The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-02-13
Correspondence Of The Journal.

4
UAYAQUIL. Ecuador. Feb. L.
This blazing little town is as
IN hot as il the equator ran up
"a Wy thru the main street. It's peo-
u Pile look like brown children
Of the sun. Life reduces itself
to simple proposition in
Guayaquil. You will have your hammock,
your straw hat and your fan. and, as a
matter OF course, you will have your fever.
1t may be one kind or another, but If you
stay long enough you cannot escape 1t,
for it Is always here. Your habtation Will
be structure OF split bamboo. as frall
looking as a house Of cards. Sometimes
it will shake like a reed swaying in the
wind, but you will know that 1T Is merely
another earthquake, and will not expert
ence much concern as when your house In
the north trembles from the vibrations Of
thunder. When you tire Of swinging in
your hammock, or Of drinking lemonade
at the tables on the awning covered side
walks, you will go for a ride on the mule
cars. 1t will swing around the Same little
circuit. but you will go because there is
nothing else to do, and because every one
else is doing the same thing.
Many Things Are Unequal.
There are many things in Guayaqui
which seem unequal. When you go shop
ping in the market you will find that a
rooster costs more than a parrot. The
beggar that. pleads with you for g. few
pennies may have on a straw hat that
would sell in the states for more money
that the suit Of clothes you are wearing.
When you get thirsty and enter a cafe
for drink you find that good water Is
more expensive than whisky. 1t Is one of
the best equipped towns in the world for
fighting fire, and yet no city has been de-
stroyed many times by flames. There
are moro firemen than policemen. and
they have twice as many engines as they
1f,rir he 1,-y iS
not drop Of water available for their use.
This state of affairs be better un-
derstood when 1t Is stated that Guayaqutl
IS river town. 1t stretches along the
bank Of a stream which Is over a mile
wide. There is no way Of using the river
water because the authorities are afraid
that II they levy taxes to pay for the
work this action will excite revolution.
If the wells happen to be empty when q
fire breaks out the flames eat their way
thru the rows Of bamboo houses easily
as If they were chaff. The last confagra-
ton was started by some gamblers, who
got into fight and kicked over lamp.
When the smoke cleared away over eighty
blocks were In ruins and losses amount
Ing to many millions had been sustained.
It seems very easy to get on in Quay
aquil. If one Is not particular about his
surroundings. The native swings his ham,
mock between two trees. If they happen
to be banana trees his fruit grows right
over his head. The sailor goes ashore, and
the next time you hear him. If he is not
dead Of fever, he may be a merchant
prince. The Italians seem to flourish in
Ecuador moro than any other class of for
eigners. They control the grocery bust
ness Of the country. and are considered
very reliable men to deal with. 1t is said
that fully half Of them came over with
out cent, and worked their way as sail
ors. They will work and practice such
strict economy that even Chinaman can
not compete with them.
The Spell Of the Tropics. ..
It is an old story about the hold tropica
life gets upon people who come here. The
experience of all seems to be the same
Ones first impulse Is to stay no longer
than it will take to get away. Then the
chance for making money enters the con-
federation, and the determination is made
to stay no longer than it will require tt
accumulate enough money with which tt