The Saint Paul globe., 1898-05-22
cold gotten from such a ducking net
long ago.
THEY GO TO CHITRCH

cold gotten from such q ducking net
long ago.
THEY GO TO CHURCH.
The Lima women are very devout.
Every other one we meet carries a
prayer book and you can seldom enter
church without finding a score or so
on their knees. No woman can go into
a church wearing a hat or a bonnet.
and those who attempt to do so are
touched with a long stick by the sexton
and told to take their hats Off One
of the queer sights of Lima is a church
congregation. The people, you know,
are all Catholics and the ceremonies
are impressive, the costumes of the
priests being resplendent with gold and
silver braid. The men SIT by them
selves and the women and girls all
wearing these black clothes on their
heads make you think of a congrega-
ton of nuns who are dead TO the world.
At their own homes, however, they are,
l am told, quite as much alive as their
sex anywhere. They are vivacious and
charming, and able to hold their own in
their talk with the men. They are In
terested in politics, and those of the
better classes are well educated, many
OF them speaking French. They are
very fond Of music and many play on
the piano. the mandolin and the guitar
exceedingly well.
AS In all Spanish countries, girls are
never left alone with the men until
they are married, and the courting is
done with the whole family looking on
at the billing and cooling. They are
fond Of evening parties, or tertulias. as
they are called, and are noted for their
sensuouS dancing of the voluptuous
waltz. AT home they dress much like
their sisters Of the rest of Christendom
and are as fond of gay clothes and the
latest styles as our own American girls.
The Woman's rights woman has, / am
told, not yet made her way here, though
there is a movement toward giving
women employment in places which
We're formerly exclusively held by the
men. There are, for instance women
clerks in the city postoffice, and the
stamps which l shall put on this letter
Will be bought Of Peruvian girl who
VIII bother her brains to understand
my poor Spanish when I ask her to
weigh 1t and have 1t properly register
ed.
LIMA ON HORSEBACK.
Lima on horseback is quite as inter-
estng as Lima foot. There are few
private carriages here, and ! am tod
that there Is not livery stable in the
whole city. The streets are paved with
cobble stones and the cabs jolt your
bones SO that most people prefer to ride
in the street car or on horses. The
horses here have the easiest gait Of
any have ever ridden. 1t is one pecu-
liar to Chile and Peru, sort Of a
cross between pace and the action Of
housekeeping hackney. which car
rfes the rider along with less jolting
than that of a rubber tired carriage.
The horses are small but very spirited.
There comes one down the street now.
It's rider Is in full riding costume, and
he Wnlll6 nor hQ OP r,la in da
Park were 1t not for the big silver
spurs on both of his boots Notice
how magniflcently the horse is ap-
pareled. The bride is trimmed with
silver and the stdrrups are plated with
the same shining white metal. He has
reins have a long braided strap at
tached to them which he uses now and
then as q whip.
How the horse prances as he tickles
him with the spurs and how the demure
maideEs who pass steal sly glances at
him out Of the tails Of th=ir eyes. There
he has stopped and dismounted. He is
STOPPING at the horses front feet. Sect
He is buckling a short strap about
them just over the ankles, thus hob
bling the horse. He leaves him thus
without tying and goes on into the
store. This We learn is the way that
all Peruvian horses. those in carriages
ds w Cli dS liiesSS WltiiOul, are u 81.
are no hitching posts, tie rings or horse
weights in Lama, and It is police regu-
lation that every horse left alone on
the street must be hobbled The straps
used are so short that they can be easi-
ly carried in the pocket and the driv-
ers Of carts hobble their mules by ty-
ing the lires about their front feet
WOMEN WHO RIDE ASTRIDM
Much of the peddling of Lima is done
upon horseback, and in many cases
the peddlers are Indian women Nearly
all Of the milk of the city is carried
about in cans tied to the two sides of
horse, upon the back of which, with
her legs straddling the horses neck,
sits bronzed-faced woman, dressed in
bright calico and wearing a broad
brimmed Panama hat. When the milk
woman reaches house where she has
a customer, she slides down over the
horses neck and lifts one of her cans
out of the pocket in which it is fas-
tened and carries 1t into the house.
Frank G. Carpenter.