A MEW REPUBLIC TAKES 1
I HER PLACE AMONG 1
I THE WORLD'S NATIONS. |
.¥ &
<|> The United States of Central America, a Probable <fs
w Power in the Politics of This Continent.
Now cornea the United States of
Central America, a nation which lias
arisen out of much revolution. It is
composed of Nicaragua, Salvador and
Honduras, which have at various
times done a little fighting together
and against eaoh other. The seat of
government has just been moved from
Amapala, the temporary capital, to
Cfoinaudega, in Nicaragua. A con
stitution, which is practically that of
our own country, has been adopted.
So ihe new nation, pocketed between
Guatemala and Costa Rica, two States
not particularly friendly to it, has be
gun its existence.
Enthusiasts have been singing of
THE PLAZA AT GRANADA.
the blessings of a union of the five
States of Central America for many
years—ever since the federation made
in 1823 was destroyed by strife aud
jealousies. Central American politics
is an intricate game. In view of his
tory there have been doubts ex
pressed as to tho permanence of the
present union. Yet if the Nicaragua
Canal is built there may be a develop
ment and a building up of these Cen
tral American States which will give
their institutions stability.
There is no limit to the effects
which may follow the formation of
this new unification of the Latin re
publics. Tho three States which are
enclosed in the mic.dle of Central
America are keeping at arms' length
two nations with whom their relations
are constantly disturbed. There is
Guatemala on the north and Costa
Kirn on the south. Between these
nnhlics stretch the mahogany
of Honduras, Salvador and
\ icaragua. Salvador has had several
encounters with Guatemala, and
Nicaragua and Costa Rica are not on
especially good terms.
Theoretically, the five States are
supposed to have a community of in
terests; to be a greater republic, the
members of which are bound together
by indissoluble ties. Revolution seems
inborn in the body politic of these
countries.
The wars and internal disorders
have undoubtedly interfered with the
prosperity and progress of the repub
lics. While the United States of
A TYPICAL HOME Ol" THE I'IBST-Clj ASS.
American was building railroads, re
claiming the wilderness and improving
harbors, Central America was pursu
ing the game cf revolution.
Stability of government, the com
pletion of a ship canal, the exchange of
prodncts with the United States, may
work wonders in this laud of change
and shift.
Here is the oldest community on the
American continent and yet the last to
take to itself a government which
gives some sign of being an abiding
one. Years before Jamestown was
founded Spain had planted her colonies
here and had ground the natives under
her heel. Tho ruins of once wealthy
and influential cities still attest Ihe
THE AMERICAN LEGATION AT MENAGCA, NICARAGUA.
story of wealth and grandeur. Struc- '
tares over the roofs of which centuries i
have passed remain to tell of the civ
ilization which came to the land of re
publics and revolutions.
It was on this neck of land which
Columbus set foot when he first
reached this continent. That was in
1502. Twenty years passed by and
then the conqueror of Mexico—Her
nando Cortes—hearing stories of the
fabulous wealth of the countries
vhich lay below, started south with
an army of seasoned, mailclad vet
erans.
He reached his destination after two
years of almost incredible hardship.
He conquered Guatemala. The
natives were slaughtered by the thou
sand. The conqueror or his lieu
tenants possessed the land. Granada,
in Nicaragua, was founded and a
civilization was built on this con
tinent which the Spaniards had largely
learned from the Moors. In Grauada
many of the old buildings still stand.
All the countries of Central America
were united under the name of
Guatemala and a captain-general pre
sided over them. Those who have
followed the history of Spain know
how the proud old land ruled her
Central American possessions.
Then Mexico gained her freedom.
Then the Cenral American provinces
of Spain demanded independence, and
in 1821 they received it. The
Federal Union of Central America
was founded in 1832, and until the
close of 1839 it held the five States
together. The States withdrew one
by one.
With this period the name of
General Marazon will always be
associated. He was one of the founders
AMArALA, THE OLD CAPITAL.
of the Union. Even after it had gone
to pieces he tried to join together the
fragments—to get the blocks which
formed this puzzle of Ave into regular
order again. He was shot at San
Jose, in Costa Rica, in 1842, whither
he had gone to attempt a coup in the
interests of a united Central America.
