Ellis County Capital (Arnett, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 1911 Page: 3 of 8
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I
WEALTHY FARMER IS
ATTACKED BY AN OWL
Suffering From Wounds Inflicted
in Broad Daylight by In-
furiated Bird
West Alexander Pa — Hla furioua
fight with a huge owl may be fatal to
Philip Cruzno a wealthy farmer who
la Buffering from terrible wounda In-
flicted In the battle at hla home Cru-
zan who la very feeble while walk-
ing acroaa hla front yard waa struck
In the face by the owl which In Ita
blind flight apparently collided with
him unintentionally
The big bird fastened Ita talona In
Cruzan’a collar and aimed a vlcioua at-
MADE the 300 mllea
Journey up to David
the capital of the
Province of Chlrlqul
In a coasting steamer
of the bouae-boal
type with open lowei
desk and galvanized
Iron roof over all-
20 feet out of water
and only 6 feet draft
with full load
David waa founded
somewhat more than
a century ago by the
the first of the Pana-
man Obaldlaa who
created a princely
royal grant of land
estate from a
Mangote situated about 8 mllea from
the town Is now in the hands of hla
great-grandsons whose father waa
lately president of the republic Be-
fore the revolutionary days many
Chlrtcano landowners maintained a
lordly estate In peace and Jprosperity
David 1b an attractive place clean
- and orderly as a Dutch burg and pic-
turesque as a Tyrolean hamlet Along
the broad drab lengths of the streets
are lined modest dwellings with
whitewashed walls red-tiled roofs and
blue and green doors and window
shutters The most pretentious resi-
dences are no more than two-storied
frame structures with 10 rooms at
most and a patio In the rear Of the
6000 Inhabitants perhaps 60 are “well
to do" in the conventional sense of
the phrase The remainder are super-
9 latlvely poor measured by the stand-
ard of dollars and cents but passing
rich In fact by reason of having
everything that they need and probably all they
desire Everyone seems to secure an easy live-
lihood but precisely how Is difficult to determine
A hard worker Is not to be seen but neither Is
a beggar nor a vagrant and the municipality does
not boast any such institution as an almshouse
However the matter Is divested of much of Its
mystery when one considers that land as prolific
as any in the world is to be had for the taking
and a man’s outfit of clothing consists of three
pieces — straw hat shirt and cotton trousers—
while a woman gets along very well with one gar-
ment and ’ children are not encumbered to that
extent
Although the dry season was well-nigh spent
everything looked fresh and green the morning
that I galloped out upon the llano on my way to
Dlvala My moso a long lean fellow with a
melancholy visage followed at a pace which he
never varied but which later experience taught
me could always be depended on to bring him
up with me at the end of a ride Man never
possessed a less appropriate name than his
Pantaleon — “panther lion” — was possibly be-
stowed upon him In a spirit of Irony He was
profoundly self-possessed and had the commend-
able characteristic of confining bis attention to
his own business and Just so much of his em-
ployer’s as properly concerned him
Before us stretched one of the llanos which
lie like grassy islands In a forest sea at intervals
all along the Pacific slope of the Cordillera For
6 miles onward and 2 on either side of us the
ground extended in a sweep as level as a billiard
table and as green With Its thick covering of
JenJebrillo the tract looked strikingly like a bit
of the blue-grass country of Kentucky Here and
there a wild fig or a ceibo threw Its heavy-leafed
branches wide affording gratefql shelter for man
and beast On every side the close ranks of the
- forest trees hemmed the llano In and away be-
yond In our front rose the Jabbed teeth of the'
sierra with the smoking cone of El Volcan pro-
jecting beyond the ruck
A well-worn crack Indicates the shortest route
to the point where the road enters the forest
We keep it In sight for the sake of preserving
our bearing otherwise one might ride unrestrain-
edly on the darkest night over this flat expanse
unbroken by gullies and devoid of burrows In
fact I have crossed It at a hand gallop in a
downpour of rain when my horse’s ears were not
distinguishable and the blurred lights of David
made a lurid beacon patch in the distance
These llanos are the “commons” of the people
— the poor man’s grazing ground We pass small
herds of from 10 to 20 head nibbling the herbage
which is ample for sustenance but not sufficiently
rich and plentiful to condition them for market
Scattered over the range are a few mares with
foals at their heels In this country they ride (
and work only the male horses leaving the re-
males constantly at grass This is obviously a
bad system for It retards hereditary transmission
and results in the development of serviceable
qualities on one side only The animals are un-
