The Washington herald., 1920-04-04
GROCERY STORES OF LIMA, PERU
\ RUN BY ITALIANS AND DECLARED
BEST FOUND IN SOUTH AMERICA

Sharp shocks are frequent. 1t is
a certainty that some time, every
fifty or 100 years. nature will dam
age most West Coast cities. But
there Is an earthquake philosophy.
There are only two kinds OF earth
quakes. The frequent shocks do no
damage. and the occasional upheav-
al that shakes everything down will
probably kill you quickly. You are
more likely to be killed by an au-
tomobile or street car In Lima's
narrow streets. So why worry!
Right out OF the Ladies' Home
Journal-TIl bet it belongs to a
Yankee" said an American motor
ing past a neat bungalow in a Lima
suburb. 1t was complete even to
the lawn-and growing a lawn in
Peru is some job, mo. that house
has just been finished by a Peru
vian," replied his companion, "and
he copied it bodily out of an Amer
lean magazine"
An American bought a lead pen
ell in Japanese store in Lima
1t looked like an American brand,
but was an imitation. 1t had half
an inch of lead in each end. and
no more. What Japs are trying to
accomplish through such fakes may
be fathomed only by the Japanese
mind. Lima has probably the larg-
est Japanese merchant colony In
South America and they run dozens
of stores. japanese ships bring
them goods, but, rather curiously.
the agencies for these ships are In
American hands.
Farm Fencings Made of Mud.
Peruvian farm fencing. along the
coast, at least, is made of dried
mud slabs, yard or more long. two
feet wide, and piled to a height
of four or five feet.
Ask the landowner why he does
not use barbed wire or patent fenc-
ing, and he will tell you that this
fence Is built by poems, on con-
tract. at a few cents yard. 1t
is the cheapest fence he can get.
An American woman in Mirafiores.
the sburb of Lima, wanted a refrtg-
orator. The only one she could buy
was priced at S60-worth about one
third. There were some queer Jap
anese limitations of refrigerators,
however. But when she ascertained
the price of ice she didn't want
a refrigerator-couldn AFFORD II. Ice
costs to 4 cents a pound in Peru,
and a decent months supply would
come to more than average rent in
the United States. The ice wagon
is no generous vehicle, with step
for bad little boys to hook a ride,
as at home, but a small, tightly
closed cart, something like that used
for delivering compressed yeast to
our grocers-and the cakes OF Ice
are not much larger! South Amer
lea has a treat ahead Of it-abun-
dant ice at a fair price, made pos
sible by a broader scheme of man
ufacture and distribution.
Good heavens! Who's running a
circus up in Peru7" asked an Amer
lean woolen mill designer recently,
when shown samples of Peruvian
Indian sfabrics collected by one Of
the sales force on a South American
trip. 1t is cold in the mountains
of Peru and Bolivia, and while the
Indians Withstand cold that would
kill white men, they, nevertheless,
like warm fabrics. These are woven
on their home looms, from llama
and alpaca wool. and dyed warm
colors--very warm--in fact, hot
colors, in stripe effects. For this
purpose, German coal-tar dyes were
formerly sold, put up in tins con-
tanning a couple of ounces of the
dye itself. and with pictures on the
outside, so the Indian unable to
read could recognize his favorite
brand. As matter of fact, the stuff
often came from the same factory,
but conservatism Is a Peruvian In
dian trait. IL he once uses an ar
ticle, he wants to use Ii always,
and no other. The Rrffisbs Ave M a n