Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-05-21

the country away from tho fire COM
pahies houses like these are insured
Tor one half ~ per cent Such a thing
as dock or square burning down is
unknown in Lima.
THE STREETS AND HOUSES.
From the hotel roof we get some idea
OF how compactly the city is built. and
We see more of this during our walk
,rhere are no gardens and very few
Dack yards The larger houses cover
a. great deal Of space, MS they are con-
mneu 10 one, or at most, two floors
The smaller ones are in many cases
80 small that 1t is hard to imagine
they are houses at all. There are
hundreds of little blind alleys which
are reached through doors In the walls
along the main streets. which have
elI-like rooms,not over ten feet square.
Each Of these rooms is house, ANA II,
one such alley which | visited today
l was told that the average was about
eight people to each tenement Such
houses have back yards about six feet
square, surrounded by high walls They
have no windows, and the light comes
In through the front and back door.
None OF the houses OF Lima have Chin
neys. The most of the cooking is done
over charcoal fires. Even the best
houses have few windows on the
ground floor, and as rule the light
comes from the interior courts or the
roof. In the two-story houses of tho
better class, galleries run around the
courts. and the rooms opening out into
these are very large and airy. Ai
outside windows and doors are barred
with iron, and the better parts OF the
city make you think of a long row
of prisons. There are many fine
homes. which are entered through
iron barred gates. and the doors. going
into what seem to You blank walls
lead into nalatial mansions, surround
ing courts filled with flowers.
In the business sections the people
live in the second stories. which are
divided up into flats or apartments.
There are many floors rented out. and
only the rich have large houses. The
ground floors are stores and shops open
to the street. The stores have no win
dows and the doors run the full width
of the store so that the whole front Il
showed back or taken away durinS
business hours. The light Is usually
from the front, though the larger
establishments have courts and extend
long distance to the rear. Many of
the shops are more like caves than
anything else They are cells, separated
only by thin walls, and n walk along
the Mercadores Is more like a Journey
through museum or an American
department store than along the chief
business street of a city The busi-
ness streets are from 20 to 80 feet wide
more often the former, and the side
weiks are not over four feet In width
-Four people cannot well walk abreast
and a party crowds you off the pave
ment A donkey with panniers took
the right of way from me this morning.
and I stepped out into the road to let
him go Ia.
LAZY MEN AND PRETTY WOMEN.
The street scenes of Lima are in
tereSting. Let us stop under the
arcade, which runs about the plaza, and
watch the crowds. Here are some of the
best shops OF the city. They are full of
fine goods, and here between 4 ana
8 o'clock every afternoon the people
come to buy and do business. These
hours are the gayest of the day, and
the crowd is now as thick as that of
lower Broadway at noon. 1t Is n far DIFF
ferent crowd, however. No one hur-
ries. The men saunter along or stand
on the street and chat with their
friends. We see little knots of men
every few yards, and the messengers,
the merchants and clerks seem to have
time and to spare. Nearly every one
is well dressed. There are many plug
hats and kig gloves, and nearly every
man, old and young, carries n cane.
They are very polite. They bow, smile,
shake hands and lift their hats when
they meet, and bow. smile and tip their
hats when about to leave. They are
the pink of perfection as far as form
goes, and You would imagine them gem
tlemen of leisure rolling in wealth.
The truth is, most of them are poor.
Peru has been playing a losing game
with fortune for years, and the day of
her enormous riches has long since
gone by. If you will look closely you
Will see that many coat is shiny at
the seams and that many of their silk
hats are fast losing their nap. There
are. perhaps, more reduced gentlemen