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Show f)e&ily Spots f Salvador , Lake llopongo. EL SALVADOR, the little repub- j lie on the southern coast of Central America, is not behind any part of the world in the matter of the picturesque and the interesting. in-teresting. It has Its natural phenomena, phe-nomena, Its beauty spots for tourists that should be double starred in travelers' trav-elers' guide books, its relics of ancient races, its quaint and busy cities with their artistic works of architecture, writes Hamilton M, Wright in the Bulletin Bul-letin of the Pan-American Union. In the world there is not a more wonderful wonder-ful volcano than Izalco, which, more than four generations ago, ascended from the plains and has since remained re-mained active. There is not a more wonderful lake in the world than llopongo, llo-pongo, distant about ten miles from San Salvador, the capital, and connected con-nected with it by a splendid highway. A fine national road which, at one point, cuts the mountain side 800 feet above the surface of the lake also comes in from San Vicente. Hopongo is an alluring spot for bnth-ers, bnth-ers, for the people of the republic thoroughly appreciate the charms and advantages of their own country. It is the watering place for San Salvador, Salva-dor, with hotels, hath houses and launches. The surrounding ridges and mountains are beautiful and colorful and dip into the lake steeply. Viewing this superb sheet of water, with the nearby eminences verdure-clad or colored col-ored hy past volcanic eruptions, with drifting clouds casting their fleeting shadows upon its surface, one has a feeling that he is far from the haunts of man, until perchance his eye lights upon a launch far below, sending its ripples over the expanse of waters. Fine Mountains and Climate. There are in the world no finer mountain peaks lhan those of El Salvador. Sal-vador. The volcanoes Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Vicente, Usulutan, Zatecoluca, and San Salvador, rising from Santa Tecla, and 'half a hundred others have all the characteristic beauty of the symmetrical volcanic eminences elsewhere in Central America. Amer-ica. In the healthful uplands or mountain moun-tain basins, where a larger part of the population lives, 2,000 feet or more above sea level, are to he found tree-shaded tree-shaded cities and rich country districts dis-tricts that In charm and interest will repay rlelHy every moment the traveler trav-eler will spare them. The healthful climate gives rise to a vigorous and enterprising population. This little country lias a record of having produced pro-duced 75.000.000 pounds of coffee in n single year, 1910, perhaps more in earlier periods. We did not stop long at La Union, but continued from the port up the coast to La Libertad, the nearest seaport sea-port to San Salvador. There we anchored an-chored out in the open roadstead, a mile and one-half from shore, and took a coffee barge to the pier, where we arranged for a conveyance to San Salvador, Sal-vador, 40 miles distant by automobile road but less than "0 for mules. It Is a very short Irip up to the cnpitol, but the traveler beholds the varied resources re-sources and climatic changes of an entire en-tire continent within the brief journey to the uplands. This part of the coast Is a center for Peruvian balsam, a remedy for pulmonary complaints and so called because in early days it was first shipped from Salvador to Peru before being reeonsigned in through packets to Europe. The tree is found over an extended strip up and down the coast. Highways Are Excellent. The journey from La Libertad to San Salvador Is a fine one ami the road is good. In fact there are 1-S00 1-S00 miles of through national highways high-ways in the republic of Salvador. The roads of San Salvador are u national Institution. Great work has boon done in grading and bridge-building. Some splendid permanent concrete bridge have been const roofed. La Libertad, which Is also reached by road from San Vicente in the east central part of the republic, is the seat of the cable station between North and South America, Amer-ica, where messages are handled with great dispatch. The roads lending into La ilbertad ar,e much traversed by oxcarts, as La Libertad is a great port for San Salvador. The mountain scenery on the way to Santa Tecla, 2,050 feet above sea level and but 11 miles from San Salvador, Sal-vador, Is inspiring. The great coast range of mountains sends out giant spurs and hogbacks to the very shores of the Pacific, and between these lie numerous watercourses that run to the sea. The region, of which the extinct volcano, Quetzaltcpeque, is a magnificent magnifi-cent feature, is very mountainous and rugged and is intercepted by magnificent magnifi-cent and fertile valleys. Santa Tecla, also known as Nueva San Salvador, lies at the base of the mighty volcano San Salvador. It Is connected by railroad and also by a fine avenue with the nearby capital; It will be the most Important city between be-tween San Salvador and La Libertad when the railroad spur to that port has been constructed. The city Is well illuminated at night, has attractive drives, fine public buildings, churches, barracks, hospitals, beautiful residences, resi-dences, villas, and suburban homes and estates, magnificently kept up, with fine lawns and gardens nnd all the appurtenances of fashionable country coun-try homes. From a social viewpoint it is almost a part of San Salvador. The city has a population of about 12,000; it owes Its origin to an earthquake earth-quake which overwhelmed the capital about two generations ago. San Salvador a Handsome City. There is nothing of the "dolce far niente" type about San Salvador which, with its environs, has a population of 05,000. With the exception of Panama Pana-ma City, San Salvador has more automobiles au-tomobiles than any other Central American city. Moving pictures, too, are popular in the capital and throughout through-out the republic. The city attracts by Its beautiful, shaded parks with their fine sculptured monuments, the splendid national palace, the cathedral, the National university and the Polytechnic Poly-technic institute. The cathedral presents perhaps more the typical French renaissance style than the typical cathedral In the capitals of the new world, though It is a most ornate and beautiful work of architecture. Altogether San Salvador Salva-dor has a distinct European note in the air of its shops and stores. The broad streets, fine cement curbs, the ornate, low-lying buildings with their handsomely grilled and latticed windows, win-dows, the beautiful, semitropioul parks with their luxuriant foliage and comfortable com-fortable seats, where the visitor may wuMi the parade of fashion and the many cosmopolitan elements of the city, engage, in social chats, make new acquaintances, anil listen to an excellently excel-lently rendered concert all these render ren-der a stay in the capital a pleasant event. . Forty miles to the northwest is Santa San-ta Ana. second city of the republic, and riehtly accounted one of the leading lead-ing cities of Central America. Santa Ana will bo tb" first Important city of Salvador to be reached by rail from the north when the line to connect with the Guatemalan system is built. The city lias a population of between 45,000 and 50,000 and an elevation of 2.1H0 feel. It is a lively, prosperous, well ordered community, with an air of assured stability. Its business houses are many. |