The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-05


then fried. Papas con arros is potatoes
| cooked with rice, and there are several
| other queer combinations of potatoes and
| other things. One of the chief dishes found
! on every Peruvian table is a soup called
| sanchochow. This is made by cooking to-
| gether nearly every kind of vegetable and
! a goodly portion of meat. The soup is
drained off and meat brought in on sep
arate plate to be eaten after the soup. This
dish forms the chief meal of many of the
poorer classes. The rich live here as well
as in any city in the world Meals are
usually served in courses, one dish being
brought on the table at a time and the
plates changed with every course.
HOUSEKEEPER'S PARADISE.
Peru is. it seems to me, the paradise of
the housekeeper. There are few places
where it is easier to manage a house than
here. There are no long stairs to climb. In
many cases the whole house is on one floor,
and have visited Lima families who had
houses containing twenty large rooms, all
on the first floor. The cooks do all the
marketing of Lima lady seldom goes
out of the house except to shop or visit.
The way the marketing is managed is to
allow the cook so much a day, according
to your pocket and style of living, say 81
a day or more, and for this he is expected
to supply the meals and see that the table
is completely furnished with food. In other
words. you board with your cook. If you
have a good cook you will be better and
more cheaply served than if you tried to
manage it all yourself, and at the same
| time save all of the wear and tear. Many
| of the cooks are Chinese. All expect to
make q profit off of the marketing in addi-
| ton to their wages. Servants are cheap
| here. / give the usual prices in our money,
| having reduced them from the silver paid
| here. Cooks get about Sc a month; house
maids, s.; chief buffers, $40, and the second
buffers, about S.. These are the prices
paid by foreigners The native Peruvian
families pay less. and in the country dis
| tricts there are many house servants who
do not get much more than their board and
clothes Seamtresses who come to the house
to sew receive from 80 to 40 cents day,
and washerwomen 25 cents for washing and
| about 50 cents for ironing per day.
The chief servant of the house is the first
butler or chief major domo, as he is called.
| He has general supervision, keep things
in order and waits upon the table. Some
times he is good, and sometimes not. l
! heard last night of major domo who Gre
! ated something of q sensation at a dinner
! given to W. r. Grace and James Gordon
| Bennett some years ago. Messrs. Bennett
! and Grace were visiting Lima, and Mr..
| Eyre, the head of the house of Grace here,
| gave them the dinner. He had, however,
a new butler who was not used to foreign
ways, and who, when he came to open
| the champagne was aStoniShed to see the
| cork fly out with a crack like pistol. He
| had never handled such an article before,
| and he was so scared that he threw the
| bottle out of the window and then dropped
down upon the floor and howled. l do not
know how Mr.. Eyre able to allay his
fears so that he could proceed with serving
| the dinner but / am told that the man
| came to his master after breakfast the
next morning and begged to be allowed to
! leave. Said he: II like you and the sonora
! very much, but I cannot remain in house
| where they drink such explosive materials
| The Peruvians, however, drink about as
| strong liquors as any people. The places
where beer is sold in the country towns
are marked by red flags, and in some viii
lagos nearly every other house is a saloon.
| The smile Peruvian is quite common
as the smile American, and drunkenness
is the great vice of the poor.
OUR PERUVIAN DIPLOMATS.
But let me tell you how our American
minister lives at the Peruvian capital. His
house, which is one of the best in the city,
faces a beautiful garden filled with palm
trees and a rich growth of tropical plants.
There are winding walks where you can
stroll about under the trees among flowers
more gorgeous than any we have at home.
The house, like all of the houses of Lima,
is built of mud, but it looks as though it
were made of pressed brick, and it would be
considered mansion in any American city.
It's rooms are large and the ceilings are
about fifteen feet high. There is a swim
ming bath in it, and the minister can play
the mermaid, or, rather, the norman, as
one of his diplomatic diversions. / find our
minister very popular here. He is you
know, from San Diego, Cal. He is
Ohioan by birth, having been born in Ben
Wade's town of jefferson, the Western
Reserve about thirty-seven years ago. He
is a coleRe-bred man, a lawyer by profess
sion and a diplomat by instinct and intui-
ton. He has some knowledge of Spanish,
and his popularity here is added to by that
of his wife, who speaks the language fluent
| ly and has thereby made many friends
among the native Peruvians.
| Just next to the legation is the home of
the secretary of the legation, Mr.. Richard
| r. Neal, of Philadelphia, former officer
of the United States navy who has been
| oughly understands the ways Peruvian.
| Then there is a young Ohioan, Mr.. Harlan,
| the attache of the legation, and over at
| Calao within half hours ride, is the
| American consul, Col. w. B. Dckey, a
! Maine man. who halls from New Orleans,
! and who has come out here on his wedding
| tour to uphold American interests in Peru.
| Colonel Dickey keeps house in Callao.
| While lunching with him the other day !
| happened to remark that the spring chickens
! which we were eating were very fine. They
| ought to be fine replied the colonel, for
L raised them myself on my farm here"
! After the lunch was over the colonel took
me out to show me his farm. 1t was the
roof of his house. We went upstairs and
there found two large coops filed with
| chickens. turkeys and pigeons On other
roofs all about us We're other coops, and the
| cackling of the hens all around showed that
q large part of the eggs eaten in Callao
| must be laid on the roofs
WHERE LIFE is EASY.
| Speaking of the cost of living in Lima, /
pay S., silver. day for my room and board
at the hotel. This is only about $3.50 of our
money. Part of the time / have paid 81 90
| silver, day for my room and coffee and
| toast in the morning. taking my other meals
1 . Ill. -.