Several efforts have been made since
that. Unrest was the leading trait
in the political character of these re
publics. Revolutions sprang up from
time to time in all of them. It was
charged by each republic that its
neighbor or neighbors were giving aid
to the revolutionists which she had ex
pelled from her borders. Less than
a year ago Nicaragua came very near
going to war with Costa Rica on
account of such a charge. Her Presi
dent imprisoned a Costa Rican Consul
at Managua. Troops were marched
to the frontiers and a treaty of peace
was finally signed.
An unsuccessful effort was made by
Guatemala in 1872 to effect a union of
the States. General Justo Rufus
Barrios came very near forming an
organization in 1887. He discovered
that Salvador was treacherous and
marched against it. He conquered
the Salvadoreans, but fell a victim to
sharpshooters. By a treaty concluded
at Analapa in 1896 all five of the re
publics formed a federation, which
was called the Greater Republic of
Central America. It amounted to
little more than an agreement to
leave questions in dispute to a diet of
deputies appointed from the various
republics. It will, of course, be
superseded by the formation of the
United States of Central America.
Diplomacy has sought to do every
thing possible to restrain jealousy and
dissatisfaction in this new nation. The
Presidents of the States become Gov
ernors. It has been agreed that none
of them shall become a candidate for
THE CAorrat. > v Jf.
Jjo6 NEW NAT 10M "J
MAP OF THE NEW UNITED STATES.
President of the new Republic, who
will be chosen on December 13. The
successful candidate will be inaugu
rated next March. The new capital,
Chinandega, is iu Nicaragua, on the
Pacific side. The temporary capital,
Amapala, was in Honduras, on an isl
and in the Bay of Fonseca.
If the resources of this new nation
were properly developed it would be
come a rich and peaceful nation. The
forests of all three of the countries
are rich in mahogany and dye-woods;
gold and silver have been found, there
is an abundance of coal, and there are
fortunes in coffee and tropical fruits.
The future of this trio of republics de
pends in a large measure as to what
policy may be pursued with regard to
the Nicaragnan Canal. The present
concession expires next year. The
United States of America, it will bo
remembered, sent a delegation of of
ficers and engineers under Admiral
Walker to make an examination of
canal routes. It is proposed to use
the San Juan River, the boundary be
tween Nicaragua and Costa Rica, aud
Lake Nicaragua as a part of the pro
posed waterway across Central
America.
Nicaragua is as large as the group
of States inclnding Maine, Massachu
setts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Honduras is about the size of Ohio.
Salvador is one hundred and forty
miles long and sixty miles in breadth.
Nicaragua has been the sceno of
many conflicts. The old cities of
Granada and Leon warred for fifty
years as to which should be the capital
of the State. Leon, which is now par
tially iu ruins, represented the liberal
party, and Granacla the conservap e.
General Walker, a New Orleans edi
tor, and a distinguished scholar, was
invited to the country in 1855. He
seized the supreme power, partly de
stroyed the city of Granada, and ruled
with a high hand. The neighboring
| States aided his enemies against him,
and expelled him from the country.
He returned to Truxillo iu IS6O,
where he was shot.
Salvador, the smnllest of the three,
has always been an aggressive State,
and has not been behind her neigh
bors in wars and revolutions. The
capital is San Salvador.
The Enelifih Moody.
At one time the Rev. Henry Varley
was a butcher. He is a noted English
evangelist,, who recently came on a
second visit to this country. The way
HENRY VARLEY, THE ENGLISH MOODY.
he entered upon an evangelistic career
was by addressing his fellow workmen.
Gradually he became known as a good
speaker, and went traveling over Eng
land addressing the people. He has
since earned the title of"The English
Moody," which is a great compliment,
for Evangelist Moody is as much
thought of by the religious people of
the British Isles as he is in his own
country. The Rev. Mr. Varley has
addressed large crowds in New York
and elsewhere. He is a powerful and
eloquent speaker and has a charming
personality. It is by the sheer force
of ability that he has risen to his high
posi'lon in the evangelistic world.
Among the assets on which Spain
will have trouble in realizing is a
great ileal of shop worn diplomacy.
TOOK A WILDCAT'S PHOTOGRAPH.
Boj Photographer's Father Shot the An!-
uial Directly Afterward.
