The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-05-04
LIFE IN ECUADOR
The Public Grindstone and the
Public Letter Writer.
OUR SERVANT GIRLS OUTDoNE
The Great Volcano of Chimborazo-How the
Dead are Buried-Begging For
Marriage Fec.

GUArAQUIL, Ecuador, April 4, $780,
Especial correspondence of THE HERALD. l.
In this city, the public grindstone and the
public letter writer are both established in
situations. The latter sits in his door, or
out on thegsidewalk, beside little table
with pens, ink and paper, all ready to in
cite legal documents or love- letters, as the
case may require, at moments notice.
The usefulness of this individual can
hardly be appreciated in the United States
but here, where the vast majority can
neither read nor write, he is invaluable.
To look at photograph of Guayaquirs
cathedral, one would imagine it to be a
more imposing structure than Notre Dame
or St Peters; but the truth is, that though
certainly elegant in architectural design, it
is merely shell of frail bamboo, plastered
over with mud, succeed and painted. A
Latin inscription across the facade assures
us that its door is Ell Huerto del Cielo, ''The
Gate to Heaven" One would never mis-
trust it, however, from a glimpse OF its
gloomy and pewless interior, which is ex--
tremely bare and shabby, garnished by a
few caricatures in the way of pictures and
images, its uneven floor of brick and cement
like cellar bottom at home, worn into hol-
lows in front of favorite saints, by the
knees Of worshippers.
Mr.. William E. Curtis, the entertaining
author, tells of singular but very common
ceremony, which he witnessed in Guaya-
quill, as follows: One of the churches had
been destroyed by an earthquake, and
funds were needed to repair it. So the
priest took an image Of the Virgin from
the altar, and the Holy Sacrament, and
carried them about the street under a can
opy. clad in his secerdotal vestments. He
was preceded by
BRASS BAND
number Of boys carrying lighted candles
and swinging incense urns, and followed
by long procession of men. women and
children. The assemblage passed UP and
down the principal streets, stopping in
front OF each house. While the band
played, priests with contribution plates en-
tered the houses, soliciting subscriptions
and the people in the procession l1neeled in
the dust and prayed that the same might
be given with hberality. Where money
was obtained, a blessing was bestowed:
where none was offered, a curse was pro-
nounced, with notice that a contribution
was expected at once, or the curse would
be daily repeated. A rather effective way.
one would think, of raising the wind
though it might not work as well in our
Protestant communities
There is very good hotel in Guayaquil.
as inns average in this country, though
some of its arrangements seem very funny
TO the newly-arrived traveller from North
America. II you are wise In your day and
generation, you will order table out on
the yeranda, where the air is fresher and
the lies not so numerous, where you NAV
escape the abomination of revolving fans
so common in restaurants the world over.
winch serve only to set your head in a
Wnlrl, bump your nose and send the flies up
your sleeves and down into your plate: and.
more particularly, where you can see Chin
borazo in all his glory, and enjoy the per-
feet blue of the sky, the gorgeousness of
troplc colorlng, and the summer heat tenn
pered by ocean breezes
However dilatory the servants may be,
your meal will never be a cold one. but
made red-hot by fiery peppers, and with
decidedly more lard and onion about it than
the average northern stomach can well toll
crate. Should you desire boiled eggs. in
the hope that they, at least, may be free
from grease and garlic, it will be no man
aer OF use to order them 'hard. ''or sssoft.,
or medium" for there is neither watch
nor clock anywhere about the premises.
nor other method of measuring old Tempus
IN his fugiting. The people depend en-
tlrely upon the cathedral bells, and the
great clock in the city hall tower. by
which to tell the passing hours, but min
utes do not enter into their calculations
II you want the eggs medium tell the
waiter to keep them boiling while he says
THREE AVE MAR1As;
or if ''hard, +" while ne tells all the beads on
-his rosary. Such an order he will under
stand, and obey to the letter.
Whatever their shortcomings NAV be. If
can never be said that Guayauuilians lack
the virtue of hospitality. The graceful DO
likeness and spontaneous generosity of the
better classes Is but an unconscious express
sion OF their sincere good will toward all
mankind; and even the poorest, the lower
floors Of whose bamboo casas are occupied
by pigs, dorkeys and other domestic ami !
mails, Will bid you welcome with hearty |
kindness, though they cannot speak your |
language or you understand a word of |
theirs, and share with you all they possess. |
The females of Ecuador are proverbial |
1or beauty, those among the aristocracy
being said TO have the fairest compilations |
OF any IN South America; while ali possess
large soft and expressive dark ewes. the |
blacklist and most abundant hair. the |
whltest teeth, well-rounded figures, and
small hands and feet.
Like all women in the tropics. they ma
ture early and fade quickly: but perhaps |
their average span of forty years includes |
more heart-happiness than comes to women |
OF colder chimes in three score wears and !
ten, Tor these are harrassed by no s'carking |
cares" or high ambitions. Incidence. re-
hglous superstition, and faithfulness unto
death are their most prominent character |
lstlcs; their passionate natures are COM
pletely satisfied in the love of home. hus
band and children; and for them the whole
universe lies within the limits of vision.
Nhat higher praise could be bestowed !
upon the women of any country9 |
10 be sure, they are VIGOROUSLY untidy |
IN dress and habits; but the manta, or
paneulon, like the mantle of charity covers |
q multitude OF sins. AS the poncho for
men, is the universal and most useful gar
ment for the middle and lower classes. an
swering for coat by day, coverlid by
night an umbrella when it rains and bas-
ket when there is anything to carry. the
female manta is worn by all classes and is
equally indispensable, since it hides un
kempt hair and all defects of toilette. In
all Ecuador there is not such thing as a
bonnet or female bat, the most aristocratic
ladies going about the streets with their
glossy hair uncovered, or shaded only by a
parasol, lace mantilla, or the universal
mant2, the latter being a very large square
of black nuns yelling, or other wooden
cloth of light texture, drapped so as to
cover the head, shoulders and most of the
dress.
The Indians, lineal descendants of the
long since conquered Incas, wear no color
but black, as perpetual and pathetic
SIGN OF MOURNING
for Atahuapa, the last of their kings. who
was treacherously strangled by Pizarro.
They constitute the laboring population of
Ecuador and are the SaddeSt lnolyino ,,,o