URUGUAY AND PARAGUAY
Uruguay is the smallest of the South American republics. It is just a
little larger than the state of Oklahoma. It is a little wedge between
Brazil and Argentina and is, all in all, the most advanced country in
South America. At the time of the visit of the writer it was the only
country in South America whose dollar was worth a hundred cents. The
population is about a million and a quarter--eighteen to the square
mile. The principal industry is stock raising. The country has something
like nine million head of cattle and fifteen million head of sheep. The
meat packing business is enormous for such a small country.
Fray Bentos, a town near Montevideo, boasts of the largest establishment
in the world for the preparation of beef extract. The tall chimneys of
this great factory make it look like a large city. The employees number
thousands. They are well cared for and contented. There are no strikes
there. They are well paid while able to work and pensioned when they
reach old age.
Thus, the Leibig company, has given all South America an example of the
better way to treat men and women who toil. Schools are provided for the
children. The religious nature is looked after, the company furnishing a
church building. The company also provides hospitals for the sick. The
cottages of the working people are supplied with electricity and are
quite comfortable.
This company has its own gas and water systems. In the great slaughter
house many hundred head of cattle are killed each day. It only takes
eight minutes from the time an animal is killed until it is in the
refrigerating rooms ready to be made into beef extract. Every drop of
blood is saved in this factory, being dried and made into chicken feed
or something else that is useful. Chicago, however, goes Fray Bentos one
better for there you know the squeal is caught by the phonograph and the
records sold for grand opera.
This establishment is not the only one of its kind in Uruguay. There are
many other great plants where meat is chilled or frozen in the most
modern, up-to-date way. In no country in the world is meat more
carefully or scientifically cared for than in these great establishments
and no one need be afraid to eat the meat that comes from Uruguay. The
inspection is said to be the most rigid of any packing plants in the
world.
The Uruguayan boasts that every acre of ground in his country is
productive. The grass is green the year around and stock does not have
to be housed and fed in winter as in our country. All the grains and
vegetables that will grow in our middle west will grow in Uruguay and
there the farmers never have such a thing as a killing frost.
The greatest city in Uruguay is Montevideo, the capital city. It is
located on the Rio de la Plata river, which really seems more like a sea
than a river, being sixty-two miles wide at this place. Buenos Aires is
but a hundred and ten miles away and to reach it you just go angling
across this great river. Montevideo is larger than Kansas City,
Missouri. It has many splendid buildings, but no skyscrapers. The parks
or plazas as they are called, are as pretty as nature and the hands of
man can make them.
These people claim that Montevideo is the most healthful city on the
globe, but the traveler often finds the same claim made for other
cities. Most of the streets are narrow but are well paved and generally
quite clean. Their street car system is certainly a good one. When the
street is wide enough for a double track the tracks are laid close to
the sidewalks which leaves the center of the street free for autos and
other vehicles. This plan could certainly be adopted by the cities in
our country and be a blessing. I had no idea that any city contained so
many beautiful homes and flower gardens until I took a ride into the
suburbs of this city. Almost every home, or villa, has a rose garden and
there must be many wealthy people for it takes a tremendous amount of
labor to keep these wonderful flower gardens in such good order.
The people of Uruguay as a whole are better educated and brighter
looking than the people of most other South American countries. Their
schools and colleges are said to be the very best. The people, as a
rule, dress well and seem to be prosperous and happy. A ramble through
the streets and plazas lingers in one's memory like a pleasant dream.
Away to the north in the very heart of the south central part of the
continent is the country of Paraguay. While nearly twice as large as
Uruguay it has but few more than half as many people and a majority of
them are women. This ought to be called a bachelor's paradise.
Paraguay came to be a woman's country in the following manner. Years ago
Paraguay got into trouble with Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, all her
neighbors, at the same time. These countries combined their forces and
all but annihilated the Paraguayan army. As all the able bodied men were
in the army they were nearly all killed. It used to be said that there
were five women to every man in Paraguay and from all reports conditions
have not greatly changed yet. It is almost dangerous for an unmarried
man to show his head.
The country is naturally divided into two parts, eastern and western.
The most of the people live in the eastern part for the western part is
flat and the rivers overflow, covering a great portion of the country.
No wonder that great swarms of ferocious mosquitoes make parts of the
country almost uninhabitable, fever-infested and unhealthy. Besides
these unpleasant features the heat is often almost unbearable.
