Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-11-24

The Mexican element is large
feature III the population of Western
/ Texas.
Outside of the cities and towns.
! tie McAirah, serve a. shepherds.
! tramstrrs and cattle hrrder5. Very
few cultivate the soil. \ Mexican
may be very poor, he may be in more
INDECENT circumstances than jobs
turkey; Ii" may be stepped in such
| ahJrct poverty that, compared to him,
a church mouse will seem to be roll
ing in atliuencr. and he may he SO
destitute that he is not able to keep
more than sin dogs, but, even then.
he can draw upon his pawn broker
for the value of ticket that will ad
init him to the arena where chicken
disputes occur on Sunday The Mex
leans spend freely what little they
have; they seldom accumulate much
worldly goods; and they cannot keep
anything. not even the Sabbath day
The McXIcans are remarkable for
their polltrnc9, and euavty Of man
hers. Before reaching San Antonio
"" called at tn" rancho of Don X
naclo Gonzales, to ask for directions
aS to the way. Don lgnaciu welcomed
lis at the door. told the Doctor. who
pretended To speak Spanish. that he
was his servant. and invited us into
the house. "E>tuy rnteramrntr Il ,u
dlsp"elcloi,' Il am entirely at Your
dlspo~an- We had Il very pleasant
talk. and many very complimentary
thinys We're said on both sides.
Among other things Don Iynacio
SAID: "Esta Y cn su casa, V puedc
mandar," tIou are iii your own
house and can commandh
The Doctor noticed fine pair Of
spurs. and expressed his admiration
of them. "rumrlr ' senior; rs suyu."
Take II, sir: II Is Nour,l. said til" old
gentleman
The Doctor thanked him in the
most cAtravapant terms that Il mix
turc of Spanish and English would
allow, and pnt the spurs in his pocket
WrlWrrc then directed a. To the route,
after many DISTURBANCES from Senior
Gonzales that he and his SONS and
daughters. his man servants and his
maid servants, were our most devoted
ts"rvants. hcnccforth and forever. We
said "Adois." and started To leave.
The hospitahlo and generous
old rancheru bowed lis To the
door, assuring lis that while he
continued To inhaht this terrestrial
ball, he would pray that the choicest
blessings of Heaven might follow Lis.
and then tho old fraud intimatrd in
quite IL business like tone that. a.
the Doctor was his dearest iricn
two dollars WAS all that he would
charge for thrtrur- that he had given
him.
The majority OF MrXicans live in
miserable hnts called jacals. These
dcns consist of one room about twelve
feet square The walls are made of
upright posts. the interstices being
filled with mud There is no at
tempt ut ornamentation. The mud
Is just plastered on. the capacious
hand Of the Mexican serving as Il
trowcl. The roof is made of cane.
thatched withtule a kind of rush
The more pretentious ediiices have
| tin roofs, constructed out of old oys
ter cans. This kind of roof is water
tight when il does not rain and
makes an excellent breeding place for
scorpions and centipcdes Another
advantage of the thatcllcd roof is
! that it takes fire readily, and thus, by
obliging the owner to build another
roof, stimulates him to habits of in
lustry. There is Il loorless opening
in the side of the jacal, used for the
entrance and exit of the inhabitants,
There is another opening that serves
in lien of window, and is used as
Il private entrance by the goats and
dogs The Il ror is Of mud pounded
hard
There beng only one room in Il
jacal. it is much more convenient
than the arrangement of Bucking
ham palace, because i'll the jacal yon
are not compelled to leave the din
ing room and go away off by yourself
to another room when You want to
put on clean shirt. The grounds
around the jacal are, ,however,adorned
with statuary, particularly i'll sum-
mer, whenever the older members of
the family sit around in the shade,
clothed only in their native modesty
and All other garment
| r. Ai.,N,n,A., ..f oil
and sexes, who live. move and con
sume beans in one of these habita
tions, has never been taken, but the
number of male Mexicans old enough
to vote, that can be enticed ont of
them with bottle of whisky on elec
ton day. is large enough to Justify
putting the average at about thirty.
Leaven bread of any kind is not
used by the Mexicans They have
IA substitute for the indigestible
boarding house biscuit of the Amer
lean; they call it fofiiid. When
warm, the tortilla can be eaten with
out letting out the contract to Il dep
uty. The sOles of an old pair of bro
gans would be tender and Juicy com
pared with Il cold turtllla.
When the Mexican cannot get
fresh beef. he lives on dried beef lbut
he usually has the fresh article when
there is any in the country He first
hunts up Il beef" any beef will do,
provided he does not own it himself
The animal is executed, and the flesh,
having been cut up into strips and
slabs. is salted and hung out Oh the
fence like weeks washing. When
the beef has been thoroughly cured.
it becomes 81 tough that it is fit
accompaniment to Il tortilla.
The Mexican laughs and grows fat
over another dish, which may be
called Mexican hash. Like our Amer
lean hash, the ingredients cannot
even he acc elrately guessed at. 1t -
quires IA great deal of confidence to
really enjoy any kind of hash, but
Mexican hash is particularly exact
ing a. to the amount of faith neces
sary to q comfortable pniovmpnt of If