Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-29
SOUTHERN CHARACTER.
THE "RECoRD-UNI0N" CORRESPOND
ENT AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE.
Two Peruvian Cities-Street Car Pro-
PEELED by sails-Blooming Maid
ems 100 Years Old.

Especial Correspondence of the REcoRD-UNIoN.
On SHIPBoARD, August, 1890.
Life on board one of these great English
steamers that ply the Southern Pacific has
its peculiar features, but is by no means
unpleasant The three-story habitation
afloat on waste of waters with its crowd
of passengers, its living cargo of horses,
cattle, sheep and fowls and its tons of fruit
and other freight, is a miniature village
separated from the rest of the world and
forced to rely upon its own resources for
sustenance and amusement. There is no
better place for the study of human nature,
because the frailties and inconsistencies
with which our common humanity is
afflicted, as well as the occasional CLEANS
of godliness that redeem the poorest speci-
mems from utter unworthiness, are more
apparent where there is SO little chance
for privacy or concealment.
Like other small communities whose
ways Of life are narrow and monotonous, a
good deal of gossip is rife, but generally
not of the enyenomed sort that taints the
atmosphere of many otherwise delightful
country places, as the slime of toads and
serpents would poison the purest spring.
People on long voyage are inclined to
pair off at once into small chques, drawn
together by those mysterious laws of men
tai attraction which everybody feels but
none can explain, remaining always
grouped together at the table, on the
shady side of the deck, singing songs in
the moonlight, playing games of chess,
whist and Rochambeau, or going ashore at
the various ports. Each little party Sc
cretly considers itself as the criterion by
which to Judge all things worthy of emu
lation, and is disposed to be extremely
critical concerning the manners and mo-
tives of outsiders, and more difficult would
it be for one to cut loose from one clique
and establish himself permanently in an
other, than for an unknown plebian, with
out money or influence, to gain admittance
to the exclusive circles of Murray Hill.
Yet outwardly ali is serene as sum-
mer morning. Everybody greets every
body else, wherever met, with smiling
recognition, and if one is i'll the entire
community vies with each other in kind
attentions. Among other noticeable char
acters in our daily drdmdtiS personde is
bevy of young ladies who came on board
at Puma, the Cape May of Ecuador. They
are evidently sisters and the daughters
of wealth. However cold the sea-winds
blow, they appear every day in thinnest
dresses of white null with sky-blue
sashes and breast knots, their shiny black
hair braided down their backs and tied
al, l. ,,-,tI h1,,a rihbo,,
wraps of any sort, with bare heads and
slippered feet, how they stare at the
flannel gowns, thick boots, gloves, hats and
jackets of las AmericandS with looks that
plainly say: "From what part of the I'M
civilized world do these heathens come ?"
And when the duenna is mercifully sea-
sick, with what gusto do they engage in
desperate fIrtations with the young ship
doctor and couple of handsome bull
fighters, the latter being wonderfully be-
decked with diamonds, each wearing his
hair braided into the bobbing pig-tail
which betokens his profession.
Besides the daily slaughter of pigs,
poultry and sheep to supply the larder,
every third day COW is killed on the
lower deck, which the animals share with
the freight and the steerage passengers.
These vessels are so constructed that the
dining saloon and all the state-rooms open
upon the second deck; while the upper
one is mainly kept clear for promenading
and dancing. There are two or three
large openings in the middle deck, securely
fenced around by iron ratings, through
which the "winches' work when freight
or baggage is received or unloaded. 1t
happens that the frequent cow-killings go
on directly below one of these openings, in
full view of whoever cares to witness the
bloody performance. 1t is significant of
the difference in character between the
Latin and Anglo-Saxon races, that while
every ore of the thick-shod, unsentimental-
looking American girls flee from all sight
and sound of the butcnely and thinks Of it
only with horror, the whole bevy Of fair |
!,'.,.oreans, IN .l.c.r angelic wnite roles
and blue ribbons, hang over the railing
from first to last, evincing the greatest en-
;;coyment of every detail; from the time the
poor beast is knocked down and its throat
cut, till its skinned and disemboweled car
cass hangs up in the shape of meat. Since
the charming senoritas cannot possibly feel
the scientific or surgical interest in the
matter that NAV actuate their attending |
cavaliers, the doctor and the picadores, their
taste for blood-shedding must have been i
inherited from their bull-6ghting fore
fathers of Old Castle, who inter-married |
with the savages of the New World.
At every port an army of local officials
comes on board, to improve the opportun-
ity of a square meal and drink or two at
the expense of the steamship company.
They wear gorgeous red breeches, bright
swords and plenty of "brief authority"
and there is usually one of them to about
every half dozen packages of merchan-
disc. There is the Captain of the port
and all his retinue; the Governor of the
district with his entire staff; the comand-
ante of the military garrison and several
of his subordinates; and last and by no
means least either in numbers or import
ance. the Collector of Customs and battal-
ion of inspectors, till the decks are fairly
syarming with them. As the arrival OF
steamer is the one event that breaks the
monotonv of their lives, they never fail to
celebrate it for all it is worth.
Most of the ports are mere collections of
mud huts. inhabited by the officials afore-
said, employees of the various steamship
companies and few fishermen. We stop
at every one of them to take on the pro-
duce Of the neighboring valleys. mainly
sugar, cotton, cocoa, wine and coffee, for
shipment to Liverpool and Germany, or to
points lower down the coast. Nearly every
port has its railway line, running to rich
plantations in the interior; and as there
are no harbors on this coast, but only open
roadsteads, expensive iron piers have been
built out over the surf in most places,
from which the merchandise is transferred
to barees or lighters and taken by them to
the ships, which anchor a mile or more
from shore. Where there is no pier,
lighters are run through the surf when
the tide is highest. They are loaded at
lo1v t;da apJ tban AOated off IN buoys TO