Nebraska advertiser., 1882-02-02
Vera Cruz.

Tie city itself, compact and solid,
with line of domes and steeples black
ened with time, roofs Of substantial red
tiles, plentiful balconies, and bits of
wall tinted blue, green and pink, is like
a little Venice. A large crane hangs
out from the END of an iron pier, and
the fancy hooks onto it at once-the
terminus of the English railway which
is to bear us away up the extraordinary
slopes from the hot lands--the Hc1vdS
cdiicnteS-to the mysterious interior and
the capital
In an existence of going on four hum
dred years Vera Cruz has arrived at
population of seventeen thousand. The
interior view of the place does not belle
the promise of the FIRST glimpse. The
churches are of irregular, picturesque
shapes, with nice bells, The principal
one, in little shaded plaza, has a dome
of colored mosaic tiles, which shine in
the sun-a style we shall see plenty of
farther on. The principal shops have a
well-furnished afr, especially in the
branches of groceries and heavy hard
ware. and the custom-housc square is
stuffed to repletion with cotton bales,
railroad iron and miscellaneous goods
waiting transportation. The principal
street is called De la Independence, and
leads to short concrete promenade
bordered with stone benches and PALM
trees. II is early discovered that the
Mexican is very patriotic. He names
his streets after his battles. as particu-
larly the Cinco de Mayo, fought at
Puebla against the French, and even
has way of joining the names of his
heroes to those of cities. Thus Puebla
is Puebla de Zaragoza, commandant in
the same great battle of the 9th of May;
and OaXaca is Oaxaca of President)
Juarez.
Grass grows in the joints of the stones
in the minor streets, and open cutters
run in the center One might be in
some such Italian city as Mantua. The
zoptlotes of which travellers have writ
ten sit on long, straight water-spouts
projecting from the houses. They are
large, raven black, dignified, and aloft
there against the deep blue sky have an
appearance of carved architectural or
naments. There are street-cleaning
departments elsewhere which are far
of a bull-fight for the coming Sunday
are posted on the dead walls. A tram
car of a peculiar pattern runs out to the
open fields, where there is dancing
place and ball ground. There is a view,
in passing, of the cemetery, which
should be leading institution indeed
at Vera Cruz; and yet when one is on
the ground, as is apt to be the case.
there are mitigations to be found even
of the terrors of yellow fever. PAIL
bearers in gloomy weeds are nat
urally expected to form consid-
cradle part of the population, Just
as murderers and kidnapers of all
sorts are expected to oabound elsewhere.
But an American resident assured me
that m four years he had known but
one of our countrymen to die of the
UOna,to, as it is called, and very few to
have it, Its chief havoc is among the
poor and badly nourished. The Amer
lean Consul, himself physician, and a
resident of twelve years standing, is
strenuous in his views as to the harm
done to the commercial interests of
both countries by ignorance and mis-
representations on the subject. 1t is
certain that the local authorities do not
regard the disease as contagious, put
ting those afflicted side by side with
surgical patients in the hospital; from
which it seems that if the case were re-
ally looked into, there may be as little
need of the annoying quarantine against
yellow fever, at least of this variety, as
if it were simple ague.-W. H. Bishop,
IN Harpey's Magazine.