The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1897-07-03
RIVAS, NICARAGUA
AND ITS LIFE-THE EVENT OF
THE WEEK.
Scenes In Rtvas, Nicaragua-Three Mixed
Terms Explatned-The Cost Of Cho colnsS:
Primitive Sawmill Mathods-When H.
Rains.
Continued from End Col.

! LIE p puasl7n u kiVas nul7oers aoollr Iz-
! h9o:. Its streets are laid out in the usual
| checker board fashion; its adobe casas, wesI
plastered outside, and with tiled roofs which.
| proJect lar cut over the narrow sidewalks.
When 1t Rains.
Should you happen to be in Rivas when II
| rains, take my advice, founded upon sad ex-
Iperlence, and walk in the middle of the street
Inc oVerhanglng caves are provided with Lit
tie spouts, set at intervals, to let of the sur
| p.us water, which peurs gently down ab4'
| oack OF your neck as you pass beneath them
on the sidewalk. You wonder where the pso-
| PIE are gone for at all times the streets ar
! as quiet as q New England village Oh SundssF
! afternoon-no hustle, and apparently, no bus
ness OF any sort going On Yet constdersRIa
| business is accomplished here-Sundays an8
al-ln quiet way, and after the peculiar
FASHION OF the untry. There are forty
eight mercantile houses in the town, includ,
ing wholesale and retail dealers, importers
sists. and grocers. The shops have % nd
catlon or their contents on the outslde-unly
sign over the doorway announcing the Mans
OF the proprietor. Within them YOU find
goods or English, French, and German make.
Sut very rarely anything from the Uni.ea
states. This aEeD:ab!e lack of everyday trsazs
with our little sister republic is largely dua
to the iong-credit system which prevails
throughout Spanish America-a years credit
being generally required by these me rchanrs
houses. In most cases this credit is not a
necessity, the merchants being quite abe
TO pay for their goods when purchased: but
1t is Ia custumbre" from away back, and,
therefore, as the laws of the Modes and Per.
SLAMS. Notwithstanding that tariff is i'm
pissed on imports manufactured articles aus
generally cheaper here than in the Unitesa
States.
ShOrtsighted Commercial PoIIcx
Because of the lack Of more comp,ese.
banking system between the United S:ases
and the Central American republics, all clear-
ances have to be made through London. The.
merchants say, too, that they can seldom fpS
IN the United States just what their trade de-
mands, while many European firms manufac-
ture special line Of goods for them: ami
While American firms persist in packing In.
voices for these countries jus. as they would
Tor those which are well supplied with rasl-.
roads, the European firms put them I'D in
ou4ks OF not over 125 pounds, when neces-
sary, thus facilitating their transportation
on mule back or in "bcngos." Nowadays
however, the important cities of Nicaragua
may be reached by railway or steamer, and
only TO the smaller towns must goods go by
NIUE transit.
R1vas has several fine cd churches dating,
back to the days of the vice kings severaI
monas:eries and converts, now devoted to
secular uses, bank, clubhouse, a plaza-ds-.
;oros where occasional bull fights are held
and a cockpit, which is the great center OK
attraction after mass on Sundays. Amuse-
mencs are few for the ge1tler sex. There arr
40 theaters, nor concerts, nor lectures, and
hey may not even go a-shopping like the;<.
sisters in the Northern countries. Spanish
etiquette forbids it for senoritas of the better
lass, for the Moorish notion still pcevajIc
ira: women are not to be trusted anywhere
With male creatures. The "dons'' and 'ha-
ia. gos have their well-appcinteG' c!u bhouses,
and devote most of their waking hours to it1
attractive "bilares'' and liquid refreshment-
But the ladies' must be content 'en casa" with
heir guitars and embroidery, with church
nessas and the making OF Vestments far
he saints.
The houses, built in the cd Spanish style
without windows except such grated open
ings as the doors have in :hE1n, al iLe.o:e-
centra. courtyar1s where most OF We family
life goes on. There is always we'll or fcun-
tain in the middle Of the court, with tropical
trees and shrubs growing around it; and
under the tiied-ro+5fed corridor tina: sur.
rounds the court the meals are eaten. ham
mocks swung. and pos.-prandial ciga~ros au0'
cigarettes are smoked. Only in the evening"
is the great bare sala,' or parlor, occupied.
by the family and their callers. Then the..
great heavy wooden doors that do dG.y as
windows are swung wide open to the street,
and passers-by may see the fair prisoners
swinging in their Venetian rocking chairs.
AID, OF course, flirting outrageously with all
male corners, as their sec!usion and education.
have fully prepared them to do. The r ck.ue
chairs, by the way, are comparatively new.
fashion, introduced few years ago by some
successful drummer. They speedily became
"the rage" in Nicaragua and now every house:
with any pretensions to sty.e has a great,
many of them, all just alike, set in straight
rows around three sides of the ''sala." Dane
Ing is the one universal evening amusement.
and the young ladies al exec. in it.. Blu, the
older ones-those beyond the Old maid OK
matronly mark Of Is years, are generally tco
obese for the flight fantastic" for age and
fat and mus:aches very soon overtake these
tropical flowers that bloom too cary.
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD