The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-23

CONn ln ,cnuIGS llIO DaTgeS WdltlIS DS- low, and transferred by the latter td
 vessels which lie of the islands. The principal cutting is about one hundred | yards from the brink of the precipice, | and is fully eighty feet deep, showing the great amount of labor that has been accomplished. A small steam en- zine of twelve horsepower is used in digging out the guano, and also for
 loading the trucks. A crane projects
 from the engine, and from fits chains is suspended an iron trough, like a hugh
 Coal-hod, with six gigantic teeth at the | edges. By working one chain this bod
 is made to fill itself, digging deep into the excrement; then by connecting an- other chain the crane slowly turns, grooming and creaking as though afflic- ted with chronic lumbago. and finally
 dumps the contents of the trough into a waiting car. About four trough loads fill the truck, and then the latter glides down the tramway to the edge Of the cliff, where it is rumped in heaps,
 to be afterwards shoveled down a can
 vas chute. Negroes are stationed in
 the hold of the waiting vessel to trim 1 the unsavory cargo as it comes down; and we notice that each of them wears
 an iron mask over his face, for the
 guano is more penetrating than, coal dust, steel filings or volatile salts. l Their position is by no means an en- viable one. but they receive from the
 captain of the vessel only thirteen dol lars for shoveling one hundred tons! l hn ,ef ;c. tremely irritating to the nostrils, throat and lungs, rendering the shortest stay
 here unpleasant. Yet there are several rather handsome residences on the is- land, including two built enairely of iron-for the occupancy of the Peru vian superintendents and English car 1 penters. Besides the wretched Chinese
 and negroes, many convicts were for
 merly employed here when work was
 more brisk. A collection of filthy cane 1 huts in which they were sheltered may still be seen. together with the rem
 nant of once bright little town. In former times there were often as many
 as one hundred vessels, mostly Eng fish, lying off the Chinchas, all wait 1 ing for cargo.
 The village of Pisco, in the broad and fertile plane of Canate, is a fair specimen of the coast towns of Peru. Its charming little plaza is surrounded
 by pretentious casas of adobe, whose
 outer walls are tinted sky-blue, rose
 pink, yellow, purple or gray.
 The smaller dwellings of the poorer classes, who are principally negroes
 and half-breeds, are one-room novels of the simplest construction. There are whole streets where the houses on both sides are built of wild cane stuck up-
 right in the ground. having cross pieces tied on, at intervals, without nail from top to bottom, this wicker work foundation being plastered with mud and roofed with straw. Though generally windowless, and often floor less, these poor adobes, being well
 whitewashed inside and out, present a
 neat and cheerful appearance; and
 over each doorway glass lamp is
 hung rendering the streets better lighted than those of many more pre- tentious cities. One side of the plaza
 is occupied by very large and hand
 some church, whose towers are con-
 spicuous landmark for vessels far out
 at sea. Near by is the aid chapel of the Jesuit fathers, which possesses,
 among other interesting Wreeks of de-
 parted glory, high altar, most elabo-
 rately carved end heavily gilded. An
 avenue of willow trees leads to the di-
 lapidated Franciscan monastery, which
 was suppressed nearly half century
 ago by order of the so-called Liberal
 government. For many years it's clois-
 ters have been deserted, it's halls emp
 ty and it's pleasure grounds, with their
 long lines of olive trees, allowed to run
 wild with weeds and thistles. The re- cords tell us that this ancient garden
 was intended for a place of religious
 contemplation. whereint he pious monks might enjoy communion with nature as we'll as with their own souls and combine pleasant exercise with
 their evening prayers. We read that
 countless doves once lived in the olive trees, and were so tame that they were
 wont to alight upon the shoulders of
 the friars, when the latter were pacing to and fro in the cool of the day, read
 ing or repeating their orisones. But doves and devotees long since disap- peared and not a living thing is now to
 be seen within the melancholy enclo- sure, except an occasional zipolote-the foul carrion-crow of Peru, or turkey
 buzzard, looking for some dead thing to rend. FANNIE B. WARD.