The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-10-09

low matched roof. 1t had no door, but
the whole front was opened to the east,
and so arranged that it could be closed
with skins. The roof was of the shape
Of ridge, and this gave room for an
attic, which was separated from the
ground room by a ceiling Of poles jet
black with smoke. From these poles
ears Of corn, strings of onions, pieces
Of dried meat and bags Of other eata-
bles hung. The floor, which was Moth
er Earth, was Uttered with farming
utensils, clothing. saddles and harness,
and a lot of other stuff which made the
room look like junk shop.
At opposite sides of the hut two
closet-like rooms had been partitioned
| eff by poles and SIX rs. In each of them
| vas low platform covered with straw
and sheep skins. They were the pri-
Vate quarters of the different wives,
each of whom sleeps apart from the
other with her children.
OLDEST WOMAN OF WORLD.
In the same hut lived the great
grandmother n-law of the two women.
This woman is, 1 am told, 100 years
old. She is the Oldest person in Chile
and If the records of her family are
correct she Is perhaps the oldest wom-
body, not over four feet high, and 50
withered up with age that she does
not weigh more than fifty pounds.
With me at the time Of my visit to her
was Herr Otto Kehren, a German con-
nected with Don Augustine Balza, the
inspector general of colonization Of
Chile, who was also of our party. Herr
Kehren is one of the finest looking and
best formed men I have ever met. He
T. civ oil nd ha orb ~
pounds 1 stood him up beside the lit
tie great MISUNDERSTANDING and m2de
a photograph of the two. The contrast
was that of giant and pigmy, of old
age and youth, Of life and death, Of
dry bones and rosy flesh. The fact that
size and conditions have little to do
with longevity seemed to me apparent
! as 1 looked at this dried-uD gentleman
ian. She was small at her birth and
she had lived more than a century and
a quarter in a squalid hut, half-fed
and poorly clad. She was, when I saw
her, dressed only in a ragged navy
| blue blanket, which was fastened by a
pin of silver over her skinny breast
bone Her lean, shriveled arms were
bare to the shoulder and her wrinkled
legs were naked to the middle Of the
calf She was deaf and blind. Her
eyes were grown over by what seemed
to me like two little red buttons Of
flesh and her face was corrugated with
lines like a withered apple. She was
led out of the hut by one of her great
grandchildren, a plump, juicy little In
dian maiden Of eighteen, and the con-
trast between eighteen and $50 was
striking in the extreme. I was told
that the old woman still had the use
of her mental faculties and that she
was able to do much Of the spinning for
the family. Her great granddaughter
in-law seemed proud Of her, and they
smiled and were grateful for the money
we gave her.
DAINTY INDIAN DISHES.
In this hut, as 1 have said, there
were two Araucanian women cooking.
Their utensils were several iron pots,
and they had neither ovens nor stoves
| The fires were built in holes in the
| ground inside the hut, and the smoke
| was so thick that 1 almost felt it clos.
| Ing behind me as l pushed my way
| through 1t. The women were roasting
| potatoes and green corn in the Goals,
and l am told they make stews of
various kinds. Much of their food Is;
eaten raw and this is so at times with
both meal and meat. Raw mutton and
| beef cut up in small pieces is one OF
| the chief dishes Of an Araucanian feast.
Red pepper is used as an appetizer,
and raw alcohol is drunk between the
courses. They have, it is said, a way
! of taking a living sheep and pepperine
and sailing its lungs while it is dy-
| ing. This is done by hanging the
| sheep up by it's forelegs and stuff1ne o
| Its windpipe with salt and red pepper.
| While the sheep is gasping under this
| treatment it's jugular vein Is skillfully
| cut, pulled out and the stream of blood
turned into the windpipe. This carries
| the salt and peDDerd own to tho l,,noa
and the sheep at once swells up and
| dies. The lungs are at once taken Qua
or the still quivering animal, are cut
| IN slices and are served with warm
life blood, having thus been seasoned
to taste. At all feasts the men ard
served first, the women acting as the
walters and taking what is left.
| HAS TO FIGHT FOR HIS WIFE.
THESE Araucanians have queer GUS
| toms Of love and marriage. A father
| always expects to get q certain price
Tor his daughter, In the shape of cat
Tie, sheep, horses or other presents, ana
the deal is made beforehand, the groom
paying as little as he can. The young
| man then comes with his friends to
the house of his to-be father-in-laW
| and kidnaps his bride. A dark night is
usually selected, but the time is often
known and the girl has her fema,o
friends with her for the occasion. It
Is matter Of wedding etiquette that
| she should fight against being married
and all the females and women Of the
family Join with her In repelling the
| groom. The friends of the groom helm
him, and there is lively skirmish In
| the brides home, which ends In her