Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-03-07
WORK In NICARAGUA.
NATIVES OF THAT COUNTRY ARE
EXPERT AT CARVING WOOD.

in Gold and silver-Je"e"y
Americans are far famed relic hunters
and following n natural instinct, we ue-
termined to make the most OF our oPpoi
tunities for ferreting out interesting natiVe
work and antique remains OF the apor'sihe'
Of Nicaragua. ~, n,rv
ar half n dozen cities OF the country
with populations ranging from io'oo "
40. 600. each has distinct class Oh Worh,
and what you will find at one place ID li'','io
nowhere else We started our hunt ior
curiosities Mt Rivas, less than twenty lniieS
from the Pacific and west of the great ,ake'
| as are all the larger settlements OF Tue
country. At an outlying town, 10 winch
we are guided we stop before the oars eha'
form the only gateway to the cactus hedge'
and. taking down the top ones, enter the
yard ,, oo,n,a
Our every step is contested by COUPE
of dogs that bark, but retreat peiore US
They are useful in bringing oab 10 en1
doorway of the adobe house young R'ri
with Indian features, who calls OH 1ne ga,
mines and sautes us with u sbuehos oi'ls'
This young girl and her sister are KNOWN
as the carvers of "jicaras," or chocolate
cura In a manner that no others can equal.
we enter the living room Of the house,
walking on the hard clay floor, and inquire
n she has any of her work on hand. She
goes TO an adjoining room and brings forth
a single sample, gourd beautifully carved
with forms of birds amid mechanical de-
sign encircling it, the piece being cut OIL at
| one end to form cup. We succeed IN get
ting two or three jicaras, and II we want
| more we must order them and walt Tor
weeks. The custom of working to order Is
40 prevalent here that it is almost impos
sible to find anything ready made OF any
kind.
Later on we visit another expert carver.
hut her work is of different style, her de-
signs being made up of shields OF the vari-
Gus Central American countries, when
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 IL 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 it is common to see tree SNAPPED
stand within doors on which they hang.
Every cup is carved in some fashion, but II
you want fine carving you will be told to
send to Rvas. you give an order and
have patience you can have any design I'M
tated by these carvers, whose work is
quite handsome and artistic There are
others who carve rings aud 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
it's 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 a single fine hammocs
ready to be sold. We must order them and
wait for month or so until they are made
The Indians are the manufacturers of thest
hammocks, the easy chairs and lounges o
the country in which midday siestas arr
taken
On order any variety of design will b'
worked a hammock forming an American
flag being a favorte. Wishing to pur
chase, we inquired from house to houst
a where the weaving was in progress, but
;, could find no completed hammock. The
Indians doing this work all live in cant
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. Wha
! do they do when it rains? They rest; bu
. then the dry season here lasts for sil
months, and during that time seldom
drop of rain falls and the Indians are neve
: interrupted in their work.
If we wish to see the weaving of shawls
4 A.. I. Il
ors, we must go to Granada, where onl,
I lately heavy shocks of earthquake drov
4 the people from Their homes and where W
now find them busy repairing the cracks
walls and broken tile roofs We find then
L working with weaving machines of tn
fashion we are accustomed to see in pict
ures of tools of past centuries. The spiI
dies are thrown from side to side by tn
weaver's hands, and the wool is put i
with treadng motion of the feet. A lii
# tie engine and approved machinery woul
do the work of hundreds of these relics {
# past generations. Shawls are made of sill
p and worsted, aud one has only to go 1
church on Sunday morning to see a displa
of great variety of them.
The most interesting of the industrie
- found here is the filigree work, turned OF
O chiefly at Leon, Chirandega and Managui
This is done in gold and SILVER as I'll
metal comes from the mines, and is
e Venetian style. We have entered tt
shops of these plateros or sHversmiths, an
= watched the delicate and rapid manipul
is ton of the threads of metal while bein
" formed into jewelry. Brooches weighin
d from half an ounce to an ounce are mac
with no hidden part of base metal but a
:, of gold as it came from the mines in Chol
n tales. The coyol nut, inJaid with gol,
and forming the setting of brooch or ca
rings is used with fine advantage and
Often skillfully carved. This nut has I'll
s appearance of ebony, and from it rings al
" also made, as they are of turtle shel
il which is very plentiful here on both IL
~ Pacific and Atlantic coasts
to The criticism first suggested is the DO
Of erty in the variety OF designs in the artc
" manufactured The capacity for doil
pt fine work is shown but, while the worke
TO are able to copy satisfactorily designs a
u lacking. Mr. Braida has suggested that
I'd school of design be started here to encou
t. age such efforts, that the results of natl,
n, labor may be suitable for exportatio
N which might easily be done, for labor
A cheap.
=, Filigree work is turned out in gre
= quantities, and one has only to wal
"a through the streets of any of the cities
w see who the patrons of this industry ar
Nearly every woman met has ornaments
s' gold, brooches worn with chains of gol
to beads, finger rings aud earrings, all
"a abundance. There is evidently a gre
fondness for iewelry. Among the mass
=, OF the people these native made ornamen