dersized and the breed poor the best strain being
derived from Peruvian allions Despite his un-
promising appearance however the Panamanian
pony Is apt to surprise you with a wonderful dis-
play of stamina I have been carried fifty-odd
miles by one in twelve hours and found him fit
for a good day’s Journey the next morning They
are easy-going beasts with a single-foot gait and
If one will be 'content to ride them in the manner
to which they are accustomed quite as service-
able as the average mount to be picked' up In
Central or South America It is distinctly advis-
able however to get rid of the greasy hair bridle
of the country even though no bettersubstifute
than a piece of clean rope is available Failure
to take this precaution once cost me a sore band
of which I was n'ot cured for weeks
Now and again a traveler Jogs by with a mut-
tered “Buenos dias” — a salutation that is never
omitted by man woman or child The rider
wears a conical straw hat a cotton shirt flap-
ping free In the wind and & pair of blue jeans
gxpjez ov Zwz
Bare feet are stuck In the wooden stirrups He
and his steed are festooned with bags baskets
and packages the tout ensemble suggesting an
Itinerant Christmas tree Stuck under the saddle
flap or elsewhere beyond ready reach Is a rifle
or shotgun of ancient' make probably unservice-
able and almost certainly unloaded ' Everyone
goes armed upon the road
Occasional reminders of less peaceful times
are seen In a small wooden cross set in the
ground and surrounded by a fude rail fence indi-
cating the spot where some unfortunate met a
violent death in the commission of a crime Pan-
taleon rode alongside as I approached one of
these unconsecrated burying places that contained
two crosses With emotionless precision he told
the grizzly tale of two compadres who bad fallen
out and here had fought to the death with their
knives
Compadres are bosom companions bound by a
bond closer than that of brotherhood Only a
woman can break that tie and when compadre
turns against compadre hell knows no greater
bitterness These two hacked each other until
they fell gasping and bleeding and foaming at
the mouth still jabbing with waning strength
They were found dead locked in each other’s
arms Perhaps at the very last the spirit of com-
padreship returned to soother their passing
I put this reflection to Pantaleon but he de-
clared It' more likely that they died cursing each
other and thinking of the girl' My own conclu-
sion pleased me better but I felt bound to defer
to my moso’s superior knowledge of the charac-
teristics of his countrymen
Presently the road entered the monte and we
rode between wooden walls reinforced by heavy
undergrowth At long Intervals we passed small
clearings where the settler had cut over the
ground burned the debris where It fell and scat-
tered his seed with a careless confident hand
The machete Is the universal agricultural imple-
ment A plow has never been seen In the coun-
try Cultivation is neglected as an unnecessary
trouble Withal harvests are bounteous and re-
cur with the infallible regularity of the solar sys-
tem I' saw fields of sugar cane that bad yielded
rich crops for fifteen unbroken seasons and a-
piece of land which has stood In corn contin-
uously for half a century
All over the Pacific slope of Chlrlqul Is a top-
soil from 6 to 20 feet thick formed by the vol-
ages from the mountain sides It is rich as any
In the world but not one-hundred-thousandth part
of It has been turned to the account of man
Outside of David the population is less than four
to the square mile Apart from a score of Cattle
raisers and coffee growers no man produces more
than enough to meet his needs whilst markets at
their very doors are crying aloud for the poten-
tial products of the province Panama is paying
high prices for Jamaican fruit and Cuban sugar
and American tobacco whilst these and many oth-
er imported commodities can be grown within
her borders
The pathetic mystery of it is that tens of thou-
sands are slaving in city sweatshops and facto-
ries or painfully wringing a living from a reluc-
tant soil when land unlimited lies waiting to
richly reward any man who will cast a handful of
seed upon it
Ten miles out from David we came to Alanje
a pueblo of only a few hundred in-
habitants but a place of considera-
tion in this sparsely settled country
There are no hotels In the -Interior
nor Is there need for them where ev-
ery door Is open to the wayfarer The
first glance around the plaza of
Alanje will decide the discriminating
stranger to head for the comfortable-
looking frame house on the south
side with its Inviting veranda Should
he not Immediately take that direc-
tion the little cura In his long black
robe is likely to come to the door and
shout a welcome
The mid-day breakfast at the cural
was an excellent meal reinforced by
good wine and superb coffee The
pleasures of the occasion were height-
ened by t!:e entertaining remarks of
my lively host He was very young
and very optimistic quite content
