THE AMERICAS Europe is Back
To test a machete, a Colombian campesino sticks the point into a wooden floor and bends the bladedouble. If the heavy knife springs back upright, the countryman is satisfied that it is good. If it has a bone handle and nickel-plate finish besides, the customer cannot get his money out fast enough.
Last week busy salesmen, speaking a guttural Spanish, were showing just such a machete to Colombian hardware dealers. It was the German Mosquito-brand machete, and its agents said that they could deliver it for $2 a dozen less...
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