Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1884-01-15
THE CITY OF MEXICO.


Mexico is q serious and by no means
n gay city. There are no crowds upon
the sidewalks, no eating of ices in pub
lie, no cafes chantants, nothing Pari-
sian. by . or 10 o'clock the good peo-
pie appear TO have retired already, to be
up betimes in the morning for the work
of the day. Amilitary band plays three
evenings i'll tho week, but even this,
except on Sundays, is 90 sparsely at
tended that the men seem to be discourse
ing their music for their own amuse-
ment Policemen are found stationed
at short intervals in the quiet streets,
with their lanterns set In the middle Of
the roadway. They are obliged by the
regulations to signal thoir whereabouts
every quarter of an hour, and the sound
Of their whistles, which have shrill,
dolcful note, like November wind, may
be heard repeated from one to the other
oil the night through.
As the place does not expect tourists,
there IRE almost none OF the appurten-
ances for their enlightenment to be met
with elsewhere. While this may have
its annoyances, if the demands Of an
ardent curiosity remain too long unan-
swerel, the freedom from responsibility
to q Baedeker or Murray has advant-
ages Of its own. The visitor with an
eye for the picturesque dips into deli
cious feast Of novelties, makes discover
les on every hand, and may have the
pleasure of testing the value of his OVID
unaided conclusions. By daylight, with
its bright colors upon it, aid its normal
stir of life, the famous remote capital is
a very different place. By little and
little the misapprehensicns Of the night
are shaken of, From the first moment
of disappointment we like it always
more instead OF less.
Figures go by whose blankets one
burns to take from themIiorporticres. The
men of the poorer sort wear or carry
universally the serape-a blanket with a
slit in the center for the insertion Of the
head. Apart from its artistic patterns,
it is useful garment in many emergen-
cies. 1t is not the most improbable
thing in the VIC I'D that, in the course Of
the Mexican revival, We may yet see it
introduced in the States, and running
the course OF popularity of the ulster.
The corresponding national garment OF
women is the lebozo, a shawl or scarf,
generally Of blue cotton, which, crossed
over the head and lower part of the face,
gives Moorish appearance.
Mexico is extraordinarily fat, and its
streets laid rs regularly at right angles
as in our own most symmetrical town.
At the ends OF all OF them, IN what.
soever direction, the view is closed by
mountains. Its flatness, together with
its position in reference to the adjoining
series of lakes, is one of the circum.
stances which have occasioned the
greatest solicitude in the past, and still
call for almost as much. Bad odors
beset the nostrils, and stagnant cutters,
neglected heaps Of garbage, The sight o.
the wayfarer about the interesting
streets. The situation in this particular
is q crying shame. The citizens o.
Mexico should stop, rs if an enemy we're
at their gates, and devote themselves tc
its remedy. Not another railroad should
be built, not another dollar voted tc
any public purpose, till it is attended
to.-W H. Bishop, IN Harper'S Maya
zine.