Newspaper Page Text
THE SUMY SOUTH
Dangerous
Canal
Rival of Nicaragua
TEHAUNTEPEC PEOPLE NEARLY HALF WAY
THROUGH THEIR JOB, AND ASSERT THEY WILL
* By CURTIS broivh 9 GET MOST of THE TRADE
J&
| I have told you, will be $2.50 or $3 a ton.
! Add to this saving in rate the saving in
time in a vessel's voyage and the fact
i that while we will handle a ship’s cargo
in one day it will take three to lock a
vessel through the Nicaraguan canal, to
say nothing of the start of fiv e years
which the Tehuantepec route will have,
and I thir.k 5-ou will admit that we have
reason to survey the outcome with an
optimistic eye.
Almost Five Bridges to Milo
"The engineering difficulties on the Te
huantepec railway have not been espe
cially great, the chief one being that ot
obtaining ballast after leaving the coast.
The original line in some places skirted
the swampy country, and in these places
we are diverting it away from the marsh
es. Although the railway is only 190 miles
long, there are over 900 openings, each of
these having formerly been spanned with
the old wooden trestle bridges, such as
still exist in some parts of the south ana
west. Every one of these bridges we are
replacing with structures of iron or
stone.”
"Are these iron bridges coming from
England ” . .
“No. with only two or three exceptions
they are all American made. Likewise
we are using American rails. Last year
you supplied u s with 5.000 tons of them.
In such matters we can't, afford to go
in for sentiment; we must buy in the
cheapest market.
“Perhaps I may indicate with some lit
tle pride one feature of our work. This
is a Titan machine for raising and plac
ing in position blocks of stone In build
ing the breakwaters at Coatzacoalcas. It
can raise masses of stone weighing fifty
tons, and it cost $50,000. It is the biggest
thing of its kind in the world, and was
built especially for this undertaking.
There is one thing that we have learned
from Americans—not to be afraid ot
plant. An American company will estab
lish a big and expepsive plant, no matter
where their operations may be carried on,
if there is the slightest prospect of fur
ther business.’’
Not the least interesting point In the
Tehuantepec railway project is that it
simply is following out the dream ot
Charles V of Spain, who directed Cortez
to make careful inquiry for a passage
through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec “ana
shorten by two-thirds the route from
Cadiz to Cathay." CURTIS BROWN.
Wonderful Oil Fields of Texas
Greatest Well in the World Located in tHe
Lone Star State £? How it was Sunk &
Coatxacoalcoi, tHe Ota If of Mexico Terminus of tHe Tehauntepec Road
ONDOX. March 7.—While
the United States is
busy discussing and ne
gotiating over the pro
posed Nicaragua canal
the Mexican govern
ment, aided by a rich
and progressive British
company, is working
steadily on a route
across the isthmus
which not only prom
ises to loom up as the
Nicaragua canal’s most
dangerous rival after
the canal begins busi
ness. but which will
he In active operation
rs before the Nicaraguan
be opened.
The scheme by which these determined
allies are planning to get ahead of the
American government has been worked
s > tpiif tly that precious little was known
by the general public about the progress
of this enterprise. Information on the
the rebuilding of the railway, and leased
the road to the British operators for fifty
ye3rs.
It is expected that the road will be
ready for business in three or four years.
The work, which was begun in Decem
ber, 1899, and which is engaging about
2,000 men, is being done under the per
sonal direction of the head of the com
pany, Sir Weetman Pearson. This en
gineer’s past record has been notable.
He built the Blackwall Tunnel under the
Thames, accounted one of the engineering
triumphs of the last century, and was
knighted therefor; the great canal which
drains the City of Mexico was his work:
he built the harbor at Bangkok. Siam,
and the Southampton docks in Kngland;
carried on what was accomplished with
the Hudson river tunnel, and has now in
hand, in various parts of the world,
chiefly for the British admiralty, under
takings amounting to about $75,000,000.
Cheaper Than Panama Road
At the outset the Tehuantepec railway
will have to enter into competition with
the line across the isthmus of Panama.
accounts for nearly seven days. From
Plymouth, England, to San Francisco
there will be not only a saving of 7,000
miles over the Cape Horn route, but
of 800 miles, or three whole days, over
that of Panama.
