The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-03
she was known to have saved, and the po-
iceman was bringing the corpse and the
criminals to La Paz.
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however, chiefly in the hands of the Ger
mans. who, here as elsewhere seem to have
monopolized the trade in all foreign goods.
The most of the smaller stores are in the
hands of the Cholos, or half-breeds, the Off
springs Of the indians and the whites.
These people do the real business of the
city. Most Of their establishments are lit
tie more than boxes or holes in the walls.
In space from six to ten feet square
tailoring, dressmaking or a saddlery bust
ness will be carried on. There are no win
dows to these stores. The light comes in
through the door and you can look in and
see the employer and his hands at their
work Nearly every merchant is manu-
facturer as well. Many of the establish
ments are managed by women. All of the
fruit Of the city is sold by them, and
doubt if there is a chicha beer saloon in La
Paz which has not it's Cholo woman as pro-
prietor. Chicha is, you know, the beer OF
the BolivianS.
A vast deal of the business of La Paz is
done in the markets. There is one square
in the center of the city which is filled
with stalls and in which all week long the
buying and selling goes on. On Sundays
the streets outside of this for many blocks
are taken up with market women and
everything under the Bolivian sun is
bought and sold. 1t is Sunday that is the
chief market day of La Paz. Upon that
day the Indians come from miles around
They buy little outside of that which they
purchase in the markets, and here we shall
see all the characters of La Paz and it's life
better than anywhere else. We leave
our hotel on the Plaza in the center of the
city and walk past the police station, down
the hill to the point where Market street
crosses our way at right angles. The
streets are filed with buyers and Sellers
and we pick our way in and out Of three
blocks of Bolivian humanity before we
take our stand in the center Of a living
cross of all the hues of the rainbow made
by the market people and their customers
In front and behind us, on our right and
on our left, the streets are filled with
these curious people, moving to and fro in
waving lines of Kaleidoscope colors such
as you will see nowhere else in the world
We talk of the oriental hues Of Cairo and
Calcutta La Paz has dozen different
colors to Cairo's one, and the costumes of
Calcutta would seem tame If mixed with
these about US. Reds. yellows, blues and
greens are ever mixing with the
other, making new combinations every
second. The most delicate tints of the An
dean sunsets seem to have been robbed to
furnish the dresses for the Cholito girls.
There are hundreds of them clad in shawls
of rose red and skirts of sky blue. There
are hundreds who wear skirts of sea green
and not &. few with skirts as red as the
sun at it's setting. Their skirts are propped
out with hoops and they reach only to the
full curve of the calf. Some of the Cholitos
wear shoes of bright yellow kid with Paris
ian heels under the insteps, and with high
tops which end, in some cases, in rose-col-
ored stockings, but more often the bare
skin of a rose-colored leg. There are scores
of Indian women in still brighter dresses
carrying bundles on their backs in striped
blankets of red, blue, yellow and green, and
there are Indian men and boys wearing
ponchos Of the same gorgeous hues. There
are ladies in black with black crepe shawls
wound tightly about their olive skinned
faces with fur prayer mats and prayer
books in their hands. They have stopped
at the markets on their way home from
church and some are accompanied by the
men of their families dressed in high black
hats, black clothes and black gloves. How
quiet it is! There is the hum of converse
ton, the chatter of gossip and now and
then the jangle of bargaining, but the
crowd moves in and out without friction,
and though there are thousands about you
hear scarcely football Take look down
ward. Most of the feet about you bare,
and large number Of the Indians wear
leather sandals which make hardly sound
as their owners pass over the streets.
TILE BOLIVIAN BABY.
What lot of babies there are all about
us. We have to pick our way about careful
ly to keep from treading upon them. Some
bles or play with the merchandise their
mothers are selling. Some are too young to
crawl, and they are tied up in shawls on the
backs of their mothers, who go on with
their business with apparent disregard Of
the precious freight on their backs. There
is one now peeping out of that red shawl
below u.s. It's face is as brown as a berry
and it's little black eyes blink at us from
under its yellow knit cap the earlaps of
which stand out like horns on each side of
it's face There is another baby few months
older being handled on the streets by its
Indian father, and on the other side of the
street we see two little tots who are taking
their meals at their mothers bare breasts.
Most Of the babies we see are laughing, one
or two are crying. Some are quite pretty,
some are homely, and nearly all are dirty
and lousy. This business, however, is not
confined to the heads of babies. 1t is COM
mon to both the Indians and the low class
of Cholos, and men, women and children
unite in the hunt. In this connection I
might relate my adventures as I carried my
poor Spanish with me from store to store
in La Paz in search of fine comb, but the
subject is too recent and painful and I de-
sist.
Let us stop for a moment and make notes
upon some of the queer things sold all
about US. The goods are spread upon blank
cts or they lie fiat on the cobbIe stone
streets. The vegetables and grains are di-
vided up into. piles. There are neither
weights nor measures. and almost all things
are sold by the eye. You pay so much for
such a number Of things or SO much pile.
The piles are exceedingly small. and things
are bought in small quantities. Marketing
is done here from day to day. / doubt If
there is cellar in La Paz, and the average
cooking stove would hardly be big enough
for a dolls playhouse in America. Think
of carrying home a half dozen potatoes
from market. This is the size of many of
the potato piles offered for sale here. And
such potatoes! Here is a brown-faced In
dian girl who is selling some at our feet. l
venture you never saw such little potatoes
before. They are not bigger than marbles,
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