• 
 
 
lohe PAN AME:RICAN UNION 
 
 JOHN BARRETT : : Director General 
 FRANCISCO J. YANES : Assistant Director 
 
 THROUGH COSTA RICA 
 THE MAGNIFICENT 
 ON A MOTOR CAR 
 
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 Reprinted from the November, 1917, issue 
 of the BuUetm of the Pan American Union 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
 
 1918 
 
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 .WH 
 
 D. of D. 
 
 1 
 
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 MAGNIFICENT, ON A M 
 
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 A WONDERFUL journey it was. Through jungles, across the 
 slopes of foothills, into forests whose tropical luxuriance 
 suggested the foreworld, over rivers and along palm- 
 bordered beaches almost to the Panama line; into the main 
 foothills, too; across great swamps marked by fern-like growths 
 recalling plants of a prehistoric coal age, with giant fronds 60 to 80 
 feet long, palms, creepers, orchids, flowering vines, lilies, in gorgeous 
 riotous brilliant colors, and birds as vividly hued as the flowers, 
 huge trees rising on roots that, springing from the water, twisted 
 like the folds of Brobdignagian pythons; into busy villages, and 
 historic cities whose courteous people boast the proudest blood of 
 ancient Spain; past neatly ordered estates; by groves of cacao and 
 rubber; through banana plantations embracing tens of thousands 
 
 of acres. 
 
 Aiid up the roaring Reventazon River we went, following the 
 picturesque railway line on one of the strangest rides in the world 
 from modern Port Limon on the Carribbean coast to San Jose, the 
 beautiful capital of Costa Rica on the high inter^r plateau. A 
 prodigious stream is the Reventazon in high water'. It has been 
 known to roll an 80-ton locomotive as lightly as a. pebble for 10 miles 
 down its course. One follows it from the low plaii|s adjoining the 
 eastern coast up one of the most appaUing gorges in thQ.world, the right 
 of way gradually climbing until the river appears as a silver ribbon 
 far beneath. Approaching Cartago near the summit of the divide the 
 railroad line finally leaves the valley and soon thereafter slips into 
 
 San Jose. 
 
 All told, including main lines, spur lines, and tramways, there 
 must be something like six hundred miles of railroad in Costa Rica. 
 Over all of these we went upon-o.ur bounding motor, except on the 
 Government line between San Jose and Puntarenas, the Pacific coast 
 port, over which I took the regular passenger train for the 75-mile 
 run. Also, since not all of Costa Rica may be seen from the railroad, 
 I journeyed by gasoline launch, mule back, and diligencia. 
 
 It was not yet light when we first set out from the railroad yards at 
 Port Limon. But the switchmen and track tenders were already 
 
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6 THEOUGH COSTA EICA OK A MOTOR CAR. 
 
 at their posts and halloo'ed a cheeiy M'ell-wishing as our slight car 
 gathered momentum and passed from the sleeping town, turned 
 south and west across the river where lay the largest sea turtle farm 
 in Central America, and with clear tracks for the first 40 miles started 
 in the direction of the Panama border. 
 
 The air was chill and the speed of the railway motor gave pene- 
 tration to the cold. Even at sea level it is cold at night and one is 
 uncomfortable without a blanket. Always nature has her com- 
 pensations. There are, in reality, four distinct climates and four 
 distinct zones of largely differing appearance and production in the 
 little Kepublic of Costa Rica which, by the way, is considerably 
 more than twice the size of Switzerland and could comfortably sup- 
 port a population of 20,000,000. 
 
 There is the moist semitropical climate of the Carribean coast 
 region down which we were proceeding that morning. It is a region 
 of sudden showers, great rainfall, and hot, moist climate broken by 
 the trade winds, and cool breezes that come from the mountains or 
 are tempered by the sea. For tropical glory and luxuriance, for 
 amazing diversity in plant, insect, and bird life, this region is probably 
 not surpassed in the world. 
 
 There is the cool and pleasant, altogether charming climate of the 
 uplands, the Tierra Templada, the great plateau region of the Cor- 
 dilleras, where San Jose, Cartago, and other cities are located midway 
 between the oceans. There is the cold region of the higher moun- 
 tains with its chilling mists and often ice and frosts. And, finally, 
 there is the warmer Pacific coast with its distinctively dry season 
 from December until April, where the prolonged absence of rain. is 
 evident in less underbrush and jungle than marks the Caribbean 
 side and where, in dry season, brush fires and forest burnings are not 
 unusual. 
 