Nor will they be content to compete
with routes on the Isthmus alone, for the
distance from the Tehuantepec’s Mexi
can V-ilf terminus—Coatzacoalcas—to San
Francisco is a hundred miles less than
from New Orleans by way of the South
ern Pacific railway.
Competition WitH Nicaragua.
Asked if he expected to compete with
the Nicaraguan canal, the secretary of
H. Pearson & Son, the lessees of the
Tehuantepec railway, said:
“To begin with, the date of the opening
of the Nicaragua canal is problematical.
I do not believe that it will be completed
in a decade. When the American gov
ernment reaches the end of the diplo
matic difficulties it will have to face
physical ones greater, I fancy, than it
imagines,
“In the first place, you have to deal
Titan in Position at End of Brakswater
subject v. as not to be gathered easily
from Mexico and London was not natu
rally the place to which one would look
for news of an American enterprise. The
offices of the contractors of the enter-
pri>- • are here, however, and it is from
these officials that most of the facts
were obtained.
A Lively Scheme
Stated briefly, the new work consists in
reconstructing a railway, which already
crosses A.iexico at its narrowest point, to
such an extent that freight can be rush
ed across in a shorter time and at a
lower rate than would be possible by the
Nicaragua canal, the saving of time of
vexst Is through the use of this more
northerly route being expected to even
up the disadvantage of handling a ship’s
cargo twice.
This railway is the Tehuantepec line,
built by the Mexican government several
years ago and used only for local traffic,
but never as an interoceanic freight
route, being entirely without terminal
facilities for its handling. Now. however,
harbors are being constructed at both
ends of the route—at Coatzacoalcas, on
but its projectors profess to have no
fear of the result. They point out that
the Panama railway, owing chiefly to
the want of terminal facilities and diffi
cult railway gradients, is not only re
markably dilatory in handling freight
between vessel and vessel across the
isthmus, but that its charge of $5 a ton
for such transportation is practically
prohibitive. In competition with the
Panama road the Tehuantepec railway
proposes not only to convey cargoes from
ship to ship within twenty-four hours,
blit to do it at the rate of either $2.50 or S3
a ton. including all harbor and railway
charges.
The Panama railway now carries about
300,000 tons of freight a year—or onlv
about one-tenth of the entire trade. Mo*t
of this business the Tehuantepec promo
ters expect to capture, and predict that
when their arrangements are perfected
they will handle 2,000,000 tons of freight
a year.
Not Afraid of tHe Canals
The probability of either or both tlie
Nicaragua and Panama canals being
with an earthquake country. In our dis
trict wp have experienced shocks of this
kind, and the effect on the railway has
been practically nil. The effect in a canal
will, however, be much more disastrous.
It will play havoc with your locks, and
immediately one of them leaves the per
pendicular it is useless.
“lou are also going to have more trou
ble than you think with the Chagres riv-
tr. It will prove a particularly virulent
type of the tropical stream in Its ten
dency to come down in gudden flood upon
you. J remember one occasion, while
buildjng a bridge across the river, I
walked across its bed in the morning
without wetting my feet. By evening
the water was over the tops of our pile
drivers, which were thirty feet high.
Thinks Canal Won’t Pay
“But of course all these difficulties will
be overcome. The canal will be built. It
is imperative that the United States
should have it, now that she has distant
dependencies. There must likewise b? no
THe Terminus at Selina Crux on tHe Pacific Coast
he gulf of Mexico, and Salina Cruz, on
he Pacific ocean—which will give anchor-
tee to the largest vessels in the mer
chant service, while the quays and
vharves are to be fitted with the most
nodern machinery and appliances for the
oading and discharging of vessels,
dean-while the road itself Is being rebuilt
ilir.ost entirely and fitted for heavy traf-
ic.
Soon Ready Tor Buiinef*
The agreement between the Mexican
government and the British company, S.
Pearson & Co., Limited. London, of
vhich this undertaking Is the result, was
nade a little more than two years ago.
3y its terms the Mexican government
nade an appropriation of $15,000,000 for
opened leaves the Tehuantepec people un
dismayed. They will have at least five
years' start of either enterprise, and they
say they will depend on the cheapness
of their rates, their celerity in handling
cargoes, and. above all. their more north
erly location, to enable them practically
to defy competition. By the Tehuantepec
route, they point out, the distance be
tween New York and San Francisco will
be TOO miles less than by the Nicaragua
canal, and 1,100 less than by the Panama
route. For a ten-knot steamer that
means a saving of nearly three days in
the first case and of four and a half
days in the second. From New Orleans
to San Francisco they claim an advan
tage of 1,600 miles over Panama, which
more 'Oregon' business. If the Spaniards
had been smart she never would have
come back. But is it an American char
acteristic to disregard the question of
whether an enterprise will pay?”
