The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-06-19
in TE4E HEART OF TE4E AWQESo


Areca.pA Is the second city OF Peru II
has about s 81 people. and Is still afhtso
BY coal oil, though an electric lighting
Plant Is now being rut in. The town hes IN
tho little valley Of tire Chile river, which
makes al oaslS Of green In the mides OF
ths desert ana g.yes AreaS!pa about MY
odd square miles Of irr.gabss land. Are
QuDa - ths commercial capital Of tbs
southern part Of the country. and great
part Of the trade Of Bolivia paSsee through
n. Most OF the husinaE - done by the Ger
man and English. and there 10 not an
American house in the city. Il 10 The neat
est. pretiisss and brightest town have yet
seen In South America. II t. ~ odd years
Old. and Ia battered and knocked Up By the
earthquakes os the past, but as you go
Through IL yea get s,he impression that the
town IL almost brand new. Il looks as
though II had come from a band-box. The
houses are mostly oae-saory stone eoxesA
but their walks are painted in the most DEL
icste tin1 OF blue. pink. cream. green and
gold. posted my letters In q pos,ofsice
tinted in ashes OF roses ! bought the fruit
! ate for breakfas. in a sky-blue fruit
store. and caShed draft on London in
bank which had outer walls the color OK
gold. Another popularity Of Arequipa u
that most o. its rooms are made In the
shape Of vaults. The stores are vaults ten
to fifteen feet wide and from ten to thirty
streets IN many cases there " no way out
1t the back. and the only Hight. except that
from the door, come IN through holes In
the roof. ate my dinner at the hotel In
AreQupa in vault. l was shaved In
vault, and my sleeping room had vaufted
roof. I went out on the roof once or twice
TO look over the city. These vaulted roofs
gave II the appearance OF Chinese grave
yard rather than that OF an American
with eobb.es. Down one side OF each street
there is rushing stream Of mountain
water. which carries of the sewerage, and
which. as IL gurgies through the streets at
night. makes you dream OF rain and go to
the window as soon as you awake to see II
II really Is clear or not. II rains only q
part OF the year in Areauipa, but when 1:
does rain II sometimes pours. At suck
times the streets are flooded. ard the water
from the roofs Is carried out by little tin
pipes, as big around as a broomstick, TO
just over the middle OF ths sidewalk.
where 1t goes down the backs of,the necks
Of the unwary passers-by
In walking through Arequipa you might
get the idea that the city was fun of bur
glars. Every house faces the sidewalk
and every window Is covered with iron
bars. The houses themselves look like
fortresses and the locks on the doors are
OF mammoth size. The barred windows
and locked doors are not for the burglars
They are not to keep thieves out, but to
cage the girls in. The windows have seats
behind the bars. bu. no Peruvian beau
stops TO chat at these with his lady love.
The iron bars are as thick as your finger
and so close together that the most ardent
lips could not meet between them This
secluslon Of the women by the Spanish
people Is probably relic Of their admix-
ture with the Moors centuries ago. Tho
wrapping up OF the heads in black clothes
was orgiRly 50 done that only one eye
showed ouH. II was worse than the wells
OF Egypt or Constantinople. Now the
whole face is displayed and many OF tho
better class girls wear hats. A Peruvian
parent. however never lets his girls go out
alone upon the street. There are no moon
light drives ard walks with lovers hero.
and when you cai' upon your sweetheart
you have TO entertain the whole family.
and II you go with your girl to the bull
fight you take mamma, papa. auntie and
old maid sissy with you.
How Harvard Men Watch the stars.
The most interesting thing in -Arequipa,
however. Is the Harvard college obsserva-
tory. Just about twenty years ago Uriah
II. Borden died and left 500 600 20 Har-
ward college with the understanding that
the money was TO be used to establish
an observatory at the very best place that
could be found in the whole world for
study Of the stars and meteorological con-
ditions The college authorities first tried
points In Colorado and California. and
then sent an expedition TO South America.
This expedition first established station
$3.50 feet above the sea in the Andes. back
OF Lima. oil what is now called Mount
Harvard. In 1880 they changed The station
to Arequipa. ard have since made this one
OF the great scientific centers of the world.
Areauipa Is $50 feet above the sea, and II
has more clear days and nights. /. is said.
than any other place on earth. There are
about nine months of the year there when
the sky Is perfectly clear. You people
who pride yourselves on beautiful skies
and glorious sunsets viii not know what
the words mean until you have visited