The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-03-25
WHERE THEY PACK MONEY IN SATCHELS Price of Hair Cut is S8,5O in
 Guatemala "TlN' AT RATIO OF 15 TO 1 ignorance of a Native Results in Death of a Horse-Fresh Meat Hard
 to oet-Llfe Is
 Easy. 
aTIN' AT RATIO OF t5 TO 1


 Two dollars for a shine, ss.5O for a hair !. cut and shampoo, s4SO for a dinner and . nearly $500 for the use of mule for three days are a few of the noteworthy ex- penses of Leo. F. Nadeau, an East Prov. idence man, who has recently been tray cling in Guatemala, Central America, ae- companied by Edward NJ. Holmes of Bar rington. But MT. ,Nadeau paid only one cent for bdshel of oranges with two big pineapples, each two feet long, thrown in. Thus says a writer in the Providence Journal.
 These startling prices are all due to the big difference between the values of Gau- temalan money and that which is backed up by Uncle Sam It's the difference be- tween a gold and a silver basis. This same East Providence man exchanged 5000 in American gold for $l4OoO in bills Issued by the Gautenalan republic and then put the bunch of bills into pack and hired a man to carry it for him, as the package measured about two feet square. Itsfs not strange that these bills made such a load, for each one of then, measured about a foot long and half S foot wide. ''-
 As the money is on silver basis, 1t fuctuates so widely at times that 1t is often necessary to figure up the value of quantity of money before a pur- chase Is made. When a foreigner makes purchase he asks, if he is at all ac- quainted with the country, whether the price refers to tin or gold money. "rin money is the name given the native money, as it contains but a small por- tion of silver and is worth only about one-flfteenth the price of United States money.
 While they do not have trolley cars in Guatemala City, mule cars, similar to the old fashioned horse cars of this sec tion, are run on the principal streets. The railroad company does not issue trans fers. neither does it have cash registers fin the cars, but person can ride about the city for one cent in gold money.
 The houses. of many of the city resi- dents are very attractive and are com posed chiefly of mahogany, which is so plentiful in the country that 1t is even burned for firewood. Other houses are made of adobe (sun dried clay). With out an exception these houses are square. with an open garden in the center, over which there Is no roof. The houses are very large and have driveway leading into the garden, where many beautiful
 
 windows of these houses are heavily barred, and they have to be, as some of , the natives have a habit of carrying off anything that they can move.
 One Continuous HoIidaS.. .s4
 A stfa nser. in Guatemala would get the Impression that the place is in the midst of a Fourth of July celebration or some thing similar for nearly every day is a feast day in honor of some saint, and is celebrated in noisy way, with firing of guns and, exploding -firecrackers. Sun dayis a great day in this place.. The big bull fights occur then, and the greater part ofthe population turns out for the occasion. First, there is a big parade, led by d sbrass band, the bull fighters fol- lowing. They march about the city, much as ,minstrels move up Westminster street to advertise their show at the Providence opera house, and then they proceed to the slaughtering place. The building in which the bull fights are held is circular in shape, with seats about the outer side, and a large open space, or arena, in the center.
 After a parade about the arena the band is dismissed and the bull fighters renlain4in the ring A bull is led out from large pen, and then the fight begins With red clothes and small lances the cicadores arouse the anger of the bull; the animal charges them, but the fighters step ninbly aside, escaping the sharp horns.
 After this performance has been re- peated number of times the chief mata- dor advances toward the bull. This time, when the animal charges, he attempts to kill it with a single thrust of his sword. If he is successful and the long bladed weapon pierces the animals heart he s greeted with great applause. but should he fail he gets nothing but misses and de- risiVe yells for his clumsiness. There are usually six or more bulls kept in the pen at one time, and sometimes all are slaughtered in one day. but the killing of three usually serves to satisfy the na- tlves thirst for blood.
 The main inconvenience to the average traveller in Guatemala is the scarcity of fresh meats, due to the hot climate Ice is unknown, and there is absolutely no way to keep food cool Butter cheese aud other dairy foods are also unused while milk cannot be kept any length of tlfhe without souring. These things can not be put down the wells to cool as per sons fin this country sometimes preserve the contents of their larder The water Is actually warm and useless for this pur- pose. Even wild turkeys which are killed on the plantations cannot be taken to the city, few miles distant to be sold as food. The flesh would spoil before the city could be reached.
 After these conditions have been ex- plained person naturally asks, What do they do for drinking water?" The wa ter Is drawn from the wells and placed in large and unusual shaped earthen ves- sells called monkeys" and allowed to stand over night, and the porous qualities of the earthen ware keep the water cool Hot springs are plentiful in the region. and the natives boil eggs in the water where these are found
 An Ignorant Native.
 As to the natives themselves, Mr. Ma deau and MT. Holmes report that they are very poorly educated and decidedly ig- norant. As a sample of their mental ca- pabilities. one of the returned Rhode Is- anders cites an occurance which hap pened when the party was driving about the city. The saddle horses were driven alongside the hotel piazza as the occu- pants went inside to dine. While they were eating dinner the guide walked in and told one of the men that his horse