Morning journal and courier., 1884-08-05
MEx1CO,s FAVORITE BEVERAGE.
PuIque, the National Drink, and How
 it is Manufactured.

| Pulque. the National Drink. ana How it is Manufactured.
 ! Mexican Letter to the Springfield Republican, Wishing to see for ourselves the whole ! process of pulque- making, we journeyed to ! the plains of Apam not long since to visit a | maeuey hacienda The tIachiquero took us l in charge-that official who is practical chief ! of both plantation and factory. We made a I rather picturesque caravan as we sallied forth in pursuit of information First rode the tlachiquero, his bronze skin contrasting ! well with his white dress, his immense som \ brero and leather apron, and the implements ! of his profession dangling from his belt. 1 Betsey and I followed, mounted upon don keys so diminutive that our dresses nearly ' dragged upon the ground, our beauty en- hanced by blue goggles which experience has ! taught us the value of wearing in this sunny ! country. The peons brought up the rear, l each driving donkey laden with pig-sklns, l into which the aeua miel was to be poured. The tlachiquero tells me that he goes period ically among his vegetable cows, marking ! those which have reached the period of eff forescence and are therefore ready for milk ing, by cutting a cross upon the topmost leaf Three times a day for three months each is milked-at 3 o'clock a. m., at a. m. y least one hundred and twenty-five gallons be- fore it dies.
 We went from plant to plant, watching the process of inserting the gourd with the cow's-horn point and the sucking of the s1- phol till the ''cows'' were all exhausted, and then our little caravan took up its line ot | march for the tinacal or vathouse. This is an enormous adobe shed, with earthen floor kept clean as the deck of a man-of-war. We entered in solemn procession, each peon as he passed the threshold removing his som brero and piously circulating Alabo bios! -''I praise God' One side of the building | is occupied by huge vats of ox-hide, the hairy side up, called tinas. In each tina was l thick curd of madre (mother) pulque, which performed the office of leaven, and whose very ''ancient and fshy smell' outrivalled | far-famed Cologne. When the pig-skins had | been carefully opened and the agua miel was ready for pouring out, the tlachiquero seized l a long stake, which is always kept ready for | the purpose, and made the sign of the cross ! in the rotten curds exclainifng devoutly, Ava l Maria purissima!-to which the Indians fer | vently responded, Alabad sea Dios Ia san | tissima Trinidadl-we praise God and the sa- | cred trinity What would happen to the | prologue if any of this pious performance | were neglected I am unable to state, for nev | CT within memory of the oldest inhabitant | has it been omitted or curtailed. After about three hours of fermentation in the 1 vats the liquor is drawn into barrels for the pulque shops and the f1ower-decked booths ] which adorn all the highways and byways of Mexico.
 They mix religion with their drinks, as with everything else in this Catholic country, in a manner which elsewhere would be con sidered somewhat sacrilegious. Every pull queria has picture of the Blessed Virgin or
 it's patron saint hung up above the barrels,
 and a little shrine with a crucifiX and burn
 ing candles is crowded among the bottles.
 The names of these shops are frequently
 more religious than appropriate. For in
 stance one opposite my window is called La
 Cantina del Merced-the saloon of mercy;
 that on the nearest corner is christened "The
 True Faith,' and little farther down the
 street is another dedicated "To the Mother
 of God!' Another rejoiees under the rather
 ambiguous title, Vamos al gulfo de Mexico
 ''Let us go to the Gulf of Mexico;" and
 scores of them are dedicated to Jesus, St.
 Joseph, St. John, St. Peter, St. Paul, Santis
 sirna Maria and all the other virgins, saints
 and angels known in the calendar