Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-02-09

QomeS oil tlef Catnedral rise owe
yontler; Popocatapetl's sharp con
Is far away toward Puebla; Will
look where you may North, South
East, Weston every side thesnoy
CLEANS from the tops of the noun
t ,ins. Stand inthesstfeet crossing
where four long, straight avenue
converge, and look down them, ant
far off you can see these snow-cap
ped peaks, touched white by tn
sun.
There are no property-holders il
Mexico, except conparativelya few
very rich men. This distribution
of wealth must be one OF the mos
potent causes of the present degre
dation in which the larger class o
the Mexicans are sunk. Out in ''tht
interlor, as the more thinly popu
lated states of the Republic are
called, there abound great hacienda.
belonging to men who are almost
absolute monarchs over their serfs
Some of there farms contain hun
dreds of thousands of acres of rich
arabic land, not one-tenth OF which
is even cultivated. There are great
groves of oranges, and an almost
unlimited abundance of pine-apples,
bananas, mangoes, and every Kind
of fruit, in fact. There are also
thousands OF acres devoted to the
cultivation OF the nadg,tey plant,
from which they extract pttqste, and
the fibres of which, made into a
kind of hemp, are exported all over
the world, and are made into the
strongest and toughest of cordage.
They also grow great deal of cof-
fee, and the coffee of Cordoba has
made name for itself, and con-
noisseurs rank its quality abovethat
of the Java of commerce.
Many Of these haciendas belong to
men who spend their entire lives
upon their own ground; while
many Of the proprietors pass the
greater part of their time in the
city, living quietly but magnificent
ly In some Oriental palace which
many4would assume, judging from
its exterior, tobe acomfortless barn.
l think the fact Of the difference ex-
isting between the outside and
inside appearance of the houses is a
characteristic evidence of the ma
ture of the people; for they are the
most natural diplomatists and liars
the world holds. 1t is an axiom in
their ethics that "when man asks
me question which relates TO my
affairs and not To his, have right
to give him any answer | choose. "
And depend upon it, the answer is
invariably calculated to mislead. II
would be strange thing ifa Mexi-
can went at any negotiation in a
direct manner. If he desires to buy
house from you, il is most proba-
BILE that he will first engage your at
tention upon some shipping inter
ests, or a Bonanza mine which he
has recently become interested in
or desires to purchase. He will
leave supremely satistied with him
self if the object OF his negotiation
has been accomplished in such a
manner that ypu. consider that little
transaction as nInere incidental-a
side issue. Yfss ar glyss, ;,
=, There are a great many abomina-
Bile traits ip the Mexican character,
They all talk-a silent Mexican is q
i,usus ndt,uUe-but they can DO more
talking, and make use Of more pro
family, and brag more, and after
all, give the least idea of their real
selves, than any people on earth
Their foremost good trait is hospi.
tality. Whenever you enter any
Mexican's house, he places it and
its occupants at your complete dis
posal. But. it is not certain to what
extent this offer will hold. They
are a most elusive race. Every
goodbye, when there is to be an
absence of several days or more, and
every greeting, between intimate
friends (and nearly every one of q
Mexican's acquaintance is his care
amigo,) is accompanied by many
endearing words of affection, much
falling into one another'sar tears
and kisses. Bearded men kiss one
another upon the cheeks, and strair
one another in their arms, upon the
slightest provocation, But theil
friendship is often true and sincere
and / have known some young mer
to bear II great deal in order t.
shield friend. Their character il
a curious mixture of kindness anC
brutality, delicacy and coarseness
of sincerity and mendacity.
S. T. WYETT.
q January, 1884.
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