The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-05-08

10 uphold the wires These iron poles are
used on account OF the little ants which
here eat anything WOODEN. but 90 no.
seem 10 bother the ties. The conductor OF
the train n a little Peruvian. in linen
suit, and on board with US we have a
travelling postmaster. who sells stamps.
takes up the letters from the various
small villages and estates as We stop. IA
hands out mail TO the people who come TO
the train Notice the little farms which
We are passing. The fields are fenced in
with thick walls of rnud as high as your
waist, and frrigatiux bitches carry spark
ling water here and there through them.
The water comes from the river, but the
irrigation is carelesssy done, and great
part OF /: goes 10 waste. There IS rice
field. This is one OF the best paying
crops Of this part of Peru. and there are
large mills at Pacasmayo where the
rice is huiled. polished and prepared for
shipment
We go through large estates devoted 10
the raising of sugar. This is Peru's great
est crop. The most OF the estates are
owned by foreigners. and some in the
past have paid very well. The whole OF
the coas. valleys are adapted TO sugar
raising and the cane grows much more
easily here than In cur states about the
Gulf of Mexico. / visited the Lura Ffco
estate the other day This was managed
and built up by Mr.. r. II. Kaufman. 1t
paid large dividends until the fall IN prices
of some years ago. when the heart was
cut out of the sugar business. Many OF
the plantations changed hands, and Lura
Ffco lis now owned by an English syndi-
cate which has tens OF thousands OF acres
of sugar lands. The factory OF Lura Fico
made 5000 tons of sugar last year. and u
will make more this The factory alone
cost $500 o00 and the improvements on the
estate have footed up more than million.
The most of the machinery was imported
from Philadelphia. and the machine shops
and foundry are now using steel plates
which they import from the United states.
This il so Notwithstanding the tact that
the owners are English. The estate uses
steam plows harrows and cultivators. ana
/ noticed that the plow points were made
at Hartford The cane is hauled from the
fields to the factories by steam engines
over portable railroad. and all sorts OF
modern economical machinery IS employ
ed There are now over sixty sugar rae
tories on the coast region of Peru. ana IN
the reighborhood of $50, GOO Is invested
in the business. The amount produced is
about IS5 600 600 pounds year. The LABOR
Is the native Peruvian Indian. who re-
ceives from 80 to 50 cents In silver day.
or from Is to 40 cents of our money.
Among the Poems.
I wonder how an American tenant would
look as il he were offered place on one or
these Peruvian farms. l refer more espe-
eia,iy to those on the smaller estates. l
went into one of the houses on a planta-
ton near here today. 1t is a sample OF
thousands. all through Peru. The hut was
made OF canes. and you could see out
through the cracks on all SIDES. The floor
was OF dirt and the roof of reeds. being
only needed to keep out the sun. There
was In the house but one room, about Is
feet square. In one corner a wooden plat
form about as high as your knees fur
nished the sleeping place for the heads OF
the family: the children slept on the floor.
In another corner was the family cook
stove, two stones placed just wide enough
apart to allow an earthen cooking pot TO
rest on them. There were no windows. no
chimneys and with the exception Of
soap box. no furniture. In this house
family of six live. and I doubt not deem
themselves happy. Their chickens and
goats live with them and all they want Is
enough 10 eat and drink and a chance TO
get drunk now and then. These people
seem TO have no ambition whatever. They
work hard and are perfectly satisfied.
Their employers furnish them. in addition
TO their wages. one pound OF meat and
two pounds OF rice daily. and they allow
them to run up such bills at the store on
the estates as keep them always In debt
to their masters Our farmers could not
wrok on such rations as these men have.
They take upon rising glass OF piseo. or
native whisky. and go to work without
breakfast. This Is at about O'Clock I'm
the morning This whisky serves them
until II a. m, when they knock on for
lunch, or for what Is here called break
fast This usually consists of a stew Of
goat meat and rice. At l o'clock they go
back to work and at e,op for the day.
When they get home they have another
stew OF meat and rice. and perhaps a
piece or so of bread. After dinner they
sit about and talk. and at or lie down
in their clothes. which they have worn
all day and go to sleep. They have no
education and not one In hundred OF
them can read. Their dress costs them
almost nothing. That OF the men is made
up OF a pair of cotton trousers, a cotton
shirt a pair of leather sandals and
straw hat The women wear cotton dress
es and straw hats and. IN addition. have
black wooden shawls for feast days and
Sundays The men also have what are
known as ponchos. These are the over
coats Of South America. They are merely
blankets with a short slit I'm the middle
large enough to slip the head through.
They are worn by the better classes, as
well as the poor. and are costly or other
wise according 10 the purse OF the owner.
FRANK G. CARPENTER.