The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-12-28

sessions of the medicos an Italian
opera company was persuaded to come
to Guatemala to give series of per.
tormances for which the government
paid subsidy of $4,000 in gold.
The medical visitors had scarcely
LETT the country when the time arriv.
ed for the regular midsummer fiesta
OF one week, with public fair. horse
races each day and an elaborate flower
festival and banquet at the end of each
week
one month after this, in the middle
OF September, came the four fiesta
days in celebration of Guatemala's
Declaration of Independence. when
the whole country is given I'D to pub.
lie concerts, banquets, torchlight
professions, fireworks and general
drunkenness.
II is during this fiesta, at night time
mat the fireworks of the pub1ic
squares are enlivened by the co.called
toros or bulls, i. e. men bearing rude
frame-works resembling bulls with
horns which SCOT firecrackers and
rockets into the dense crowd of on.
lockers.
one month after these celebrations.
which always cost the government
hundreds of thousands of dollars,
come the "Minerviales. They are
Estrada Cabrera's pet fiesta in honor
OF Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom.
Then thousands of children of the
school age are brought to the capital
at the public expense and there are
made to march in parades and appear
in flower drills While the proud fathers
get drunk, and the government Of
ficials at public banquets pledge
President Cabrera as the benefactor of
the country in trimming cups of
champagne
Then about Christmas time come
the bull fights when audiences of eight
and ten thousand attend, and so it
goes on, year in and year out in Guate-
mala, until the expense for fiestas
alone runs into many millions. Hence
the government, to meet its running
expenses, is driven to hypthecate
Guatemala's customs receipts. and to
pay l per cent advance interest as well
as per cent commission, order to
obtain loan of so per cent, the bulk
of which is furnished in the deterior-
ated paper currency of Guatemala. Ac-
cording to this one Guatemalan dol
lar is worth not quite six cents in our
money.
So much for the public aspect of
these fiests, which under the dictator
ship of Etrada Cabrera are made to
serve the same purpose as did the
Roman gladiator shows under Tiberiu8
and Caligula.
Now let us see what are some priv
ate notions of having a good time in
Guatemala as it is today
1t has already been mentioned that
the anniversary of Guatemala's Dec
laration of independence is celebrat-
ed with universal drunkenness
throughout the land. So is the day
following it, which happens to be the
Independence day of Mexico. So is
the day after that, because it is the
Independence day of Chile, and so
on throughout the week.
The writer of this testifes to
the feature of drunkenness, since on
Sept ember - of this year it was his
misfortune TO find himself in the
open country of Guatemala riding
horseback midway between Zacapa
and the capital. During that long days
ride every man he met, whether white.
Indian or negro, whether command,
ante or common bare-footed soldier
was Keeling drunk.
Now this is the authentic story of
how the commando of Zacapa, one
| General Enrique Arts, managed to
have a good time in his town of the
Independence Day of Mexico.
All that day, September 16, General
Arts, having duly celebrated his own
national fiesta the day before, spent
at the house of one Senior Spinola, a
Mexican, employed as the station
agent of the American railroad run
ming through Zacapa. The day was
celebrated with a champagne break
fast which lasted until 10 o'clock
at night. Then the whole party left
the house, mounted their horses and
escorted the general to his command
ancia.
AS they rode over <e dark road be-
tween the railroad station and the
town they passed a small American