| Show SOUTHERN SOLDIERS Solivias Standard Bearers Past C and Present SOME OF THEPAMOUS WARRIORS Sunday Clean Shirt DayGenteel Thievery The Indians and Their Habits Peruyian Beverages LA PAZ Bolivia July 301S90 Special correspondence of THE H UALDIn a land whose institutions are upheld by force of arms alone soldiers are necessarily a prominent feature and in La Paz since the a te revolutionary troubles they seem more numerous than ever rhe rebel army by I the way discouraged by the lack of funds and the refusal of the bank to cash General Camachos worthless check for 500000 has temporarily disbanded and for some weeks past a sort of armed peace has prevailed The rebels however are only biding their time waiting the opportunity to spring upon the government in some unguarded moment Iik3 a very small kitten upon avery a-very large mouse in which event there is no telling what the result may be o MILITARY PARADES are always frequent doubtless with a view to impressing people with their prowess but now hardly a day goes by without a grand display of cavalry and infantry rank and file evoluting around and around the plaza Martial music is continually in the air At stated intervals during every day a company of soldiers comes sweeping down the hilt from one barrack or up the bill from another marching behind a brass band in full tOot and halting before the presidents casa where they render a se lest on or two for tho delectation of the people It is only the ceremony of guard mounting and although it occurs every few hours year in and year out it is invariably attended by tho same flourish of music and and musketry Besides all this it has been the custom from time immemorial to have military music in front of the Palacto two nights in every week and on tho evenings of most fiesta days when three bands stationed sta-tioned in a row play alternately each musician mu-sician with a soldier before him whose back serves as a rack for the score while gaily caparisoned officers off duty swarm I lile mosquitoes and crowds of people promenade pro-menade around and arounl the plaza All the sol iers are z O11L1GED TO ATTEND MASS Sunday mornings clean shirt day as Cit C-it is irreverently called and an interesting sight it is to see them come marching in with shining bayonets over theirshouders each division headed by its officers They completely Ml the body of the church and I the sound of the organ is drowned by the I blare of trumpets At a signal arms are presented down goes every musket upon the stone floor with a thud which shakes the building and then the men stand motionless mo-tionless statues until the proper time comes to fall upon their knees In the Bolivian army a great variety of r uniform is noticeable each officer having iparently been allowed to exercise his own taste in the equipment of his comnauj and amazingly have their individual fancies swungout in the matter of personal adornments adorn-ments The e are suits in grey and gold in black sttilgold in blue and gold in blue i nun red in black and blue in gray and I black others all red all gray all blue and I caps of various shapes and colors in the same regiment Some of the officers wear L long double cape overcoats of scarle I cloth others gray cloaks not unlike thos of Franciscan friars and others the race ful satinlined circulars of black broadcloth 1 characteristic of Spanish Hidalgoes The i Presidents Guards whom we see career ing about the city in gorgeous array are of course the crack regiment Sand S-and demeanor as far removed as the antipode anti-pode from the shabby barefooted common i soldiers THE CAVALRV MAKE THE TIXEST DISPLAY 1 the officers on powerful white horses a thousand men clad in scarlet from top to toe and riding as only South American canWithout disparaging the valor of Boliv ian soldiers their general get up reminds oneof an historic incident which may per haps illustrate their character It was many years ufo in some fracas between Peru and Bolivia when the armies of the two countries rushed forth to battle with k banners flying So splendidly arrayed were they and so stunning an appearance did they make that when one beheld the other both sides turned tail and fled in confusion Gathering courage at length I thesrival generals with such men as they n could rally returned to face one another keeping at respectful distance and talking r through trumpets when after considera ole parleying the war was declared off both armies marched home in triumph with flags unfurled and to this day the local historians of both countries chronicle their c side as victorious In connection with the difficulty of plac ing Bolivias soldiers according to their unifotm it may be mentioned that her armies arc composed of about ASM ANT OrFICERSAS MEN From time immemorial has been the object ob-ject of rulingpowers to render the militarv loyal to the government through pride of self interest if noWrom patriotism Thus we see corporals flourishing about in tog t gery of colonel with pay to correspond i and the leader of one of the bands wears the full uniform of a general and receives the honors and emoluments pertaining to I the latter position One of the most distinguished warriors Bolivia has produced was General Melgar ejo who appears to have been as original in character as he was fearless and determined 1 deter-mined Evidently he was designed for those feudal times that have long gone band b-and his methods would not be tolerated i todayin any civilised land At one time lived in the J > Ig house at the northeast I I 1r rn f to < I corner of the centre plaza of La Paz which is now the residence of the bishop He was extremely fond of the rosy which in his case not only encored but inebriated One daywhen he had been entertaining a foreign minister and had imbibed considerably consider-ably more than was prudent he boasted that his troops were the best drilled in the world and absolutely infallible in the accuracy ac-curacy of their movements Tho statement state-ment being received by the guest with polite po-lite cincrednlity Melgarojo ordered up a company to drill in the patlon of his house After many curious