Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-26
A A AT VERA CRUZ.
CITY OF Mexico by Night and by Day
Its Bad Hotels and Its Queer
Street Naming.


CRY OF MExIco, March, 1883.
The traveller journeying In Mexico
IL fortunate II he approaches Vera
Cruz In the morning, for In that case
almost the first thing seen 10 the now
clad peak Of Oriz,ba, looming up Into
the clouds and looking like q huge
cone Of Toe suspended In the sky. The
clouds and mists hide the base of the
mountain, but the pare white summit,
touched by the rising sun, forms an
Important picture In the travellers
mental gallery. Gradually the fogs
and the clouds are dissipated; soon to
the right IL seen the grand old castle
Of San Juan do Ullos; built of white
stone by the ~SpAinards at the time of
the conquest; close at its foot the
towers and building OF Vera Cruz
Vera Cruz Is one Of the most berated
of cities, but rs It gradually tskes
form In the morning hazs with Its
numerous domes and brightly painted
houses shining In the sunlight, It's sp,
pearanoe is anything but uninviting
The surrounding country looks like n
sand bank; but the city Is compsctly
built on a level ground and the archl.
tectual effect Is good. The inquisitive
wauderer feels his interest aroused by
the various towers and tiled domes Ia
the distance, so when the anchor 10
finally dropped he gazes upon the city
wondering il the place can be such an
inferno as some describe 1t, or If 1t is
merely the Victim of misrepresenta-
tion. A slight acquaintance with the
city inclines him to the latter opinion.
The vessel drops anchor about half o
mile from shore. She cannot be said
to & into the hsrbor because there is
none, Vera Cruz Is built upon the
edge of the ahore and the coast here
offers 70 protection at all to vessels,
but abounds In dangerous shoals and
reefs, 81 that II q storm comes up the
only hope Ct safety Is to raise anchor
and go out Into the gulf. There is one
reef In particular, known as the "Lav-
andera" or washerwomsn," upon
which the waves are always breaking,
making the foam whose resemb lancs
to soap suds gave the reef Its name.
In q "norther" the waves drive upon
this reef with irresistible force, and,
II q vessel goes upon these rocks, as
many have, there Is no hope for those
on board. An extensive system of
harbor improvements Is projected, and
work begun on them, but competent
judges say that at the present rate OF
progress the work will not be finished
this century.
At whatever time of day q traveller
reaches Vera Cruz he will not get
away from 1t until the day following
The reason for this is because the only
train from Vera Cruz to Mexico starts
at 6 a. m. and at that time of the day
the custom house gates are not open.
Consequently the first thing after act
ting foot on dry land Is to look for q
hotel. These are all equally poor and
deserve anything bad that may be said
of them. This disagreeable duty
attended to, one starts out for a look
at the town. The streets are not very
wide, but as the amount of business
Is not great, and as moderation Is a
characteristic of the country, they
serve very we'll. They are paved
with cobble stones and kept well
cleaned. frequently you will ace
grass growing between the paving
stones, giving tie street q delightfully."-
sleepy DIR. The system of Sewerage
Is quite peculiar and easily studied.
Each street slopes from the aides to.
ward the middle a. such Q pitch that
the center of q street 80 feet wide ID
about eight inches below the sidewalk.
Through the gutter thus formed run,
the drainage of the town. The
houses are connected with this main
sewer by small drains running acros,
the side walk and ~disgonaliy down tc
the center of the street. The system
Is not as offensive as one might think,
probably because of the name ol
life. &The houses are solidly built di
reotly up from the sidewalk, usually
two stories high, and through the opsr
street door one gets. interesting
glimpses of odd interiors, strange stair
ways, and something of the life Of the
people. There are TWO lines Of horse
cars running through the city. TIT
cars are built In New York exactly lik'
the Now York ears and do not seem t.
belong to the place at all. The inter
estlng old churches that looked 40 fas
einstlng from the deck Of the steamer
are somewhat disappointing. Exter-
nally they are very satisfactory and
quite worth study, for they are vel
designed, but internally they are In Q
sad state of dilapidation, and seem tt
be merely melancholy reminders o
their former m~agnifcence. The SAM
thing 10 to be seen In the Alameda
This IL q wide, well.paved avenue, ex
tending from the city out iuto thu
, fields. 1t was laid out on quite al
ambitious plan, having q row Of shad'
trees and high. backed stone seats OF
each side, we'll, built bridges over
few small brooks, and circles left TO
a statues; but the statues are not there
. the trees are not cared for and tn,
. project seems gone to decay
, The plaza has Jared better. Thi
is o small square In the cen
I ter Of the town. 1t contain
large fountain surrounde
; by tall shade trees, while the groun
r Is OF vered with small shrubs and flow
ering plants growing with tropics
, luxurianoe. A broad, well built ston
q walk runs entirely around the plsz
p and at night the square Is Brilliant
= lighted with gas and electric light
!. Three nights In the week an exceller
band plays here, and the people prom
enade until nearly midnight. TIL
Q buildings facing the plaza all have ar
q cades, and under them you may s
and be served to ice.cream and straw
berries. All is life and movement
everything Ia bright and happy, an
nan Iuanda. LaA "a. 90 di.iiL