Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-10-09
RoUGnENG TIN MEXICO.

The mail system in Old Mexico is
quite different from that in the" States. 7"
When you inquire for mail at a post
office in that lcountry the postmaster
hands you out all the letters and pa
pers in the Office. You look over them
and take what you please. It costs
six cents to send letter from Mexico
to any foreigtsraprs<f while . fwsn%
ty-five cent stamp is necessary to car
ry domestic letter.
Their land islirrigated, as well as we
can describe it. as follows:
Each district has q large aqueduct,
connecting with some river or stream,
that is run through or over the high
ground in the district. Every hqcien-
da (farm) has several smaller cutters
connecting with this large drain. it
is necessary to water some field or farm,
the owner notifiessa all who have an in
terest in this main gutter that he will
on a certain day open his cutters and
dam up the main rsaque." The field
to be irrigated is laid off in squares
about twenty feet across. with ridges
or lills oftlirt about foot high around
them. The water Is let in one square
until it is fu.l then The gutter is closed
and an opening made into the next
one, and SO on until the entire field is
properly watered.
All nails. locks, hinges, etc, are
made by the blacksmiths. Nothing
of that character is ever offered for sale
in the stores, and il any ything of that
isskind needed you MUST 60 to the black
smiths and have it made to order.
Iron is very scaroe. Scrap or old
iron sells for ten eents per pound.
When the railroads were first put"
through there, the managers had to
keep men out on the track continually
night and day to keep the Mexicans
from stealing the switch targets, fish
plates, bolts, etc.
We were one day called upon to wit
ness gentIeman's signature. We
signed our name rs we usually do,
very plainly with no fancy "curIes"
after it. They objected strongly to the
way we had signed our name, and told
Us the signing of the name to a !ocu-
ment there was worth nothing; that
the fancy ''curle-ma-cne" after or un-
derneath tho signature was the only
thing that was looked at.
AS we have stated before, every
thing is sold with the fclacker" as a
basis for the price. Mefchants there,
often. instead of usinga day-bcok or
ledger to keep track of the amount due
them from their customers, take q
small eau or cup, and, for every "clack-
er's" worth of goods the buyer pur-
chases from them OH credit, he drops a
pea or pebble into the can, each being
numbered or having. the creditors
name on it.
The introduction Ofreapers, mowers,
piows, ETC.. was just commencing as
we left. All of these goods we saw in
that country were of American make.
We think we have given about all
the facts that would be interesting in
these articles. We hope they have
been interesting to our readers. We
know they could have no more or 9TH
er claim on their attention. When we
first started to write these, our expe-
it was our intentien to not on
ly make them interesting but to s'fin-
isl,n them up in such manner that
we would gain the reputation Of being
a clear and concise writer, il not an
elegant or elaborate one. But, we
must confess we have failed, signaliy