 But back to our motor car. The first shafts of the morning sun 
 gild the hilltops in gold, leaving black shadows in the hoUows. 
 Every leaf and petal is bathed in heavy dew. A large bird sits sun- 
 ning itself and preening feathers on a dead limb 100 feet above 
 ground. Increasing batteries of light unfold the country in pano- 
 rama. No conservator)^ in the world, however magnificent its dis- 
 play of orchids and exotic flowers, of majestic palms, or of brilliantly 
 colored and fanciful plants could rival the millions of acres of the 
 dense and wonderful growths beheld in Costa Rica. Great wreaths 
 of mist are drifting from the valleys. Birds are caUing from the 
 forests. Kingfishers go winging up the streams and, in the shallow 
 pools, the white plumed heron and her mate hunt frogs and minnows. 
 A young Jamaica Negro and his bride each with a shotgun, out after 
 game, perhaps a luscious tepescuinte or paca, perhaps a turkey, 
 pass us on the right of way. Giant trees, 150 to almost 200 feet in 
 
STREET SCENES IN SAN JOSE. 
 
 Upper: A good view of the stately columns of the cathedral fronting on a plaza in the heart of the capital. 
 Center: Another street with imposing buildings. Lower: The Avenida Central. The building over 
 wnich the flag flies is the legation of the United States. The balconies fronting the street are a special 
 feature of Central and South American architecture. 
 
THROUGH COSTA EICA ON A MOTOE CAE. 9 
 
 height, with clear boles 80 to 100 feet up to the first branches, crowd 
 thickly into dark green forests that stretch away in unending masses, 
 merging, finally, into the rough flanks of the distant Cordilleras. 
 These forests, embracing rosewood, mahogany, and more than 45 
 other varieties of hardwoods, are worth billions of dollars. Ferns, 
 3'ellow lilies, and morning-glories line the railway embankment. 
 Long vines trail from the tops of the tallest trees to the earth. Or- 
 chids blossom in every crevice of the branches and graceful tree ferns 
 rise at the edge of the clearings. 
 
 It does not begin to get warm until 9 or 9.30 in the morning and 
 it is not hot until 1 1 . But even at that hour in the glades of the for- 
 est and in the forest aisles cut for the railroad lines it is cool. As 
 for underbrush, in these virginal forest growths, there is scarcely any. 
 If one knows the lay of the country he may ride for days at a time 
 without leaving the forest shadows. Swamps may be and usually 
 are impassable. So, too, are forests which have been burned or cut 
 over, thus allowing space and light to encourage the growth of under- 
 brush. But many of the woods have clear floors and the darkness 
 below is only broken where the tropical sun, glinting through the 
 infrequent spaces of the dense tree tops, sends down golden shafts 
 of light. I had heard that there are many snakes in Costa Rica but 
 in six weeks' constant traveling saw but one. 
 
 About noon we stopped for luncheon at Estrella, a smaU hacienda 
 settlement near the end .of the line. But before this we had halted 
 to visit a small but thriving cotton plantation, a nursery for the 
 growing of coconut trees, and I had gotten off the car once to pho- 
 tograph a troop of monkeys playing in a lofty tree near the track, 
 but at once they grew silent and disappeared. The cotton grew 
 lustily on a flat of black soil near a river. The coconuts had been 
 planted under the shade of bananas and were almost ready for 
 transplanting to the sandy sea beach. 
 
 The midday meal in Costa Rica is usually quite an affair, partly 
 because there are at hand so many appetizing things to be eaten, but 
 more particularly since there are no bounds to the hospitality of a 
 Costa Rican, whether he be rich or poor. In this case we had a 
 delicious pavo, or wild turkey, as the piece de resistance of our meal, 
 and also some appetizing cuts of a wild hog that had been killed the 
 day before. Oranges, nectarines, bananas, egg plants, alligator pears, 
 Irish potatoes and cabbages from the highlands, lettuce, yams, orange 
 marmalade, and pastries completed a repast that was finished off by 
 the delicious Costa Rican coffee which comes as a bottled extract, the 
 preparation of the coffee requiring only the application of the extract 
 to the warmed milk. In commenting upon meals, it may be observed 
 that Costa Rica is a paradise for the sportsman and nature lover and 
 the abundance of wild game contributes not a little to the menus of 
 
 34526— ] 8 2 
 
TYPICAL RESIDENCES OF REPRESENTATIVE COSTA RICANS IN SAN JOSE. 
 
