Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-26

pany owns and controls q line of paddle- vince
| steamers on the Rio Guayss, which were con
| sTucted IN Baltimore, and the only gun boat in
possession of the government is a WORKOUT
merchant ship. now covered with corrugated
| iron, which years ago piled between New York
and Norfolk. Even the custom house. by al
odds the largest and handsomest structure in
| the section. was built by New Yorker of pine
| from the forests of Maine and corrugated iron
| from Pennsylvania.
Though the old town has been the one mar.
ket for more than five hundred miles of sea
coast Tor three centuries and half it is to-
DAY nearly destitute of native capital most
of its merchants being foreigners. Its com
merce would doubtless be much greater were
1t not for the alarming frequency Of earth
quakes.
The most princely mansions in Guayaauil.
even the grand cathedral the governors
palace and the city hall. are hollow squares
OF wood and adobe, plastered inside and out,
and rooted with red tiles; while by far the
greater number are straw-thatched skeletons
OF bamboo and dried mud. with no windows
ana often without doors, the bare earth sery-
ing for flooring. Very properly in this climate
the edihces are constructed not only with a
view to Withstand earthquake shocks but
to admit air, instead of excluding it, Some
OF the best houses have face of unplaned
boards, sawed by hand and placed upright
giving them all the dignity of brown stone
fronts on Murray Hill. Others are made by
planting tree trunks, previously hewn square,
hye feet deep in the clayey soil, with horizon
tai tlmDers framed between for the support Of
the floors and split bamboo nailed on for sid
ing. as we put on lath. The sides are then
daubed with mud, and when it is thoroughly
dried the fronts deliberately succeed, and
afterward repeated coats of white paint add
the marole-llke appearance that misled us from
distance.
TIE POORER CAsAs
are like King Soiomon's temple in one particri-
hat n fba 1of 81
was never heard, for not a nail do they contain,
their bamboo frame work having been tied to-
gether with withes and the lattice foundation
for the thatch Of dried grass being held fast in
the same manner. In these airy mansions the
reed partitions meet none of the demands of
privacy and windows would be superiuous
fortunately it never rains along this coast for
one hearty tropic shower would disintegrats
the whole city. The most violent earthquake
has little effect upon this style of architecture
and If few houses are tumbIed down now and
then 1t does not cost much to rebuild them.
DANGER FROM FIRE.
Some of these bamboo houses are furnished
with real elegance-carpets, hangings and
upholstered couches from England pianos and
harps from Germany and ornaments from
France, Spain or Italy. The greatest danger
to the town is from the torch of the revolu-
zionist, before which it would burn like finder,
and as revolts are of frequent occurrence,
owing to the divided public sentiment between
the liberal party and the papal element, the
people live in perpetual apprehension. Over
the entrance to many of the better houses are
large squares of tin, painted to represent the
flag OF the country from which the owner halls
and printed notice to incendiaries or revolu-
tionary looters. There is commercial house
whose tin flag announces in glazing letters that
the owner thereof is faithful subject Of Her
Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. and also adds
that the inmates are prepared to shoot thieves
Oh their own account.
During the greater portion of the year the
president of the republic does not live in his
palace at Quito, the capital, but here in Guaya-
quill in gloomy barracks, surrounded by bare
footed soldiers, where he can keep an eve on
the customs whence his revenue is derived and
find easy escape should some rival get up a
revolution strong enough to Gust him. Armed
revolts are epidemic in Ecuador. especially in
the interior, where the people of the higher
attitudes are more patriotic and energetic But
the contagion seldom spreads to this point A
tumble-down fortress overlooking the town,
the funny little gun boat in the harbor and =
handful of hungry-looking soldiers serve to
keep the ease-loving people of the viclnage in
perfect subsection.
The city supports two newspapers named
respectively, Los Andes and La Para. They
are generally issued at least ten DAYS behind
date, or whenever it happens to suit the con-
venience of the editors for in this Acadia no.
body troubles himself much about the doings of
the outer world. Every night the principal
streets are patrolled by watchmen, and the cry
they send forth to mark the hours is as musical
as that Muezzn in Constantinople. For ex-
ample. at midnight they sing out: ave Maria
Purissimal Los doce han dodo. Noche claro v
come. The night is clear and serene. Long
live patriotism" FANNIE H. WARD