El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-04-11
By
Frank G. Carpenter
Copyright, 1914, by Frank
G. Carpenter.)


/ head dress is the cloth shawl covering
/ the halr ana neck so that the face
! only shows out. Some wear mantiIIas
| or shawls Of lace over the head and
| not a few are now beginning to wear
! dresses other than black I am told
/ that women would not be permitted
/ to enter a church in a bonnet and that
those who do so are tapped with a
| long stick by the sexton and told to
/ take the hats off
In the churches the men sit bv
/ themselves on one side and the women
/ have their seats on the other making
/ you think of a collection of nuns who
/ are dead to the world
I am told it is different when church
/ is over. The people then put on their
| gay clothes. Some go to the buIl
! fights and others have evening parties
and dances. I would say that the cos
/ tunes at church are far more seemly
than those OF our country, where one
4 looks over tropical garden of flowers
J and birds of paradise feathers in
vain attempt to reach the eye Of the
! preacher.
No Business on Sunday.
The Sunday sights of the streets are
/ also more seemly. There is no business
/ done in Lima on the Sabbath. The
stores are closed and you walk be-
tween blank walls or great doors fas-
tened with padlocks. Every store has
its windows of boards and there is not
q sign of goods of any kind to be seen.
Sometimes there is grating at the
I
sometimes a round hole has been made
at the height of ones face so that
| those within might look out; but there
is no business carried on anywhere
This is also the case in the evenings
on week days. The ordinary business
hours are from nine until six; and at
night there is no walking along and
looking into the store windows In
deed, after dark the streets are almost
deserted, except near the moving pic
ture shows which have recently cap
tured Lima by storm.
Lima's Great Cathedral.
But before I leave the churches
want to take you into the cathedral
of Pizarro. 1t faces the Plaza Mayor
with its palm trees and its beautiful
fountains It is in the heart of the
city and its towers can be seen al
mOsy anywhere over the Rimac valley.
The building is said to be the finest
church edifice on the South American
continent with the single exception Of
the cathedral at Mexico City. The in
terror is very impressive, and 1t makes
one respect the Catholic religion when
ne remembers that Catholics have WOr-
SHIPPED for more than 500 years on that
spot. The high altar is a fine example
of massive silver construction and the
stalls of the sanctuary are eXtraOr-
binary specimens of indian carving,
when Indian carving was still in its
prime.
On the walls are the paintings by
MuTillO and other great masters, and
the chapels are Of exceeding beauty. I
was especially impressed by that OF
Pizarro. The little verger of the cathe-
dral took me into it, and under the
altar he showed me the coffin in which
PizarrO's bones lie. The coffin is of
white marble with glass sides and top,
so made that one could see plainly
the remains lying within. The verger
lighted candle and waved it up and
down over the glass As he did so I
could see all that is now left of the
great Spaniard who first explored and
conquered the west coast of South
America It consisted of skeleton
lying upon red velvet cushion en-
brOidered with gold. The skeleton is
black as mahogany and 1t looks as
though 1t were vanished The skull
lies on a pillow. the neck being fas-
tened to it by wires through the ears.
! The jaw is a trifle dropping, the nose
is prominent and the great eyeleSs
sockets looked up at me as I gazed
down through the glass top Of the
casket. As I looked more closely the
/ whole seemed merely a shell. The
skin has begun to peel from the shins
and there are little worm holes in the
I am told that in times past patches
of skin have been cut off and given
to relic hunters, but as far as I can
7 see the most of the corpse is intact,
I though decidedly leathery and the
/ worse for wear. From the outside Of
| the coffin have copied these words;
Captain General Don Francisco
4
Enero de 1885. Muerto en- 26 de JUNO
de 1871" As I left I gave the verger
a dollar, and Carl snapped a photo
graph of Kim as he showed me the
door.
Is Built in the Desert.
Lima is city built in a desert. It's
irrigated tracts are scattered through
10 small valleys, and they consist al
together Of about 10000 acres OF culti-
/ waited fields and woodlands. They are
| divided into 176 estates, many of the
/ holdings being large. Practically the
I whole support for the city comes from
! Peru.
The conditions about Lima are such
I that II never rains. There is not a
I waterproof nor a pair Of overshOes in
I the whole town, and umbrellas are
used only to keep out the sun. The
/ streets have no cutters, and the roofs
nave no chimueys All of the cooking
/ IS done over charcoal, the fumes of
] which get out as they can. The town
| has practically no backwards, and only
/ on the outskirts are there gardens.
/ The most of the buildings run around
courts or patios upon which the chief
rooms face. The larger houses are
fine and they cover a great deal of
ground, single one often having 20
| or more rooms, surrounding several
large courts, in some of which play
fountains amid tropical trees
Many of the older buildings are
beautiful and exceedingly comfortable
OO4lG VI NAltll are largely constructed
Of sun dried brick. or of plaster spread
over a framework of wood, latbed
with bamboo canes The roofs are
OF this nature. The outer walls of
such buildings are covered with stucco
and the city has a very substantial an
pearanee, whereas much Of it, as I said
in a former letter, is combination
Of mud and fishing poles.
OF late they are putting IN many
fine structures of reinforced concrete.
and along the Avenue of the Exposi-
ton, for instance, are residences that
would be considered fine anywhere in
the world. Lima has altogether now
about 10000 inhabitants. 1t is stead
lily growing, and when the canal is
completed its population and business
viii greatly increase. It will be one
of the chief tourist resorts of South
America; and if it can only have some
better hotels it will be the most de-
lightfu1 resort along the west coast.
Hotel AccOmmO datiOns Limited.
As it is now the hotel accommoda-
lions are limited There are two or
three large establishments which have
rooms and board. You may take vOur
accommodations on the American or
European plan, and the rates are inst
about as high as those of Fhe states
You will have chambermen Instead Of
chambermaids. and your meals viii
aHmnaa IL