PEACEFUL PARAGUAY

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 4 September 1914, Page 8

PEACEFUL PARAGUAY

Paraguay, the Cinderella of the I South American Republics, lies about one thousand miles from [ Buenos Aires up the Rivers Plate, Parana, and Paraguay. In the centre of Paraguay, about ninety miles from Asuncion—the capital city—by rail and bullock waggons, are located all that is left of the NewAustralians, who, about twenty years ago, disgusted with the existing state of things in civilisation, ' left the old Australia to >\> md a new one that .should have none of the faults but all the virtues of the land they had left behind them. j But it was a failure, the material was bad, the buuch of discontented ones gathered from all parts of Aus- I tralia could not pull together, they all had ideas as to what the new State should be like, but the trouble was they were all different, and after disagreeing for about twelve months they agreed—to differ. And so, when the socialistic paradise "busted," one party, whose individual ideals were somewhat similar, seceded and went to another part of Paraguay, some, who, like the wise virgins, had the forethought to keep a lifile cash up their sleeves when they were all supposed to put it into the commonwealth, went back to Australia, and the remainder decided to see it out tm their own, not as socialists, but as individuals pure and sim- . pie, each doing his neighbour and keeping his eye wide . open to see that his neighbour did not do him, in the good old competitive way they had been trying to get away from. Some went in for cattle, others for farming. Two or three started storekeeping and a few clubbed together and, with the help of some sympathising capitalists, rigged up a sawmill. They are all doing " fairly well. There are no Rockefellers or Carnegies amongst them, but they all have a shot in the locker, their block of land, a roof over their heads, and no landlord to call every month to collect what they have toiled for. The "wander-lust," inherent more or less in most Britons, induced me, about two years ago, to take the trip to "New Aus," or to give it its proper Spanish name, "La Colonia Nueva Australia." I happened there in the nick of time, as the Boss of the Mill was anxious to retire on to his lot to live the simple life free from care and worry, and as lam not yet in a position to retire and bossing sawmills being right in my line 1 stepped into his shoes. The Paraguayan native is the most irresponsible, free from care, happy-go-lucky individual I have ever struck. We have about forty men on the pay roll, and the average attendance is twenty-five. It works out all right, as we can make shift with that number, but it is awkward , when the whole of the gangshow up, as they do sometimes a day or,two before a "fiesta" (holiday), and they are needing a little extra cash to buy fireworks, "cana" (native whisky), etc. Most of the "peons" (labourers) | own a small patch of land and aj shack of some sort ; they cultivate suittcient for their own needs and a little over 'for a barter, this renders them fairly independent of outside work, and it is only when they Want to buy a horse or a new suit of clothes that they condescend to do a little work. A few- who are addicted to drink, and who have sold their birthright, work regularly, but they :n> poor stuff to run a mill with. The chief trouble is, lr \- don't take work seriously ; they have not been trained like civilised people to keep their noses tight to the grindstone. Any excuse is a. good one for a frolic, and as a sawmill is not the safest place in the world to play in they often pay the penalty with a nasty cut ; but that does not trouble them much ; they are strong, healthy animals and are not afflicted with nerves. , One young fellow a short time ago managed to lop off three fingers as lie was working at a small circular saw. After we had washed and bandaged his fist, 1 st irted him off home with another "poen" to see that he got there all right. In about half an hour he was back again ; he wanted his fingers to show his "senora" (wife), but when he brought them to me to wrap in paper for him I guess I felt more sick than he did. This is a great snake country, and considering that the natives mostly go barefoot it is remarkable that they rarely get bit ; our "fogista" (stoker) nearly "got it " last week. When Pedro threw the snake into the stokehole with a shout of "atro vibora," he thought it was as dead as the proverbial door nail, and Antonio actually thought the same as he kicked the seven-foot specimen on one side and went on piling waste wood into the furnace. It was customary at the :iil to throw any snakes that were killed into the fire to cremate them, otherwise they became a nuisance at 100 degrees in the shade, as we often get it out here in Paraguay. Antonio had finished stoking, and turned to pick up the cleft stick that he kept handy for the purpose of manipulating "viboras," but instead of the stick he nearly picked up the snake, which had suddenly come to life again, and Was wriggling about in quite an alarming mariner. "Tonio" let out a yell that was heard above the din of the1 machines, and started to get out of j that hole quick and lively, but as

the hole was six feet below the level . of the surrounding floor, and the snake was between him and the ladder, he found he was in a bit of a fix. His shout had attracted several of his fellow "peons" to the edge: of the hole, and any one of them could have stopped and given him a pull out, but that would have spoilt the fun ;so Antonio had to keep jumping round, using bad language, till the boss sawyer came along and stopped the performance with a piece of timber across the snake's back. Antonio puts the "viboras" in straight away now ; he has come to the conclusion that delays are dangerous. We have not had a revolution here for the last twelve .nonths, and we are beginning to think that Paraguay has become peaceful " for keeps." The first year I was here we had live revolutions in eleven months ; they were getting too regular for comfort, but. in l.he last kickup one of the ring-leaders s^ot killed; that seems to have discouraged the others, and for that same we are very thankful.