Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-04-10
WORK IN NICARAGUA.
NATIVES OF THAT COUNTRY ARE
EXPERT AT CARVING WOOD,

The Women Are Very SkiIlful in Cutting
Designs-The Men Weave Eammocks
and Sl:awis-ConsiderabIey Work Is Done
Americans are far famed relic hunters
and, following a natural instinct, we de-
termined to make the most of our oppor
tunites for ferreting out interesting native
work and antique remains of the aborigines
Of Nicaragua.
OF half q dozen cities Of the country,
with populations ranging from 10000 to
10000, each has a distinct class of work,
and what you will find at one place is made
nowhere else. We started our hunt for
curiosities at Rivas, less than twenty miles
from the Pacific and west Of the great lake,
as are all the larger settlements of the
country. AT an outlying town, to which
we are guided, we stop before the bars that
form the only gateway to the cactus hedge,
and. taking down the top ones, enter the
yard.
Onr every step is contested by a couple
of dogs that bark but retreat before us.
They are useful in bringing ont to the
doorway of the adobe house young girl
with Indian features, who calls off the ca
mines and salutes US with ''buenos dias. "
This young girl and her sister are known
as the carvers of 'jicaras," or chocolate
cups in a manner that no Others can equal.
We enter the living room of the house,
walking on the hard clay floor, and inquire
if she has any of her work on hand. She
goes to an adjoining room and brings forth
single sample, gourd beautifully carved
with forms of birds amid a mechanical de-
sign encircling it, the piece being cut off at
one end to form cup. We succeed in get
ting two or three jicaras, and if we want
more we must order them and wait for
weeks. The custom of working to order is
SO prevalent here that it is almost impos-
sible to find anything ready made of any
kind.
Later on we visit another expert carver,
but her work is of different style, her de-
signs being made up of shields of the vari-
GUS Central American countries, which
she copies from silver pieces of money.
They each do their work with the point of
an old table knife, the latter carver being
surrounded by a brood of rather dirty faced
children, who play on the mud floor of her
cane house. A third carver of fine work |
we find here uses only the cocoanut as his
material. and this he adorns with birds and
shields, afterward staining them black,
which gives the whole rich ebony appear |
ance.
The jicara is the cup of the country for
the mass of the people, and at nearly every
house 1t is common to see a tree shaped |
stand within doors on which they hang. |
Every cup is carved in some fashion, but if
you want fine carving you will be told to
send to Rivas. IT, you give an order and
have patience you can have any design i'm
itated by. these carvers, whose work is
quite handsome and artistic. There are
others who carve rings and ornaments of
the coyol nut used in making jewelry, each
workman combining himself to a separate |
branch.
But now we want hammock We can
find none where the cups are made, though
the plant which gives the fiber needed for
its manufacture grows here as readily as
anywhere in the country, and we are met
by the sight of hedges of it on all sides. |
We must go to Loon or Masaya, and there
probably not find single fine hammock
ready to be sold. We must order them and
wait for month or so until they are made.
The Indians are the manufacturers of these |
hammocks, the easy chairs and lounges of
the country in which midday siestas are
taken.
On order any variety of design Will be
worked, hammock forming an American
flag being a favorite Wishing to pur-
chase, we inquired from house to house
where the weaving was in progress, but |
could find no completed hammock. The |
Indians doing this work all live in cane |
houses with mud floors, and fire for cook
ing on the ground, in true wigwam style
The labor is all done in the open air. What |
do they do when it rains? They rest; but
then the dry season here lasts for six |
months, and during that time seldom
drop of rain falls and the Indians are never
interrupted in their work.
If we wish to see the weaving of shawls,
which are finely embroidered in bright col
ors, we must go to Granada, where only |
lately heavy shocks of earthquake drove
the people from their homes and where we
now find them busy repairing the cracked
walls and broken tile roofs. We find them
working with weaving machines of tbe |
fashion we are accustomed to see in eict.
ures Of tools of past centuries. The spin
dies are thrown from side to side by the |
v'eaver's hands, and the wool is put in
with treading motion of the feet. A lit
tie engine and approved machinery would
do the work OF hundreds of these relics of
past generations. Shawls are made of silk |
and worsted, and one has only to go to
church on Sunday morning to see display
OF a great variety of them
The most interesting of the industries.
found here is the fligree work, turned out
chiefly at Leon, Chinandega and Managua
This is done in gold and SILVER as the
metal comes from the mines, and is of
Venetian style. We have entered the
shops of these plateros or si}versmiths and
watched the delicate and rapid manipula-
ton of the threads of metal while being
formed into jewelry. Brooches weighing |
from half an ounce to an ounce are made
with no hidden part of base metal but all
OF gold as it came from the mines in Chon-
tales. The coyol nut, inlaid with gold |
and forming the setting of a brooch or ear |
rings is used with fine advantage and is |
often skillfully carved. This nut has the
appearance of ebony, and from it rings are
also made, as they are of turtle shell, |
which is very plentiful here on both the |
Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
The criticism first suggested is the pow
erty in the variety of designs in the articles
manufactured. The capacity for doing
fine work is shown but, while the workers
are able to copy satisfactorily, designs are
lacking. Mr.. Braida has suggested that
school of design be started here to encour
age such efforts, that the results of native
labor may be suitable for expectation,
which might easily be done, for labor is
cheap.
Filigree work is turned out in great
quantities, and one has only to walk
through the streets of any of the cities to
see who the patrons of this industry are
Nearly every woman met has ornaments of
gold, brooches worn with chains of gold
beads, finger rings and earrings, all in
abundance. There is evidently great
fondness for jewelry. Among the masses
of the people these native madabrnaments
are very popular, but as everywhere else,
that which is foreign very often has the
preference among the upper classes, though !
it may not be 50 tasteful. Partisan jeuelry |
is sold on all hands. Diamonds are the |
most popular of the precious stones, and
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