Adventure, February 20, 1922 — page 190: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

aise well to suit themselves. They have a king who Et Ee has a “council of young men” that have been sent to various parts of the world to be educated. = I once saw their king in Panama City when he came up to look at the Panama Canal. He was a = sitle: man, something like a Jap, and was dressed _ in a poor-fitting suit of American clothes. Most of these people are smallish in build,. with Die features and shape of head. If you ever _ see one San Blas you will know the next one you see, for they are a tmtve type: They speak their ‘ 2 own and many of them speak Spanish a spend some few speek English There is money in trading along their coast. : They have a couple of rules they enforce. The . first is for any fea er to get back on his boat before <a re: _ dark, and the next is to leave their women alone. _ ‘They have a saying that no San Blas woman ever married out of their tribe. They will not allow any one to cross through ~ their country. They police their borders by men in sight of cach other with Winchesters. It is im- = 3 to get through without having an army long. — SE The answer to the subjoined inquiry has been cut down a little, so as to avoid repeti- aoa Se i facts Suracy supplied in the letter = = “ Oniestion: —“The writer is not a greenhorn either Sze ~ in the Pacific or Atlantic, having spent some time in Cuba, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Mexico and Co- gat -lombia; but like all those who knew the ways of -_- 1914 not sure of the present status regarding foreign _—sssterritory. J want to take a 500-ton registered schooner ss - With auxiliary power out of New York stocked with i —_ - trading goods, and may change my plans and trade __~ along the east coast of South America. Do you think that this would be a paying in- _ vestment? If so, what goods would you advise _ metotake? Where would you advise me to trade, and what are the prospects of carrying a cargo from ~ sail under the American flag? Se Fee ee -trip n t are the laws “ang eee Care e in the countries you would suggest? f a ie thank you for any information you can give me relative to this matter, and await your answer with great interest. "—-B. T. NAsE, New 2a : York. te - ~— Po ? * ie ara ae sae Answer, by Mr. Young =a I were going to trade Sa ~ along the ane coast of either Central or South America I would head direct for the San Blas * __~ ndian coast. There is money in trading with eS these Indians. I know of at least two men who ee _ made enough to retire on after a few years. oo They are honest in trade and have both money ee ~ and-trade goods. Overall pants (blue, small sizes) work shirts, cheap straw hats (haystack style with = = fairly wide brim), machetes, Ingersoll watches, alarm clocks, toy “sewing-machines (made by the - — ~ ~ Singer Co.) also the larger hand-machines made == = ae same company, cheap sheath knives, Russell- Barlow knives, calico of loud colors, mosquito Se netting. needles and thread, glass beads, axes, Adventure one port to another? Would it be advisable to - kerosene lam ops and lanterns, sandals and cheap ys shoes, are standard trade goods. There are others I [ have forgotten. eee They have gold dust (in some ports), i ivory nuts, = subher cane brandy, vanilla, sarsaparilla and a other articles that are reckoned as standard — oat . You can get current priceson theseimports by applying to Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Latin-American Division, Washington, =— D.C. They will also furnish you with duties inte Noe all of the other countries. I don’t think you would be troubled about duties in the San Blas ae, country if you could get cleared from here all right, © 2 even if it was for those two little islands the U. S. “; owns in the West Indies. ri Strictly speaking, if you entered on this San ae Blas trace it might be a good plan to fly the Pan- =e amanian flag and make Colon a base. You could -~} get almost all you needed for trade right there in S the town and order the rest by ship from up here. It is well to know what the button-makers are paying for ivory nuts. They paid $8 bbl. ore the war here in New York. They should be = ~ much higher by now. — Also the prices of the other ae things should be ascertained from the Bureau of , bos Commerce as suggested. This will keep a man - hep to what he is trading for. eh, ot It is a terribly long trip up the Amazon. Things are very high up there, but it is a long jaunt by boat and the climate is not of the best. You could possibly make more actual money closer home. ~ Spruce in British Columbia [* A personal letter to me, Mr. Carson eS writes regarding the subjoined question : and answer: ““The man who wants to know | = <= about spruce seems to have a hazy ideaof = this wonderful coast of ours. I did not dare tell him of spruce-trees fifteen and six- teen feet across the stump. That would have been to strain his credulity; but they ~ are here just the same?’ Question: —“Will you please tell me if there is any spruce in British Columbia and on Vancouver — ey Island? If so what kind and how much? ere is it located?” —-GERALD Fritz, Annawan, Ill. Answer, by Mr. Carson:—Your questions sound funny. When Foussk Ethers ery Syence in B. om and Vancouver Island it is along the lines of ques- ee as to whether there are any colored people — 2 a in . Yes, both red and white, billions of feet and lo- cated practically all over the province. I have seen spruce-trees that would measure ten — and even twelve feet across the stump, say seven feet from the ground, and which ran up to a height — of ninety and a hundred feet without a limb. A spruce-tree three hundred feet high is no novelty. Near Barnet, B. C., on the Burrard Inlet there — stood a bunch of seven spruces that had been passed _ aaa. up by the loggers for the reason that they were too —_y big to handle profitably. If you will write Percy G. Sills, 709 Metropolitan — Blidg., Vancouver, B. C., he can give you full par- ticulars as to where the best spruce limits are — located in the province, together with quantities — Comich