The farmer and mechanic., 1915-06-15
The CAPITAL OF PARAGUAY
Strange Features of Life and Work in One Of The
Oldest Cities Of Our Hemsphere

The city has a half dozen hotels
ana some Of them are said TO be good
nave struck one Of the bad ones 1t |
is the HiSpano- = Americana. pretep-
lOus building on the main street II
mas tnree stories. surrounding a patio
Whlcn Is rooted over with glass The
patio. or central court is the main
dlnlng room. and adjoining it is the |
kltchen, where native cooks spoil |
white folks victuals' three times a |
day. Did l say three times? | should |
say twice, for you get only two meals |
day In ASunCiOn. Your first break |
last is not meal. 1t consists Of a
little black coffee and bread You
may have that when rising. but moth
ing more until the course-luncheon
at noon. This begins with bologna
sausage and some green stuff as appe-
| Tiers. soup which is half macaroni
or alphabet dough. and puchero,
| which consists Of the boiled beef out
of which the soup is made. The puch-
ero is often half bones. and the bones
| look like those of the neck. After
that come the entrees or entradas in
Guiding sometimes fish, and then
beefSteak or roast with a salad and
dessert. The dinner is about the same
as the luncheon. The menus look well
and seem satisfying. but the food is
bad. The cooking is awful. and my
stomach cries for the neshpots of
home.
And what do you think we pay the
hotels here? l have fairly good rooms
for myself and stenographer, and the
charges are made on the American
p1an-that is both board and room
for a fixed sum inclusive. The price
is just $109 per day. The sum seems
extravagant until you figure the ac-
} tual value in Faraguayan dollars
worth less than six cents. Then the
amount is under SIS in gold day. or
about So a person l cashed some
| English gold this morning. 1t was in
sovereigns. which will bring S4.86
each at our American banks. l re-
5 ceived $S9 for each Of my gold pieces
changing five pounds and getting in
return $445 in paper.
: And still the paper money looks
S good. 1t was made in New York and
4 engraved by the American Bank Note
e Company. One Of the hundred dollar
t bills has the Niagara Of South Ameri
q ca on one side Of it: and l looked
i at it l wondered whether this wa
to indicate the great fall in the value
OF the currency. That hundreddOlla
- bill was worth less than IS American
IS This makes it SO that one has to b.
s always calculating to keep track o
l. his expenses. You must not be sur
y prised that a cab fare costs SIS. an,
j. that the ordinary jitney, if hired out
n right. would be worth at least SIS a.
j. hour. 1 have just refused to buy
t. knit hammock for which q woma
" asked me $3.50, although I was tempt
IS ed to pay $500 for a lace collar an
( cuffs. The regular price of this news
As paper. were it sold here. would b
,e about 81 Paraguayan. That is wha
h. certain journals cost here.
n In connection with the money, tn
re government officials here seem to sc
re extravagant salaries. although in rea.
re ity they receive far less than ou
rs near statesmen at home. The pres
rs dent has $4,000 a month; cabint
ne ministers receive $4,000 month an
re the congressman get half as mucl
es In actual values the president has
d. little over $1,000 a year. the cabin'
Ak less than $4,000. and the congressma
re only little over $1,000 year.
We Notwithstanding this shrinkage
is, the currency, Asuncion is prosperou
de there are many banks and cambi
es and they are all doing well. The Bar
ng Of the Republic has a capital of Sc
lie. 100000 in gold. and it's business la
by year amounted to more than $20C
les O0O. .0O0 in real money. The bank pa
re a 1-2 percent diyident. The Ban
ne Mercantile has q capital Of $40, ,0Ot
cd 600 in paper. 1t has been in existen
long time and has usually paid b
dividends. The rate is now in Il
lre neighborhood Of IL per cent. Il
he HORTICULTURAL Bank. which was organ
1t zed to help the farmers. has a car
,re tai Of $14.50O.000 in currency. al
nd there are q number Of other ban
mp as well.
be-
vas | wish I could shcw you this toy
re- OF Asuncion. It lies here in the hea
art Of the continent halfway between t
It'll Caribbean sea and the Strait OF M
nat gei3an. 1t is about as far east frC
it's the Atlantic as the distance DetWe
ich New York and Cleveland. and abe
les. as far from the Pacific as from NJ
of York to Detroit. The country is
rhe the great Parana basin, which at Il
zil, place is only two or three hundr