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Show V - - ' "si I . I r " v . ' . ' X ' s , V. j. .. ! . ' ..J- .: :.. ve. -. 1' . , . . . . -1 i.lyM. .woivi-nii,,,,,),,,,,,,.,,,.,,, 'x - h r ! . sr 4 ( t 3 i ' x " . ' i,1 ' ! i j , 1 .,?, v 1 , J: ... .7i.:,-.,t,..M.': . -. ' " . , - s.fv : .. j. ctovAvft-.v:sAw.i.,xJv ... A: ..v ;..- ... -: :: -. -c-v.j . - .-.-.v.-... . COURTYARD Of pUATCrlAl-AK PUANTATIOK THIS is written in what would lie culled in Virginia a "manor house." But since it is in (Guatemala it is of the Spanish colonial rather than the English colonial colo-nial type, says Wingrove Bathon in the I'tica Saturday Globe. The residence is the oflice arid home of the largest sugar plantation in Central Cen-tral America, and to visit it lias been a privilege which has fallen to the lot of very few residents of the United States, or of Europe, either, for that matter, as the records of visitors here show. The great Humboldt came down through these fertile valleys of black mud years ago and recorded that he had 'found at last the celebrated "garden "gar-den of Eilen," and he predicted that what was then a wilderness beneath the tropic sun would some day blossom and bear fruit the sweetest dreams of the agriculturist. But he never dreamed that here would one day be found, as anyone who comes here may, a sugar mill in which it was necessary to invest, as is done in the United States ami in Cuba, ?."i(K),-CI'M) ?."i(K),-CI'M) before a pound of sugar could be obtained. Nor did he dream that visitors visit-ors of tod.iy would find, as they do, an American chemist making sugar with a polariscope, assisted by thousands of Indians of the west coast of Central America, descendants of the ancient Toltecs mixed with Mayas. The approach to Pantaloon for thG writer and the circumstances of the inspection in-spection were exceptional. It may be as well to set down here that in Guatemala Guate-mala and in many other Central American Amer-ican countries, a plantation, or a series of plantations, is known ns a "finca." Magnificent Scenery. The start was made from Guatemala City, the capita), in the morning. Down grade through magnificent views of the mountains and volcanoes winch make a setting for the capital the train traveled trav-eled over the west coast branch of the International Railways of Central America, which was built by the late C. V. Huntington despite almost insurmountable insur-mountable obstacles of an engineering character, and ameng waterfalls and water powers from which some day will be developed vast electrical energy. en-ergy. Towering above the train as it wound down through canyons, amid the hazy, fleecy clouds were the peaks of the twin volcanoes, Agua (water) and Fiiego (fire), no longer active, which have sent, down into these valleys in years gone by showers of rich black mud that contains all the chemical elements ele-ments of the best fertilizers, and In which three crops of corn each year are raised. A third volcanoe, Santa Maria, blew out in 1904, destroying millions mil-lions of dollars' worth of property. The train skirted the shores of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, as Interesting and as beautiful as anything Switzerland lias ever offered of-fered any traveler Lake Amatitlan where some of the well-known residents resi-dents of the capital maintain bungalows bunga-lows for recreation; not 6or "summer resort" purposes, as there is neither winter nor summer in Guatemala. The train passed through miles nnd miles of tender, green, young sugar cane, ns well as cane in full growth, being cut by the Indian laborers, or occasionally oc-casionally by Jamaican negroes, whose villages of thatched cottages lined the tracks and were visible in the valleys down which the train sped. Some cottages cot-tages were thatched with banana leaves, some roofed with red, native tiles of beautiful tints. Indian Fruit Sellers. Indians came to the train with pineapples pine-apples in size and flavor far superior to anvMung one obtains in the United States, and witli coconuts, grapes, alligator al-ligator pears, rich, juicy, fruity mangoes man-goes of fresh pink and red and pale green tints, as different from the dark, pickled mango of United States consumption con-sumption as can well be imagined. Everywhere, from Guatemala City to San Jose, on the Tad tie, there was, in truth, a very "garden of Eden," with immense tracts of land not yet taken up, ready for the enterprising citizen of the United States, whom the government of Guatemala is ready at every turn to encourage and to assist. At Esquintia, a modern city of brick and stone and cement, there are memorials me-morials of the Spanish domination, and of the times when the aristocracy of Guatemala went there each January and l'ebruary for diversion. It is a city tilled with paims, and there are many beautiful baths. There are other memorials, too. and some of these attracted immediate attention at-tention upon arrival at Pantaloon. These are of the Indians who are making mak-ing hat great estate, the greatest in Central America, still greater. In the patio behind the "manor house" was a great group of stone idols, visible through the open doors of the residence, resi-dence, with a fountain for a foreground which was surrounded by four immense im-mense coconut palms, studded a few-feet few-feet up with that parasite of the tropics trop-ics orchids. No one knew when or how the idols had come there. It is said that all along the west coast once extended the tribes of Cho-lula, Cho-lula, who founded many "lordships." Sculptured stone idols were first found in this neighborhood in 1SG0. Excavations Excava-tions brought to light pillars, statues, stone obelisks, etc. Bas-reliefs were found which contained the representations representa-tions of the horns of cows. Oxen were not known in the new world before the arrival of the Spaniards. Some archeologists and historians, therefore, believe that these bas-reliefs represent the goddess Isis of the Egyptians. Egyp-tians. But this has to do with ancient history and the mystery of the civilization civili-zation and settlement of Central America, Amer-ica, a theme for the scientists. As we turned away from the sculptured stone idols and monuments at Pantaloon plantation we found, ready waiting, a most up-to-date steam locomotive nnd private car, to transport us through the miles and miles of sugar cane to San Vincente, a colfee beneficio (cleaning factory), and another beneficio, named San Gregario, also belonging to Her rarra Brothers, the owners of Tanta-leon Tanta-leon sugar plantation and mill. Coffee and Sweetening. The coffee trees had just come into flower and their fruit was not yet ready to wash and put through the various processes, but we were in luck on the sugar plantations, for it was cutting and grinding season, and after we had watched the 5,000 cattle grazing knee deep in the great pastures and the Indians cutting the cane we came back to the mill and the manor house. In the mill we saw 1,000 bags of 10U pounds each of refined white sugar being turned out each day. Sugar cane was fed in nnd refined sugar in sacks, 1,000 of them a day, taken out. The mill worked night and day, 24 hours on a stretch. Grinding season began at Christmas aud continued until the middle mid-dle of May. There are 00,000 tons of cane in a crop. The white granulated sugar goes to the United States and white Deraarra crystal sugar is made for export to London. Every Indian on the place has been taught there. There is a splendid laboratory equipment, with perfect chemical and scientific control of the product. |