"The Nicaragua canal is ‘expected to
cost some £30,000,000. In practice it will
probably cost £40.000.000. A modest re
turn at the rate of 4 per cent would be a
net revenue of £1,600,000, or a gross reve
nue of £3.000,000. Now. how much freight
do you expect to carry in a year? Will It
be 3.000.000 tons—as qjuch as the Suez
canal? Probably not so much. We of the
Tehuantepec route hope for 2,000,000 a
year. If you carry as much as that,
what will your rate a ton have to be. It
will have to be $7.50, whereas our rate, as
By FRED J. HAS KIN *
INCE the discovery of
S oil near Beaumont the
recorder of Jefferson
county has been the
busiest man in Texas.
During the first thirty
days after the strike 773
separate leases or trans
fers were recorded and
many more were on file
waiting to be entered.
The size of the deals
ranged from small
leases—to be worked for
a share of the possible
output—to large trans
fers covering Immense
tracts of land and call
ing for an exchange of thousands of dol
lars. Beaumont has been In a prosperous
'condition for some time past on account
of the large lumber and rice interests
which center here, but since the big oil
gusher broke loose lumber and rice have
had to take a back seat. Fully fifty com
panies have been formed to prospect In
the new field and there are already more
than a dozen completed derricks within a
radius of a half mile of the big Lucas
well. Several of these have thjir rigs
in place and have begun drilling. Captain
Lucas has started another well near the
gusher that Is already several hundred
feet down.
The people of Beaumont were always
great believers in the future of their
section, but they were altogether unpre
pared for the sudden plunge Into fame
and the consequent boom which followed
the an noun cement of Captain Lucas's
great strike on the morning of January
10th. Shortly before noon on that date a
man whose clothes were all covered with
oil rode up In front of one of the stores
and said to the proprietor in an excited
manner; "Captain Lucas has struck oil.
His well has exploded and blowed h— out
of things. It's spoutin’ oil so fast Us
runnin' in rivers all over the prairie."
The proprietor of the store said he be
lieved he would go out and see the well.
Before night nearly every other business
man and citizen of Beaumont had taken
the same notion.
The Prospaclora Arrive
T he n&to^S^sl’ap'dly spread over the
country and .ra a few hours the rush from
the outside began. It was one of the
greatest In the history of the south. In
View of Greet 'Well in Action
air with the column of oil. In color it
was dark brown, and it cast off a strong
oacr of petroleum. In quality it is what
is known, as heavy or lubricating oil. The
depth of the well is 1,300 feet.
The flow of the oil was estimated by
the owners to be fully 30,000 barrels l>er
day, which was over four times that ot
the largest one known in the United
States prior to this time. Heretofore the
j largest well in this country yielded 7,000
! barrels daily. There are only two other
j wells in the world that compare favorably
with the Beaumont wonder, and they are
located near Baka, Russia. One of these
is being operated and the other is on fire.
Showing Beaumont Well Closed with Partial View of Oil Lake
a few days the arrivals from abroad were
in excess to the capacity of the hotels and
hundreds had to seek accommodation In
private families. Sometimes as many as
a hundred speculators and prospectors
would come on a single train. The hack-
men reaped a harvest, some of them get
ting as high as $10 for a single trip to the
well. The railroads did a flourishing bus
iness in hauling spectators to the scene.
It is estimated that fully 5,000 people vis
ited the well on the Sunday following its
discovery.
Captain Lucas and his backere, of
course, thought they would find oil or
they would not have spent their money
In sinking the well, but it seems they
were not expecting It when It occurred.