The summer in Paraguay lasts from October to March and the winter from
April to September, July and August being the coldest months. The Parana
river takes to the sea a greater volume of water than our great
Mississippi. Near the place where the Iguassu river empties into the
Parana are the famous Iguassu Falls which are twice as wide and fifty
feet higher than Niagara Falls.
In the eastern part of Paraguay are great orange groves and all kinds of
tropical fruits. The oranges are delicious and are so plentiful that
they are fed to the pigs. As many as thirty are sometimes sold for a
penny. Wheat and corn are grown and tobacco and cotton plantations are
numerous.
They say that in Paraguay a great many of the women smoke, but I imagine
that this is greatly exaggerated. The same has been said of other South
American countries but after traveling more than twelve thousand miles
in and around this country I here record the fact that in not more than
a case or two did I see a woman smoking. My traveling company only saw
two or three cases so we are forced to think that many talk who do not
know. For if any large number, as is often reported, used the weed in
this way we would have discovered it.
There is a very valuable tree that grows in Paraguay that is not often
found in other countries. It is called the quebracho tree. The name
really means "ax-breaker," and the wood is almost as hard as iron. A
quebracho log will not float upon water, but will sink like iron. This
wood makes the most valuable railroad ties known.
But a certain variety of the quebracho tree is much more valuable for
another purpose, viz: the tanning of leather. For ages the world's great
tanneries used the bark of oak, hemlock and other trees for that
purpose. But it was discovered that not only the bark of this tree but
the wood itself makes better tanning extract than any other bark or tree
known.
In the heart of the continent there is a vast plain that takes in not
only western Paraguay but reaches into Brazil and Bolivia on the north
and Argentina on the south. This is called the Gran Chaco and it is
nearly as large as the state of Texas. Most of this region is as yet
unexplored. In parts of it are tribes of wild Indians as well as wild
and ferocious beasts, alligators and snakes that are usually found in
tropical jungles. In other parts are grassy plains suitable for cattle
and other livestock. Already there are many ranches here, one of the
largest of which is run by a stockman from the United States.
Here in this far away and unknown country are millions of acres of
quebracho forests in which this tanning extract is already being made.
Thousands of men are employed in the forest to cut the trees and others
with oxen haul them to the factories where hundreds of expert workmen
are making this extract and shipping it to all parts of the world. It is
said that a single one of these companies owns two million acres of this
forest land. More than ten thousand men are employed by this one firm,
so it is said, and as might be expected it is a United States company.
But perhaps the greatest industry in Paraguay is the tea called by the
name of the country. In their country they call it "mate." It is much
more valuable than ordinary tea. It is a stimulant that leaves no bad
effect and is said to be more healthful than the tea we use. People who
have a good supply of this tea can work harder and with less fatigue
than by using any other stimulant known.
The plant or tree from which this "mate" is secured often grows as large
as an orange tree and the leaves are green and shiny. There are
thousands of acres of this growing wild and the product made from that
in the wild state is as good as any. Thousands of Indians, as well as
white people, are engaged in the harvesting and shipping of this tea.
The largest city in Paraguay is Asuncion, the capital city. It is nearly
as large as Des Moines, Iowa, and a portion of it is simply the ruins of
the ancient city that was ruled by tyrants. One can see the massive
uncompleted tomb where the last of these rulers expected to be buried.
The two million dollar palace in which he lived in luxury and
unspeakable vice can also be seen. But another part of the city is
modern and up-to-date.
Before closing this article at least one man noted in the story of
Paraguay should be mentioned. He was the first of the tyrants that ruled
immediately after Paraguay freed herself from Spanish oppression. His
name was Dr. Jose R. G. Francia and, according to the historian, for
twenty-five years he was the government of Paraguay. In all history no
man ever so dominated and controlled a nation as did he. He had no
confidants or assistants. No one was allowed to approach him on terms of
equality. He neither received nor sent consuls from or to any foreign
countries. He was the sole foreign merchant of his country.
This man was gloomy and peculiar and assumed supreme power without
marrying, was against the educated classes and ordered wholesale
executions. So fearful was he of assassination that he lived in several
houses and no one but himself knew where he would sleep at night. When
he walked the streets guards walked both in front and behind him. The
very news that he was out was sufficient to clear the streets. And yet,
powerful and cruel that he was, the humblest Indian could receive a
hearing and justice from him. He was modest in a way, abstemious and
never used his power for selfish indulgence. He was one of the wonders
of history.