The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-02-14
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GuayaquI, Ecuador. Jan. 3.


ou5H, you cannot escape it. for il is
Always here. Your habitation will be
structure Of split bamboo as fraiI
looking as a house Of cards. Some
times IL viii shake like a reed ewaying
in the wind. but you viii know that il
Is merely another earthquake. and viii
not experience as much concern as
when your house in the north trembles
from the vibrations Of thunder. When
YOU tire Of swinging I'D your hammock,
or Of drinking lemonade at the tables
ON the awning covered sidewalks. YOU
viii go for a ride on The mule car. It
viii swing around The same little cir
cult, but YOU VIII go because there is
nothing else 20 do. and because every
one else is doing the same.
Many Things Are Unequal.
There are many things in Guayaquil
which seem unequal When you 90
shopping in the market. YOU VIII find
That a rooster costs more than a parrot.
The beggar that pleads with you for
few pennies may have on a straw hat
That would seii in the states for more
money than the suit. of clothes you are
wearing when YOU get thirsty and
enter cafe for drink you find that
good water is more expensive than
Whiskev- Il Is cue of the best equipped
towns in - world for lighting fire,
and yet no city has been destroyed 50
many times by flames. There are more
HIemen chan policemen. and they have
twice as many engines as they need,
set during the dry season there is not a
drop OF water available for their use
The inconsistency of this state of af-
1alrS can be better understood when il
IS stated that Guayaquil is a river
town Il stretches along the bank of
stream which is over mile wide
There is no way of using the river
water because The authorities are
afraid If they levy taxes to pay for the
work that this action viii excite revol-
ution. If the wells happen 10 be empty
Wnen a f1re breaks out, the flames eat
their way through the rows of bamboo
houses as easily as If they were Chaff
Inc last con1agration was started by
some gamblers who got into fight and
kicked over a lamp. When the smoke
cleared away, over eighty blocks were
IN ruins and losses amounting 10 many
millions had been sustained.
II seems very easy to get on in Quay
aQuu, II one is not particular about
his surroundings. The native swings
his hammock between two trees. If
they happen to be banana trees, his
idd grows right over his head. The
SalloT goes ashore, and the next time
YOU hear OF him, If he is not dead Of
fever he may be a merchant prince.
Y he Italians seems 10 flourish in Ecua-
dor more than any other class of
20 figners. They control the grocery
Il -.F e h.
Sldered very reliable men 10 deal with
il IS said that fully half of them came
over without a cent, and worked their
AFay as sailors. They viii work and
practise such strict economy that even
ChInaman cannot compete with them.
The Spell of the Tropics.
II is an old story about the hold iron
zeal life gets upon people who come
here The experience Of all seems to be
the same. Ones first impression is to
stay no longer than il viii take to get
away. Then the chance for making
money enters the consideration. and the
determination is made to stay no longers
IMAM It viii require to accumulate
enough money with which TO live in
comfort in Gods country wherever
ne individual may choose to consider
lhat fortunate section Ia the mean
while the tropics work their spell. Here
a man knows everybody. A score of
men in every block tip their hats to
nm as he goes for his walk. The cli-
mate is not conducive to much effort. or
physical exertion, and no one works
haFd. Life IS easy, and INDECENT, and
cafe-free. Finally. when the day comes
that sufficient has been saved 10 90
back TO where life moves at more
rapid pace. the departure is postponed
from time TO time. Putting off until to-
morrow becomes habit that cannot be
put away as one dtSCards an old coat
After the return has been made. his
tory often repeats itself The man who
was an important individual in the
south, finds that he did not bring hi,
identity away with him. He Is only
plain man among millions Of plain peo-
pie some may stop TO listen to his
tales Of a far-od country, but he is now
Ia a land where things move too brisk
" for much story telling. The Difference
That was paid to him in the south was
cheap civihty, and he knows il. but fer
@il that he misses 1T. He finds the hur-
~ and biuumess and IiVing-up-to-or
way of the r0rth too brisk for him.
More and moro he pines for the easy
going gait Of the south. and I'm nine
leases out of ten he goes back TO the
siothful cline he first despised. The
tropics hold him with the charm they
have; they cause him 20 turn his back
upon his people. and they do not see
his face again.
1T Pays oAdvertise."
Although the south is easy going.
there IS sharp competition iu business.
\ good story is told OF the rivalry OF
two merchants and the extremes 10
which it led. Each ore made il q point
20 say All the mean things he could
mink about She other. Matters went
from bad 10 worse. until the ordinary
methods of knocking proved too
slow and then they began publishing
stories in the paper about each other.
Their regular space for advertising was
devoted exclusively 10 these attacks.
This was one Instance when the public
read the advertisements ard got it,
long account about one of them being
on - spree, ana il wound up by saying.
'-Tha poor fellow deserves much pity, j
for it is something dreadful to be
drunk The following issue contained
this reply. which silenced the enemy for
awhile. II viii admit that 7 was drunk,
and that ] am still in that condition,
but ] have the consolation OF knowing
that when I quit drinking. ! viii soon
get over it. Nv accuser needs pity
because he IS a fool and can never get
over It,"
A Rocky Road to Travel
Ore Of the most serious draw backs
10 business IN Ecuador is the lack %
transportation facilities. Before goods
can be delivered 10 many points in The