The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-26


tinted exterior The houses of congress
are or delicate lilac, while the official
newspaper is printed in a monastery
like structure of Indian red.
A TOWN OF NEWSPAPERS.
1t seems funny to think Of newspa-
Iers in Paraguay. But there are news
boys everywhere poking their dailies
under your nose. The papers are print
ed in Spanish and they sell for 10 cents
g. copy, or about 2 cents of our money.
They are foiics Of the old blanket sheet
shape. containing little news, but big
advertisements. Here is one that has
Geographic dispatches, including cables
from Washington and Rome. Asun-
c1on has a telegraph line connecting
it with Buenos Ayres, from where dis
patches can be sent to all parts of the
world. There are also one or two wires
to the interior of the country, and
these are patroniZed to such an extent
that 40, 900 messages were received last
year.
Asuncion has telephones They are
owned by stock company, which pays
dividends of 81 per cent every year,
notwithstanding that its telephone
rates are lower than any in the United
States. The company charges business
houses - per month and for telephones
i'll residences the monthly charge is
only $3.50 in gold
We can visit the central station It
is an interesting sight. The hello
girls" of Paraguay have even sweeter
voices than our own hello girls, and
some of them are quite pretty. Most of
them are in their bare feet, and their
low-neek dresses are as white as the
orange blossoms that some of the girls
wear in their hair There are orange
trees just back of the office, SO that the
flowers are already at hand. The girls
stand up to their work, making the
connections by putting pegs in and out
of wall OF numbered holes, thereby
bringing together the various custom
erS. L ask the manager some questions
as to salaries and am told that each
girl receives about Sc gold a mnoth or
$3.50 a week
STREET CARS AND RAILROADS.
We see tram cars on the principal
streets. The cars are open at the side
and are so rudely made that they seem
to have been chopped out with a
Ratchet. Each is drawn by three mules,
which go on the dead gallop, and the
cars run so far apart that you often
have to wait half an hour for ride.
The different lines connect with the
railroad depot, and they go out to the
suburban towns. They are well pat
ments.
It is the same with the Paraguay's
only steam railroad. This was built
under a guarantee from the govern
ment by English constructors. The
English made money by building it, but
the road has paid no dividends since it
was opened. It goes about 156 miles in
to the interior. It connects Villa Rica
with Asuncion, and will be extended, it
is said, down to the Parana river. An
other line which is talked of, but which
[ fear will not soon be constructed, is
to run from Asuncion to the port Of
Santos, Brazil, on the Atlantic. Such
road while very expensive to build,
would open much good country and
would probably have a large traffic.
BANKS WHICH BEAT PER CENT.
One of the queerest things about
Asuncion is the money. That in cir
eu1ation is a paper currency, poorly
printed and Of poor material. It now
comes from Germany, and is not near
ly so good as the old paper money
which was made in the United States.
The bank notes are in all denomina-
tons, from five cents to 800. and the
paper is at such discount that a
Paraguayan dollar is now worth about
thirteen cents of our money. The banks
of Asuncion handle this stuff by the
basketful. They cord it up like paper
and they are making a lot of money
out of their business.
Indeed. 1t seems to me there Is
chance for some of our idle American
funds to be used in banking in Para
quay. The usual rate of interest out
side the banks is Is per cent, and in
the banks you cannot borrow money
for less than 1 per cent per month.
The usual discount rate is L per cent,
and a bank gives no favors without
receiving money compensation. AS
result the banks pay big dividends.
Take the Mercantile Bank Of Paraguay.
upon which I have letters of credit.
This bank paid a dividend Of Is per
cent last year. and its president tells
me it has never paid less than 10 per
cent. Its capital is only S120,O 600 in gold,
and still its business last year amount
ed to $2000,000. The Territorial Bank.
which has a capital Of $4,000, paid a
dividend of y per cent last year, and
other private banks do, it is said, even
better.
From these figures it will be seen
that it takes a good deal of money to
do the business Of Paraguay. There is
now between $4,000, 600 and $40, GOO 600 of
Paraguayan money in circulation. and
the government Is trying to increase
the value of the currency by with
drawing a certain amount every year.
1t takes about $5,000,000 annually to
run the government, and the exports
and imports amount to about S14, 900, 600
gold a year.
PARAGUAY TEA.
Considerable money is made in the
raising Of cattle. There is a great deal
invested in shipping hides and large
amount in preparing and shipping mate
or ParagUayan tea. Paraguayan tea
comes from the leaves of a bush which
grows wild in some parts of Paraguay
The leaves are gathered, roasted over
a fire and ground to a powder They
are then put into skin bags, being pack
ed so tightly that the bags are as hard