The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-10

lice and Fire Departm ent-LOw
Ecuador's Debt Slaves and How
the Planters Work Them-Its
Cocoa Plantations, From Where
Our Chocolate Comes--Money In
Sugar, Vegetable Ivory and
Coffee.
Copyright, 1898, by Frank G. Carpenter.
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador, March H.
The city Of Guayaquil! How shall l
describe il! 1t is one of the strangest
mixtures in the world of cities IL
lies sixty miles up the wide Guyas
river. almost under the shadow OF the
equator, frowned upon by the snowy
peaks of Chimborazo and CotopaXl.
Wooded hills surround 1t. The Guyas
river. wider here than the MISSISSIPPI
is at ST. Louis, flows rapidly by 1t, and
The moist miasmatic air of the tropics
lulls 1t to sleep. In the river before
e YOU are reminded of Venice from the
Grand canal. Upon its wharves the
scenes make you think of Naples and
In a maze of bazars much like those
Of Cairo, Calcutta or Bombay. Not
only its looks, but it's smells smack of
the Orient. 1t has streets more Shiny
than those of Seoul in winter, and some
Of its customs are as vile as those OF
Pekin.
1t is one of the best business points
on the west coast of South America,
and is the only commercial point of a
country at least four times the size
Of the state of Ohio, having a popula-
ton about as great as that of the city
Of Philadelphia, and In natural re-
sources one of the rich countries of the
globe It is the New York of Ecuador
the center of trade and the place
through which all of Ecuador's exports
and imports must pass. In the neigh
bOrhoOd of 900 worth of goods
are brought here every year from the
United States and Europe, and some
millions of dollars worth of coffee, CO.
Goa, hides and rubber are sent from
here to all parts of the civilized world.
Guayaquil is what the EcuadOrians
call a progressive city. 1t has $4,000 in
habitants. It covers the banks Of the
River Guyas for two miles, and at a
distance is very imposing. 1t has fine
buildings of the Spanish style, with
balconies, out of which dark-eyed beau |
ties look from under half-closed shut |
ters down upon you as you go through |
its streets. 1t has a maze of great |
stores, which are open at the front, so |
that you look within as in an Egyptian |
bazar-stores with stocks of goods |
worth hundreds of thousands of dol |
lars, and wide-open warehouses filled |
with bags of cocoa, coffee and sugar |
awaiting shipment. Its streets are lin |
ed with workmen who labor at their |
trades on the sidewalks, with Indian |
women who comb the insects from
their own and their children's hair and
lunch upon them in the intervals Of
their sales; with fierce-looking men
carrying great bags and bales upon
their backs, and with beautiful women
Of the better classes, who go along in
couples, dressed in black with black
shawls plcturesquely draped about
their olive brown faces.
1t has hundreds of donkeys, who car
~ all sorts Of things through it's streets.
Here goes one loaded with boards, and
there is one with two panniers filled
with bread upon its back. That is the
bakers wagon Of Guayaquil. The city
has also a large number of active bust
ness men, the richest Of whom are Ital-
ians, English, French, Chinese or Span
iards, and two banks, one Of which at
times pays dividends of 80 1-3 per cent
year. 1t has a tramWay, the cars Of
which were made in America, and on
the river there are little steamers which
were imported in pieces from the Unit
ed States. Guayaquil has an excellent
club, at which you may meet as good
fellows as you will find anywhere in the
world. 1t has plenty Of priests, and a
big church facing a beautiful park,
where the band plays after worship on
Sundays. 1t is, however, more city
Of trade than of pleasure. The cable
connects it with the markets of New
York and Europe, and when the wires
are up it is also connected with Quito
and the other towns of the interior. 1t
is at Guayaquil that Col. Perry de
Leon, one of the most efficient Of our
consuls general is stationed, and here
also NJ. Edward Pavia has charge of
the branch house Of Flint, Eddy &
Co, the great South American
importing firm of New York. These
are some of the bright spots of the pic
ture.
Low Taxes and High Death Rate.
GuayaquiI has it's dark spots as well.
It's taxes on real estate are lower than
those of any city of our country, but
in the altitude of its death rate 1t tops
the world. The streets of Guayaquil
son they are filled with dust, and the
donkeys and mules wear pantalets to
keep the gadflies and mosquitoes from
eating them up. In the winter season,
which is now on, the town is flooded
whenever it pours with stagnant water
to such an extent that it is against the
law to drive cart or carriage through
the streets without a special permit
from the police. This is the unhealthy
season of Guayaquil-the season Of the
yellow fever, the season of the malaria
when death hoverS over the town
and the doctors make enough to give
them summer vacations in Europe. The
water now lies all about me in pools
upon each of which a rich green coat
of slime sullenly floats, ready to be
turned into poisonous steam by the
equatorial sun. The town lies between
two rivers.
It could be easily drained with a
ditch pillow, so that the tide, which is
here very high, would flush it twice
day, but its people let it remain as 1t
Is. The result is that every now and
then there Is great epidemic. The
yellow fever Of last year carried away
thousands, and during the winter sea-
son some kind of fever is almost always
present. Guayaquil has no sewers. It's
water works are pit holes sunk in the
streets, into which pumps are inserted
at the time Of fire. The result is that
the city has been burned again and
again. There was a fire last year
which consumed half of the houses.
causing a loss of more than $50, 900, 900.
This also makes fire insurance es-
pecially high, the current Guayaquil