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12 THEOUGH COSTA RICA ON A MOTOR CAR. 
 
 the residents and also of the visitors, at the hotels. Wild pigeons 
 were served in the hotels of San Jose when the writer was there. 
 There are two well-kno\Mi varieties of wild turkeys and at least seven 
 game birds of allied genera. Quite as great a delicacy for the table 
 is the magnificent curassow, of which the crested variety is the best 
 knowii. This fine bird, with broad brown-flecked breast, stands quite 
 as high as its cousin the turkey. It travels usually in groups of from 
 4 to 12 birds. I have several times seen them in clearings in the 
 forests. Deer abound, wild hogs, and also the smaller peccaries, 
 are very numerous. When feed becomes scarce the hogs migrate, in 
 huge droves, from one portion of the country to another. It hap- 
 pened that I stopped near the scene of one of these migrations, near 
 the flanks of Mount Turrialba. More than 800 hogs were said to 
 comprise the herd, and fresh pork became quite plentiful. This was 
 by no means an unusually large herd, for I am credibly informed that 
 as many as 2,000 sturdy, nervous porkers have been seen in a single 
 herd. 
 
 It was dusk that night when we again came into the railroad yards 
 at Port Limon. This attractive city, center of the yards and shops 
 of the Northern Railway of Costa Rica, was well lighted and had 
 thrown aside the cares of the day. The municipal band was render- 
 ing a concert in the public park. Well-dressed throngs listened to the 
 music or promenaded in the evening breeze upon one of the two great 
 steel and concrete piers that, provided with railway trackage, cranes, 
 and derricks, give Costa Rica, on the Atlantic coast, imsurpassed 
 facilities for the transport of passengers and freight. Indeed it is 
 customary for chartered steamers with excursionists to be met on the 
 pier by special trains. A seven hours' ride takes them to San Jose. 
 
 He who rises early must repair to bed betimes. Next morning at 
 dawn we were well upon our way to the dashing River Reventazon. 
 Sleepy homes we passed surrounded by cacao orchards, or groves of 
 oranges, tangerines, or grapefruit, homes from whose chimneys wisps 
 of gray smoke rose into the chill morning air, teUing of a day's work 
 already begun. For the first 35 miles out of Port Limon the railway 
 gradually creeps to the foothills. Low rolling country, haciendas, 
 pastures marked by huge moss-bearded trees, occasional lagoons mir- 
 roring their surroundings, and villages of Jamaica natives are features 
 of the landscape. Then comes the abrupt transition into another 
 world; the precipitous journey to the highlands. 
 
 The splendor points of the great American Rockies, Pike's Peak. 
 Long's Peak, Mount Harvard, Mount Yale, and Mount Princeton, 
 rise thirteen and fourteen thousand feet above the sea. Those who 
 are inspired by the spectacular phenomena of nature travel thousands 
 of miles to behold these majestic cloud-swept crags and their vast 
 crevasses of ice and snow. But these appealing peaks start from an 
 
Photographs by Hamilton M. Wright. 
 
 MODERNIZING INFLUENCES IN COSTA RICA. 
 
 Upper: The motor car is growing in popularity and is an incentive for constructing improved highways. 
 The car shown in the picture belongs to the post office department and greatly quickens mail service. 
 Lower: Interior view of one of the new creameries where butter and cheese are manufactured in 
 increasing quantities. 
 
THROUGH COSTA RICA ON A MOTOR CAR. 15 
 
 environing territory that is as much as 6,000 feet above sea level. 
 The heights of the mountains in relation to the country about them 
 is to that extent diminished. Contrast with Colorado's peaks the 
 Andean chain extending through Costa Rica. Chirripo Grande, the 
 tallest of these, is 13,424 feet high; Mount Poas and Mount Irazu, 
 the volcanoes, and a score of other peaks are somewhat less. But 
 it is sdarce 160 miles from sea to sea in Costa Rica. Her peaks rise 
 almost from the sea itself, the rapid ascent being most pronounced 
 upon the Pacific side. 
 
