The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-09-05
WOMEN BUTCHERS.
How They Came to Monopohze the
Trade In Paraguay.


Trade In Paraguay.
OF all occupations that of butcher
seems one of the least suitable for the
fair sex, yet there is at least one coun-
try where this trade is entirely monop-
olized by women, and mo men need
apply"
That country is Paraguay, where
many occupations which among us are
invariably assumed by the sterner sex
fall to the lot of the women. The
cause of this state of things is the he
roic war waged by Paraguay more
than thirty years ago against the over
whelming forces of Brazil, the Argen-
tine Republic and Uruguay combined.
This war, which lasted five years, bore
many singular points of resemblance
to the recent Boer war. 1t ended IN
the almost total humiliation OF the
ablebodied male population of the
country, and the results may be read
in the following figures: Population
of Paraguay in 1857, 1887 ,439; in 1873
! three years after the termination OF
and of these nearly all were women,
children and very old men. When the
war was over, the people had been re-
duced to the most AFFECT poverty and
were on the verge of starvation, being
driven to such eXpedients as to eat
cats, dogs and horses. Worse still, ow-
ing to the destruction of the male pop
ulation, perfect anarchy prevailed, and
all the work formerly performed by
males fell on the fair sex. They re-
| built the houses which had been
burned down, titled the fields and wove
for themselves rough homespun cloth
ing from the cotton grown in their own
fields.
To this day the butchers in all parts
of Paraguay are women. In the pub
lie slaughter houses the cattle are dis
patched by men, who sever the spinal
column by cutting it with a sharp cut
lass just behind the@nape of the neck.
When the animal falls to the ground,
its throat is cut and it is allowed to
bleed to death. This is the only part
of the work done by men. The ami
NAL is skinned and otherwise prepared
by women. Carcasses are then con-
veyed to the butchers stalls where
the meat is cut up and sawed by wo-
men 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 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 pretty,
others old and wrinkled. The women
are great bargainers, and keen as mus
tard to pull a new arrival almost to
pieces in the hope of securing his GUS
tom. These women butchers earn good
wages, and many of those in business
on their own account acquire a modest
fortune.
In the larger towns the meat is only
allowed to be sold in the public mar
ket place, where stalls Owned by the
municipality are let at auction to the
highest bidders. The public has
every security that the meat is fresh,
for all that is left unsold at night is
destroyed by the authorities, needful
precaution in a warm climate. The
result is that just previous to closing
time there is a great reduction in
prices, and a crowd of bargain hunters
appears on the scene-economical house
wives, keepers of cheap restaurants
and the uke-for, rather than see the
meat thrown away or destroyed, the
keepers of the stalls sell the remnants
at almost any price.-Milwaukee Senti-
nell