Connecticut western news., 1884-02-13
DEALING WITH INDIANS.
The Mexican Method Applied 10 the Apaches-A Singular scene in m Azier City.

A newspaper correspondent writing from Chihuahua, Mexico, says :-"Ther, they come" !" said little fellow, as h, raised yell that fairly made my throa ache to hear.
 'And what are they? I asked, stil ignorant of the cause of all the uproar.
 "Why, the rancheros and the Indians, be said. "Come to the tower, Senor and see the grand sight" he continued darting away toward the cathedral. But, needless of the invitation. though still excited. pushed my way along to the wall in front of the church, and, crawl ing to place made for me, looked as directed, and caught sight of q slow moving body of men, horses, flags, and women coming down the street. A band leading the procession was performing some sort of wild, soul-stirring march, but the music was hardly audible above the incessant cheering by the people lining the streets. Marching steadily toward me, soon saw the composition of the strange army. Directly behind the band came some thirty horsemen, each man carrying the gun he had used, while his pistol hung from his we'll worn saddle. Of all the swarthy, heavy bearded, and tan-browned faces which looked upon the cheering masses, not one wore m expression other than stolid indifference. The furious welcome, manifested in Q hundred different ways, never drew even a smile from the set lips of the brave-hearted fellows who had risked their lives for the peoples safety. Calmly looking upon the upturned faces, they rode slowly along, as immovable and undisturbed as the white walls of the houses they passed. Behind the ranchmen, who rode two abreast, came eight men on foot, who had long poles, which they continually moved up and down, and fastened 10 them were eight long-haired, dark, biood-stained scalps, the proofs among the people of the death of so many hated Apaches. When these hideous trophies were seen the people grew frantic with joy. Bravos resounded on all sides; men shouted until hoarse; women waved their shawls, and the ex- cited gazers applauded.
 But the scalp bearers had hardly passed before there came the squaws who had been taken. The minute these bare-headed, dirty, homely, hard-faced women were seen the cheering and ex- citement increased, while the boys in the street pressed hard against the guards and tried to strike at the wives of those who had killed and tortured their parents, brothers and sisters. Some of the prisoners held their nursing babies in their arms, and needed only them. The big-eyed nurslings, held as lovingly by their wild mothers, as ever the wo- men of civilization hold their young in time of danger, cried with fear, and even the food their mothers offered them so piteously did not serve to comfort them. It was enough to make the heart ache to see these ignorant mothers, hated and struck at because born in wilderness and the wives of savages, caress their children to their breasts and hold them away from the cruel hands outstretched to strike. And yet so hated is an Apache that every vail was hailed with joy by the friends of the victors. l saw not one face among all the mothers there that had pity written upon it. Women held their children up to see the ragged squaws and laughed at the unhappy wives and cursed them. Chihuahua forgot its Sunday and the people forgot their religion. The cathedral stood near by, the air was soft and beautiful, and still not a mothers heart apparently pit jed or prayed for the unfortunates who marched to a living death with the scalps of their husbands swinging before them.
 An hour later, when the city was en- toying its Sunday evening quiet, I met the Consul of the United States and asked him what became of the captured women.
 "They are to be confined in the fort at Vera Cruz for life.
 "And the children?"
 "They are given to whoever wants them, and are brought up as servants. y
 "Slaves, then, you mean ?" said.
 "Hardly that. They will be paid wages when they earn them, and such lives will be better for them than if they were captured"
 "What is done with the scalps?" I asked.
 ''The scalps? Why, the government buys them. Every one brings S200. The Apaches have long been the scourge of northern Mexico"