To photograph a wildcat just before
shooting the animal is a feat whioh few
hnnters have ever accomplished. It
was done recently by William M. Shaw,
of Greenville, Me., and the photo
graph has just been reproduced in the
New York Sun. Mr. Shaw, who is a
rich lumberman in the Moosehead re
gion, owns most of Sugar Island, one
of the most picturesque spots in Moose
head Lake. On this bit of land is
situated the camps of the Nighthawk
Club, whose membership is largely
drawn from sportsmen from New York
and Boston.
None of the campers is a more en
thusiastic sportsman than Mr. Shaw,
who combines with his tastes as a
hunter those of the artist. He is a de
voted amateur photographer and has
taught the art to all the members of
his family who are able to handle a
camera. On his near-by hunting trips
ho is usually accompanied by his
twelve-year-old son Hugh. It was on
one of these trips that the photograph
was taken. On this occasion the
younger Shaw carried the camera.
They had had a tiresome tramp through
the woods when Mr. Shaw, looking up,
saw a large wildcat ready to spring.
Raising his rifle and standing ready
to fire should the beast attempt to
spring, Mr. Shaw kept his eyes on the
ißi
M J|§4 FE
TIFIL' W. ]F
vM FCS
(/| I TII I'
i i
cat, while Master Hugh pressed the
button. The result is the picture. Mr.
Shaw, the next instant, fired, and the
cat fell to the ground mortally wound
ed. Mr. Shaw has the wildcat mount
ed and he keeps it in his house.
The Snelp—- In South Africa.
The snelpaardelooszouderspoorweg
petroolrijtuig is being introduced into
progressive South Africa as into other
parts of the world. The snelpaardel
ooszonderspoorwegpetroolrijuig is, as
the reader will doubtless have noted
at a glance, the mellifluous Dutch
name of the quiok-horseless tipou
ordinary-road-rnnning-petroleum - car
riage or motor car soon to be a familiar
object in Johannesburg as already in
Amsterdam.
A Child's Philosophy.
Lord Crewe, at an educational
meeting at Liverpool, told on amus
ing story of the little son of a friend
of his who refused to say his lesson to
his governess. He admitted that he
knew it well, but, said he, "If I say
my lesson, what's the use? you will
only make me learn something else."
That child will probably be heard of
again.—Westminster Gazette.
stuffing: Live Fowl* by Machinery.
Poultry raising has become a
science. No longer do the featherod
beauties run free picking up the suc
culent caterpillar and scratching for
grain. It's too expensive.
In the first place caterpillars aren't
good food for chickens; in the second,
grain thrown on the ground is wasted;
ir the third place, they run off their
fat if obliged to trot around aud pick
up their food.
On the great poultry farms where
fowls are fattened for the London
market the birds are imprisoned in
long rows of coops. At feeding time
along comes a boy wheeling a queer
barrow that looks something like a
tool grinder's kit, except that it has a
big hopper on top. In this is ground
and mixed food.
Opening each cage door in succes
sion, the boy takes out a fowl and
holds :t under his arm. Deftly he
opens its bill with his lingers, inserts
THE STTJFFER AT WORK.
in its mouth a tube connected with
the hopper, presses his foot upon a
lever under the barrow, and pumps
until the crop is full—like blowing
up a bicycle tire with a foot-pump.
One charge of food is rammed down
that fowl's receptive gullet; and back
be goes to his cage to ruminate 011 a
world of queer things.
Thus deprived of exercise, the bird*
grow fat very rapidly. With the ma
chine on 7 boy can feed 280 fowls io
au hoar.
TFOR FARM AND GARDEN.}
C J
Sunlight for Stock.
A sun bath will do animals as much
good as human beings, and the win
dows on both the horse and cow barns
should be so arranged that the animals
can have all the sunlight possible.
There is no necessity for placing the
windows where draughts of air are
likely to fall on the animals, but thoy
should be placed where the animal
will get some of the sunlight on bright
days. Not only will this benefit the
animal, it will add materially to the
warmth and dryness of the barn aud
do much toward killing the odors in
separable from animal life. Iu colder
climates the wiiulows should be ar
ranged so that they may be lifted, or
in other ways opened for needed ven
tilation, and each with au outer door
of wood to close over them 011 cold
nights. Added warmth will be se
cured by having a curtain to pull down
from the inside. These guards against
cold should be arranged so that they
will in no way interfere with giving
the animals tbe benefit of the sunlight
during the day.
Good for Kattenin? Pis:*.
