PARAGUAY 



I486 



PARAGUAY 



new in development is to 



plained only by their unparalleled hi.-tory. The 

 body of the rural population is of the aborigi- 

 nal, or "Indian." race, known as Guaruni. They 

 - .:. re , nd ] innately de- 

 land. In 



the si m p I t 

 charactt r. T he 

 women \\ 

 mere tunic 

 ton cloth, and a 



t h e 



Mai a 



it-ranged to 



form both 



nd a wrap- 



'" LOCATION MAP 



-hould l>. I h e erne of the two South Ameri- 

 ,,i .-an countries without a sea- 



uid their dre-.- si/t- of Paraguay compared to 



a shirt the tintir " ntinent - 



In their simple life they practice ' 



: mint iv. Christian virtues. The people of 



i he cine- and villages, who are generally of 



i blood, constitute a very large part of the 



.iation. In the cities there is an earnest 



all the benefits of modern progress; 



de-.pi! i the poverty in which the country 



eft m I.s7o. the people are making earnest 



!op their r. BOUroef and arc invit- 



n to thir land of great oppor- 



\i rigine- live in their primi- 



m the partially unexplored regions. 



l"h.: loximately 2.~),000 inhabitants of 



.nn birth, chiefly Italians and Argentines. 



In Is'.ii! .1 colony of Au.-tralians founded a small 



nun ntal .-en lenient on an optimistic and 



sociological ba.-i-. and named it New Australia. 



It -till exi-t-. 



The diii f citiea are A.-uncion. with a jujpu- 

 ii (jf 84,000; Villa < kmcep- 



i-ioli. 1").08.'J; ( . l.'i.OOO; \'illa I'.ncal- 



liacioli. !J.:,LT; Parauari. 10.000; Caa/apa. 

 '.i.OOO; S : ,|, Pi-drf). S.700; Villa del Pilar. 7.LM7 : 

 and Tlumaita. J.20.">. Tin n OWUfl and 



village- in the country. The naim - of several 

 of these cities indicate the piety of their found- 

 ers. The more recent architecture i- sirikinuly 

 modern in style, and i< highly suggestive of 

 the >pirit of ].- nd ])oj.iilar confidence in 



the future. 



The main railway of the count ry >tari> north- 

 \\ard from \"illa I'!ncai - nacion. on the Parana, 

 at the Mmthern houndary. and pasaefl northwanl 

 to the central city of Villa Rica, thence north- 

 vard to the capital. A-uncioii. Mxien.-ioii> 

 and hranche- ai'e now under construction. 



Products and Commerce. "Economically." 



i recent writer in the Built tin of the r<tn- 



.\nnrif(in I'nioit, "Paraguay is at the very lie- 



liinning of things. It nii^hi ha\-e been disco\- 



: but yesterday." It exports to its neighbor. 



Argentina, a little fruit, i/t rlxi itidli'. tobacco 

 and live cattle. The rest of the world know- 

 it as a producer of hide-, tanning extracts and 

 oil of orange leaves (petigrain). Its immense 

 possibilities as a food producer are practically 

 unknown and undeveloped. The cattle indu>- 

 try in Paraguay is scarcely out of the - 

 when the animals are slaughtered for their 

 hides alone. 



Paraguay tea, or ycrbu mate, is obtained from 

 an evergreen shrub of aromatic character, the 

 leaves and stems of which, when burned on hot 

 plates, supply a powder that is dissolved in hot 

 water to form a popular beverage for the table. 

 See MATE. 



A North American company has contracted 

 to construct important improvements at the 

 port of Asuncion, comprising docks, loading and 

 unloading appliances and the reclamation of 

 land about the harbor. This city is situated 

 about 650 miles north of Buenos Aires, and 

 here the river is over 1,800 feet in width, form- 

 ing a superb harbor, from which steamboats 

 run direct to the Atlantic coast. 



The principal industry of Paraguay is tin: 

 raising of beef cattle; the number of cattle now 

 possessed in the country is estimated at from 

 1,000,000 to 4,000,000. Cattle in Paraguay sold 

 for but little more than the value of their hide.- 

 until increased world demand in 1915. 



Manufactures are represented chiefly by the 

 packing and curing of meat, the distilling of 

 rum, the making of raw sugar and the tanniii'i 

 of leather. These products an- generally for 

 home consumption. The cities of Paraguay re- 

 quire about the same articles of manulaci un 

 that, are imported by Argentina. With tin 

 velopment of agriculture will come a great i i 

 need for agricultural machinery and imple- 

 ments. Ranching now offers inducement- to 

 capitalists, and the public improvements to be 

 made should continue to attract North Ameri- 

 c;m contractors and artisans. Motor boats and 

 :iutomobile< are already supplied by enterpris- 

 ing North American- for transportation aloiij: 



