Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1922-06-22
LAND OF WOMEN AND WAR.
Men Once Almost Wiped Out in
Turbulent Paraguay.

tiOu Was diuOSt Wlpeu Out u eA-
istence, but which has ''come
back" successfully; where wo-
men outnumber men several times
over; where cattle Craze the
year round under palm trees, and
where bearded cowboys wear
biOomers-such is the Paraguay
OF today pictured i'll bulletin
by the National Geographic So
ciety which was issued following
news dispatches stating that a
revolution had broken out III the
little South American republic.
Paraguay, which has refused
the offered mediation Of foreign
diplomats and has announced
that it's army will take care OF
the country's latest revolution
with rifles and cannon, is living
up to the military traditions
which have given it the most
tragic history of all the countries
of the Americas" says the bull
letin.
Next to the smallest repub-
lie in South America, with an
area only about as large as that
of the State of Wyoming, Para
quay in 1865 had a population
comparable to that of extensive
Argentina and huge Brazil, and
under it's military dictator, Fran
cisco Lopez, the most powerful
army in South America. Lopez
believed himself destined to be
the Napoleon of the Western
Hemisphere and in 1865 led the
army Of his little country against
the combined forces of Brazil,
Argentina and Uruguay.
"The five year conflict was so
bloody and the Paraguayans were
defeated. so signally that between
twO-thirds and five-siXths of the
population perished. Of a pop
ulation that may have passed the
million mark, only about 100000
women and less than 10000 men,
mostly old men and young boys,
were left. The losses were heav-
Ter, probably, than those suffered
by any other nation in modern
times. Even today Paraguay is,
largely a land of women.
i"Paraguay's history has been
filled with conflicts, violence and
unusual situations from the first.
To begin with, there has been u
shghter admiXture Of European
blood than in any other South
American country, and the fire
OF the old Indian blood has been
preserved. A little band of Span
iards sailed up the Plata and Par
aguay rivers IN 1886 and in the
heart Of South America founded
q settlement. They took Indian
wives and they and their descend
ants became the ruling power in
the land, eventually establishing
great haciendas on which the In
dians worked.
]" Missionaries who went to the
region in 1909 brought the Indi-'
ans together into settlements OF
their own and taught them to
carry on agriculture for them
selves. This was resented by the
half-breeds and the situation was
further complicated by the arrival
OF other missionaries who detroy-
ed the early settlements. The
first comers armed the Indians,
expelled the Spanish governor
and the later arrivals, and wrote
the second unusual chapter in
Paraguay's history. For more
than 100 years they conducted a
sort of church state Later,
Spanish governors who cruelty
oppressed the people came back
into power.
AFTER Paraguay became indc-
pendent Of Spain in 1910 the
country entered upon a period of
relationships and became the her
NIT nation of the West. Trade
with outside countries and the
presence of foreigners was strict
ly prohibited and the country
came to be entirely a self reliant
unit. A sort of communism was
in existence for many years, a
portion of the land being worked
for the state, the proceeds being
used for the benefit Of the peo-
pa&
Paraguay is a sort of inland
FRrida OF fertile soil, equable eli
80 - 4 - = - . a