While corn remains at the low price
it has brought for several years it
would seem as if uo better or cheaper
hog food,especially for fattening,could
be had, but if it is possible to accom
plish the same result at even less ex
pense just so much is saved. Experi
ment with kaffir corn have proven that
while its feeding or fattening value is
almost exactly the same as corn, the
yield per acre is nearly one-third more,
which constitutes the saving in the
planting of kaffir corn. The soy bean
has also been found not only a good
fattening food for hogs, but particu
larly valuable for general planting be
cause of its draught-resisting qual
ities. When fe I with kaffir corn, both
of them ground aud mixed, the result
was eight per cent, gain in weight
over a mixture of corn and soy bean
meal. It is evident, therefore, that
kaffir corn, owing to its increased
yield, is preferable to corn, while tho
use of the soy bean adds to its fatten
ing properties. The soy beau should
have more attention in districts where
droughts are common. It has 110
epial as a drought-resistor, and is
readily eaten by all stock when
ground.
Tim Coot of Keeping a Hen.
The cost of keeping hens depends
not only on intelligent care in feeding,
but 011 whether tho feed is bought or
raised. The ration for laying hens
tillould be such that tho nutritive ra
tion to the egg-producing properties
should be about one iu four. This
can boat be produced with cut clover,
middlings, bran and corn meal, for a
morning mash, with grains in variety,
corn, rye, buckwheat, wheat, millet,
etc. A fair amount of greon food,
cabbage, cavxt-i, potatoes,etc.,should
be mixed in the mash occasionally, or
feu raw every few days. tin such
rations a hen may be kept at a cost of
about seventy-five cents a year, less if
the food is ruined.
Buckwheat is one of the best grains
for fowls aud adds largely to tho an'g
production. Kaffir corn and millet
ave also good if they can be raised or
bought at a low price. On the rations
specified two meals a day id sufficient,
the mash in the morning and tho
whole grain at niglit fed among the
litter on the floor. It is sometimes a
good plan to cut the night ration
a little short, feeding the portion re
served about the middle of tho after
noon scattered among tho litter on the
floor of the scratching house to koop
the hens busy. This question of
foods and their cost needs to be stud
ied closely, especially in sections
where eggs fall as low as ten cents a
dozen during the summer.
A From Poultry and Keen.
A living can be made on a small
plot of ground by keeping poultry and
bees, but the person must study to
learn the conditions of success and
then faithfully carry them out in de
tail. His plant must be large enough
to give him constant employment,aud
he should have a tnste for tho work,
so that instead of its being ouerons to
him he will enjoy doing. Iu this
business, as in any other, what leads
to success is a large capacity for pains
taking work.
In my little farm in the village, I
have four large poultry yards. Iu
these yards are planted small fruit
and opple trees, which make a shade
for tho heus and furnish me with
fruit for family use and for market.
In each yard, as fast as they increase,
I shall set twelve or fifteen hives of
bees. These do not in any way dis
turb the hens, and with good manage
ment are a source ot' considerable
profit. I have been able to pay for
my farm and many improvements
upon it, besides saving some money,
because our poultry have nearly made
a living for my little family, so we
could save about all the receipts from
any special money crops grown ou the
farm. Our poultry aud bees and the
three acres on which strawberriss aud
celery are grown for market, I know
are more profitable to me than would
be a good dairy farm of 100 acres.—
W. H. .T., Delaware county, N. Y., in
New England Homestead.
Two Fault* With I.amh*.
A sheep salesman recently called
our attention to the loss ouo farmer
sustained because he failed to finish
his stock for market. The stock, a
bunch of lambs averaging fifty pounds,
sold for $5 per hundredweight. All
were ewes and wethers of good qual
ity, but they were iu very poor con
dition. On the same market good fat
lambs brought s',so per liuudfttd
weight. For the thin lambs the pro
ducer received about $4 per hundred
weight, or, say, s'2 per head. Allow
ing the same difference between the
market and farm price on the fat
lambs, and he would have received
85.50 per hundredweight. But had
these thin lambs been fed to their ca
pacity they would have weighed at
least seveutv pounds, aud at $3.5Q
per hundredweight would have
brought the producer $3.85 per head.
Or if they hail brought him $5 pei
hundredweight there would have been
a difference of $1.50 per head, or SISO
on ono hundred lambs. Clearly this
man erred in not fattening his lambs,
even if he had to buy feed to do it.
