Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-13
OUR MAIL POUCH.
The South American Correspondent of The
Dispatch Heard From-A Lady's Long

The South American Correspondent of The
Dispatch Heard From-A Lady's Long
Journey.
The following interesting letter from Fannie
B. Ward, the correspondent of THE DISPATCH
In South America. contains some information
which will be read with interest. Here it Is:
To the Editor of The Dispatch.
Now and then a copy of The DISPATCH
reaches me in our wanderings, and always
affords a great deal of pleasure. suppose
there have been several breaks in my series of
South American letters, but only when we
found ourselves in out-of-the-way places, where
there were absolutely no postal facilities. For
example, we have crossed the Andes at several
different points, on our way to remote districts,
each time almost living in our saddles three or
four weeks and hardly seeing house in all
that time Except the Government tambos
erected for nightly shelter), much less post
office. Our recent journey through Smyth's
Channel and the Straits of Magellan included
fortnights cruise among the islands of the
TERRA del Fuego group, and the innumerable
other islands leach one mountain, the last
remnants of the great Andean chain) that are
scattered all along the Western coast of what
used to be Patagonia till Chill gobbled it:
besides a stop at the most southerly town on
The globe, and run to the Falkland Islands.
Then we had long trip up the Rio de la Plata,
the Parana, and the Paraguay rivers; another
to some ostrich farms, sheep and cattle ranches
in the far interior of the Argentine country,
and visit to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay,
about l7O0 miles above Buenos Aires. And
we are soon going on another expedition, to
the remote regions of the upper Amazons. /
shall always do my best toward sending the
manuscript as regularly as possible; and when
1t is slow in coming, or does not come at ALL
you may be quite sure that it is not the fault of
my agent at home, or of the printer VINO sets
up the first copy, but because we are tenn
lyTt ttEf fT10lrD .-1,A
from which we are certain to emerge all right,
in time. can safely promise that from
this time on the letter will increase
much in interest, for I have at last
prosy parts not feeling justified in printing
them, yet conscious that the manuscripts were
sometimes dull and by no means up to
the mark. There is little yellow fever now in
Rio, but the weather is excessively hot. Yes
terday, after regular scorcher, we went out to
ride, between and o'clock P. NJ, and within
not less than two hours time we saw eight
funeral professions, and one uncofined corpse
being carried to the cemetery on a stretcher.
The first Congress of the new Republic con-
venes next Saturday, November Is. and
bration. This alleged Republic will die young,
like the good little boys in the Sunday School
books-but not from the same reason. The
people are too lazy and unstable to govern
themselves, and If poor old Dom Pedro were to
return tomorrow he would be welcomed with
open arms. The present Government seems to
have gone crazy under the stress of its "brief
authority" and continues to hand out ap-
preparation after appropriation, and concession
after concession. to whoever asks for one, ut
terly oblivious of limit; though within only
the last month about 20 times as much money
as the whole country is worth has been thus
promised. There will come a crash by and by;
but meanwhile the few knowing ones will have
made fortunes and gone safely away with
them. The Argentine Republic is now worse
off, having been literally 'boomed" to death.
Its army is completely demoralized, and war is
threatened by Chill; exchange is at such a rate
that for every one of our American dollars we
received at the Argentine banks So IA of their
paper; business failures and suicides are pitt
fully numerous, and the hordes of emigrants
who spent so much money to secure and settle
well are rushing away by shiploads One year
in these countries has taught us many things
not least among them being a better apprecia-
tion of the United States of the North than we
ever felt before. FANNIE b. WARD.
RIO DE JANEIRo, BRAZIL, Nov. IL.