllhu the Priers ehi e lnVmnoofP rhurchii the Images of certain Paints who are sutposet 10 cur dhdnIea hot to whom must llrst be offered In sold it 1 mini lure image of the part witch la I diseased dis-eased If a man has a MOr leg I he molds a llltlo leg of oldIt may he the size of his little anger It 1 may bo largerand offers It to the Point It Is I hung up before hi blessedness on a Firing with other similar offerings of golden eyes teeth heads and tegs for II limn and 11teeth I sore part sell nell the Indlal I conned the saint and the I gold did the work Mr Mnfleld an American electrical engineer who Is I In rh0rge of the electric light and the street railway of Panama Is I my authority for this statement lie so he ho a often tried to buy much relic from the lorleal In the Interior butt but-t though they acknowledge that they melt up and use th relies after a time they will not Fell them I A 1AIlADlSn roil A PATENT MED ICINU MAN dir field Is generally considered ono of the best of the foretell author lit UM on the wonderful wealth nf vegetable able life of the Islhmus of Panama Before I left whlnton I wan nnlae Iy the secretary of agriculture 10 lookup look-up certain Plants And tree which II IF I thought might profitably he Intrndope1 Into till United States Among Uoe asked for from the Ithmu toe the Platnlc jilmt > which Is I mill to han ha-n leaf a foot wide and fifteen fet long o It was till Inquiry that brought mo Into contact with Mr Mansfield ando gave mo m and-o th Curious Information Iah h TherVls I n wonderful varlet Aj plant life here and man > specimens I hollov which pro not generally known There ore more than tenty varletl nf 1001111000 on the Isthmus Thro ore wood uleor In their IlUItin K quail tie to th teak moat of Slam and a great amounl of mahogany and de wadl There are plants and moods which the ndlan ue for medical purpoem hlch I am surprised are nol token Ut by our doctors Take the our quo wood This will top the fl Ing cf L1nrP1 almost iimLiiiiuj If flyou scrape off a little dust from a cnclqup Mick and put It on a rut the blood will Immediately slop running The Indiana use It for all kinds of cum and they MJ that If a person who has a hemorrhage of any kind take hold ofn cacique slickit 1 will stop It You and ooh a stick In many IIn Indian but ready fr uo In ewe of accident This wood 10 ex pensive a PIaP the size of a ualklng cane eotlng In 1 Panama 110 and uV m ard The echo fruit la good for oan cera and Inmor Another ore la I n nakpolon antidote ond Ir Ian Geld en P that he Irno of some nw medicinal plant or tree nearly every time he visit his little Plantation away aft In the Interior where he buya of the Indian And has a factory for the making of alcohol rum and other icb Ihlng During 111N last trip ho w n1 shown a planl hloh Was sold to he n wonderful ermtlc He nuke an i Indian girl 10 make Pone ta 01 It for hlmoelf and n IRrtner unit the ard to ether that thy NOUN test the tlrlurm of the plant hy drink le a cup They did so The liquor tested sweet and eeemd nol at all bad as It 1 went don A moment later both men made a rush For the door Their stomachs wore turned Inside outa id no Ill Mn leld expressed It they thought that even their heels were corning up through their threat There Is a fruit oomclhln Ilk a melon sold In the mar = kt of lonoma which Is I n Otto 39 di getont and hnpein am as nh10IK elmo IUI much In It a a I stomach and farther down In Colombia Brown the Icchemlel tree the sap nt which Is I like rows milk and has much the same nutritious properties Then In memo prowlncen the cinchona or quinine Ire comes nnd rhocolallecneau ram welch comeo our chorolal AN AMKUICAN COCONUT PLANTATION PLAN-TATION Along the lowlands of Colombia there are Picot of coconut trees The coeoonut you know grow on a Ialn leer Thy ore to be soon hy l the bushel along the Isthmus ot Ianmll housing cloo 10 the stem of thetree army up al the lop often as high na thirty feet shove the ground where the great I aim leases spring out II H 1 only lately that men have gone Into coanut raising its n hulnesm and I nm told that groves of these tree have recently Wen planted In Florida l There lea big cocoanut plantation owned by nn American In parlnhlp with a Colombian on Lighthouse polnl lust olpolI where the steamers land at Colon Th American Is I the Mr 111 of Washington of whom 1 have spoke an belle connected with the bIg man aneo mine owned hy John IC Cown and others JIr llyntt tell me that the llantatlon consists of tOO acre and that thy hove already Planted 4000 Ire and here nlaut 8000 In hllrlng They are now hlpplng from fifteen to twenty thousand nuts n month to New York and within three years from now when the rt of their trees will be In fruit they expect