On the same market was a lot ot
lambs that contained a liberal propor
tion of bucks. No complaint was
made as to the quality of the stock
aside from this, yet these lambs sold
at a discount of over 75 cents per hun
dredweight as compared with good
ewes and wethers. The buyer of the
latter considered them cheaper than
the bucky lambs at the difference.
On a hundred lambs averaging seven
ty-live pounds this would mean a dif
ference of $56.25, a good price for the
labor required to castrate the ram
lambs in such a bunch aud allow for
losses too. Besides, the wether lambs
would have uiade better aud cheaper
gains, and so would the whole Hock.
The above arc two of the most com
mon mistakes of those who raise lambs
for market, aud they are illustrated
just as forcibly on every market.—
Stockman and Farmer.
Thorough Preparation of Soil.
A few years ago the Rev. W. R.
Brown of Empire, N. C., informed
me that upon a certain occasiona
tenant commenced laying off for corn,
being, as I understood it, the first or
leading row through the field. The
row was crooked and Mr. Brown in
formed him that ho would straightea
it if he had to run a lialf-dozeu times.
He accordingly ran a number of times,
cutting from one side of the furrow
aud then from the other until he fin
ally got it sufficiently straight t»
Answer. No person appeared to have
the most remote idea that this extra
plowing would result in any advan
tage, other than straightening the
row, but Mr. Brown says that the
com of this row was twice as good as
that of any of the other rows.
The above shows the effect of thor
ough preparation. A loose bed from
twelve to sixteen inches deep and of
a proper width should be made before
planting the corn. In cultivating,
said bed can be gradually widened
until all the ground between the rows
be broken deep. This deep tillage
will exert an immense influence in
time of drouth. More than this, the
corn in the drill can be twice as thick
as shnllow plowing will admit of, and
will then bear better aud bo better
every way than the shallow plowed.
When the people come to understand
this matter properly they will see that
they cannot afford to cultivate their
land shallow.
It would, however, be better for the
land to be Bttb-soiled in the fall or
early winter, but when inconvenient
to do this, it may be plowed deep, as
aforesaid, in early spring, provided
that it is done with a narrow plow of
proper construction that will not
throw the subsoil out of the furrow
and expose it to the air. It is advis
able to expose the sub-soil to the air
if done at the proper time, but not
after the winter passes.
If people would cultivate less and
fertilize more they would,as a general
thing, succeed far better. They could
then retain command of their crops,
and as a result would not lose all in
time of extreme drouth, as is now fre
quently the case. Nine times out of
ten when a farmer fails in his crop it.
is his fault rather than that of the
season. The soil must not only be
kept up but the fertility thereof gen
erally increased over what it now is.
Clover and cow peas, in connection
with proper fertilizers, are the great
levers that are destined to revolution
ize the agriculture of this country.
The corn rows are preferably wide,
say, seven to eight feet. The corn
should be planted ia the drill suffi
ciently close to make from fifty bush
els per acre up, according to the rich
ness. The cow peas are preferably
drilled midway between the corn
rows.
An exceil fertilizer for corn is n
good dose of table manure, to which
about 200 pounds each of acid phos
phate and kninit per aere have been
added. Stable manure contains an
excess of nitrogen, and it is necessary
to add these elements in order to cor
rect said featw e. About 300 pounds
each of acid phosphate and kaiuit may
be applied to the peas, in both cases
in the drill and well mixed with the
Boil, preferably several weeks before
planting. The peas at most need but
little nitrogen in the soil; they draw
it from the air—far cheaper than buy
ing in the market. By reason of this
fact, in connection with certain chem
ical changes that will take place after
the corn stalks aud pea vines are
turued under, the farmer will be ex
ceedingly well compensated for his
ontlay. The above quantity of fer
tilizer may seem large, but it will
prove economy in the end. Follow
with wheat and clover, applying one
ana oue-half bushels aud fifteen
pounds of seed per acre respectively.
—Bryan Tyson in Farm, Field and
Fireside.
Hobsoa'n Choice.
After meeting manv people at the
league, Colonel MeMiehael suggested
that Lieutenant Hobson should have
a drink, to which the hero responded
that he never drank anything. When
asked to have a cigar he also replied
that he never smoked. However, ho
nuggestei to Colonel MeMiehael that
he would like to liavo a shave.—Phila
delphia Times.