with his lot and properly Impressed
with the Importance of his work It
appeared to me that his life must be
a lonely anf monotonous one but he
did not share my view of It He was
the only man of any education In the village but
two highways and several byways converge at
Alanjp and every few days he might look for a
passi? visit from some intelligent traveler His
duties occupied three or four hours of the day
and the rest of the time he filled in with study
for his ambition pointed to advancement in his
calling whilst his environment had awakened an
Inherent taste for natural history
We left the table to walk over to the church
with its curious detached tower I asked for the
records With righteous indignation blazing In his
eyes the little cura laid before me a pile of leather-covered
manuscripts molded worm-eaten and
torn Not a page was intact hardly two consecu-
tive lines legible
“Such neglect Is crime" said my host fer-
vently “I need hardly say that the damage -was
beyond arrest when these came into my hands”
I fully appreciated his feelings Indeed I dare
say that my own regret was the keener Alanje
Is older than David In fact its history merges
with the times of the Conqulstadores and there Is
no knowing what wondrous tales may be hidden
in those sadly mutilated documents
“Our church has a legend” remarked the cura
leading me to a large alcove on the left of the
chancel Drawing aside a curtain he revealed a
life sized painting of the Christ In his final agony
It was evidently the work of an artist but did
not betray extraordinary ability
“I don’t know when this came here but It was
certainly before the present generation” the
cura explained with a slight show of embarrass-
ment “The story goes that one evening a
stranger came to the village and declining shel-
ter elsewhere begged to be locked alone in the
church over night His request was granted
When the curious villagers came early in the
morning to look for him he had gone and the pic-
ture with the paint fresh and wet hung where
you see it"
I looked at the little cura questioningly
“Oh I don’t know” he said with a shame-
faced smile and a shrug of the shuolders "At
any rate my people believe the story firmly and
it does them no barm”
(5n the road between Alanje and Divala we
crossed several streams A better watered coun-
try than this could not well be imagined
Divala is a little settlement of 50 to 60 huts
and perhaps 300 inhabitants who are entirely
dependent upon the ranch and insure it a con-
stant supply of labor The people cultivate little
patches from which they derive almost all the
foodstuffs they need A few weeks’ work in the
year at 60 cents a day will produce enough money
for clothing and a moderate indulgence in the
luxuries that are to be had at the village trading
store
Divala is 15 miles from anywhere but the most
unlikely place to look for an American family in
a bungalow that has the appearance of having
been transplanted from a New Jersey suburb
Mrs Wilson has lived in this out-of-the-way cor-
ner of the earth for five years and has had the
companionship of her infant during the past
eighteen months There is not a woman of her
own race within 40 miles This is isolation in-
deed and I suspected that she must find it irk-
some though she would not admit as much
Twelve years ago Leslie Wilson came out from
California and settled In the neighborhood of Di-
vala with half a dozen Americans and Britishers
Thus the settlement of Divala was formed and a
large proportion of the ranch turned into Potrero
without a penny of outlay The disturbed condi-
tion of the country reduced the prices of all prop-
erty and Wilson was able to buy the nucleus of
his stock at very low figures
The owner of Divala has worked hard and in-
telligently for ten years on the improvement of
his property Today he has 5000 acres of as fine
land as any in Cbiriqui well stocked and fur-
nished with all the necessary buildings The
ranch is easily worth $50000 Not a bad result
of an enterprise started twelve years ago with
$200 capital
ARE YOU FREE
—FROM—
Headaches Colds Indigestion
Pains Constipation Sour Stomach
Dizziness? If you are not the most
effective prompt and pleasant
method of getting rid of them is to
take now and then a desertspoon
fu! of the ever refreshing and truly
beneficial laxative remedy — Syrup
of Figs and Elixir of Senna It is
well known throughout the world
as the best of family laxative reme-
dies because it acts so gently and
strengthens naturally without irri-
tating the system in any way
To get its beneficial effects it is
always necessary to buy the genu-
ine manufactured by the California
Fig Syrup Co bearing the name
of the Company plainly printed on
the front of every package
In this world one must be a little
too kind to be kind enough — Marivaux
Small Circulation
Shopman — Here is a very nice thing
in revolving book cases madam
Mrs Newrich — Oh are those revolv-
ing bookcases? I thought they called
