Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-30
la PAz DE- kYsgUCHO.
INTERESTING STREET SCENES IN A
SOUTH AMERICAN CAPITAL.
Gossip From a BaIcony-Habits and Gus
toms of the People of the "C1fy oil
Peace"-Religious Zeal.

Especial Correspondence of the RECORD UNION
LA PAz, Bolivia, July, 1890.
There is Spanish proverb which says:
ssMusica, MEL y la ventana.
No es buena en- la manana,
Meaning that music, honey and standing
in the window are indulgences not good
for the early part of the day. Notwith-
standing the injunction, let US step out on
our hotel balcony, which overlooks the
central plaza of this queer old town, to
enjoy the street scenes and morning sun
shine.
The "City of Peace~ Gazing at the
stupendous mountains which stretch away
to the horizon on every side, one ceases to
wonder at its strange title, remembering
that when those early Spaniards explored
these barren nights in search of gold and
unconquered Indians and found this green
and cup-like hollow, they were glad to
rest here awhile from their journeyings.
This led to the establishment of a military
post, which afterwards grew into city !;
and in 1913 Don Alonzo de Mendoza, who
seems to have had a streak of poetry in
his sordid soul, solemnly christened it
Nuestro Sonora de la Pa, "Our Lady of the
Peace The name was changed some
sixty-ive years ago, just after the decisive
battle of Ayacucho, by means of which
Bolivia gained her independence from
Spain, the final treaty of peace being cele
brated here, to La Paz de Ayacucho.
And certainly the very spirit of peace,
or rather of idleness, seems brooding over
the scene. Because of the great elevation,
about $4,000 feet above sea-leyel, every
body moves about slowly who moves at all,
for that distressing complaint known as
si5roche, or difficulty of breathing, is sure
to follow active exercise. Away up here
winter and summer are much like, for
though completely sheltered by mountain
walls from all the winds that blow, the air
has in it the chill of the nearby snow
day it is tolerably comfortable, but the
houses, not one OF which has any sort of
apparatus for warming purposes, are damp
and cold as so many tombs, except IN
rooms which are thoroughly penetrated by
the midday sun. Imagine a civilized
community where water freezes at night
and frosts are frequent, depending solely
upon the sun for heat, especially as in this
altitude that orb is more inconsistent than
the moon, sometimes refusing to show its
face for days together Summer clothes"
are never required in La Paz. Everybody
wears his overcoat at all seasons, and needs
it much more indoors than out. Strange
to say, the uncomfortable people, SILVER
ing around the house in wraps and furs,
have an unconquerable prejudice against
artificial heat, and believe that to keep a
fire in a stove or CRATE would mean total
destruction to health. An American gen.
tleman residing here loaned me contriv-
ance for bun ming kerosene to mitigate the
deadly chill In my rooms, and great was
the CONSERVATION in the hotel when it was
discovered Not only was / repeatedly
warned that my own life was seriously en-
dangered thereby, but that of the entire
household as well, and when la grippe
came along a little later and reaped It's
harvest under under this roof as elsewhere,
we were excessively annoyed by dark hints
thrown out to the effect that all the sick
ness and death was directly traceable to
that same oil stove!
But there are compensations everywhere
for most ofthe ills Of life, and one with an
eye to the picturesque may find them even
in La Paz. Let us "look unto the hillso
with the Psalmist, just now wonderful
with patches of light and shadow, varying
from darkest purple to palest gray. Di-
rectly opposite our window piercing
Illimani, the giant sentinel of the Andes,
looms up like a sheeted ghost, white as
unsullied snow can make it; while on
every hand, stretching far as the eye can
reach, are lines of mountains rising tier
above tier to the horizon golden-green on
the sunny foothills, amethyst and brown
beyond them and the distant nights a
misty blue.
In front of Illimani and looking close
beside its snowy background (but in reality
forty miles or more this side of it, rises
the dark, fve-peaked and many belled
tower of city sanctuary; and nearer yet,
fronting US on the other side of the plaza,
is the sky-blue building with dark red
doors and pillars and tall white tower
with a clock in it, which was formerly a
church, but now-stuck all over with
circus and lottery placards-is used by
Congress for its sessions. On one side of it
a long lavender-hued structure stretches 70
the corner with broad strip of pea-green
painted across the front, in which appears
in black letters the legend, "Cafe de
Paris" while on the other hand, two
story building with arches above and
below, all pale green, completes that side
of the square.
Separated by narrow street from the
emerald-hued arches aforesaid rises the
Presidents paiaeio-three-storied, the
lower story of hewn stone left in its nat
ural color, the upper part painted pale
blue. Its windows have neither outer nor
inner shutters, but each is guarded by an
iron-rail balcony. Red-trousered soldiers
are lolling all day before its entrance, and
above them floats the gorgeous flag of Be-
livia, three equal stripes, red, yellow and
green, with the national escutcheon
stamped in the middle. There are few
hours in the twenty-four when some mill
tary company is not parading, or band
playing before the Presidents casa. When
ever the national anthem is rendered, a
rather jerky tune, it seems to me, without
much heart in it, we notice that most men
take off their hats. There have been
times in the history of the country when
to have neglected this token of patriotism
would have been dangerous. Thanking
the imposing Executive mansion and COM
ple,ing the right hand side Of the square
is a half-fnished structure, built of pol
ished blocks of white stone, with beauti-
fully carved pillars and window caps. So
long ago was this immense enterprise be-
gun that its original purpose seems TO have
been forgotten, and grass is now growing
out Of the rooAess walls. Though at least
quarter of million of dollars must have
been spent upon it, the work has been en-
tirely abandoned for many years.
Across the plaza, facing the palace.
stands the Hotel Central, pale pink above,
strawberry red below, with heavy black
trimmings and the name of the proprietor
sprawled clear across the front in bright