Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-01-22
OLD AND NEW TUCSON.
The Changes Which Few Years Have Brought to Our CIty-Hon. Joseph
 Wasson.s Recent NIsft to ArikoNA-

Tn inc San Francisco Stock Report
 of the 18th appears long letter from
 Hon. Joseph Wasson, descriptive oi
 his recent trip through Arizona and New Mexico. The many old Ari-
 zonans who remember Mir. Wasson as
 one of themselves few years ago, as
 we'll as the public generally. will
 read the following extract with in- | terest: |.
 The changes wrought m and aoou' ! old Tucson since my first soJourn
 there are numerous and significant
 enough of the tramp of Americans to-
 wards the old city of Mexico itself.
 Two-storv mercantile structures of
 modem brick, with wooden floors,
 and residences studded with bay-w in-
 dows. form an almost amusing con trast. At that time the whites lived | on the reservations and Jhe ApachtS ran the country. Now all hands and l the cook go up and down in the land with not even the tear ot the Lord be- | fore them. Tucson contests the clam
 of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and St. | Augustin, Florida, on the score oi | heinz the oldest town In The (no") ! United States. IL is curious claim, metninks; though would have to see | it first before would prefer even the newest. Man is never, but ever 10 De : blest. The romance of old Tucson IS | sadly compromised, with It's EATp ana | ruitar hung on the willows, and the | banjo, violin and piano having a go- ns-Iou-please wulk-Over. That re- minds me of an incident one Sunday l evening alter mass in the old church on tLe Plaza. heard an awful rst- ! tie of things and scented an awful dust in a litlle den around the corner. 1 1 was tempted and did enter in, and | truly there was lust ca lse for that sound of deviluy by night. Accord ! ing 70 custom a Spanish girl squalted : in one corner on the ground floor,
 with a harp between her knees. There | were other nut brown maidens swing | ing around the narrow circle, held in place by as many American teamsters and packers, with spurs and six-shoot- | CTS. Tam O'Shanter never saw any | thing half so inviting, and the hrst thing your correspondent knew he was duly interested, but meeting with ! such ' catastrophe ss 10 suggest the | end of all things. The spur on the | left hell of a big sportive cuss got | tangled up ID my partners tuHIcd | (dress) ana it came IS near whaling | up the evenings entertainment as il | did the entire calico structure. l be q
 on te lhe upper half of the glrl and | let the other ieller take the ribbons. l never could exactly account for the ex- ! isteI G of ] ursOn Us place of business,
 As there are no very paylng mines even yet within its immediate 9Ici5- ! ity. Yet it grows apace, and to-day | hus more business iu sight, of al! sorts, 1 incident 10 the country, four iime> over, than any other one place in the Territory. T. Is destined 10 direct railroad connection with Sonora at Q O distant day. For eight months in the | year the climate is excellent seldom more than 8 taste Of snow or frost. ! The other four months, one isInclined 1 tO stand from under. But for that l20 degrees in the shade al times, your humble servant might sull be resi- dent, if not sohd citizen, of Tucson. After assisting in putting d new head on the military, seve al years pre-
 yious in Idaho, he sought new pas lures. You have heard the old formu la of our south border civIliZaiiOnr IL is very hackney ed. How they cut
 wood with q maui, hay with hoe, chained up the hogs and let the dogs run loose. And also how they never got the yoke on their oxen further ! pack than the horns. This sort of thing is getting 10 be the exception | instead of the rule. Yankee wagons, ! harness, etc., with native drivers are common. Ten years ago there WAS | but one case of cGrriage-now there
 are scores of fine turn-outs. The
 most startling s:gn of the times IS thai | of Sam Sing and Ah Sin" washing | and ironing" One more remlniscence | and I'll move on. Ten years ago last | November, Governor Stafford and | occupied the same quarters, and sent | our clothes out in a common heap. ! They came back one Saturday night | (my frst experienced in the most un- | common pile you ever saw. You see, | c ose old Mexican girls were univer
 sally too poor to buy jGb0n (soap) lem | (wood) or anything else; GSd as rule ' the one who did the washing coJld ! not do the ironing. In any event,
 |" Saff " ought to have known better, | besides he was eternally bragging on | the beautiful customs of the country. | However, he forgot himself, and i about nine o'clock Saturday night we ! went 10 our rooms, expec'Ing s nice ! cleaning up Sunday morning. The | clothes Gall we had lefO were found m a wet, twisted heap in Sails bed | There was scarcely button or button | hole ltft-the wash board consisted of ! powders on the banks ot the Santa | Cruz river. l was raised an iron i clad Presbyterian on the old farm in ! Ohio, but never till that night did l | fully realize that form of expression | known as weeping, waillng and ] gnashiug of teeth. We just took turns | for saboui half an hour. Arizona gen. | orally possesses hszy blue aimos- ! There, but have never before or since
 seen It where you could sweep il out ! of a house by the baSketful. Since | the Governor has gnt rich he dOcsn't ! like 10 have me mention these irii"s. | When 1 see tn ose Celestial signs a'
 every turn 1 am so pleased 10 think | that the Chinese must go.