Show IN THE MARKETS OF LIMA copyrighted 1898 by prank frank G carpenter lima peru june 3 1898 the american minister and myself spent this morning in the markets of lima we met at the market house at 7 a 9 in and ate our at a little restaurant just off the main aisle is what the peruvians call their first meal it is taken on rising and consists of two little pieces of toast and a cup of coffee or tea the real breakfast is not taken until 11 or 12 and dinner does not come lu 11 1 6 or 7 in the te evening the min sr and myself are afflicted with good pe e appetites and we pieced out atte e meal with two bunches of white aft grapes pet each of which was as big as aa your head the grapes themselves being as large as damson plums our meal W was IL ft most moat democratic one the table was large and we had hardly taken burse our seats ats before an indian woman with it ft broad brimmed panama hat bat coming down over her bronzed features sat fat down opposite us and ordered an we ice cream which was served in a champagne glass then a pock marked peruvian of the lower class took a seat at the table tor for his chocolate and just as we were about to leave a fat old wearing a black nata maata or shawl which covered the whole of the upper part of her body and 4 all of her head excepting her face aud down into a chair beside me white we were eating we were besieged by peddlers of various kinds from women who offered us lottery tickets to men who had tor for sale waxen images of fit the virgin mary dressed in the latest modern 0 ern styles all al about us were the I 1 queer characters which make up the lower classes of the peruvian capital there were cooks by the hundreds buying their marketing for the day some were chinese some negroes and many man were peruvians with the yellow skins which show that they are a product of them the native indians and the spanish there were scores of women dressed 4 all in black with only their faces show 1 P ing out of their black shawls there ire many market women in calico wearing straw hats and not a ler queer people from the mountains is feho ho looked about with eyes of condei at 01 their first sight of the great city the crowd numbered thousands and at 11 was wa the busiest crowd I 1 have seen hj peru peru Is a land of fat things there are really reat 13 so many wonderful products product i jere here that I 1 hesitate to describe them for ear I 1 may not be believed what auld wd you think of string beans asi S as your arm we saw lots of at the vegetable stands they r tied up in bunches and hi hung ing upon poles we saw potatoes as yellow aa td these e ar are e the papas amarillas t of r peru er which are a bright yellow ah cooked we saw sweet potatoes of many kinds some of which were as trig mg as the yarn of america then there were quantities of yucca a tuber which grows about two feet long and which wh la is as big abound as a base ball chib it to Is not unlike the potato but oe ah je is more re transparent waxy nd jellylike jelly like this is one of the chief foods of peru we saw roasting ears t barly orly every vegetable stand and in iii tb groin grain markets handled varieties of bohi corn which I 1 have never seen at acine some odthe of the corn was as black aenk and another kind was of 0 f a light with ith grains almost as an big as a awa baft bean tuese these two varle varieties are so that you can make flour of them by pounding them with a stone they come from the mountain farms and to a great extent form the food of that part of peru we saw squashes and melons of all kinds many of the vegetables I 1 could not understand and the fruits embraced those which are grown in the tropics as well as apples peaches and pears the apples were not good however and most of the peaches we saw were of the clingstone kind the best fruits are the grapes the chire moya which is as big as a naval orange and which tastes a little like ice fee cream the palta which is eaten as a salad or an appetizer with vinegar salt and pepper and which has a flesh not unlike that of stiff butter the blue and white figs which grow in all the coast vail valleys yo and bananas of many kinds aad erent varieties of oranges limes 44 aad lo lemons mours then they have here hem guava pome gradates gra nates tunas the fruit of jahe cactus and olives which are in such a way that when they come to the table they are black and soft rather than green and solid like the olives we eat on the whole the living here to is very good you will not find in washington or new york a better meat and fish market than that of lima the meats are largely sold by women and the women seem to have monopolized the milk meat and vegetable trade of this city the steaks and chops are ver good and you can buy a little kid or a half dozen guinea pigs for a trifle the peruvians axe are very fond of kids and guinea pigs are a delicacy not to be sneered at they taste much like young pigeons or very tender squirrels i they are raised and fattened for eating all about here and nearly every farmer keeps a guinea pig pen another queer dish is fish cooked by b putting cold lemon juice on it it Is really raw fish served with lemon juice but the lemon has much the same effect on the flesh of the fish as bolling boiling and I 1 have a number of times smacked my lips over what I 1 