The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-02-09

the national public cshools. There are
many seminaries and colleges of high
| er grade, besides innumerable private
! schools for girls, where needle-work,
household economy and the lives of
the saints receive much more attention
than the higher mathematics.
The practice of all trades and pro-
fessions, including those of law, medi-
cine and that of the apothecary, is alb
solutely unrestricted, so that one need
not even possess a license or diploma.
| Rather too much liberty, it seems to
me, in placing human bones and bod
| les at the mercy of any fledgling who
chooses to call himself a physician,
surgeon or dentist. BY the way, Co
| lombia is the very paradise of dentists.
Ten dollars an hour is the tooth-doc-
tors usual price in the cities, ones
hour" being appointed beforehand. Is
the victim fails to appear on schedule
| time, he is charged for his appointed
hour, all the same as if it had been
| filled with work; and meanwhile the
dentist takes things very leisurely be-
| quilting the time with cheerful CONVEX
sation, apparently nursing the job to
it's limit. There may be exceptions to
| the general rule, but l have not yet
come across them. An acquaintance of
mine who wears a plate with half a,
| dozen false teeth in it, had the misfor-
! tune to break one of the teeth in Be-
gotta. She went to the leading dentist
| to get the same tooth fastened again
to the same plate; and what do you
think he charged her? The job in the
United States would cost all the way
| from nothing Gf ones own dentisD, to
dollar: but the Bogota tooth-carpen-
/ ter rendered bill Of s24.35!
| Among the colonists of various ma
tionalities in Colombia, those from the
! United States are few and far between,
| the foreign element being mostly Ger
man, with sprinkling of French, Eng
| lish and italian. The military college,
or West Point of the republic, where
were educated most of the famous gen
! erals who afterwards became presi-
dents, was for many years in charge
of a former officer of the United States
army. 1t is significant fact that more
| than half Of Colombia's rulers from
Bolivar, the first president, down to
the present encumbent, were previously
| generals in the Colombian army. b.
gotta is eminently a city of paradoXes,
of great wealth and great poverty, re-
markable learning and incredible ignor-
ance, with a curious mixture Of Gus
toms that often puzzle the stranger.
The foremost men of the political, lit
erary and mercantile circles are from
the old Castilian families, but so
changed by intermarriage that all
bloods run in their veins. In the legis-
lature, on the bench, the forum, the
| pulpit, you see the characteristics of
all races, from the Anglo-Saxon to the
African. Politicians of whatever color.
compose the ruling class, dominated
by the military. Among the leading
minds are many highly educated men,
who converse and write fiuently in
/ several languages, who can dictate. a
| learned philosophical discourse, or
demonstrate the most difficult problems
| In astronomical or mathematical for
mulas. Most of the professional men
were educated abroad and almost ev-
| erybody of account in Colombia is a
| writer or poet The aurnber of daily
and weekly periodicals published and
| the many loose sheets issued as occa-
sions require, is astonishing. People
rush into print on the smallest provo
cation, and stay there Indefinitely,
long windedly arguing all manner of
questions, to the exceeding interest of
the people who have so little to do.
Colombian authorities have furnished
textbooks on political economy, gram
mar, geography, mathematics and art;
besides many philosophical, historical
| and biographical essays and works of
fiction and poetry. Some of the text
books are subsidized by the govern
ment and all authors are protected by
a copyright law. Patriotic eloquence
| Is the ideal of the Colombian, and we'll
| is it realized in many native orators.
The people are natural musicians, and
| spend a great deal of time and money
in improving the talent. In every
house of the better class is found a
German piano and many young people
earn good salaries teaching music,
while extravagant prices are paid to
foreign professors. AS the constitu-
ton, laws and government of Colom-
bia were modelled after those of the
United States, so their financial poll
cies initiate England's; their fashions,
manners and customs follow those of
France, while their literature, verbos-
ity and suavity are Spanish to the
core. The smallest business transac-
ton here requires many formalitie.
Even the accout books of the merchant
Unjust receive the legal rubric, as nearly
every trial is decided upon the writ
ten evidence only.
The wholesale and commission mer-
chants comprise a large class. They
buy from the lowest selling market,
giving the largest credits, and sell to
the small tradegmen of their individual
sections, often supplying them with
goods in advance of the coming crop.
This gives them control of the produce
a long time ahead. The people are 'ex-
cessively given to games of chance, and
lotteries and races are literally patron
ized. Beggars are numerous, owing
partly to the peculiar diseases that
scourge the country. AS in Mexico,
Saturday is 'beggar day." authorized
by law. Then they crawl out of their
holes and lairs and fairly swarm the
| towns, levying toll upon everybody
with confidence. Housewives make it