 The glories of the Alps or the Andes, of the Canadian or the Ameri- 
 can Rockies do not transcend, in my opinion, those of the Central 
 American Switzerland. From the lava swept crater of grim Moimt 
 Irazu may one behold two oceans. On a bright day, when the 
 clouds are low, he may look upon that most remarkable of visions, 
 snow white fields of mist, as far as the eye can reach, under the radiant, 
 brilUant light of the tropical highlands, a light undiminished in 
 intensity by the mists of sea level. And at nightfall he may regard 
 the sun, magnified many times, as a ball of molten fire, it sinks into 
 purple, red, and white seas of cloud. 
 
 On the way to the lower canyon of the Reventazon one sees many 
 of those curious and intelligent birds, the great golden tailed oriole, 
 called by the Spanish "Ora Pendula." The Ora Pendula, which is 
 about the size of a small crow, iridescent blue-black, and with bright 
 yellow tail, weaves a gourd-shaped hanging nest, from 3 to even 4 
 feet in length, of the fibers of banana, the long skeins of Spanish moss, 
 or, if these be not handy, of what material it can find. The orifice 
 is small, reaching not more than 3 inches in diameter, but the lower 
 part of the nest is a foot or more wide. I have counted 147 of these 
 nests upon the lofty branches of a silk cotton tree. Strands that, 
 altogether, Avill measure not more than the thickness of one's little 
 finger are employed to attach the new home to the limb, and their 
 weaving is the first construction undertaken by the clever little 
 artificer, since the entire nest is built from the top downward. The 
 nest does not last more than one season, for the exposure disinte- 
 grates the fibers. The golden tails are most companionable birds, 
 and are indifferent to the presence of human beings. Once , while 
 dining, we heard a great commotion in a nest in a nearby tree. It 
 was violently agitated and raucous cries came from within. The 
 parent birds hovered about calling in great distress. Thinking a 
 serpent had gained access a shot was fired through the upper portion. 
 When, to our surprise, there emerged the bloody murderer, a toucan 
 bird. Canaries, linnets, and humming birds are everywhere, and 
 their absence of fear renders a journey most interesting. Vultures, 
 of course, abound. Once, rounding a curve at 35 miles per hour, we 
 came upon one starting to fly from the middle of the track. When 
 

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 Photograph by Hamilton M. Wright. 
 
 COFFEE PICKING. 
 
 Upper: A Costa Ritan boy hard at work on a plantation. Lower: A typical settlement of workers. 
 Notice that the company employing them has constructed the house several feet above the groimd in 
 order to make life more healthful. 
 
18 THROUGH COSTA RICA ON A MOTOR CAR. 
 
 we reached him he had risen no higher than my shoulders, and 
 almost overturned the car. 
 
 For 60 miles the Reventazon River dashes down a bowlder-strewn 
 course, a cascade of white. One enters by the lower valley of the 
 Reventazon which, within 2 miles becomes precipitous, the walls of 
 the hills soon rising 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The railroad ascends the 
 gorge until it is almost 1 mile above the river, hanging to the edges 
 of precipitous chffs. In that brief 60 miles one ascends from the 
 Tropics to the Temperate Zone. Like Jack in the Bean iStalk, he 
 clambers into a new world set above the clouds. 
 
 Cartago, ancient seat of learning, is the first cit}' on the hne after 
 leaving the canyon of the Reventazon. It has an altitude of 5,000 
 feet above sea level, and is shghtly on the Atlantic side of the Conti- 
 nental Divide. The city has been almost entirely rebuilt since it 
 was destroyed by a trembler proceeding from Mount Irazu a few 
 years ago, and the ruins of that earthquake have been crushed to 
 make fine, broad city streets. Cartago has a population of about 
 12,000 persons. Near the city is a famous hot spring, much patron- 
 ized by tourists. Those who visit the summit of Irazu often start 
 from Cartago. The journey may be easily made by mule back ir 
 half a day. The incline is gradual. Indeed from Cartago Irazu 
 behes its lofty elevation, 11,200 feet, and seems hke some gigantc 
 low-lying mound, lacking, as it does, the sharp cone or apex that 
 usually distinguishes Central American volcanoes. 
 
