Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1919-04-24

: pounds of rice each day. Most food
is high in price Rice is twelve cents
pound; oranges, five cents apiece
lin this orange country; potatoes, six
dollars bushel; but meat is twelve
cents pound, all cuts. Colombia has
thousands of cattle, and where are
the ships in these days to export them?
My cook took $50 to market this
morning and when she returned she
recited to me list of 43 articles she
had purchased, telling the price paid
| for each. She returned me six cents,
all she had left from the marketing.
Her amounts summed up TO $64.94
/ Yet she had no pencil or paper, moth
ing written down. How do they do
it, these ignorant women? Their abil-
lity in these matters of the marketing
seem to me wonderful.
At present the bread situation is
peculiar. Formerly Colombia import
ed -four from Minneapolis for which,
in the interior, we paid twenty to
twenty-five cents pound. When
American flour was cut off, they COM
menced raising more wheat in Colon
bia-on every plateau, mountain-side
and hill, where the heat was not too
intense for it to grow. Mills were
hastily constructed and -four produced.
But all of this industry was carried
on in the interior, of course, and the
-four was brought to the coast by
steamers plying on the great artery
OF the cOuntry-the Magda1ena. This
is the dry seaSOn-haS been so for
MANY months-and although steamers
continue, at intervals, to go up the
river, none come down. We are told
that more than twenty of them are
now stranded on sand-bars between
here and Honda. Why do they per-
siSt in attempting the trip? Rains
have. even now commenced in the
utaries of the great stream will begin
feed ng it. Each captain starts hope
fully up the river, certain that he can
avoid the sand-bars, expecting the
river to rise. Bat no one comes back!
Meanwhile a bread famine exists
TO bling -four from the outside. The
United Fruit company, which has tried
to keep open the communicat N be-
tween Colombia and the states, still
he's some twenty-five Of its best steam
ers in the transport service Of the
government When we go without
bread, we Americans, at least, have
tie consolation Of knowing that it is
because our soldiers are being taken
back to their homes; | do not know
in what the Colombia ans find consola-
ten for their lack Of bread!
A peculiar thing, too, about the
drinking water. We use the dirty
Magdalena river water, filtered, for all
purposes. When the river is low, as
at present, the ocean water backs in
at high tide and pollutes the river wa
ter. AS a consequence all water is so
salty that we can scarcely drink it.
4 great deal of sickness, caused by
the water, is being felt throughout
the city.
Exchange is very low. 1t takes
1923 of good American money to equal
$1.00 Colombian money. That means
that in value we are receiving less
than four-fifths of our regular salary.
g.. These conditions work a hardship not
alone on us personally, but also on
the work, for in value we have less
than -four-ffths of the funds we abso-
lutely require to carry on our work.
We have eight young men in. our
theological seminary, all of whom
board with us; splendid, earnest
young fellows, whom it is pleasure
TO have in the house. We are noisy
family, at best With four typewrit-
,ers, two pianos and an organ in con
slant action from 6 in the morning I'M
1 til at night, it is impossible to get
away from the boys practicing.
However, they are nice young men,
and we are glad to be here with them
They need as much mothering as boys
do everywhere-and we administer
castor Oil, extract Of cloves, bind uL
wounds with sterilized cotton after
the ball games, as regularly as we pass
their plates at meal time, or admins
ter justice between times. 1t is joy
Gus, full life, and we are glad to be
back at work.
Here on the coast we have the trade
winds at present and SO are not suffer
ing now from the heat We are al
well. Cordially yours,
MAUDE NEWELL WILLIAMS