and before unheard evolutions he formed them single file and em marched them up intotho second story front room where the minister and himself him-self had breakfasted opened a window directly in front of the line and gave the order March Having no order to halt every man accoutred as he was stalked straight through the window and off the balcony a drop of fifteen feet or more to the curbing below A lot of broken bones vas the consequence but the generals discipline was proved beyond cavil the unfortunate soldiers knowing that to falter or to disobey meant ir slant death Melgaiejo had some irebch blood in his veins and was very fond of the land of his ancestors On the night that news was I received in Bolivia of war having been declared de-clared by France against Germany in 1S71 he was as usual at that hour more than half seas over and at midnight assembled assem-bled all the troops to arms in the plaza with orders to march but with no hint as to their destination Great alarm possessed the people who naturally imagined thatf I some dire peril threatened them from foreign for-eign foes At length Melgarejo himself appeared ap-peared mounted on the famous steed uHo lofernes which had carried him to many victories notably those of Socabya Yara cocha Igara Iruga and Montenegro Tne great captaingeneral of Bolivias army who was also general of division of Chili and wearer of the badge of the Imperial Order of the Cross of Brazil a rare distinction I dis-tinction entitling him to be ever afterward known as GRAND CROSS MELGAREJO halted in front of his brave men and addressed ad-dressed them with voice of thunder with these memorable words Soldiers the integrity of France is threatened by Prussia Prus-sia Whoever threatens Franca threatens civilization and liberty I am going to protect pro-tect the French who are our best friends and whom I love as my own countrymen You are going across tho ocean with me If there is not a vessel in readiness we will swim tc meet one but let every man take care not to wet his ammunition Neither officers men nor citizens dare venture a word of protest and with Mel garejo at the head of the column they filed out of the city and up the mountain by the only road that leads from this cuplike hollow hol-low to the outer world Meanwhile in the < city all was confusion and dismay A pour inc rain came on and thunder and lightning light-ning added terror to the scene Near the cemetery the troops were obliged to halt to I recover breath Here the cabinet minister who had been sent out to make one more effort to dissuade Melgarejo from the mad enterprise came up with him and the general gen-eral his ardor having been somewhat dampened and his intoxication subdued bi a thorough wetting consented to return I and cheerfully ordered the soldiers back to I their barracks barracksA A THOUSAND TALES are told of this singular man some of them terrible enough to curdle tho blood in ones veins That he was not altogether cruel I is i proved by his conduct after the battle Tclenias in January of 1SGO on which occasion oc-casion his army routed the constitutional I forces under General Castro Arguedas I In the midst of the field with the dead am L dying around him the victorious Melgar ejo using a drumhead for a table wrote that historic proclamation beginning lIen I of Bolivia The smoke of gunpowder has I purified the political atmosphere A great many prisoners Had been taken among them a number of prominent officers The r were confined into the prison of Loreto that t place of somber memories where a few years before the expresident of the Republic Re-public Jorje Cordova and His political associates as-sociates were sacrificed by the ferocity of f the commander of the department I Colonel Placido Yanes whose name meaning tranquil does not seem to have been vorv well applied On the day after the battle Melgarejo mounted on horseback mad a his way to the plaza of Lorcto and ordere all the prisoners to be brought before him and placed in a row Knowing the chart ter of the man thiS order was received by the prisoners as their death sentence and the people of the place overcome with tor ror expected to witness a horrible scene o f bloodshed and vengoauce THE PPISONEUS VCltC FILED OUT among them many of Melgarejos arms who had fled from his stern rulo and joine the enemy on the day of battle When throw C th-row was formed every wretch expectin instant death Gen Melgarejo approache and contemplated them with a gaze that froze the blood in their veins He said I So these are my opponents these are th LC curs who thought to conquer Melgarej e Away with you ye vermin ye offscouring Slink back to your homes and return not t 0 seek quarrels with me Dedicate you ir miserable lives in the future to the servic of your families Away with you ecaajo demagogues I Corajo is the worstswea word in the Spanish language It is needless to add that the prisoners s skedaddled fleeing through the streets ill directions like so many frightened dec I fearing that the great general might chang his mind before they were out of reach 1c3 Melgarejo then took up his position in the 1 village of Viache where in the public I square he signed upon a cannon the eel a brated decree of convocation which assem I bled a national convention in the following August Ho then and there announced hL intention to make a triumphal entry into the city of La Paz mounted not on his stately Holofernes but astride tho same cannon on which he had written the decree and be actually carried out the programme to the astonishment and terror of the in habitants AS FURTHER ILLUSTKATIVE of a phase of life in Bolivia it may be delicately deli-cately hinted that while the poor Indians are notorious for steiliu small things never under any stress of temptation or op portunity taking articles of value the ClIO los and even some members of the so called best society are great thieves At public balls and private parties the ton must be secretly watched and in spite of all precautions it frequently I happens that spoons napkins and 4 1 Pi costly bricabrac are surreptitiously appropriated Not long ago a young man who is