They were as much surprised as any one
and were altogether unprepared to handle
the big spouter after It broke loose. There
were five men working at the well on the
morning of the strike. It is the custom In
sinking these wells to decrease the size
of the pipe used according to the increase
of depth. They were far enough down to
warrant the use of four-inch pipe and
the men were engaged in putting this size
in place. A little over 660 feet had been
lowered into the well when the pipe sud
denly began to come up of its own ac
cord. One man was working on top of
the sixty-foot derrick and he shouted to
the others below. "IVhat are you hoist
ing it for?" They replied/that they were
not hoisting it and the wewds were scarce
ly out of their mouths before there was
the muffled sound of an explosion and
the pipe shot into the air with terrific
force. About 300 feet of It was broken
off and the remaining 300 feet forced into
the air. Following the report a quantity
of water was forced from the well and
after that came the oil with a vengeance.
The men on the ground scurried out of
danger and the fellow on top of the der
rick hurried down with all possible haste.
He was not injured, but was literally
drenched with the torrents of oil and
had to almost swim out of it. The oil came
from the mouth of the well with sufficient
force to throw it two-thirds of the way
up the sixty-foot derrick in a solid stream
six inches In diameter.
The action of the wind then caused it
to spray, and it flew into the air fully a
hundred feet. Pieces of flint rock as
large as a hen egg were thrown into the
Closing the well proved no small task, in
order to successfully accomplish this feat.
Captain Lucas used a T pipe on a -rasing
with a valve on each branch of the pipe.
The valve on the upright pipe was closed
first, ar.d then the one on the horizontal
pipe was gradually shut. After the well
was closed it took fifty wagon loads of
dirt to pack It up snug and level. It took
nine days and ten minutes to get the
giant stream under control, and during
that time an immense lake of oil formed,
which covered sixty-four acres of ground
ten inches deep. The bank of this lake,
which had been hastily thrown up, gave
away in one place and about 200,000 barrels
of oil escaped.
Captain A. F. Lucas, the engineer who
bored the big well, came to Beaumont
from Washington, D. C.. about two years
ago. He prospected on his own resources
until last August, when he became con
vinced that he had something in sight.
He then secured the financial assistance
of Messrs. James H. Galey and J. M.
Guffey, of Pittsburg.
Messrs. Galey and Guffey are building
the best equipped and most expensive
piant in the world to handle the output of
their big gustier. Pipes are already laid
to Port Arthur, a distance of sixteen
miles, and when their plant is fully estab
lished a vessel of from 2,000 to 3 000 tons
caracity can be loaded in less than twen
ty-four hours. A half-million dollars will
be invested in tanks alone. It is esti
mated that the pressure of the well it
self will be sufficient to keep filled two
tanks with a capacity of 235,000 barrels
each that will be located about a half
mile south of the site of the well.
It has been claimed for a long time
that this coast country was an oil field.
Several geologists have made the state
ment that a large vein of the valuable
fluid flows from the northwestern portion
of the United States, through Colorado
and Texas, and seaps into the Gulf of
Mexico. There have always been indi
cations to bear out these statements. For
many years there has been an oil lake
In the Gulf of Mexico in which the coast
wise vessels would find safety in a storm.
It covers about twenty-five acres of sur
face and the oil is about three or four
Inches deep over the water. It Is located
twenty-seven miles west of Sabine Pass,
forty-five miles east of Galveston and Is
fifteen miles out from land. After a storm
great quantities of oil come to the sur
face in the locality, which seems to indi
cate the presence of a large body of the
same below. A disturbance of tlie water
never fails to ^ bring It to the surface.
Many Other Walla
It must not be inferred that the new
Beaumont oil field Is the only one In
Texas. There are several hundred wells
in operation In what is known as the
Corsicana field, located about a hundred
miles north of Beaumont, which have
been worked on a paying basis for the
past three years. But none of these wells
will begin to compare with the Lucas
geyser, which will probably yield as much
in a day as all of them put together.
Sour Lake, a short distance west of
Beaumont, has also produced oil In small
quantities.
Acting Attorney General Robert A.
John has rendered to Governor Sayers
an exhaustive opinion on the question of
whether or not the law reserves to the
state or to the free school fund or to the
state institutions all oils, minerals, clays
and other deposits on lands belonging to
the state or to the common free school
The opinion is highly important to tho
oil Interests of the new Beaumont dis
trict, as well as to the mining interests
of West Texas. Acting Attorney John’*
conclusions summarized, are as follows:
L That all mines and minerals, which
would include not only metallic sub
stances, but petroleum oil. were reserved
from the sale of public free school, uni
versity. agricultural, mechanical, college
and asylum lands, and that these funds
now own the mines and minerals, exist*
lng. or to be yet discovered, on all lands
sold since April 14. 1883, and up to March
29. 1SS9.
