The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-03-12
HOW A MERRY GO-ROUND DAZZLED PERUVIANS

The supply seemed almost inexhaus-
tible, and for many years hundreds
of ships were employed in transport
ing 1t to Europe and the United States
When the industry was at Its height
there would sometimes be as many as
a hundred sailing ships waiting at
the Chincha islands for cargoes.
The work of dispatching them was
very slow. and it was not uncommon
nine months. Many a captain broke
his heart at this waiting game. Great
fraud was practiced by the Peruvian
officials in charge. They would ac-
cept brides and allow some captains
to. load ahead of others in the line.
They would send those who refused
to pay them to Callao to have their
decks caulked. and force them to take
their places at the enc of the line
when they returned.
Handling the guano was one Of the
nastiest jobs that men ever had to
perform. When a deposit was dis
turbed the stencil that came up from
it was something dreadful. The men
had to wear masks on their faces to
protect their lungs and nostrils from
the strong fumes Of ammonia. Chi
nese coolies were imported to do the
work, and many poor devil, dis
tracted from his awful task, deliber-
ately jumped into the sea. or down
a chute into a ships hold filled with
guano, the fumes Of which soon
choked him to death. The industry
has about died out because the sup
ply is nearly exhausted, and the de-
mand is growing much less.
England Not on Map.
A British minister has just been
fn Ia
representative England has had In
that country for nearly forty years.
| The last diplomatic agent sent there
arrived at the capital on a feast day
and Immediately applied for an audi
| ence with the president. It did not
suit his majesty to receive ministers
on that particular day, so he sent
around some. other time. This re-
buff rather nettled British dignity,
and the president was very much sur
prised to receive a note q little later
saying that the accredited represen-
tatives Of Great Britain were not ac-
customed to being put Off on pre-
texts by presidents or anyone else.
Then the president got ruffled. The
upshot of the matter was that the
| British minister was tied to mule,
head backwards, and driven out Of
| the country in this undignifled atti-
tude.
When the outraged Englishman
/ finally reached cable office, he COM
municated the account Of his woes to
the British foreign office. The story
goes that the official in charge, with
out taking the trouble to look up Be-
livias geographical position, ordered
a battleship to the scene to insist upon
proper amends being made for the in
suit. This was great joke. for the
reason that Bolivia is an inland coun-
try and has no port at all. When tho
British head Of foreign affairs got
down his map to look up Bolivia, he
took his pen and scratched line
thru it, thus severing all diplomatic
connection with it. When the president
of Bolivia heard Of this, several
months afterwards, he retaliated in
smart fashion. An American firm was
getting out some new biographies for
Bolivia, and he wrote them: Leave
England blank on maps in our school
books" This was many years ago, but
there are still many of those old geog-
raphies in circulation which show no
British red.