 About 12 miles farther on, and over the divide, is San Jose, splen- 
 did capital of Costa Rica, altitude, 3,800 feet and a modern Athens. 
 The city hes as on the floors of a great natural amphitheater with 
 towering hiUs upon three points of the compass. Its broad streets 
 are paved with granite blocks or else newly concreted. Its shops 
 are smart and up-to-date with notable displays of New Yjrk and 
 Parisian fashions. The famed Teatro Nacional, costing $1,000,000 
 gold, more than bears out its reputation as one of the finesi theaters 
 upon the American Hemisphere. I was particularly attracted by 
 the sculptures in the vestibule, some of the best of wbich are by 
 Costa Rican artists. That of a mother and child was executed by a 
 promising young sculptor of Cartago. The exterior of the building 
 is of white marble. The interior lobbies and foyer are of colored 
 Italian marble. Old tapestries, mural paintings, gold plate, and 
 sculptures are used in the ornamentation. The magnificent foyer 
 is in Louis XVI architecture though the building as a whole par- 
 takes more of Italian than French renaissance. The double stair- 
 ways leading from the vestibule are after those of :he Paris opera 
 house. The seats are of rosewood and mahogany with the national 
 crest stamped in embossed leather. Downstairs adjoining the lobby 
 are two large grill rooms, while, on the second floor, from the mag- 
 
Upper and lower photographs by Hamilton M. "Wright. 
 
 GLIMPSES OF COSTA RICA'S BANANA INDUSTRY. 
 
 Upper: Method of cutting the banana from the tree. Center: Close view of the tree and its fruit on a 
 young plantation. Lower: Loading the fruit on a railway train by which it is shipped to the port. 
 All bunches for foreign markets are cut while green and ripen to a yellow color some davs after leaving 
 the plantation. 
 
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 OTHER AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Upper: Part of a tobacco plantation. Lower: Thriving cotton plants on the low coast lands near the 
 border of Panama, an infant industry that promises important results. 
 
THEOUOH COSTA RICA ON A MOTOR CAR. 21 
 
 nificently frescoed salon one passes to the president's room, the 
 ladies dressing room and other compartments, or directly to the 
 theater itself, in the center. The building offers a wonderful example 
 of restraint and good taste, and is truly magnificent withal. 
 
 Round about San Jose are many attractive country homes and 
 estates. Some of the estate dwellings are built of adobe in Spanish 
 mission style and some of the more conventional brick. But all are 
 spacious and have the appearance of hospitality and well being. 
 The grounds are attractive and are ornamented with cypress, palms, 
 flowers, and flowering vines that find so congenial a home in Costa 
 Rica. In these countryside residences one is inevitably reminded 
 of the old plantation homes and estates in the South of the United 
 States before the Civil War. Those homes were famous among 
 North Americans for their cordiality and good cheer, a reputation 
 that, after more than 50 years, still flourishes. In Costa Rica social 
 life has the charm of long personal acquaintance. House parties 
 and visits among friends are most frequent, and dancing and music 
 favorite diversions. In the homes of those who entertain one will 
 find not only the American magazines but those of France and Spain. 
 
 The roads are well kept and hedged and not infrequently one will 
 see merry parties setting forth on horseback, always an attractive 
 sight, for the young women of San Jose are notable for their beauty. 
 Also, they are accomplished, having a pronounced talent in music 
 and a skill in literature and linguistic abilities that will surpass that 
 of their northern sisters who usually speak but one language. 
 
 The people of Costa Rica boast as their ancestry the finest blood 
 of Spain. This lineage is reflected in their very great courtesy. One 
 day while driving in San Jose the driver was accosted by a poHceman, 
 whereupon he turned back and drove around the block. A lady in 
 that block was quite ill, the; officer said, and he feared the noise of 
 the diligencia on the cobbles might cause her distress. In other ways 
 the attitude of the people is reflected. The longest sentence that 
 may be imposed for any crime in Costa Rica is 20 years. The per- 
 centage of crime is less than in most countries. The national peni- 
 tentiary is an admirable institution with workshops where prisoners 
 are taught furniture making, etc. Vegetables are cultivated by the 
 prisoners in the grounds inside the walls. The national hbrary and 
 the musemns are both of interest, the latter presenting very complete 
 exhibitions of the fauna of the country and also relics of the Indian 
 tribes, both present and prehistoric. Much has been written of the 
 educational institutions of Costa Rica, and I could not add to what 
 has been said, except, perhaps, that the work of the high-school 
 students in painting and sculpture is often so well done that it would 
 hardly be considered the work of amateurs and, least of all, of 
 children. 
 
