Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-08-21
WHERE WOMEN ARE BUTCHERS.
Origin Of the Custom in Paraguay
How the Animals Are Killed.

How the Animals Are Killed.
Of all occupations, that Of butch
er seems one of the leas1 suitable for
the fair sex; yet there is at least one
country where this trade is entirely
monopolized by women and mo men
need apply
That country is Paraguay, where
many occupations which among US
are invariably assumed by the sterner
sex fall to the lot of the women. The
cause of this state of things is the
heroic war waged by Paraguay more
than thirty years ago against the
overwhelming forces of Brazil, the
Argentine Republic, and Uruguay
combined This war, which lasted
FIVE years, bore many singular points
of resemblance to the recent Boer
war. 1t ended in the almost total an
Inhalation of the able-bodied male pop
ulation of the country, and the re-
suits may be read in the following
figures: Population of Paraguay IN
1857, 1887, 439; in 1878 (three years
after the termination of the war; 1t
amounted to only 231,079; and OF
these all were women, children, and
very old men. When the war was
over the people had been reduced to
the most abject poverty, and were on
the verge of starvation, being driven
to such expedients as to eat cats,
dogs, and horses Worse still, owing
to the destruction of the male popula-
ton, perfect anarchy prevailed, and
all the work formerly performed by
males fell on the fair sex. They re-
built the houses which had been burn
ed down, titled the fields, and wove for
themselves rough homespun clothing
from cotton grown on their own
fields.
To this day the butchers in all
parts of Paraguay are women. In the
public slaughter-houses the cattle are
dispatched by men, who sever the
spinal column by cutting it with
sharp cutlass just behind the nape
of the neck When the animal falls
to the ground, its throat is cut, and 1t
is allowed to bleed to death. This
is the only part of the work done by
men. The animal is skinned and
otherwise prepared by women. Car
cases are then conveyed to the butch
ers' stalls, where the meat is cut up
and sawed by women, who are dex-
ferrous in the use of the saw and knife.
1t is then served out to customers,
also by women-not generally by
weight, but by the piece-and the
price is so low that pound of the
best meat may be bought for about
a penny.
Women of all ages act the part OF
butchers; some are young and pretty,
others old and wrinkled. The women
are great bargainers, and keen as
mustard to pull a new arrival almost
to pieces in the hope of securing his
custom. These women butchers earn
good wages, and many of those in
business on their own account &C
quire a modest fortune.
In the larger towns the meat is only
allowed to be sold in the public mar
ket-place, where stalls (owned by the
municipality are let at auction to the
highest bidders The public have
every security that the meat is fresh;
for all that is left unsold at night IS
destroyed by the authorities-a need
fal precaution in warm climate. The
result is that just previous to closing
time there is a great reduction in
prices and a crowd of bargain-hunters
appear on the scene-economlcal
housewives, keepers of cheap restau-
rants, and the like-for, rather than
see the meat thrown away or de-
stroyed, the keepers of the stalls sell
the remnants at almost any price
Milwaukee Sentinel.