Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-09-05
Carriage Riding Through Mexico.

Carriage Riding Through Mexico.
We stopped for lunch at an Indian vii
lage of unpronounceable name, patron
izing its only public resting-place-a
s'fondita," which is Spanish for little
restaurant. The Airt-1oor of this way
side inn was as neat as broom could
make it, the pictured saints upon its
whitewashed walls were freshly wreathed
with paper roses, rickety-legggged wooden
benches were ranged against the walls,
and the only two chairs the establish
ment afforded were brought for the &C
commodation of las Americans, who
were suspected of not wishing to con
form to the native custom of squatting
upon a petate. The windows were
guiltless Of glass and had the usual iron
bars before them, but l noticed that the
rude barn-like shutters were of solid ma
hogany, which wood is cheaper here,
because less rare, than common pine.
Our refreshment was speedily spread
upon a w~ell-scoured table, to'which the
addition of a cloth would have been an
homogeneous superfuity-a jar of rancid
sleeps milk, curd-cheese and honey,
biscuits. which would have made most
destructive cannon balls, and a basket
of mangos, tamarinds and pomegran-
ates, temptingly arranged,in fresh green
leaves, as the poorest Of these people
have a tasteful habit of doing; of course
the inevitable pulque was at hand,
served from a pig-skin which gurgled an
approving note alarmingly like fire
while emptying its contents into u
mugs. These so-called ''pig-skins'' are
really the undressed hides Of sheep with
the wool side turned in. Nothing else
is considered so good for the national
beverage, and we are told that a smallest
sized skin costs about two dollars and
fifty cents and lasts little more than q
month, as the fermentation going on
within soon eats the wool off. The.
dirtiest of these Indians make the most
delicious curd-cheeses of mixed goats
and cows milk, which are eaten with
wild honey or crumbled into the ~frijoles
(stewed beans) without which no mea:
is complete. Though the cheeses are
extensively initiated by their betters in
social station, none can make them SO
we'll as the Indians, who have been
offered considerable sums for the recipe
which they decline to sell, finding it
more profitable to keep this secret. Evil
IDENTIFY the proper flavor needs certain
conditions-of adjacent dirt, lice, foul
odors, etc., which los ricos fail to furn-
ish. At the conclusion of this dainty
repast the mistress of the manse dived.
into the depths of her greasy gown and,
produced her cigarette holder, proffer-
ing the time honored courtesy of the
country with an air which a princess
might envy-and Betsy and 1 would not
for the world have wounded her feelings
by refusing the honor of sharing her
smoke.
Having manfully performed that po-
lite duty, while the mules were resting
we wandered out to view the village,
whose low-roofed and no-roofed casas
are nestled at the foot of dark hills. Its
quaint adobe church, having hidden the
mold and cracks of centuries under a
fresh coat of pink and blue plaster,
seemed taking on rakish airs, like a
%fashionably bewigged o~ctogenarian;
while ranged around the walls of its
weedy graveyard was . row of grinning
skulls. l picked up one, with the in
tention OF adding it to my collection of
vienerdos de Mexico; but it crumbled to
dust at a touch and filled the air with
fine powder. Then we strayed into the
school house, where a bevy of ragged
boys and girls were shouting their les
sons in singing chorus. In Mexican
schools children never study silently,
but all tasks are committed to memory
by. loud repetition. The poor, pale,
shabby old woman who presided seemed
half distracted, as no doubt she was, for
the noise was %deafening, and the clutch'
of her thin claw upon a wicked looking
switch clearly indicated that nothing
but u presence deferred her from
''making a n example," of some luokless
urchin. The only ''books'' these chill
dren used were some old bills of Con-
gress, much thumbed and dog-eared,
from which they were learning to spell,
while other lessons were given by the
teacher-''out of her own head" as she
eXplained-upon the blackboard. We
left the little Babel reluctantly, know
ing full well that ancient maiden was
only waiting u exit to urge certain
tagging feet upon the thorny steps Ok
knowledge by energetic switch suasion.
Poor little ragamutfins! The small
amount of useless learning that may be
beaten into them will not alleviate one
jot or little of their hopeless lives-nor
even result in improving their apparel.
as the first taste of the tree of knowledge
is said to have done by our earliest an
cestors.-Cor. N. Y. Graphic.
An English statistician maintains
that the daily increase of wealth in the
United States is upward of twenty-five
million dollars, or about eight hundred
and thirty millions Il year, which isone-