THROUGH COSTA EICA ON" A MOTOR CAR. 23 
 
 Pimtarenas, on the Pacific, is the great watering place for San 
 Jose. The train, over the Government railway, leaves San Jose 
 about 8 in the morning, arriving at Puntarenas at 2 in the afternoon. 
 It was with regret that I left the beautiful old capital with its life and 
 gaiety and my new-found friends, who were so eager to make my stay 
 a pleasant one. The train was crowded to the aisles and I was the 
 only American aboard, but it was not long before I found myself 
 chatting with some acquaintances of the country. At each station 
 out of San Jose it was met by throngs of pretty misses in stylish 
 mode, young men smartly clad in riding costutnes, with black shining 
 puttees, and numerous dog carts, and diligencias. Often one saw 
 the picturesque old Spanish costume, the short blouse jacket, the 
 loose braided trousers, high-heel boots, and broad-brimmed hat. 
 
 At noon all hands filed out of the train for lunch. Fried and 
 fricasseed chicken, veal, lamb, beef, stuffed eggs, vegetables, fruits, 
 iced drinks, beer, and coffee were sold by the pretty young women 
 at the tables. AYe had been rolling downhill four hours, and still 
 had two hours of descent before we should reach the long plateau 
 that projects into Nicoya Gulf. Already the cypress and eucalyptus 
 trees had disappeared, and great bunches of cacti mingled with palms 
 and geraniums in the gardens. 
 
 At Puntarenas the hotels and clubhouses were filled. Throngs of 
 bathers crowded the beach. Children from an orphanage from San 
 Jose were down upon their holiday. But there were several days to 
 wait before my steamer should come to bear me north, so I took some 
 fascinating trips up the Gulf of Nicoya. Some day, it is said, the 
 national railways of Nicaragua may follow the old cart road down to 
 Costa Rica, but the route is a diflScult one, and connection between 
 Siquirres and the foot of Lake Nicaragua could probably be easier 
 made. Puntarenas is not as developed as is Port Limon, where the 
 Northern Railway and United Fruit Co. have developed hotels, hos- 
 pitals, machine shops, storehouses, piers, etc., but with the growth 
 of commerce upon the Pacific this development is sure to come. 
 
 One morning early a steamer whistle electrified those who waited. 
 I hurried to the pier, got aboard a launch, and in a few hours saw 
 fade from sight the purple shores centuries ago visited by Sir Francis 
 Drake, but to me more vivid than any history could make them, for 
 they marked the borders of Costa Rica, queen of the mountain lands. 
 
24 
 
 THEOUGH COSTA RICA ON A MOTOR CAR. 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 015 811 697 2 
 
 THE PAN AMERICAN UNION is the inter- 
 national organization and office maintained 
 in Washington, D. C, by the twenty-one 
 American republics, as follows: Argentina, Bolivia, 
 Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Domini- 
 can Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hon- 
 duras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
 Salvador, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 
 It is devoted to the development and advancement 
 of commerce, friendly intercourse, and good under- 
 standing among these countries. It is supported 
 by quotas contributed by each country, based upon 
 the population. Its affairs are administered by a 
 Director General and Assistant Director, elected 
 by and responsible to a Governing Board, which is 
 composed of the Secretary of State of the United 
 States and the diplomatic representatives in Wash- 
 ington of the other American governments. These 
 two executive officers are assisted by a staff of 
 international experts, statisticians, commercial 
 specialists, editors, translators, compilers, libra- 
 rians, clerks and stenographers. The Union pub- 
 lishes a Monthly Bulletin in English, Spanish, 
 Portuguese and French, which is a careful record 
 of Pan American progress. It also publishes 
 numerous special reports and pamphlets on various 
 subjects of practical information. Its library, the 
 Columbus Memorial Library, contains 36,000 vol- 
 umes, 20,000 photographs, 150,000 index cards, and 
 a large collection of maps. The Union is housed in 
 a beautiful building erected through the munifi- 
 cence of Andrew Carnegie. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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