| Show 1 RARE ORCHIDS i A ship hip arrived in New York the other day from fromI I Colombia bringing ringing sL sixty ty crat crates s o of orchid plants Mr l Andrew Benson of Cromwell Conn spent seven months in that country wandering through the almost inaccessible forests of the state to gather th these se rare p plants ants Among the rest he lie obtained obtained ob ob- ob- ob tamed four specimens of the c of a species a pure pur white orchid so rare that each plant according to Mr Benson Beuson is valued in this country at 1000 He lIe said that from irom the shoulders of If mountains near the border line of Colombia and V Venezuela la he looked down upon many hundred thousand dollars' dollars worth of these rare orchids but isch B h plant was in such an inaccessible place that he ha haas was vas unable to obtain more than the four specimens i- i mens mens he le brought here with him R He had a full support sup Sill port of Indians to cut paths through till the dense fo for es ests s he had guides and and pack mules He made his wa way across from its capital Bogota andr and 1 r ret returned rn d only after many narrow escapes to sayi say i l nothing of tribulations that came with the des desertion deser rI r- r I tion Uon of mai maii Indians and the loss of oth others rs through d death dath th He says SR'S that if it had been possible to tei climb the thc trees to which the orchids attach themselves them themselves selves it would have been cas easy to obtain them but tb the climbing ing of trees was prohibited by the presence presence pres pres- ence enec of small poisonous green reen snakes hidden in the foliage ge We lVe V suspect it is the same little nUle green serpent serpent ser ser- p pent Jt that tha Americans who are raising coffee in Mexico Mex Mex- ic ico are afraid of Thc They are just the col color r of leav leaves s and Jd wh when n- n nth th they strike e a person lc ie lives about thirty min minutes tes They They- must be full cousins to that asp tI that t Cleopatra brought into use when she had tried I ae everything else Mr l Benson had other adventures While Thile making mal mak jug big his is way in a a bo boat t up the river he had the cr craft ft overturned by an alligator which with its p partners s made off with one of the Indian guides Another nother tine time when the chief guide had gone to engage more Indians Benson got lost in the forest for for- cst est and wandered wander d two days without food Incidentally to show how lovely exchanges are between the United States and some of f the South SOl American states Mr Benson laid he lie took ij American meri an coin with him He lIe found much difficult difficulty dim dim- cult culty in in c carrying his money after it t had hae been exchanged ex- ex changed for Colombian currency for each American Ameri Amen can dollar i is worth about in the coin of that country When he made the exchange the money moner was vas given him Jim in iii ll small bills which when packed filled several boxes That is a silver country but hut it seems they cannot get the silver necessary to do business They have to resort to paper an and Colomba Colombia Colom Colom- bia bla is not an exception It is the same way with V Venezuela the same way with Ecuador the same way more or less all over oVel the continent and it would be a great relief if a few of our statesmen would decide to give up UI a a wrangle to see who is isto s t to ti control the primaries in their respective districts aid I see if something cannot be done to adjust the currency differences between the United States Hd ar td d those countries which have no real mone money except ex ex- Pt silver ih But the expedition shows what exertions are areu u i dc to tr try to keep up with the demands of fashion fash lash ion ion- If Ii Mr DIr Benson succeeds in ill having his white I orchids grow and multiply by about a a year jear this coming fall no function will be the thing unless th the f rooms re le dressed with white orchids and a great leat man many young ladies Indies who are now looking out f for rings for the third finger of their left ha hands ds will demand in addition the the the- destruction of their sw sweethearts sweetheart's etheart's purse by the purchase of a few i te orchids to show that they really belong to the e upper set It is is pretty hard to throw off the i b belief lief that among the shoddy rich of our country tJ re are arc a good good many people who are fools with th the usual qualifying adjectives in front of the thep p |
