Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-08-26
S.HERE WOMEN ARE BUTCHERS
Wives Forced Into Business Pursuits
Because of PARAGUAY War.

N~~G1SC VI uIa9dat war;
OF all occupations. that of butcher
seems one of the least suitable for
the fair sex, yet there is at least one
country where this trade is entirely
monopolized by women and mo men
need apply"
That country is Paraguay. where
many occupations which among us are
invariably assumed by the sterner
sex fab to the lot of the women. The
cause of this state of things is the
heroic war waged by Paraguay more
than thirty years ago against the
overwhelming forces of Brazil, the Ar
gentine Republic and Uruguay COM
bined. This war, which lasted five
years, bore many singular points of
resemblance to the recent Boer War.
1t ended in the almost total annihila-
ton of the able-bodied male popula-
ton of the country. and the results
may be read in the following figures:
Population of Paraguay in 1857, 1887
4S9; in 1878 three years after the
termination of the war; it amounted
to only 221 .079, and of these nearly
all were women, children and very old
men. When the war was over the
people had been reduced to the most
abject poverty and were on the verge
of starvation, being driven to such
expedients as to eat cats, dogs and
horses. Worse still, owing to the
destruction of the male population,
perfect anarchy prevailed, and all the
work formerly performed by males
fell on the fair sex. They rebuilt the
houses which had been burned down,
titled the fields and wove for them
selves rough homespun clothing from
the cotton grown on their own fields.
To this day the butchers in all
parts of Paraguay are women In the
public slaughter houses the cattle are
dispatched by men, who sever the
spinal column by cutting it with a
sharp cutlass just behind the nape OF
the neck. When the animal falls to
the ground it's throat is cut, and it is
allowed to bleed to death. This is the
only part of the work done by men.
The animal is skinned and otherwise
prepared by women. The carcasses
are then conveyed to the butchers
stalls, where the meat is cut up and
sawed by women, who are dexterous
in the use of the saw and knife. 1t
is then served out to customers, also
by women-not generally by weight,
but by the piece-and the price is so
low that a pound of the best meat
may BE bought for about a penny.
Women of all ages act the part of
butchers; some are young and pref
ty, others old and wrinkled. The
women are great bargainers, and keen
as mustard to pull new arrival al
most to pieces in the hope of securing
his custom. These women butchers
earn good wages, and many of those
in business on their own account &C
quire modest fortune
In the larger towns the meat is al.
lowed to be sold only in the public
market place, where stalls (owned by
the municipality are let at auction to
the highest bidders. The public have
every security that the meat is fresh,
for all that is left unsold at night is
destroyed by the authorities-a need
full precaution in warm climate. The
result is that just previous to closing
time there is great reduction in
prices. and a crowd of bargain hunters
appears on the scene-economical
housewives, keepers of cheap restau-
rants, and the like-for. rather than
see the meat thrown away or de-
stroyed, the keepers of the stalls sell
the remnants at almost any price
Fr;& Tosk-