Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-10-02
ANDEAN CUSTOMS
Markets Epitomixe simplicity OF Life
Fuel IL Very Scarce

ing cities of Peru 1t lies near the south
end Of wide portion of the Marlboro
Valley, and hence Is an important agr-
cultural region Devoted largely to the
raising Of barley. It's elevation IL too high
for fruits or similar crops. In the winter
It enjoys perpetual sunshine. which, in
the high dry air, possesses an agreeable
warmth. As the centre of the trade OF
the surrounding country it is famous for
its market, which In magnitude and
interest ranks second only to the famous
Indian market of La Paz in Bolivia. ac-
cording to Prof. Edward Berry and Prof.
Joseph T. Singlewald Jr., of the williams
Memorial Expedition to South America
in n letter to the Baltimore News. AS In
all South America the great market day
is Sunday morning, which we were to
miss seeing on account of leaving on
Saturday. This was another reason that
made US regret the 'Yanqui' promptness
Of our animals. However, market day on
a smaller scale is every morning so that
we did not completely miss seeing the
Huancayo market.
The native market OF Andean towns
epltomizes very succinctly the native life
the smallncss OF scale and simplicity to
which the needs or necessities of man
can he reduced even in n comparatively
rigorous climate, il he is satisfied to or
knows no better than merely to exist.
The market people are chiefly women.
They squat in the street with their wares
spread in front Of them. In many in
stances their entire stock consists of one
llama load, that is, 100 pounds: yet each
has tramped at least one day and
possibly two or three days to reach the
| RI bn nf
of that magnitude arc ample to Justify
the journey. Their wares usually consist
of n small pile of potatoes a pile Of Mi
tthe universally used condiment of the
country, possibly a few vegetables, and
II unusually pretentious. az many as a
half dozen dirty-sheilnd eggs. To this
may he added y chicken or two walking
around at the end of "A short string. An.
| other woman sells frewood. She has q
| few piles of twisted. gnarly sticks OF
| wood which she has carefully counted
| out and estimated with her eyes FueI
| is one of the scarcest products Of the
| country. and both buyer and vende,
| sCrutinize the stock most careftlly-th,
| vcnder to see that she does not give NOR,
than is absolutely necessary to make &
sale. the buyer to see that she gets as
much as possible for her money. An.
other has n pile of bread in front of hei
in small, round pieces, hard as Il rock
and made without salt. Stll another who
came from n greater distance has 6
small pile of fruit-shrivelled green apple.
and perhaps a few oranges.
While on the subject of business in tn,
| native Andean towns. a few words con
corning the stores may he added Tn,
| front room of nearly every house Is :
store. which undoubtedly. in part, ac
counts for the scarcity of customers. TIL,
stock IL almost invariably the same, IA.
| is also Its arrangement Close 20 tn,
door is n small counter. back of which ar,
three or four dingy shelves. At least tw,
of the shelves are filled with dark gree,
bottles that contain nguardicnte. the fire
water" OF the Andean Indians, AM
chicha" n milder beverage. The othe
shelves are generally empty. but some
times they display small stock of bread
local cheese and several cans OF sardines
The Andean towns display little varct,
in style and architecture. The walls o
the houses are made Of thick uud bricks
are without windows. and ingress an,
egress is by single solid wooden doc
whether the house consists of one o
more rooms. The fire for cooking is hui,
on the dirt floor and the smoke finds IL
way out through the door, so that tn
upper part of the doorway is blackene,
with SCOT. The human occupants dogs
hogs. guinea pigs and chickens, shar
the floor on a democratic basis
The streets are paved with ROUNDED
stream cobbics, and both sides slop
toward the central gutter that serve
as the town sewer. Since the streets ar
narrow tho smells of the houses ana tn
stenches OF the cutters ming!e with it'll
dilution. giving these towns an "arpm:
all their own AS one Of us has re
marked. IL he were blind and set down i,
one Of these towns he could recognize
by it's smell