The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-07-25
LIFE AMONG THE MEXICANS.
CURIOUS SIGHTS WHICH MEET A
STRANGERS EYE.

nOVelCy on the eye and ear OF one VINO,
coming straight from the busy haunts
of more civilized man, finds himself
for the first time in the streets of one
of the smaller Mexican towns. The
houses, to begin with, are unlike any
thing he has left behind him. Flat
rooted, one-storied edifces, they are,
for the most part, built of "adobe," or
sun-dried mud bricks. The poorer
ones have no opening except the one
door leading from the street. and the
cool gloom of their interiors contrasts
pleasantly with the fierce glare out
side. The better class ones are plas-
tered and whitewashed or painted dull
pink or purple or yellow, or orna-
mented with designs much resembling
wallpaper, and giving the house the
appearance Of having been turned in
side out. All windows have project
ing frames heavily barred with wood
or protected by iron gratings. The
space above doors and windows is
often tastefully decorated with designs
in raised plaster, and the great wooden
gates which close the entrance to the
patio" or inner court, round which
all better-class houses are built, are
often quantity and richly carved.
Very quiet and strangely free from
all appearance of hurry and harsh
noises are the streets. Carts are very
few and far between, and those that
do make their appearance, at long in
tervals, are eheavy two-wheeled wooden
vehicles, drawn by one or more yoke
OF oxen, and their gentle rumbling, as
they are slowly dragged along, can
hardly be termed noise, certainly not
a harsh one. The streets are sandy,
for the most part, and the foot pas
sengers lightly shod, many of them in
sandals and the younger ones bar Of
ed, and all these make little or no \ Use
as they pass quietly to and fro.
Neither can the church bells ringing
for mathis and even-song be strictly
called,a noise.
No one seems in a hurry in these
places. And why should they be?
The necessaries of life are few and
very cheap, and the extra dollars
needed for the Sunday cock-lght or
the weekly game of "monte" of the
men, and the fan or comb or silver
shawl-pin of the women, easily earned,
and so the good man is not obliged to
walk fast on off days when he is in
town anil goes round to the matan-
za,' or butchers shop, to buy piece
OF meat for dinner, and there is not
the least reason why he should
not stop for twenty minutes
on the sidewalk and talk TO
Juan or Jose, whom he has en-
countered on the way, or spend half an
hour in at the "tendajo" hanging over
the counter and discussing a glass of
mescal and the crops with Tomas or
Telesforo. The good wife, too, rises
early, and the day is still young by the
time she has fetched water from the
river and swept the earthen floor of
the one living room and the "patio "
outside and given the good man his
breakfast and dispatched him to the
fields, and she has ample time to don
her black head-shawl and trot off to
morning service, and by no means hur.
rits herself, as she walks home again
and drops DOnnas Juana and Maria and
Victoliana at their respective doors
stopping awhile to exchange a few
parting remarks with each; ample time
has she, too, to prepare the inevitable
tortillas, beans and coffee for the mid
day meal.
From monday till between 3 and 4
o'clock in the afternoon (during which
hours the inhabitants are all indoors
eating dinner and taking the subse
quent "siesta is the quietest ant
LATEST time of all. Then, indeed, doe,
the little town seem like city of the
dead.
Between and o'clock the town
begins to wake up slowly. At 4, Of
thereabouts, comes merienda," q sort
of afternoon tea, consisting of coffee
and cakes. At the women dress ant
60 out visiting. At the bells sounC
for oraeion," or evening service; at {
comes supper, and by all is still a
Nthe grave, except on Sunday nights
when the band plays in the little
"plaza," or moonlight nights. wher
the rich notes of the mocking bird fiji
the silence and make the exiled Eng
lishman think of nightingales anC
home. OF the animal life in til,
streets, the dogs, by their number anC
infinite variety of size and shape, de
serve mention. Many of them hav
an evident and strong admixture o
coyote blood in their veins. Th
large, pricked-up ears, the bushy
dropping tail, the Sinking gait
all are there, and the resem
blanco in some cases is most striking
The novelty to the stranger in this liz
is the pelOn, or hairless dog Sharp
nosed, short-legged. long-bodied, il
size equal to a small foX-terrier, Iii
blue-black body is as innocent of hal
as the palm of ones hand, save an
except on the top of his head and tn
extreme tip of his tail, where he ha
tufts of dirty yellow bristles whic
give the finishing touch to his gener