The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-01-29
SaItiIio---Ii~ BuiIding.---Pcople, &c.

From the Bullalo Courier & Pilot.
s"Iiiiio---I,- neutrality-suspicious., &c.
The following extracts, from a let
ter written by an officer of our army
to friend in this city, give some
amusing particulars as to the social
life, &c. of the Mexicans.
SALTILLo, Nov. &c, 1916.
Saltillo is nearly as large as Mon
terey-is situated on the slope of a
hill that falls from a level plain, ex-
tending-I don't know how far in
advance of us-down into a fertile
valley. 1t has twelve thousand souls.
The houses are built of large sun
burnt cakes of clay, whose tenacity
is increased by straw, and | believe
they are made in the same manner
that the Israelites observed in Egypt.
The streets are wide, well paved,
and lighted by night. The city laws
continue in operation, and at every
hour of the night the watch sound a
shrill whistle, and cry "ore purissi-
ma" with most unearthly screech.
There are five churches. The ca
thedral is a lofty ediice-a mixture
of good and bad taste, with some
considerable magnilicence. As the
people pass it they uncover their
heads. Its bells are constantly ring
ing, and sometimes the chimes are
beautiful. Early every morning there
is mass in the chapel, one of which
| attended. All kneel through the
service, and at particular times they
beat their breasts, creating some
such sound as when a partridge is
drumming. As to the Priests, our
good Catholic Father, RAY, whom
the President sent to the army, pleas
es me more than any man | ever
saw.
The rich and elaborate cathcdrals
of Mexico present to the worship
pers nothing but bare floor, on
which they kneel-the rich and poor,
the humble and proud, elbowing each
other without any recognition Of
rank or superiority of worldly priv
ileges. Never before did compre-
bend what pride and arrogance the
softly cushioned pew fosters in the
lraoct Of tLo ounor t;ll cow -
Catholic congregation in one of these
rich churches. But in New York
this Christian simplicity is departed
from, and many notifications are in
troduced besides pews, to suit the
taste and win the preference of the
people.
All the houses Of the town have an
old, dingy appearance externally
each joins the next one to it (unless
a street intcwenes and one is about
pattern Of the other, except in
height. Occasionally there are two
stories in a building. A street, there
fore, presents the aspect of an alley
running between two stone walls
The windows never have glass in
them or uery rarely), but shutters
instead, which swing open, and are
heavily constructed their panel al
so open and shut-then they are pro-
tected by wooden or iron bars pro-
j.cting some distance. The women
collect in the windows, whose stills
afford convenient sitting places, and
they look as if they were in cages.
Large iolding-doors open into a
courtyard, which is surrounded by
walls nearly as high as the house.
Here it is that you begin to see some
thing, from which you can Judge Of
the house. The yards are paved
flowers are arranged in pots, and
doors lead into storc-roomS, the
kitchen, and back into the stable
yard. Sometimes u row of columns
extend on three sides, forming a cool
piazza.
There is nothing cheerful in their
style of architecture. You would
suppose from it that they were the
gravest people in the world. The
rooms are of the size of the interior
of the house, long in proportion to
their width, and are as high as the
fiat roof which form the tops Of them,
showing the large timbers running
across. The lower part of the cell
ings are ornamented with various
tawdry designs, in the worst posi-.
bic taste, and the floors are either Of
brick or hard mortar. The wood
work of the doors, &C. have OTTER
elaborate carvings, but in worry