them circulating libraries — Christian
Register
Owl Attacks Farmer
tack with its beak at the aged man’s
face Cruzan was unable to tear the
bird which was a tremendous one of
its species from its bold Tbe owl ap-
peared unusually ferocious in its at-
tack and soon bad Cruzan blind from
tbe blood which coursed over bis eyes
Exhausted be finally sank to tbe
ground where he was completely at
the mercy of tbe owl He was found
some time later unconscious with the
owl- still pecking and clawing him
with beak and talons
Ruskln Pitied Americans
It is not only the half million
bricks of Tattershall that have been
numbered for trans-shipment across
the Atlantic ’ Ruskln when he was a
boy pitied the Americans for being
so unhappy as to live in a country
that has no castles They will' have a
castle now and no nation likes to
be pitied But the other Importation
made by Mrs GardneP as an addition
to her Italian villa near Boston was
that of an entire chapel as it stands
with all its interior furnishings even
to the half-burned candles in tbe al-
tar The monks who served the
chapel had been scattered by the
strong hand of tbe law and the
building was to be devoted to the
pick ax The courageous American
lady bad it packed up in a Venetian
hill country where it stood and cai
ried down piecemeal and embarked—
London Chronicle
WANTED TO KNOW
MAN IS BLINDED BY HORNETS
May Lose Sight of Both Eyes as Re-
sult of Trying to Exterminate
Nest
Millville N J— With sight of both J
eyes lost and his hearing probably per-
manently Impaired William Ford is in
a serious condition as a result of strik-
ing a nest of hornets -on Crow’s Nest
farm near Pine Grove The hornets
had been bothering cattle and Ford
resolved that he would destroy the
nest With a stout club be set out to
Insurance Solicitor — If you
I live 20 years you get the $10000 — but
If you don’t -then your widow will
get it:
Mr! Kutting HIntz — How will I
I know that she got it?
Hornets Swarmed Upon Him
accomplish the task He hit the nest
once and in a second the hornets
swarmed about him ' His features are
unrecognizable
CHOPS TREE TO CATCH THIEF
Woman Fails However to Capture
Peach Loving Lad Who Scamp-
era Off ‘
Alton III — Rather than lose the
fruit of a peach tree by boys stealing
Mrs John Dufold chopped down a tree
in which a boy sat on a branch grin-
ning at her The boy munched peaches
during the razing operation
Her pleas to let her peaches remain
on the tree were not answered by the
neighborhood boys When she saw a
boy on the topmost branch she or
dered him down He did not obey
When she began whacking on the tree
trunk with an ax the boy climbed to
a lower branch
“Now I've got you" she shouted as
the tree fell '
She was mistaken however as the
boy scampered across the yard when
tbe tree and Its fruit struck th
ground
' THE TEA PENALTY '
’A Strong Man’s Experience
Writing from a busy railroad town
the wife of an employe of one of tbe
great roads says:
“My husband is a railroad man who
has been so much benefited by the use
of Postum that he wishes me to ex-
press his thanks to you for the good
it has done him His waking hours
are taken up with hla work and he
has no time to write himself
“He has been a great tea drinker
all his life and has always liked it
strong
“Tea has of late years acted on
him like morphine does upon most
people At first It soothed him but
only for an hour or so then it began
to affect his nerves to such an extent
that he could not sleep at night and
he 'would go to his work in tbe morn-
ing wretched and miserable from the
loss of rest This condition grew con-
stantly worse until his friends per--Suaded
him some four months ago to-
quit tea and use Postum
“At first he used Postum only for
breakfast but as he liked the taste of
it and it somehow seemed to do him
good he added it to his evening meal
Then as he grew better he began to
drink it for bis noon meal and now
he will drink nothing else at table
“His condition is so wonderfully im-
proved that be could not be hired to
give up Postum and go back to tea
His nerves have become steady and
reliable once more and his sleep is
easy natural and refreshing
He owes all this to Postum for he
has taken no medicine and made no
other change in his diet
“His brother who was very nervous
from coffee-drinking was persuaded
by us to give up the coffee and use
Postum and he also has recovered his'
health and strength” Name given by
Postum Co Battle Creek Mich
Read the little book “The Road to
Wellvllle" In pkgs “There’s a reason”
Kver read tbe above lettert A new
one appears from time to time Thrr
are Keaainev true and full of hums
Interest
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Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Beum, E. M. Ellis County Capital (Arnett, Okla.), Vol. 4, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 1911, newspaper, November 17, 1911; Arnett, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1711576/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.