PARAGUAY 



PARAGUAY 



gas. The. commercial importance of i)arattiu 

 dates from 1850, when the Scotch chcmi>t. 

 James Young. perfected a practical method of 

 manufacture. In recent years paraffin has be- 



come a household nccr.-.-nv lor the. s-ealing of 

 jellies and jam.-. 



In chemistry, paraffin is a general term for 

 a group of hydrocarbons (which see). 



Rural Home A Town House 



ARAGUAY, poJr'a0tMB, or pahrahi/n 

 small South American country enclosed by 

 :!. Argentina and Bolivia and thus shut 

 off from the ocean. i> to most, persons a land 

 :anue contradiction-. With a lu-tory reach- 

 ing back through nearly four centuries, it seems 

 now to be, economically, just at the beginning 

 of its career. POS.-I inn a free constitution 

 from 1811, it remained until 1870 under the 

 absolute despotism of a single family (see sub- 

 head History, below). Converted to the Chri 

 tian religion with a.-toni-hing unanimity, and 

 with no employment of violence, in the great- 

 onary success in all the hi-tory of the 

 AiiMrieas. it largely rel.-ip-ed into barbarian. 

 Vigorou- in phy.-ique and under whole.-onn- 

 natural condition- tin cnuntry began to pro 

 . when between ISM and 1S71 the 

 _'in\ ,-m- lo.-i live ixth.- i >t their population 

 in a mo-t frightful war. much of the country. 

 through tin- extermination of the men. being 

 left with only women and children. 



's first exploration and -ett lenient 



tiigma, Why .-hould adventure]-. 



ly four centuries ago. pa.-.- by the inviting 



land- nn 01 in 11 the coast and pem irate the 



nor. e-iabli-hing a city on the site of 



:icion b<: liad built one on the 



: rtly 111 the hope 



that the Paraguay Ki\ei would -upply a new 

 iiulli-i for tic from the nun. 



Inn. uid partly in the mar\ eloii.- re-nit- which 



tided the I ,l>.,|- u|' I he early Illl loli:m. B, 

 Tin- hop. 



- centime* of \\allMiu; -lich 



or the commerce of the eastern slope 

 of tin- And - wil' advantag< 



111 the -nlltll ' \\herea 



of .-,,1111.1. roe ihionnh tin \r 



branche.- In - in a 



aud uuhcahhlul conditions. 



'withstanding its long history, Paraguay 

 must be regarded to-day very largely a.s a vir- 

 gin land, one of those promising fields for in w 

 development so greatly needed for supplying 

 the wants of the world, and yet without the 

 repellant features of hardship which pioneers 

 generally find in lands that are wholly new. 

 Agassiz was impressed with the idea that the 

 interior of South America, of which Paraguay 

 forms an important part, would eventually 

 the center of the world's civilization; and hi- 

 optimistic prediction may yet prove to 1 

 been well founded. 



The area of Paraguay i< 171.770 >|iiare mile>. 

 being >omewhat smaller than that of Califor- 

 nia. The population is about 800,000. Over 

 half a century ago it was more than one and 

 one-third millions, and it is now increasing rap- 

 idly again under the favorable conditions of 

 the present time. 



Physical Features. The upper Paragua\ 

 i{i\er -eparate- the country into two principal 

 divi.-ions. A range of highland.-, never . v 

 ing 2.300 feet above the sea level, runs north 

 and south through much of what is called 

 Paraguay proper, east of the Paraguay ' 

 to the south, the land becomes marshy. The 

 I'll, (.mayo River, which flows down from the 

 northwest through a region of low. wet. \\ood. d 

 or gra-sy plain-, i- na\ iuable in both it- upp< i 

 and lower eoui>es. but .-hallow in it- middli 

 cour-e The I'aiaiia R i\ r. which form- th 

 -outln :i-tern boundary of the round \. bl 

 -ucccseion of nobl- d for a hun- 



dred mile- i- a rontinuoii- chain of i:ipid.-. tin 

 l-lalid- 0( N and V.i-vienta 111 till- ! 



b I'-nc to 1' 'i "iiuay. 



The People and Their Cities. That a ; 

 -o lotig Chn-tiatu/e.l. in many n 

 ing -o htth iron, their pronn 1\. in igl 

 .UK! requiring much the sunn import.-, -hould 



