The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-06-05

the soup. This dish forms the chief
meal of many of the poorer classes.
The rich live here as well as in any
city of 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.
PARADISE OF THE HOUSE,
KEEPER.
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
whole house is on one floor, and l have
visited Lima families who had houses
containing twenty large rooms, all on
the first floor The cooks do all the
marketing of Lima. A lady seldom
goes out of the house except to shop or
visit. The way the marketing is man
aged is to allow the cook so much a
day, according to your pocket and style
of living, say 81 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. the wear and tear.
Many Of the cooks are Chinese. ALI
expect to make a profit off the market
ing in addition to their wages Ser
wants are cheap here. I give the usual
prices in our money, having reduced
them from the silver paid here. Cooks
get about IS a month; housemaids, SIS;
chief buffers, $40, and second buffers
about IS. These are the prices paid by
foreigners. The native Peruvian fam
lilies pay less, and in the country dis
tricts there are many house servants
who do not get much more than their
board and clothes. Seamstresses who
come to the house to sew receive from
80 to 40 cents a day, and washerwomer
70 cents for washing and about so cents
for ironing per day.
DID NOT UNDERSTAND CHAM
PAGNE
The chief servant of the house is the
first butler or chief major-dom as he
is called. He has general supervision,
keeps things in order and waits upon
the table. Sometimes he is good, and
sometimes not. 1 heard last night of
major-domo who created 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 a 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 a 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 was
able to allay his fears so that he could
proceed with serving the dinner, but
I am told. that the man came to his
| master after breakfast the next morn
ing and begged to be allowed to leave.
Said he: Il like you and the sonora
very much, but l cannot remain in a
| 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 villages nearly
every other house is a saloon. The
smile" Peruvian is quite as common
as the smile American, and drunk
enness is the great vice of the poor.
OUR PERUVIAN DIPLOMATS.
But let me tell you how our Ameri-
can minister lives at the Peruvian CAPT.
LIS uOGSt, WHICH Is one OIL the pest
i'll the city, faces beautiful garden
filled with palm trees and rich growth
of tropical plants. There are winding
walks where You can stroll about UNI
der the trees among flowers more gor-
geous 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 II
! would be considered a mansion in any
American city. It's rooms are large
and the ceilings are about fifteen feet
high. There is swimming bath in It,
and the minister can play the mermaid
or, rather, the norman, as one of his
diplomatic diversions. I find our minis
ter very popular here. He is, you know
from San Diego, Cal. He is an Oh.oan
by birth, having been born in Ben
Wade's town of jefferson, on the west
ern reserve, about thirty-saven years
| ego. He is a college-bred man, a law
yer by profession and a diplomat by
instinct and intuition. He has some
knowledge of Spanish, and his popu-
| larity here is added to by that of his
wife, who speaks the language f1uently
and has thereby made many friends
aIyong the native Peruvians.
! Just next to the legation is the home