The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

butcher women have no scales and they guess at the weight
 Vegetables arc not sold by measure. but in piles. and the usual price per nile is , cents, or 2ts cents American Here Is woman selling red peppers. She has cloth covered with piles of 10 each. They sell for cents per pile In the next stall are green beans. each containing Il handful. and beside them cakes of native cheese the size of a biscuit, that you can buy for nickel
 little farther over they are selling quinua This is a grain as big as the head of a pin that the Indians use to make hush. The piles are half a pint each and they cost ? or cents IT. same woman has corn in piles of 10 nss.- pms as long as your finger, and hominy in cloth looking like a dirty dish rag The ho,niny grains are as big as my thumb nail, and about h1lf as thick as my thumb.
 am interested in the potatoes This is their natural home. The great-sreat- great grandfathers and mothers of all our potatoes were born on this high plateau of the Andes. The tubers are of all col ors and sizes; some big as my fist others the size of thimble. Some are bright red. others yellow, others black. and some little ones are as pink as the toes of Sour baby, and not much bigger around The pink ones are used to make soup.
 The corn also is of many colors and of different varieties. Here Is d pile as black as your boots little further over is one of bright yellow and the next pile is dark red The same woman has white chuno for sale. By this 1 mean frozen potatoes which have been put over night in the water and then sprinkled and frozen and dried. They will then la for years without spelling. and are favorjts dish of the Indians
 It Is interesting to watch the market women. Some of them are Cholos as vo,i can tell by their straw hats and their compiex1ons, which are not so dark as those of the Indians. They wear hats and shawls, and have skirts which come almost to the ankles. The Indian women have hats like a piepan with upturnod pr1ms and low crowns. They also wear snawls of red, blue, yellow or black. They nave on embroidered waists and volalm- nous skirts. A single woman may wear half dozen skirts. 70 that her dress stands out as did those of our girls in the days of wire petticoats.
 Inere are Indian men by the hundreds walking about through the market They are buying and selling. and, there are
 
 on their backs and balies on the tops of the bundles. The men have flat round hats with brims turned up all round. and under the hats are knit caps of bright CO., ors with flaps. which hang down to their. ilecks Some of the Incians are driving III 'iamas loaded with goods, and some carry great packs on their shoulders con tainng vegetables and others wares which they have brought in from far away in the country. The whole scene ,s one of bright colors but it is quiet. and the people are gentle a nd sombcr Thev ta'k Tn low tones. and they seem very tlmld When l point My camera at them the women hide their laces and the child ren howl and go off on the run.
 
 One of the odd sights of the market and also of the streets throughout Cuzeo IS the traffic and the way freight is car 'ieu. everything come in from the country on donkcys. or mules. or on llamas. or upon the lacks Of men and women. There is not d carriage in tho whole city, and when ono goes out to ride he must go on horseback. or mule- pack In coming in on the train I ha. me station master with me He had been Instructed by the superintendent of the railroad to see that l got to my hotel and as have a great lot of baggage I told him he had better hire a carriage He replied that there were no carriages m Cuzco, and that he might take the street car and that my typewriter and trunks could be carried on the backs of Indian cargadores. I found the street car to be long box resting on wheels. With team of four shaggy mules as the motor There were half a dozen such ears, each with it's separate team. and they were so crowded that l was barely able to get standing room. The cars run only to the trains. and those arrive and a tl,.t z can get car ride day you are lucky. Ut was about a mile and half from the railroad depot to the main plaza. and our mules went on the gallop.
 Our hotel the Gasco. is within half block of the track. It is run on the European plan. and we were able to ret two very good rooms at a price of two gold dollars day. Our meals we take at the hotel of Senor Pedro Zanchez. which faces the great plaza and the cathedral. The entrance to this house is cave-iike passageway. through courts that are bad smelling and dirty, and it IS only when you reacn the dining room that you dare to cease from holding your nose. Once there the accommodations are better. The food is Peruvian. but the eggs are fresh and the meats are good. The landlord studies to please, and nls price, SIPS a day for three meals. is low. The only trouble is the lack of good nghts.- Cnzco's only illuminants are coal oil and candles. and I frequently stumble over Indians as go out of the hotel on the way to my rooms after dinner.
 nevertheless, am delighted with Cuxco. Ine SKY Is 50 blue. the sun so bright and the surroundings so beautiful. Tn ad- dition to the .quaintness and strange CO.'S tunes of today. there k the romance of the past and the ruins of the Incas. But J Of those I will write you next Sunday.
 FRANK q. CARPENTER.