Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-04-10

/ Salazar, where the Ddltle pcVN cen eio
Mexicans and MaxiHilian's soldiers
was fought; and the battalions of men
laden with freight, trudging towards
the capital--sixty, seventy, eighty
miles away! There are the hltdcdterOs
the porters of the republic, jealous
competitors of the locomotive.
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR DWELLINGS.
The country we pass through, were
! il not for the close-tilled fields, would
scarcely seem to be inhabited. But it
lis. Houses are not conspicuous, and
they are not evenly distrlbuted-ss
our own rural districts. The dangers
of war and plumber (Which the rail
roads have now banished) compelled
them 20 cluster, and the villages and
] haciendas are numerous. Here at the
| left rises the tower and dome OF a
great white stone church 1t is 200
/ feet long and has a chime of bells,
I and is magnificent, worthy Of any
| city. You ask: What on earth IS
that fine church standing out here
alone f0r?' Look closer and you shall
see small mummocks, the color of the
earth, a cord or two in each-hundreas
or thousands of them scattered all
about. You inspect them through your
glass and say, Il think they are piles
Of brush or peat for the chIrch fire
Or are they-is it possible that they
are human habitauonsY
Yes, they are dwellings. This is an
Indian village, and these are vii
layers. Most of their homes are low
huts built of turf or Of cane stuck in
the ground, without a window, with
out table, chair, stove, or bed. Some
of these people have large families.
They Possess varsoui earthen pots for
cooking. For knives and forks they use
fingers. They shut the door by set
ting up a sheaf of straw at the only
orifice.
Yet they have built a splendid
church with nave, and choir, and
apse; with fretted ceiling and re
sounding dome; with a front of onyx
or of jasper; with a marble pulpit and
a silver chancel rail. 1t is only con
spicuous building in the village, it
cost more than all the homes of its
builders, which are mere kennels by
its side. They are devout Catholics
they are peaceable, kind hearted, |
polite, and ignorant; and to raise this
superb temple and pay the priests |
who minister at its altar they deny |
themselves even the comforts Of life !
How full this poor world is of men |
who are willing to earn a good stout
salary by telling other men what
neither Of them know
| wish | could see a tall school |
house somewhere. Here far away on |
the side-hill at the right is a different !
sort Of structural vast struggling |
one-story building covering five acres !
If it were in Connecticut | should |
infer that it was a particularly solid
structure erected for the country |
cattle show and fair. Out here It'll
looks like a fortress. And yet it may
be church, for there is a tower to
one corner with a bell in it,
Yes; it is both a fortress and al
church. In other words it is Span
ish farm house-the homestead of one
of the immense estates of Mexico. It'll
is called a hacienda. All of the coun-
try round as far as you can see be-
longs to that haciendado. There are
soldiers belonging to him, armed for
the defense of the place against the
brigands, who formerly, before the
era of railroads infested this place.
And a doctor belongs to him, to heal, |
or otherwise his sick. And a priest
belongs to him who helps all the PEG.
pie to say their prayers properly in
chapel And around the outside now
you Will see large numbers of the
same sort of humble dwellings before
described There live many poems,
and some of them belong to him too,
for tAe state makes them his serfs as
long as they are his debtors, Slavery
does not exist in Mexico in law, nor
any way except in fact.
One of these hacieHdas comes in
view every few miles. There are over
13, coo of them in Mexico, and they
own four-fifths of all the land. One
of them, reaching from I'll Paso down
to Chihuahua, covers 1000 square
miles Is that as large as Rhode Is
landl 1 have no figures at hand. II
belongs to Maritime Del Rio Anoth
er, still larger, belongs to the rich
Condo family, and there is another
up the National Road that includes
from 10000 to 1900 square miles.
Those overshadowing haciendas We're
grants of the kingof Spain to his cav
alters after the conquest, and owing to
tue law of primogenitme, which was
repealed but recently, they remained
mostly intact This feudal system of
vast estates is the present weakness of
the republic.
4 ScrupulOus Farmer
Al 4bn bnerip,,ipor Of +1,a al aNc;4o