prominent in tho highest circle of society here had a valuable diamond pin stolen He was certain who the thief was but said nothing about his oss At the very next ball he beheld his diamond blazing blaz-ing on the shirt front of the gentleman whom he had suspected when ho walked up to him partner on arm and without any attempt at privacy said to him You have my diamond pin senor I will thank you for it Oh well replied re-plied the thief its all right Ill return it tomorrow And he did The English governess of the presidents children relates how she sent to London awhile a-while ago for some articles of wearing apparel for herself and her charge The things were packed in a strong wooden box lined with tin which appeared to bo all right when it came but upon taking off the cover what was the astonishment of all concerned to find it all empty it having been previously opeaed and the contents bstracted 1 The president imported A LOT Or CHINA AND GLASSWARE for his family use and when the great box rrived a company of soldiers was detailedo to unpack it in the court of the palace and arry the articles upstairs When the work was done those in charge knowing he habits of the country so well ordered he soldiers to pass one by one into an anteroom ante-room where thoy were searched those out ide not knowing what was going on and pon every mothers son of them was ound one or more stolen articles which hey had managed to stuff into their apacious pockets What a contrast to these trifling people vas oBolivar the man who freed them 1 Ho was very wealthy at one time but instead tead of sitting down as he might havo done and quietly enjoying himself in his bm beloved Venezuela ho spent nearly all his money in the service of his country Once ivhen a million of dollars was presented to him as a token of gratitude he purchased with it the liberty of a thousand slaves and established each one of them on a little I farm of his own At Caracas and Lima are splendid monuments erected to his memory yet he died in exile actually in want of the necessaries of life We have been much interested of late in ACCOUNTS OF THE YURACARES a tribe of wild Indians who inhabit in-habit the eastern frontier of Bol via They wear but one garment a ort of skirt made from the bark of a tree I he bark being beaten thin until it resembles I resem-bles cloth They paint these shirts in all triads of grotesque figures using bright colors extracted from various dye plants On state occasions the cacique also wears a pig tail made from the shells of nuts tho backs of green beetles and gay feathers from parrots and macaws besides which i so and all his people further enhance their beauty by painting black rings around their arms and legs One would think hat nature had made them dark enough but they evidently entertain a different opinion and make use of a kind of fruit which looks like an apple which when rubbed on the skin turns it black as ink Then they redden their cheeks with the uice j of a berry and paint scarlet rings I around the eyes and mouth From each ear a silver coin is suspendedaround the neck is a string of beads and berries with a birds wing or claw of some wild animal for a pendant As a proof that they are rather proud of their appearance each carries a nag containing a few articles for use in II adorning himself a comb made from thongs i of the palm tree a quantity of the berries and fruit for painting the skin black and 1 red a pair of pincers which are nothing c but two mussel shels for pulling out any superfluous hair that makes its appearance a snuff box made from a snail shell ard the musical instrument of which ho is most fondthe polished bone from a storks leg I or that of a monkey which being round and hollow answers very well for a flute I whistle especially as it is noise he desires and not a tune THE CHIEF SUSTENANCE OF THESE INDIAN I is chicha made of the cassava root yucca boiled and then partly chewed by the women wo-men after which it is mashed between 1 stones and left to ferment On the thin 1 day it becomes a little sharp in taste which quality increases as the fermentation fermenta-tion proceeds Its consistency and appear anc are much like mashed potatoes ane 1 to prepare it for drinking a lump the sin of your fist is taken in a dirty baud and kneaded in a gourd of water until well 1 mixed Then all the coarser fibre which Li floats on the surface is removed with th Clingers fingers and tho beverage is considered lit for the gods Those who have so far overcome their natural prejudice against tho bangs and fingers of tho squaws as to taste it report that it is both palatable and wholesome I can testify from experience that the civilized chicha of Peru and Bolivia the universal beverage of thc lower classes IS good enough for anybody There are many ways of making it in different parts of South America The most common in the two countries above mentioned is from shelled corn well washed and bruised then tied up in leaves and boiled ten or twelve hours until quite soft This pulp matter is then run through coarse sieves and put into barrels which arc filled up with water Mid honey or sugar canes cane-s rup is then added in var ing degrees to suit tho taste of the chicba maker and after a few days of fermentation IT IS READY TO DRINK Another and perhaps more common method is to tho shelled is put corn uncooked un-cooked into large square holes dug in the ground not deeper than six or eight inches the top and bottom being well covered with a layer of clean straw Water is then poured on several times everv day and in the course of a week or two the corn begins be-gins to sprout When these shoots have grown about an inch long the corn is taken out crushed between stones put into barrels bar-rels and fermented with water and honey as before Chicha is not intoxicating unless taken in inordinate quantities but is mildly exhilarating and among the poorer classes in a measure takes the place of food It is the fashion among los rfcos and the foreigners to treat one another to picantc luncheonsmeaning native dishes made very hot with peppers and all cooled L by goblets of chicha FANNIE B WARD |