2. That the mines and minerals as also
Indicated on all public school, university,
asylum and other public lands which
were classified under the act of 1SS9 afi
mineral lands that were sold under sec
tion 16 of that act, by virtue of the re
classification provided for in section 15.
as non-mineral lands, the minerals on
said lauds which have been discovered
or which may subsequently be discovered
are still reserved from said sale and be
long to either the state or the respective
funds to which the land had been legally
set aside.
3. That all lands sold since March 29,
1889, under the classification of agricul
tural, grazing or timbered land, upon
which minerals have been discovered,
or upon which minerals may hereafter be
discovered, the title of the minerals upon
the same vested in the purchasers or bis
assigns, without any reservation upon tho
part of the state.
4. The reservation of minerals u above
discussed includes in the general term
“minerals” any substances which can be
gotten from beneath the surface for the
purpose of profit, not limited to metallio
substances and, in other words, petro
leum oil, coals and other deposits that
come within that definition.
Well Boring Modern Idee
The idea of boring for oil is practically
a modem one. The first well In the United
States was bored near Titusville. Pa.,
in 1858. Near that, place there was a well,
that attracted considerable attention on
account of the water in it being mixed
with oil. This oil was taken up with
flannel cloths by absorption and used for
medicinal purposes. A similar kind called
Seneca oil was put on the market as a
cure for rheumatism and other ailments
and had a large sale for years. Some fel
low conceived the "Idea of pumping the
water out of this well and boring for oil.
The drill only went down a short distance,
until, a vein was struck which yielded |
from 400 to 1,000 gallons per day, accord
ing to the diligence of the operators. This
was considered wonderful on account ot
the slow and laborious method ot secur
ing It before tbat time. The first flowing
well was st-uck in 1800. ' Pennsylvania,
Ohio and West Virginia are the princi
pal oil producing regions of this country,
although California has a large area
which Is making a very good showing of
late. Io eome localities the work of sink
ing wells Is accomplished easily andi
cheaply. In some portions of Pennsyl- 1
vania a depth of 1,000 feet can be obtained
for $1,000. The average cost of wells ot
2,000 feet, however, rurf from $3,000 to
$3,500. The depth *1 which oil is obtained
varies with the different localities, but.
will probably average 1,400 feet.
Gossip About People You
K^now 9
9
9
Capt. A, F. Luces
ENATOR STEWART, of
M Nevada, who Is the proud
■ possessor of the most lux-
urlant growth of whiskers
In the senate, has never
been shaved in his life-
His beard began to sprout
when he was about six
teen, and he Is now seven
ty-five. “Oh, yes,” said
he the other day, “I have
often thought of shaving.
Kind-hearted friends have
given me razors and advised me to go
to work on my beard, but I never took
their advice. You see, when I was a
young man I never owned a razor, and
I had to let my whiskers grow wild,
Now it is too late. My constituency
would rage and my political career would
be wrecked.”
if
Humble Origin of Genius
Professor Pupin, the electrical inventor
who has leaped Into fame In the last few
days, came to this country at aji ordi
nary Immigrant and went to work in a
New York Turkish bath establishment.
*
Hu Reigned Fifty-Two Tears
The death of Queen Victoria leaves
Francis Joseph, of Austria, with the
record for the longest reign in Europe.
He is se.venty-one years of age and has
been on the throne for more than fifty-
two years.
+
Helen Keller’s Ores* Profrsse
Helen Keller, the deaf, dumb and blind
student at Radcliffe college, has just been
promoted to a course In English In ad
vance of her class. She Is now studying
history, government, English, French and
German.
*r
Death of Longfellow's Brother
Alexander. Wadsworth Longfellow, the
youngest brother of the great poet, died
recently in Portland, Me. This removes
the last but one of the members of the
poet’s immediate family. Mrs. Greenleaf,
of Cambridge, is now the only survivor.
*
The Original Chicagoan
Alexander Baubeln, the first white man
born in Chicago, just celebrated his sev
enty-ninth birthday. H e witnessed the
building of the first frame house in that
city, where his father was the local rep
resentative of John Jacob Astor s fur
company.
if
American Painter Honored
,£|lwin Austin Abbey, the American
painter and illustrator, has been elected
a member of the Athenaeum Club of
London, under the provisions of the rule
empowering the annual election of per
sons of distinguished eminence in science,
literature and the arts.