thought was the most delicious boiled fish I 1 had avei eaten to find that it was fish a la berniche Ber ser viche that is raw fish and lemon the fish of this coast are delicious they are of nearly every kind from the sole to the corbina corb lna which is a very large and sweet fleshed fish not unlike the blue fish of the atlantic though of 01 a more delicious flavor I 1 tried the peruvian oysters at the national club today they were brought in pax boiled on the half shell I 1 did not like them there is no place that I 1 have yet visited which has hag so much pepper and potatoes upon its tables as I 1 find here it is said that the peruvians eat more pepper than salt they serve it wit with h nearly every ajah and you always find a little dish of ajl aji pronounced ah he a sort of red pepper paste beside your plate ready for use as am you may fancy papas con of ajl is a favorite dish made of potatoes and pepper with 9 a sauce of tomatoes and eggs it Is as hot as fire but not bad to eat papan riena is made of potatoes mashed and then mixed with olives onions eggs and raisins and then fried papas con arros is potatoes cooked with rice and an d there are several other queer combinations bi nations of potatoes and other things one of the chief dishes found on every peruvian table is a soup called san chochow choo how this is made by cooking together nearly every kind of vegetable and a goodly portion of meat the soup to is drained off and served clear and the vegetables and the meat brought in on a separate plate to be eaten after the soup this dish forms the chief meal of many of the poorer classes cla ases the rich live here as well as in any city of the world meals are usually served in courses one dish belar brought on the table at a time and the plates changed with every course peru is it seems to me the paradise of the housekeeper there are few places where it is easier to manage a house than here there are no long stairs to climb in many cases the whole house is on one floor and I 1 have visited lima families who had houses containing twenty large rooms all on the first floor the cooks do all the marketing of lima A lady seldom goes out of the house except to shop or visit the way the marketing is managed is to allow the cook so much a day according to your pocket and style of living say 2 a day or more and for this he is expected to supply the meals and see that the table is completely furnished with food in other words you board with your cook if you have a good cook you will be better and more cheaply served than if you tried to manage it all yourself and at the same time save all of the wear and tear many of the cooks are chinese all expect to make a profit off of the marketing in addition to their wages servants are cheap here I 1 give the usual prices in our money having reduced them from the silver paid here cooks get about 6 a month housemaids house maids 5 chief butlers 10 and the second butlers about 5 these are the prices paid by foreigners the native peruvian faini families lies pay less and in the country districts there are many house servants who do not get much more than their board and clothes seamstresses who come to the house to sew receive from 30 to 40 cents a day and washerwomen washerwoman washer women 25 cents for washing and about 60 50 cents tor for ironing pei day the chief servant of the house is the first butler or chief mojor domo as he is called he has general supervision keeps things in order and waits upon the table sometimes he is good and sometimes not I 1 heard last night of a major domo who created something ot or a sensa sensation tioff at a dinner given to W R grace and james gordon bennett some years ago bennett and grace were visiting lima and mr eyre the head of the house of grace here gave them the dinner he had however a new butler who was not used to foreign ways and who when he came to open the champagne was astonished to sele see the cork fly out with a crack like a pistol he had never handled such an article before and he was so seared scared that he threw the battle out of the window and then dropped down upon the floor and howled I 1 do not know how mr eyre was able to allay his feats fears so that he could proceed with serving the dinner but I 1 am told that the man came to his master after breakfast the next morning and begged to be allowed to leave said he 1 I like you and the senora very much but I 1 cannot remain in a house where they drink such explosive materials the peruvians however drink about ag aft strong liquors as any people the places place where beer is sold in the country towns are marked by red flags and in some acme villages nearly every other house is a saloon the smile peruvian is quite an aa common as the smile american and drunkenness to is the great vice of the poor but let we are tell you how our american minister lives at the peruvian capital his house which to la one of the best beat in the city faces a beautt beautiful rul glarden garden filled with palm trees and a rich growth or tropical plants there are winding walks where you can stroll about under the treba tree among samong flowers more gorgeous than any we haw have at home the house home like an all of the houses in lima la Is built of mud but it looks as though it was made of pressed brick and it would