The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-02-17
MEXICAN rowS.
Two Civilizations Ihree Hundred Year,
Apart Aad Only n River IeiMeen.

y can sids OF tue Rio Grande, opposite tn
!, old Mexican town Of Paso del Norte. /
i. Paso istwo yeasold; Paso del NOrte, thre
hundred aud more,-hOw mnch more nc
! body knows.
A sharper autitllesis could not be iOuut
q in the world than these two towns afford
! aud the thorn in the flesh that FL Paso 1
\ 10 Paso del Norte, only PAso del Mort
people could describe. But they will not
/ They are as nuts and gentle to-day as the!
! they were centuries ago, and submit to Thu
! second great conquest OF their country
, even more silently than they did to thu
lSt. The steanl.engine 10 greater thar
CorteE. Their doom was sealed before; II
will be accomplished now. Walking
through the streelsoi Pdso del Norte, seeing
tho pI .neval simplicity and poverty Of thu
, inhabitants, one wonders that they should
not have welcomed the coming Of rail
road, the bringing in Of supplies, the open
Ing OF market. But they did not. AL
they asked waE to b. let alone.
! The town claims TO number ten thousand
inhabitants This seems incredible. Still
It stretches for miles along the banks Of
the Rio Grande, nm almost unbrOken line
OF mud houses, Inud.walled Vineyards and
orchards; and similar line OF mud houses
and mud walls, with muddy bitches added
run oil at right angles TO the river, for d
long distance. Every doorway swArms
with women and babies; every shaded
ditch bank swRrms with children; and the
little plaza, OF q Sunday, Swarms with men.
Perhaps there are ten thousand alter alli
but that ten thousand people could be
living In q town, and the town remain
one month what Paso del Norte IL, Is
Il marvel, and would DO an impossible.
ity to any other race In the world;
only the Mexicaus could accomplish
such inertia, or endure such discomfort.
AsuSDAY SCENE.
Considered as u spectacle, rs picture,
tho town Is perfect; all that heart could
ask. To be there on Sunday is to escape
from America and the nineteenth century
as from time and place forgotten.
The church is a long, low adObc build.
lug, with good bell tower, Of Moorish de.
sigu. 1t is in all probability nearly thre
hundred years old. The church stands Oh
sandy eminence, looking southwark
down on the sandy little plaza. Two
sandy streets lead up 10 II; more than
sandy they are-anklO deep in sand, except
here and there rod or two Of scattered
pavement; prehistoric, apparently. and ap-
parently held IN reverence by tho Next
cans, who seldom walk on It, choosing
rather TO wade In the sand. The more ele.
giant Of the women wear long skirts, trail
Ing a foot or two behind them. They
would sCOrn 10 lift them. 1t has never
been the custom OF the race 10 do 80, and
no dOWager in EuglAnd can sweep her
brocade train over the Queens floors with
finer combination oil leiBurely nonchGl-
auce and dignity than do the Mexican
DANES trail their dusty Cottons through
the clouds OF sand in the streets Of P4So
del Sorte. 1t Is Os tine u thing, in its way,
us the sombrero. and rs full OF significance.
Long before the mass begins the floor oil
the church is crowded with kneeling
figures; men en- the right, women aud
'children on the left. A lew have brought
gay rugs or blankets to kneel on; but the
most kneel humbly on the bare floor
Upon all the faces Is IN expression OF
solemn, almost sad devotion, which wonld
not have seemed inadequate even to Peter |
Gomez, who, two hundred years ugo, used |
10 preach from the queer little carved cask |
hanging precAriOusly high up OH the wall.
The books OF births, marriages and deaths
which he kept are still lying where he for
80 many yeats used 10 put them carefully
away, III big Oaken chest In the sacristy.
Their sheep.sEin covers are fringed at the
edges, and worn, almost as by stippling
tools; but his handwriting Ia us clear US
ever, and the dates 1852, 1858, 1855, are as
distinct as those written last year. One
wonders what secrets, in the matter Of lux.
those. old padres possessed; certainly some
Of an efficacy not known now.
AFTER woEsnlr PLEASURE
On the south side OF the plaza few cot.
tonwood trees have made out to live and
grow high enough to give shade. To this
the congregation Of worshipers slowly
made their way. Already awaiting them
there was motley row Of traflickers, with
an odd and poverty stricken show Of goods
for sale: little tables spread with peppers,
onions, withered peaches and peaE,-a
handful or two OF each; small wheclbar
rows half tllled with cakes OF dusky bread;
boiled sweet potatoes, or boiled yellow
squashes. Behind these tables, or on the
ground by the wheGlbarrows, squatted old
women, who anxiouSly eyed every possible
customer. At intervals, new venderS ar
rived, who met with nnwecome glances by
those on the spot Some brought a halt
dozen cakes or lOaves OF bread in a basket
neatly covered with white cloth; some
brought single watermelon, or boiled
squash, which they cut into small
pieces, and sold with as much gravity
and precision as would suffice for the
most important business transactions.
Every one had roasted corn for sale, roasted
in the husk. II seemed the favorable
Wand; men, women, children, oil ate It, |
standing, stripping OH the husk and throw.
ing them on the ground. For a few
minutes, the spectacle was grotesque; hun
dreds Of hands holding corn ears ut open
mouths, white teeth gnawing, clicking, oil
around. 4 squad Of Mexican soldies, with
neat white linen jackets and trousers and
bright blue caps, were tho greatest de-
vourers OF the corn. The ground under
their feet was piled with the husks they had
thrown down, and they laughingly shuillcd
them away with their feet as they tossed
down fresh ones. An old begyar woman,
half naked, and with long streaming gray
hair, went about piCkingup the husks, and
examining them into her skirt, held up high,
leaving her gauut Ohllegs bare TO tne knees.
Another beggar had had the gift Of half a
watermelon. He leaned back In q
corner Of the plaza, his head resting
on the wall with his left hand
hold the melon on his knee, with two fin.
gers Of the right he lazlly scooped out
mouthiuls OF it, and carried them slowly
to his mouth, the Juice dripping like water
all the way. At each mOuthful, he shut
his eyes and sighed with satisfaction.
AN OLD OcQuAiSrAScR.
Lounging up and down in the crowd
went swarthy.iaced man, wearing a red
iez and the full gathered Turkish trousers,
selling rosaries Of pearl and Of olive wood.
lie said the rosaries came from Jerusalem,
and he was Syrian. His face seemed
strangely familiar to me. "Where have |
seen you beiore?' exclaimed. "Were
you not at 0ber-Ammergau, at the last Pas.
1Yes, lady" he replied.
It was, indeed, the very man from whom
| had bought rosaries and Jerusalem roses,
In the Ammergau Valley, Two years ago.
lie smiled with a superior calm, rs he
passed on. To his Oriental mind there was
nothing surprising in the encounter; and
he would no doubt, have compassionlted
me as the victim Of an imagination boot
lessly active, II he bad known how perth
naCiously my eyes aud my wandering
fancy followed him, as he stroIled back and
forth, swinging his crimson md pcarly
beads on the fingers Of his right hand,
offering them with mute gesture, so slight
Il seemed hardly 10 demand recognition,
and regarding with au equal nonchalant
glance those who bought and those who
tnrnnh AWAY. From Ober.Ammergau 10