The Republican journal., 1897-07-22
ways engaged. Occasionally the sidewalks


medical advice
ways engaged. Occasionally the sidewalks
are bordered with long lines of orange
trees, and here and there cocoa palm
waves his plumed chapeau. The tram
ways which traverse the principal streets
have small, square cars, drawn by horse
OF mule teams, and personally conduct
ed'' by barefooted boys. The fare is a
medic (six cents and the voice of the bell
punch is heard-though whether always
punched in the presence of the passenger
| am unable to say. Little paper tickets
are given you, and to insure your retain
ing them to the end of your trip, instead
of throwing them away, as the Guate-
malans generally did at tirst-the tram
way management hit upon the ingenious
plan of establishing small lottery. of
which these tickets are the winning num-
bers. Since that stroke of genius, never
a native has been known to lose his
ticket. The streets are numbered and
IL,
D. C. From the central point of the Plaza
d Armas, on which stands the National
Palace and the cathedral, avenues run
north and south, the streets east and
west, both numbered consecutively. Ave
nues north of the plaza have the word
north pretixed to their name. while
fixed. Gale Real, (Royal street, now
oftener called Sixth Avenue, is the chief
business thoroughfare of the city, and all
the other streets are designated as ''east'
or west of this avenue-as, for ex-
ample, Morazan street east, or Morazan
street west. The stores and dwellings.
generally one stored, have immense iron
grated windows, and double wooden doors.
three or four inches thick, studded with
big spikes, like the gates of a medieval
castle, A house located at the angle of
street will have its corner windows sepa-
rated only by a slender stone pillar. This
enlarges the outlook of the inmates, who.
if they are women, occupy good share of
the time peering into the street. When
the house has two stories, each window is
always decorated with little wooden or
iron balcony--so small and purposeess
that the casa looks as if it were broken
out all over with pimples or warts.
There are 20 old churches in Guatemala
la Nueva, and at s o clock in the morning
the din Of the many toned bells, continu-
ing for an hour, is deafening. Owing to
the GOODNESS of the climate, the shops do
not open until eight O'Clock, and the
streets are never crowded before sunrise,
as in other parts of Central America.
while by nine in the evening they are
quite deserted. The shops are shallow
and oblong and contain great variety of
European goods. Many Germans and
here, the German element predomnating
and controlling the mercantile community.
as well as some of the largest sugar and
coffee fiucas of the country. The French
and Italian contingent is also large, Amer
leans comparatively lew, and English hard
ly any Spanish is naturally the language
dialects OF their own, very difficult to
master. Ignorance of Spanish will cause
little OF no annoyance to the stranger. for
everywhere his English, French OF Ger
man will carry him through. Eighty thou
sand is given as the population of the cap
ital but probably sixty thousand would
be nearer the truth. Iron letter boxes
stand at the street corners, and the post
office has tiers of the most improved style
OF lock-boxes. Telephones abound and
telegraph wires communicate with all
parts of the country. Strange to say,
there is actually no fire department at all,
Tor a tireis as rare as an earthquake, there
being very little burnable material about
these thick adobe houses. The excellent
police department reflects great credit
upon its head-an ex-officer of the New
ork City police force. Very rarely do
you see beggar in Guatemala, except sit
ting silently at the church door, with
pitiful hands outstretched for aims. dis
playing his rags and sores in the sum
shine. You cannot buy the news of the
day on the streets, for there is no such
thing as news-boy, or news stand, in
the whole country; if you want to read
either of the three little sheets published
here, you go to the newspaper office and
purchase it tremendously from the editor
himself. But purchasers are few and far
between, and the ''outer vorld'' interests
foreigners only The Plaza d. Armas is
large but not beautiful. Its center is &C.
cupied by garden, surrounded by broad
promenade. No large trees give shade,
but the stone bordered plats are filled
with exquisite flowers and plants with
many tinted leaves. Fountains disport in
large stone basins, artificial grottoes sur
prise you, and in the middle of the gar
den is curious square tower, or temple
of cut-stone, in which are the sadly bat
tered remains of an equestrian stone
statue of Carlos ". The sculpturing is
RI d.