Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-02-16

long since, upon the attempt at en-
forcement OF the law making nickel
money legal tender. an infuriated
mob assailed the Palacio Nacional,
and several men were killed and
wounded. The old money was
based upon the standard OF the real,
as in Spain. This sum is equivalent
to 123 cents two reals are some
times called a pesetd. but generally
all higher sums up to the peso, or
dollar, are reckoned in reals. This
comes very naturally to the old
Westerners, who are more accus-
toned to speak of "six bits" than of
'sseventy-five cents" 1 The word
medic. meaning ''half," is applied
to the old coin of st cents, half
real cuortilid, to the quarter-real,
and to the quantities of Mexican
copper coins of one-elghth real, they
give a native term-cldco. The
new nickel coins are one cent, two
cent, and five-cent pieces. and sill
yer ten cent pieces have been intro
duced, as we'll as the terms quarter
dollar and half-dollar, instead of the
old nomenclature two reals and four
reals. There is something of sound
philosophy at the bottom of this OPP
position of the Mexican natives to
the nickel money, though probably
fvery few OF them are aware of it..
The coins are not worth quite what
they represent, and the Government
has added to its revenue by letting
out the minting contract to COM
pany who have made an excellent
thing out of it. Even yet there is a
curious state of affairs existing in
regard to this currency. The Gov
eminent has made enactment upon
enactment regarding the value
at which the different coins shall be
received, but the shop-keepers per-
sist in treating it as they choose,
and in the easiest way, which is to
them the only way. Thus, in small
transactions. nearly everybody in
the city accepts IL cents in miguel as
equivalent to one real. Twelve
cents has the same purchasing pow
er as is possessed by twelve-and-a-
half cents. Ninety-six cents is pre-
cisely the same as one dollar, when
spent by the real or less. And
Mexico is the only place in the
world where $500 and $4,000 are
equivalent, in the same currency.
No wonder the poor bewildered ma
tives rebel at such a condition of
affairs. They cannot understand
what becomes of the odd four cents
on the dollar.
Many of the old building in and
around Mexico have great cracks
from ceilings to floor, and in hun
dreds of others there have been
reservations made. These are re-
suits of earthquakes which occur,
with varied degrees of violence.
several times year, l did not
have the doubtful pleasure Of under
going the experience, but Ii gentle
man was describing to me one that
occurred shortly before my arrival.
81 was standing before the bureau,
shaving" said he, "when suddenly
the room began to turn round and
sway about. imagined I had an
attack of vertigo-never having felt
an earthquake beforehand assure
your 1 felt sick, and staggered to
chair. Then heard a great noise
IN the street, and looking out of the
window, saw people rushing about
like mad, and some crouching down
in the middle of the street. By this
time 1 had recovered my senses,
and the earthquake had ceased. Ii
isn't at all a pleasant experience,
and you may thank your lucky stars
you missed it,"
The shape and nature of the
houses in the city are particularly
adapted to withstand attacks of this
nature, being built in the form
of q hollow square, and very few
are more than two stories high 3
fiat rooted, and solid. 1t is an evil
dence of the strength of recent i'm
migration into Mexico, that the
present prices of real estate in the
city are simply exorbitant, and only
the wealthiest class can afford to
own houses there. Rents are in
proportion. 1t is very difficult to
find any house in the business part,
for rent or sale. And yet very little
building is going on. Many of the
land owners of the suburbs belong
to that class sometimes called "old |
fogies," and do not wish to contrib
ute toward the extension of the bus
mess of the latter days, and the in
cursion of the hated "gringo,"-or
foreigner. These are the old resi-
dents, who would like to have the
old Mexico back again, with its
calm quiet, and its drowsy ease, in
stead of the Mexico of today, which
is fast becoming Europeanized and
1t is entertaining,
to listen to the Old
Mexican Fogy's talk. He can be
heard through some of their news
papers, which contain on their first
page an instalment of Don Quixote
DR. Gil Bias done in Mexicano-Span-
sh-on the second, ::sOme of the O.
NJ. Fps particular ventings OF spleen
ON the third, original poetry, each
poem column long and more, adj
iressed "To -" and advertise
nents on the fourth page-with now
md then an item of news concern ,
ng some Governmental decision, or ,
asst months cable news from Spain, |
4 Ia I