Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-08-28
a VEGETABLE WONDER.



and Clofhing In mexicos
a Mexico letter to the Pittsburg Dis
patch coA+ains the following account OF
wonderful Pant: About the year 990-
SO the legend luns-a Toltec Indian,
whose name was Papantzin, was the first
to discover that the juice Of the maguey
(agave Americana, better known to us as
aloe or century plapt, y might be dis
.ributed into beverage fit for the gods.
Desiring to bring this new blessing into
royal favor, he called his only daughter,
xochiti, signifying s'the flower" and
Commissioned her as cup-bearer to the
king. This ancient Hebe, we are told,
was young and beautiful, and the mon
arch not alone drank and praised the
pulque, but welded the maiden; and to
this day the beverage of old Papantzin-
who was no doubt called Pap" by his
dntiful chiIdren-is the universal bever-
age of the lower classes in Mexico. Ma
guey is as much of feature OF this
country as trees are of the United States
All over the land it flourishes, cultivated
with care in many places, growing out cf
bare rocks on the mountain sides, and
springing up as weed in waterless des-
erts. 1t has an infinite variety Of uses,
and is to the Mexican Indian what the
reindeer is to the Esquimaux or the rice
plant to the Chinaman.
1t seems special gift of nature to sup
ply all his simple wants; its coarse cloth
making his first, last and only garment,
and its strong rope tying down his coffin
lid. The fiber Of the leaf, beaten and
spun. forms fine and beautiful thread,
glossy as silk in texture, which resembles
linen when woven into fabric. 1t IS
manufactured into these coarser cloths,
also into paper, baggihg. sail-cloth, sack
ing. etc. The rope made from it is
called MANILA hemp, and is of uncom-
mon strength and excellence, by far the
bestln use. The fiber yielded by the
maguey leaf, when dressed, is equal to
the best Yucatan honeyquin and jute for
cordage, and its pulp is unsurpassed for
paper making. Cut into coarse straws it
forms the brooms and whitewash brushes
of the country, and as substitute for
bristles it is made into scrub -brooms,
dusting- brushes and the tiny brooms
which take the place of combs among
the common people. Beautiful fancy
baskets, money bags, purses, satchels, and
thousand other toys, trinkets and or
naments are woven from its fiber. Has
your horse sprain, ourdonkey bruise,
maguey pounded and bound upon the
injured member is certain cure. In
short, SO varied and manifold are its
uses that to enumerate them all is i'm
possible.
The pointed thorns which terminate
the gigantic leaves are strong as nails
and sharp as needles, and to this day as
in primitive times, they serve for nails,
needles and pins. The ancient sanguin-
ary priests, inky-haired and adder.an-
oited, used to pierce their breasts and
tear their limbs with these thorns in acts
of expiation and penance; and upon
paper made of maguey fiber the early
Mexicans painted their picture histories
and hyeroglyphic figures. Atpresent the
greatest value of the maguey comes from
the amount of intoxicating liquor it pro-
duces. Two species of it are cultivated,
one in the desert portions Of the country,
from which mescal CMexican tangle-foot)
is distilled from the expressed juice of
the leaves, and the other is the Towering
maguey, that wonder of the vegetable
world, from which pulque is drawn. In
the district of Teyuila only no pulque is
made from it, because there its special
virtues enable the same plant to produce
the brandy named after the district in
which it grows, and which is widely
used throughout the country. Teyuila
brandy is made by an ancient system
dating back to the days Of the
Aztecs, which consists simply
in roasting the bulbs in furnace dug in
the ground. This gives sweetish
liquor. which, when distilled, yields the
favorite intoxieant. 1t is said that one
can get drunken and remain so longer on
smaller quantity of teyuila than any
other known liquid, although it is color
less as water, and almost as tasteless.
But the principal maguey product is
pulque, Of which il is estimated that the
City of Mexico alone consumes over two
hundred thousand pints daily The gov
ernment derives revenue of 81 900 q