The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-24

la1ns the active praincipal of cocaine ;s universal It Is chewed every day and there are certain fixed times during inc iaperlng hours when all stop for a re- cess, curing which they chew eoca The farmer gives his Indians hand fuI of coca leaves every morning. and this mine owner has to supply fixed amount of coca in addition to the ordi- nary wages. The coca takes away hunger and it keeps out the cold IL enables one to breathe better in the high altifades of the Andes and 1t is claimed hat its use enables the h. ulahs to work longer and endure more fatigue. It also deadens the brain, de- e,,oSs the wall power and takes away all forms of intellectual activity
 The Indian not only chews the coca. but he makes a tea of it. It is said to be good for the stomach and the chewing of il keeps the teeth white, and l am told 1t reserves them. Near ly all of the Indians l see have vahite teeth. and 1t is said they seldom have toothache, this fact being attributed to coca.
 Coca leaves are sold in all of the stores here in Cuzco They come from a shrub waich is cultivated and which grows from four to six feet in height The leaves are much like a rose leaf or like our wintergreen. They are picked green, dried and put up in pack ages of 25 pounds each. Such a pack age sells for S2.50. I bought 10 cents worth today and took it home in or der to try it. The senorita who man aged the store brought out pair old brass scales, balanced on the end Of beam. and weighed me out full pound l chewed some, but it had no perceptible effect, probably because [ had not the ashes or lime to go with it. I then made some into a tea. It tasted like concoction of hay and made me feel good.
 As ] see how the Indians live and work on these cold highlands of the Andes, I do not wonder that they are driven to coca and alcohol to keep off the blues Let me describe some of their houses, scattered over the pampas. They are huts made of mud, so rude and squalid that they would hardly be fit for hog or as a stable for good American COW, The typical dwelling is about eight or ten feet in width and perhaps 0 or To feet long. It is so low that as. you stand outside it your head reaches above where the thatched roof begins. This building has walls made of sod or mud and its roof is of tsraw, tied to poles or canes It has no windows and the only door is a hole in the wall, so low that you have to stoop down to go in. In some of the huts there is a framework at the back,
 
 but in the most of them both grown ups and children lie down on the ground and huddle together to keep themselves warm. There is no furniture to be seen except a few llama skins, which are spread on the floor The people sleep in the same clothing that they wear in the daytime, and they cover themselves with their ponchos or with the coarse blankets the women weave for the pur- pose.
 The cooking is done on a little clay stove in one corner of the hut, and the fuel is the droppings of llamas and cattle, which are gathered up and dried for the purpose. Sometimes a kind of peat is used, and sometimes the stunted vegetation of the pampas is chopped out and burnt. The stove has no chimney and the smoke blackens the roof of the hut and gets out through the door. There is no sign of comfort about such home There are no tables or chairs. Ii is. in fact. about as bad as any dog kennel or pioneer stable we have in America.
 Indeed, it is difficult to believe that hunderds of thousands of human beings are born live and die in these squalid huts of the Quichuas. Their dwellings are the same now that they have been for generations, and the only difference of conditions among them is that some families have several houses, while others have only one. Where man is rich he may have an extra hut to store his produce and his implements for the farm, but as d rule he has no more, comforts than the poor.
 Many of the huts on the pampas have] small corrals made of stone or mud, about them, into which the sheep llamas and donkeys are driven at night. Some have little patcehs of potatoes and bar ley and quinua nearby. Quinua is al kind of a grain about as big as the@ head of a pin. that is grown to make mush or grue1. It second cousin off the ordinary pigweed of the United1 States. and our department of argicul- ture expects to experiment with it as] a staple American plant.
 And this brings me eo the food of the] Indians They live very simply. their| diet consisting of mutton or llama meat] and potatoes, barley and corn, which, they soak and mash and cook in a stew. They have also cholona, which is frozenl mutton, SO dried that it will last forJ years. Now and then they have a chickenl to eat and sometimes beef and pork. In3 most cases the chickens and sometimesd the pigs sleep in the hut with the fami- ly. The Americans who employ large1 numbers of Indians at Cerro de PascoI and furnish quarters for them at lowj rent have to order a general cleaning outI of the hogs from the huts every fewI weeks. in order to keep the dwellings, sanitary
 Another food that is used largely by' the Quchuas is chuno, or frozen pota- toes. Chuno looks like bits of bleached bones. but 1t is really potatoes which 'haveN been frozen and dried so that they can be kept for years without spelling. The potatoes used are a special variety about the size of baseball. They ar, first soaked in water. 'rhis is done a | night Early in the morning before the i sun rises they are ta~e;i out and the, freeze. They are then covered with straw to keep off the sun. The next night theyI are soaked again and allowed to freeze | This process is continued from night to night. After a time they grow very soft and the skins are trodden off with tho bare feet They are now white as snow and after being dried will keep lons time. They have to be soaked before cook ing and are usually served as a soup or { stew Sometimes they are sliced and with cheese between the slices eaten ir the form of sandwich.
 I wish I could show you these Indiana as I see chem by the hundreds about me They look as though they had stepped out of the mft-ile ages. The men wea low crowned hats with brins that tur up They have on bright colored poncho or shawls with their heads stuc through a hole in the middle. Below tn ponchos you can see the short brooches These extenc to the middle of the cal and are slit up at one side as far as tn knee The Indians are barefooted O have untanned cowskin sandals Som are without ponchos and you SC thai t,o;r vests are raylV embroidered