National Republican., 1884-02-28
POOR PERU.
Great HardshipS on the Poor in Taxes Fines,
and Licenses.
A Recent Election Said to Have Been
a Ridiculous Farce.
The Bleached Bones Of Peruvian Soldiers Still Lying
Unburied on the Battlefelds.
A Day OF National Mourning and a
Grand Memorial Mass.
Spscidi Letter.

CALLAo, PERU, Jan. 31.-The Iglesias gov
ernment is pursuing the even tenor of its
way, inasmuch as it is taxing everything, |
flning everybody, declaring all old licenses |
null, issuing new ones at greatly increased |
rates. and insisting upon payment for them q
year in advance. The poor fishermen, who |
live from hand to mouth, declared that they
could not pay eight silver dollars year. and
for two days there were no fish in the market;
however, with the Chilians at Chorrillos, of
course thoy paid
The night of eleventh instant some Chilian
troops were brought from Chorrillos and
stationed in Bellavista, to be on hand in case
of need, and on the morning of the twelfth,
ballot boxes were placed in all the plazas and
voting was begun and registering continued.
II ended on the nineteenth in the declaration
that DR.; Fouseca and the rest of the govern
ment ticket were elected. The whole thing
was a ridiculous farce, tho only likeness that
il bore to real election was that there were
ballot boxes and ballots. Next week tho
returns from the outlying departments
ought to come in, and we shall prob
ably even be treated to those from Junin
and Cuzco, where Caceres has co mmand,
and there is not a Chlian soldier, aud no
elections can have taken place, beca use
Caceres declares himself the lawful president.
The election in Lima on the nineteenth
turned out wrong, inasmuch as tho govern
ment candidate was not elected; SO tho cleo
tion was declared null and void. and another
one ordered for to-day.
Caceres is hourishing. He had little brush
with the Chilians tho other day, and got the
af 10 hat
Pierola will be here by the middle of next
month, and his friends are preparing to give
him welcome.
wrote you of my trip to tho battlefield of
Miraaores and of the bleached bones of Peru
Wan soldiers that still lie there unburied;
well, 1t Is the same on the battlefield of Char
rillos, which lies just to the left OF the town,
and is sometimes called tho battlefield of San
Juan. Tho eleventh instant was the third
anniversary of tho battle Of Chorrillos, and
the fifteenth, that of Mirahoros. This is
the first anniversary that the Limaneans
have had possession of their capital, so they
determined to celebrate in some way, and this
is what they decided upon: The fifteenth
was declared day ofnational mourning, sus-
pension of business was ordered, and grand
memorial mass arranged for to be celebrated
in the church of La Merced, Our Lady of
Mercy. Callao decided to unite with Lima so
as to make tho mass more grand and the
decorations finer than If each city celebrated
by itself. After about weeks excitement,
during which no one proposed that the bones
of the martyrs and heroes should be collected
and decently buried, the morning of the
fifteenth arrived. Flags were numerous and
all at half mast, some of them decorated with
o bow of Grape. ] went up to Lima about
noon, and found the streets filled with people.
The first visible sign Of mourning that l
Noticed was pair Of faded black
curtains, with tarnished silver fringe
~, =
doors. Passing across the plaza / entered the
narrow Mercaderes street to find the crowd
increasing, and saw several women with eyes
that showed they had lately been wet and
damp handkerchiefs in their hands. Two
of them were stopping to look at the mourn
ing arch that crossed the street, and | suppose
IL gratited them as being O sign that their
country was grateful for the blood their
fathers, husbands. sons, or brothers had split,
but it was o very rough affair, the boards be-
ing not at all hidden by the transparent,
scanty black drapery. 1t was very tall and
rested on the curb stones on either side of the
street. A little farther on l entered the
plazuela of La Merced, and here was o large
Catafalque, made of paper and wood, with
funeral urns on each corner and surmounted
by tall thing composed of four ladders
wound with black and white. l suppose it
was meant for monumental shaft, and the
top of it was decorated with shields bearing
Grape. The church is a very large one, and
the front is very ornate, twisted columns,
saints, and other ornaments existing in num-
bers, but all made Of adobe, and to-day all
covered with black drapery. The crowd in
side was Dense and there had lust been a
stampede caused by wreath catching fire,
but no one was injured, thanks to the numer-
GUS foreigners members of the different fire
companies, that were stationed all about.
The mass began at IL and ended at 3
o'clock, and shortly after that, seeing that
the lights had been put out, worked my
way in, being directed by u soldier to a door
on the right that led through lobby and a
corner of a garden into the church. The
garden was large, the trees beautiful, and.
with tho gentle south breeze stirring their
leaves and blossoms, it looked most invt-
ing spot, but / was told | could not go in
because was woman, and that was for the
padres. So l turned and went into the
church, where l was at liberty to asso-
ciate with the padres If l chose
in spite of my petticoats As
said before, the church is a very large one,
and there are three aisles, but only the center
to ceiling with black irapery seme. with
obong silver drops to represent tears. The
high altar was dressed as tomb and on
either side were figures of Adam and Eve and
two weeping angels. In front of the altar was
another catatalque and guard of honor OF
bOlul6EoI WIN uAbu DuyOHStSj dDOuU IL, DuueI
each arc that led into the side aisles were
large funeral urns, with fires burning in them
and overhead swung some fifty more, also
lighted besides which there We're innumerable
candles of all sizes. Last, but not least, were
the wreaths each ono sent to refresh the
memory of the people in the name of somo-
one who had died for them, and gener.
ally of fragrant white flowers, SO that their
delicious odor made the mir heavy. They
were marked in different ways--a visiting
card, Grape ribbon with the name embrOid-
cred on it in silver, photograph, small oil
portrait or bas-relief, or the name on rib
bon of Peruvian colors, were all favorite
methods. Over the holy water basin was O
harp sent by widow in memory of her hus'
band and son, killed the same day, and just
beyond was tablet to commemorate the
sacrifice of five men Of the same name.
The Spanish colony sent Il large harp OI
immortelles, Callao sent very large wreath
OF flowers, and one of tho battalions of the
Lima reserve sent u cross over five feet high
As went about reading name after name
felt saddened, and as il the world was one
vast sepulchre, until pulled myself together
and began to look for a private, or at least
should say his wreath, but there was not one
to be found, SO sat down ON bench to medi
tate and rest, and saw before me picture o
saint, on which the sun was at that moment
shining. He was hung by rope around hi
neck over trough OF some kind, his hands