Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-01-05
COUNTING IN MEXICO.
How the Young Men ''Do the Bear" or
Make Love to the Girls.

Make Love to the Giris'
| Courtship Is carried on In most eX-
! traordinary manner here, and us IL may
! be interesting to the readers OF the
! World to know how the Mexicans
make love. shall tell them something
about it.
The part man plays in courtship
here is called "doing the bear" which
! Is a translation Of "hacer ell oso.' 1t
is quite common expression In Mex
| leo to say: II am doing the bear to
Miss So and So;r or for the girl to say;
THAT young man is doing the bear To
me.n
"Hacer ell oso'' consists in passing
up and down the street where the OBJ
iect of the gentleman's admiration
resides between the hours of five and
eight o'clock every afternoon, with his
eyes fixed on the balcony, where she
is standing, If she wishes to encourage
him or some other 1850"
He can pass on foot or on horseback,
but the latter position is more effective,
as lie Is nearer the balcony, and look
ing up from under the wide brim OF
his large Mexican hat is very impress
sive.
Then he goes to the same church
and to the same mass as she does and
looks at her all the time she is praying
and he is doing the same. If he sees
her in the theatre he never takes his
ewes from her face and is utterly re-
gardless of all that is going on on the
stage. He follows her also on horse
back To the public drive, or Mexican
Central Park, glancing at her from
under his ''sombrero jarano.' He
walks after her in the street when she
goes out shopping, accompanied by
some elderly lady; in fact, he follows
her everywhere without ever speaking
to her, unless he happens to dance
with her in ballroom. If he re-
ceives u great amount of encourage
ment, then he passes up and down the
street where she lives, not only in
the afternoon but ut other hours in
the day, and stands for an unusual
length of time in doorway on the OPP
posite side of the street making signs
TO her with his handkerchief ana with
the smoke of his cigar. Here in Mex
leo, joined to the language of flowers
and Of the fan, there is also the Ian
guage of the handkerchief and of the
cigar
When he finds he cannot express all
he wants to say to her with these
signs then he writes tp her, and when
it is quite dark he throws his notes on
the balcony, tied to a small bouquet,
so they may fall well at the feet OF his
lady-love, or he pays some servant to
act the part of Mercury. and in that
way sends and receives letters. This
epistolary courtship sometimes lasts
for aud Unry nfta,,
comes to nothing. Before visiting
the house some person of
influence proposes the young man TO
the father or mother as II ''iiance" for
the young lady, and if they accept
him, then he is allowed to visit, but
only sees and speaks to his intended
wife in the presence of the entire fam
lily. So you see that in every case the
Mexicans are obliged to do the bear.
1t requires an immense amount Of pa
thence, a special study of the manner
of using the eyes and n great abnega-
ton to do the bear rs 1t ought to be
done. Patience is tried by standiag
for hours in doorway; the eyes must
be able to express Il great deal ut con-
siderable distance, and abnegation is
! proved by walking and standing in the
/ street, in the sun and in the rain, ms
4 the weather is no excuse whatever
for not finding the $3.50 at his
post. If man wants to win the
heart of Mexican beauty he must
muster up courage and go through
this routine, as ii is impossible to gain
her affections without doing the bear
/ to her. l am sure the readers of the
| World viii think that love-making is
carried on in a strange way in Mexico
There is nothing new here in the
way of politics, and the only impor-
tant railroad item is that the road to
the interior of the line of the Central
Railroad Company is now finished as
far as the city of Lagos, which is with
in two days journey by diligence of
the city of Zacatecas, and that the
track of the National Railway COM
pany is advancing steadily toward
Celaya. And so the railway move
ment continues and Mexico goes on
progressing every day.-NeW York
| World.