be considered a mansion in any american city its rooms are large and the ceilings are about fifteen feet high there is a swimming bath in it and the minister can cam play the mermaid or rather the merman as one of the diplomatic diversions I 1 find our minister very popular here he is you know from san diego california he la is an ohioan by birth having been born in ben wades town of jefferson on the western reserve about thirty seven years ago he is a college bred man a lawyer by profusion prof eslon sion and a diplomat by instinct and intuition he has some knowledge of spanish and his popularity here to is added to by that of his wife who the language fluently and has thereby made many friends among the native peruvians just next to the legation is the home of the secretary of the legation mr richard R neal of philadelphia a former officer of the united states navy who has been here as secretary for years and who thoroughly understands the peruvian ways then there Is a young ohioan mr harlan the of the legation and over at callao within a half hours ride Is the american consul col W B dickey a maine man who halls hails from new orleans and who has come out here on his wedding tour to uphold american interests in peru col dickey keeps house at callao while lunching him the other day I 1 happened to remark that the spring chickens which we were eating were very fine they ought to be fine replied the colonel for I 1 ralpd them myself on my farm here after the lunch was over the colonel took me out to show me his farm it was the roof of his house wen went up stairs and there found two large coops filled with chickens turkeys and pigeons on other roofs alt all about us were other coops and the cackling of hens all around showed that large part of the eggs eaten at callao must be laid on the roofs WHERE LIFE IS 18 EASY speaking of the cost of living in lima I 1 pay 6 5 silver a day for my room and board at the hotel this is only about of our money part of the time I 1 have paid silver a day tor for my room and coffee and toast in the morning taking my other merib at the club there are several good clubs here the chief of which are the rational national the union and the phoenix all have good libraries the latest papers from all parts of the world billiards and card rooms and comfortable parlors the meals cost 1 silver or about 50 cents of our money and for this sum you can get a better dinner here than you get at any american club for from five to ten times the amount the people here take more time to their meals than we do they take life more easily almost all of the stores close at noon for one hour to allow the proprietors and their clerks to so go home to breakfast as they call it you will seldom find a business man in his office between 11 and 1 and everything begins to shut up for the night at 5 p m at 7 the whole of business lima to is shut up as tight as the head of a drum the stores as I 1 have said have no windows they are more like eaves caves in the walls than stores for their front doors extend the full width of the store these doors taken away during business hours and at such times lima looks looka like a great bazaar the stores axe are filled with fine goods which are piled up in attractive shapes on the counters and on the floors so that walking along toe Merc adorea adores or on the streets facing tho the plana des armen arme is like going through an interesting museum at might however when the fronts of the ca stores tores have been closed the streets are lined with black walls there are no display windows and everything seems hermetically sealed only here and there you see a cigar shop a store selling cooked eatables or a drug store which is open As it grows dark the bird cage like balconies above the stores shut up and the city in some of its parts seems almost a city of the dead it to is fax far from dead however there is lots of fun going on behind the closed windows and the people sit up late and delight in social enjoyment some of the best things now offered here in a business way axe are of the electrical order lima is a city of people and it has a tramway upon which the cars are drawn by hor horses sets the line of tracks reaches all parts ot or the city and the cars 9 although they axe are irregularly run and poorly managed are almost always full I 1 am told that the roads axe are now paying although I 1 could see that the conductors are cheating the company right along and that they do nothing to increase their custom if this system could be replaced by an electric line it would probably pay well and might be aft a big a bonanza as the mexico city street railways which sold for at present presen t there are two or three american parties who are figuring on tha proposition of buying the horse car lines and extending the system stem from here to callao and chorillos Ch the seaside resort of lima callao has about people and it is the port for lima there Is a flat road between the two cities and a line connecting them could be cheaply built the power for such roads during the most of the year could be gotten from the river which flows through lima and which has I 1 am told a tall fall of thirty feet between that city and these among the parties who are investigating vesti gating the matter is the south american |