The Republican journal., 1904-08-04

r,rss More Women than Men in the
N'1- .5rrespondence of The Journal.]
-.<. ION, PARAGUAY, July l, 1904.
.,st this desolate and half-ruined
ami can hardly believe that four
,a. ago ecclesiastical and vice
' .j,tts were issued from it which
I'- walled the lives of millions of peo-
.t,t a century back it was the gay
.o,sperous capital of the southern
. This great continent, to whose
.e- all South America paid
.-. that even up to the time of
..f war with Brazil (Which ended
L was richer than either
..- \7res, Rio de Janeiro, Santi-
ma. With that disastrous war,
l>r-d five years and killed off
.s- nentieths of the population
.- ssly impoverished the re-
Glowing as it did the bloody
the three Dictators, Casper
- aud the Lopez father and son,
... AID power departed. Though
..-r Generous mood designed Par
-.r tue Wealthiest of southern
is now the poorest and
...- .uuurtant of them all, and per-
.St knOWn to the outer world; a
.rl women whose census proves
.- .uajes actually predominant.
.-,., me the male population hav-
.l-Y uell-nigh annihilated during
.-r uoe war.
r.s.l from the harbor, Asuncion
rmug, for few towns are so de-
fs situated as regards pictur-
s.u .vpT scenery, beautiful distribu-
.5. 81. ,ottly-wooded hills, luxuriant
,sg--s..0u and perfect climate. The
s.u4N river, here about mile
aid. uaaes a sudden bend which forms
..7g ul III the bay are always multi
.taf steamers and schOOners, queer
MEL raft, long RATS made of cedar
rs as ed together; and just now, ow-
.. q poitical disturbances in this
r,rr 0f tie world, there are also Uru-
.4saa and Paraguayan men-of-war
Singing at anchor, besides couple of
.a.tlte gunboats from Brazil, and
ack ironciad belonging to Ar
-.i. All this martial display ow-
IL q, lie Acre dispute, not yet set
t-4
port has three short piers, a
te pnmitlve quay, some batteries,
aE>endj, big hospital, and the US
1-u-om and warehouse buildings on
seal scale. The beach forms broad,
- sweep of emerald meadow, backed
-e} q ifs of red sandstone, upon
r .le perched the principal edifices
.r 4pital These are the once mag
....t laIace of Dictator Lopez, now
shot and shell, as the Brazil
- eft it thirty odd years ago;
do. or town hall, some long,
n Attacks, the great dome of the
-ou cIOWning prominent knoll,
t- Wcent church of San Francisco,
a .Iecty below the church, clinging
dear life to the hillside, the
,.aut suburb known as La Chaca-
IT, e shore is lined with groups of
@.-.er1s wash women cleansing the
lt-Unclothed forms clearly de-
.-aIust the background of green
lg!e. The opposite side of the
that mysterious region, the
".-uaran Gran Chaco, which no one
.s FL thoroughly explored and lived
HE tale-a low, apparently linn
.@- md unoccupied dead level,
.ug to the horizon; but on the
L de is an outer zone of beautiful
oJed hills, rising ridge above
-4s. 'e valleys between them dotted
G ottages and yellow with orange
vs'e, 1t is an eminently peaceful
s-l. II which it is impossible to real
JIG Las stern tragedies have been en-
N. winch destroyed nation.
A ANYWAY. branching off through
' 0r three of the principal streets
-' up from the landing to the far
unit Of the town and on through
ar Irest to Villa Morra-an embryo
ase i've miles away, whose streets
air. dictated by finger-posts stuck in
pen fields. That indispensable
J1la conveyance, the tramway bears
ar appropriate name Conductor Uni
elsa and the condition of Asuncion
s..eets may be inferred from the fact
.-'. --eTe IS not a carriage, public or
private. in the city, the only vehicles
11lg two wheeled carts, which require
,Iee OF four horses, mules or oxen for
"7 lgotest load. The ground upon
"1Iea the city stands is not only undu-
d,.Ag. but sweeps back steeply toward
"t east, necessitating a series of stone
'.lageS in many of the streets. All of
"eM are badly paved with huge blocks
">Ione and occasional boulders placed
-e-e and there, always ankle-deep in
'N0 OF mud, according to the season,
2'elt When frequent tropical showers
''A'eIt them temporarily into flow
LIZ rCr4T9ptc Il q G bipu boa5lonr dawn IN