the orchard to produce 56000 nnl a month Cocoanut tree you know bear Ill the nc round and the blossoms and the rites nuts ore on the tree at the iiinio time The nuts are not picked but drop from the tree when they are ripe and the workmen al dally from tree to tree and pick up the nuts hu k them nnd thev are then ready for shipment The 1olng from 120 to 13 a Ihonoan1 In Nw York nod the greater part of this Is I clear profit HOW COCOANUTS Alit RAISED I asked Mr limit to tell me some thing of the expense and management of much nn orchard Said he It lusts very little to run II We ore now paying out all told silly ahout x00 a month and our receipts are from 1300 to 100 a month Yon mee Iho frets need Prnet lenity no cuttlVlltlon And niter they ae ore In Irlng nil we hate 10 do I to gather and ship the nut WP have one part of the 1lanta lion which we call Iho nurser > lIero w mime the young trce8 The nuts ar lured on the lop of the ground a hort distance apart Within a short lime each nut Bends l cut a sprout from me of the little eye or holes which are found In one end of It The pronl shoots up Into the air and a root shoots down Into the ground Within a few month lthUI allY attention mhat ever the sprout grows fron two to three e1 high and It Is I then ready for transplanting This Is I done by bleak Ing air the root and putting the nut and nrout Into a lit t to hole In the K round Jut 01 t 111110 des pethan the thleknea nf the nut W press the earth nroun1 1 slid tho planting Is done We act the trees out about flf In feet apart For the first three years we cut out the brush from around the been but after this they are left 10 lake car of themselves They begin to hear at about eOn your of age nnd keep on bearing fee many years A good tree should drop about seient > ne nuts a year and many of our do much better than that SOME QUUnil INSTITUTIONS IN PANAMA I found Panarua one of the queer towns of nf the world It le I liken 11111 city od SPnin and looking out at It 1 Vonlco r Tar h hoUnre stun Ae r seal hang C Out oar the water and the Wave dh In comp 1laee anlnl theta walla met uprlil a nil do na m The house ore E close to the nrrow sidewalk aM every house hoe an Overhanging porch or ally extending out from its sec oml Gory 00 lint you are Protected from the alit as you walk al ong the = streets The richer oc Ilse on the upper Moors The ground sears are len Ile le the poor And 10 the stores hew 01 the ground floor room hate wlndo and oU ran look In the open door n ou pass through the street n n d l ear all ort e nf heohOI to P er a If tin a F a In Ron litrens Mman I comb 1 log h hAir there one Im I wlng an a little further on one Is I cutting UI nnLe nt for Her breakfail slew The stores hove no display window and the goods seem to be piled about without regard to how or order There are ro died prices I nm told I and most of the trod log Is n matter of AlckerlnR The Gland Central Hotrt whore I tonpd vas op Jioilto the Cathedral of Innamn and facing the plaza about which the I soldiers I Pnrndrd ln thc m ° r rnlni and in welch the ban played at night SINDAV IN INAMA I harpined to hi In Panama on Sun day There was service at all the place of worship In the morning and after atvor Town wa0rlrnun nd RE that the torn wan run on went Chicago young ma jo call the veldt open order Prompt at 1 clock the Panama loiter had Its weekly drawing at 2 a cook flghl came off and nt 4 there was a bull light Inside the a1 fb ohft r i ice ruined I wn114 of one of fie great churches of Panama past I le bulls led were tortured 1 and one was killed by the hull lighter thrusting a word Into It and heo log missed Its heart poundIng pound-Ing and 1 stabbing It In the back of the neck while the audience howled with delight i In the evening I the whole I town IY turned out and walked up and down the plaa tthlle the band played Them were tinny Itt girls strong the promenaiUrf but each of the respectable respect-able maidens end one tr more of her In PlFters her cousins or her aunts of tnatuiir > ears with her and there wan I neither lllrtlng nor spooning cipenlv n Fern I am told that even an engage ioulle are not allow ej by the better Iaeo uf Ianomanln 101 about A alone and thit If one Iniltes 1 his I heat rioarl girl rio the theater he It supposed to Include all of the ladles of the family In the invitation One of the Amerl cano now on the Ihau when he nt h came here Rate M young tanoma Indy such an Invitation and when nha nrriel it nt the house found a party nf Ihlrleell 11 old and mhtIId women redy to 1 go along with him and his Inamorata The hell for tint night wr more than 11 his meekly 8II1r and It wa only by chance that he ifpenM lo have 11 enough money with him to Pay > for them FRANK O CAIUnNTCU r |