*
Henry Irving’* Methods
Playwrights whb are fortunate enough
to sell their plays to Sir Henry Irving,
who buys a great many more than he
produces, have the satisfaction of re
ceiving their money at the time of the
sale. This saves the playwright the anx
iety of waiting years, perhaps months,
for the production of their efforts.
*
Millionaire as Census Agent
Although a millionaire several times
over. Alexander Graham Bell, the in
ventor of the telephone, does not seem
to have any aversion to work. He has
been seiVine- as a special agent of the
census bureau, in charge of the enumera
tion of the deaf, dumb and blind popula
tion of the. country. For this he Is enti
tled to $6 per day.
Hanna Was a Juiferer
The night sessions of the senate in
terfered considerably with the social en
gagements of many senators, says The
New York Mail and Express, notably
Mr. Hanna, who, although he was one of
the prime movers for this test of endur
M. t
large
but
Oust,
-
ance, had invitations out
dinner one night. His guests;
he was not able to play the
having to go to the capitol fr •,
bed.
*
Carrara Greats Eac-Enamiaa
The Gibraltar correspondent of the
London Express writes under date of
February 23: On the arrival here today
ofi . the steamer Furst Bismarck, now
cruising in the Mediterranean with a
large party of Americans, Admiral Cer-
vera, who is staying in Gibraltar, went
aboard to visit a friend, Arthur C. Hum
phreys. He was vociferously cheered by
the Americans, all of whom shook him
by the hand.
if
His Error glassed Him
I do not know whether Mrs. Agassis
has put into her interesting life of him
a delightful story which she told me
about him, writes W. D. Howells in Har
per’s Magazine. He came to her beaming
one day and demanded:
“You know I have always held such
and such an opinion about a certain group
of fossil fishes?"
“Yes, yes!”
“Well, I have Just been reading ’a
new book, and he has shotfn me that
there isn’t the least truth in it,’’ and he
burst into a laugh of pleasure, wholly un
vexed by having found himself con\iet
of an error. " c
Wu Rspresenting Himself
At a certain review recently held, a
pompous member of parliament found
himself on the outskirts of a huge crowd,
says The King. Being anxious to ob
tain a good view for himself and some
lauies who accompanied him, and pre
suming he was well known, he tapped
a burly cockney, who Was taking a day
off, on the shoulder, and said In a pre-
emptory tone: “Make way there.”
“Who are yer pushin’T’ replied the
cockney. *
"Do you know who I am air?” said the
indignant statesman. 'T am a represents- ,
tive of the people.”
“Gam! That ain’t nothin’,” growled tho
man. ‘‘We're the bloomin’ people their- '
selves."
* |
Conscience vs Judgment
When the house voted to prohibit liquor
selling in army canteens, John Allen, of
Mississippi, was not recorded, relates a
correspondent of The St. Louis Globe-
Democrat. Some good women of Missis- 1
slppi noted the fact that he did not vote
and called on him for an explanation,
knowing that Mr. Allen had been at one
time quite active in the Congressional
Temperance Society. Mr. Allen replied
that he was paired on the canteen ques
tion. “You see, ladies,” he said, “the
situation was this: My wife thinks very
much a s you do about this legislation in
regard to the canteen, f. have some
doubts as to whether congress will really
promote temperance among the soldiers
in this way. So I paired my judgment
with my wife’s conscience and decided
not to vote.”
if
Queer Idee of Ago
The American ambassador, Mr. Choate,
is as capable of appreciating good things
as of saying them, and an amusing in
stance of this happened the other day,
relates London M. A. P. Mr. Choate was
the guest of Canon Scott, the rector of
Lavenham. Suffold. which boasts one of
the finest and oldest parish churches in
England. While going over the church
Mr. Choate was much struck with its
beauty, and, American fashion, kept ask
ing his host the age of this and the other
thing.
“That screen must be very ancient?” ha
said.
“Oh, yes, It Is centuries old,” was the
reply.
“And'this paneling on tfle door?”
"Ts quite modern,” Canon Scott blandly
answered. “It was put up only forty
years before the discovery of America,
you know.”