Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1914-09-16
UnskiIled Men Get Small Pay in
South America.
Women Fare Still Worse as Few Oc-
equations Are Open to Them and
Wages Are Extremely Poor
Nearly All lIliterate.

Entire Rios, Argentine, S. A.-Some
the University of Illinois told me that
in many portions of his country four
fifths of the people could neither read
nor write. One finds this state OF
things throughout South America,
though in some countries, like Uru-
quay. the percentage of illiterate is
not so great. The women are scarcely
schooled at all. Women in South
America are far down on life's scale,
among the cheap things OF no impor-
lance. They are SO regarded by the
men and so regard themselves, says
Katherine Reynolds in Chicago News.
Truly the poor opinion that -nese
women have of themselves ssmost
takes ones breath away.
Not long ago / was talking to my
cook. She is a native Of Uruguay, and
unlike the vast majority OF domestics
can read and write. One day found
her blowing her way through Don
Quixote." That interested me and we
talked. l found her exceptionally
bright and of thoughtful turn OF
mind. l drew her on and was sur
prised to hear her express very sane
ideas on South American politics and
economic conditions. The girl is an
Indifferent cook, but she would make a
splendid teacher of political economy.
She gave me much interesting In
formation and told me many signif1-
cant anecdotes bearing on the life OF
these people But what astounded me
was her closing remark.
THAT, sonora" she said, is only
what / think and know and Is or
course Of no Importance whatever, for
am most certainly only woman, not
q patriot. And woman cannot. OF
course, know anything of these things
So it seems that only men are patri-
OTIS here. National patriotic holidays
are not women's holidays. Woman
suffrase is in these lands only faint,
ridiculous sort of far off echo. indeed,
If you mentioned 1t even the women
would look at you with smile OF pity
for your idiocy in even dreaming that
such thing could be.
In all these countries the top layer
of society is overeducated. This social
cream, taking much Of its style and
temper and education from England.
apes English aristocracy and scorns
work. The young South American is.
as rule, sickeningly effeminate. The
girls. overdressed, overrouged. aplng
the costumes of Parisienne. are very
often startling looking creatures to
American eyes. They, too. are fitted
only for society, and know as yet no
way in which to earn living. Inc
masses have as yet only the crudest
sort of industrial education.
There are trades here for men and
in the cities one finds fairly competent
masons, carpenters and all other artl-
sans working under an eight-hour law.
But outside of the cities you see less
skilled men and the wholly unsk1lled
peon working from sunrise to sunset
Here there is no eight-hour law. Toll
for these men begins with the first
faint streak of dawn and lasts into dim
twilight. And for this they are PAID
Is cents an hour in our money.
So when you go to grocery store
and discover that crude. dirty granu-
lated sugar is II cents pound and
small bar of cheap toilet soap. the
three for quarter kind at home. costs
these people 80 cents and that coal Is
SIS, gold, ton, and seven cent cali
CO 35 cents a yard you wonder how
they live at all.
The only cheap thing in the Argen-
tine republic is meat-beef and NUT
ton. Pork, ham and bacon cost very
nearly their weight in gold and are
the greater part of the year impossible
to get. And when you do get the
native pork you usually throw II away
It is badly cured. spoiled in part and
horribly spiced with garlic. The beef
and mutton are really dear if you
consider their poor quality, the care