News From The Wilderness No. II
By Edward Young Haslam
Published on April 20th, 1876 in The Southern Cross

Paraná, April 11, 1876

Very Rev. Editor of the Southern Cross,

E. Y. Haslam (1808-1878)

Cockney Londoners call all England “the country” except their own metropolis; and Porteños speak of the whole republic, save their beloved city as “the camp;” or (more contemptuously) “the wilderness”

Well, that part of the “wilderness” from which I am now writing contains six or eight long, straight streets, wider than those of Buenos Ayres, and much better paved – that is, they are macadamized, with footpaths of red tile. The plaza is a miniature copy of the Victoria, surroundes by some notable buildings. There is the cathedral, approached by a flight of steps, and if it has no other beauty it has that of antiquity; the bishop’s palace, a plain, substantial building; the normal school, formerly the government-house; and the ‘casa de las Dams de Caridad,’ once the hall of Congress; with magistrates’ and police-offices, etc.

The prevailing look of Paraná is that of respectable, well-preserved old age, in contrast with which stand forth some modern edifices of decided elegance. There is an architect here – a foreigner, of course – whose name, if I knew it, should be handed down to fame in your columns, who is embellishing Paraná with some beautiful monuments of his skill. What surprises me is the versatility of this man’s genius. All styles of architecture seem equally familiar to him, and no two of his works are alike, but all excellent in their way. It is he who is building the church of San Miguel that I named in my last; and the cuola over the chancel, and the lofty tower, are admirably proportioned, the wh9ole being an excellent specimen of Gothic architecture. In the uncompleted square of San Miguel is a little gem of a house, belonging to a deputy to Congress, which shows his talent in the Florentine style; the handsome abode of the “gefe politico,” just finished, looks as if he had modeled after the Genoese; in another instance he has selected the Moorish style. But the sample of his skill that pleases me best is a completed English villa, about half a mile out of the city. It has two gabled wings, with a handsome façade, supported by pillars, well-elevated, and at some distance from the road; surrounded by an ample garden, flanked by an orange –grove, with a young forest of eucalyptuses in the rear, and a trellised walk of vines leading from the ornamental grounds to the kitchen-garden behind. I do not remember having seen around London a villa so much to my taste as this. There such buildings are generally spoiled by being cramped for space; but in this case, land being cheap, there is “ample room and verge enough” for a display of horticulture in all its branches. Even the oldest houses here have large gardens, and the aroma of flowers is inhaled at every breath.

Now let me say a word about the “institutions” of Paraná. The king of the place if the “gefe politico”. There is a municipality also, but they only “play the second fiddle”. Where one man has the sway it is a chance whether the government is good or bad. He may be lazy, and everything “goes to the bad;” he may be vicious, and then there is oppression and wrong; or he may be just and active, and then all goes well. The present ruler of this little kingdom is, I am, told, of the third and rarest class. I don’t give his name, lest, intoxicated with his sudden fame, he might deteriorate. With a handful of gaucho policemen the place is kept in perfect tranquility. Such a thing as a robbery or row is rare indeed. But the great achievement of this “gefe” has been the successful war he made upon the locusts. These invaders came in myriads, and, turning their attention to domestic affairs in the first instance, they made their nests and deposited innumerable eggs. The authorities issued a proclamation offering a reward of two rials (about $4 currency) per pound’s weight for locusts’ eggs. The juvenile population were soon at work, and the quantity of eggs collected was so considerable that a tax of one rial per day had to ve levied on each inhabitant to meet the outlay. But the grown insects soon began their ravages, and grown men had to be employed to destroy them. The usual plan was to throw together a heap of straw and other light combustibles, and then for the men to drive forward the locusts towards this heap. The insects took refuge amongst the straw, and when a sufficient number had been driven into the stack fire was set to it all round, and a holocaust was the consequence, as satisfactory as the most enthusiastic cremationist could have desired. Thus through the activity of the “gefe politico” Paraná escaped the scourge in its threatened violence; and another plague, that of pestilence from the corruption of such a mass of animal matter, was avoided.

There is a hospital here for men, and another, lately added, for women. I mention this last in order to name with deserved honor the munificence of a worthy “cura” of this place, who at his death bequeathed his small fortune (about $10.000) for the benefit of the poor of the town and neighborhood. As the ladies of Charity, much to their honor, take charges of the indigent, the whole of the bequest has been devoted to the improvement and enlargement of the hospital. All honor, then, to the memory of the good Cura Masfer.

There is a very commodious covered market here, and if visited at an early hour in the morning it wars quite an air of bustle. Vegetables (to my surprise) are not very plentiful, their use not being common, except, it is said, amongst uncivilized foreigners; but butcher’s meat is in abundance, both cheap and good. Near the market is the only manufactory, I believe, which Paraná possesses. It is for making vermicelli, and the quality is excellent. The machinery is of the same kind as is seen in Italy. The whole establishment is well kept, and apparently new, and the enterprising master of the place is an Italian. How these busy-bodies of gringos are upsetting the good old Spanish ways by their new inventions in every part of the republic! I need not add that there are no favourites here, though there is no great number of them – just a sprinkling of four or five nationalities, but quite enough to disturb “siestas” and make themselves disagreeable by their restless activity.

I paid a visit to the prison – at least I had a look at it from the outside, and saw some of the inmates. I should never have suspected it to be a place of punishment from its appearance. There was a door with a brass knocker on it that semed to invite one to make a morning call, or at all events leave one’s card; but a little below there was a distinct view of the patio through the open door of the kitchen, which fronts to the street. In this yard I saw four or five of the gentlemen prisoners taking a “constitutional”, glancing at every turn very pointedly towards the kitchen, from which I inferred that the breakfast hour was approaching. A more well-fed, contented group I never gazed upon, and I came to the conclusion that Paraná is very liberal towards the unfortunate individuals who are law-breakers, and who appear to enjoy all the comforts and good-cheer of a pleasant country residence.

The great feature of Paraná are its educational establishments, but these I must leave to be described in my next.

Yours obediently,



Y.

1. Thomas Gray, “The Curse on Edward”