The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-02-22
THE DlENiCANS,
Of Life III NV Mexico
characteristics OF a Pannla

Features Of Life III NV Mextco-
Characteristics of - People.
Correspondence Wheeling 1 ,trlligence.
New Mexico is an immense country
and also a very peculiar country. Its
largest town is Las Vegas, and sa
place Of 8 900 people-so the citizens
say at least-and YOU know how prone
people are to tell the truth about the
size Of their towns. The lats Thomas
Carlyle onc said that England was a
country Of %, oDo,o0o of people, mostly
Tools" Mexico Isl country of
1l4,0U0, 100 square miles, and l35, 900
people, mostly Mexlcans. Here the
Mexicans live in all their ancient
primitiveness and good for-nothjngness.
They constitute about two-thirds of the
population. There are possibly so, 900
white peoble in the Territory. Mexicans
are not spoken of as white people, for
tie very good reason that they are Eot
white. They are generally as dark as
mnIattos and sometimes as white as
qladroons. Those Of Indian mixture
that is, recent mizture-have straight
Indian hair. Thos4 OF the more pro.
nounced Spanish type have dark, curly
hair. And yet, with dark complications,
dark eyes. and dark hair, YOU rarely
see q ZEAL handso ne man d woman.
They live poor and look poor. People
generally look the way they live.
The Mexican masses live in adobe
hcuses-salied dooy houses out
~here-that Is, houses built out of brown
mud. They mix this mud with a few
small stones SO uttines, but not often.
1t is quite often mud bricks, about three
times the size of our bricks, dried in the
sun aud laid in the wall two feet thick.
Nearly all o! them are one story houses.
Many Of them are built, like a fort,
several famili $ living in their diff rant
compartments, and having q common
courtyard and placeta.
Tile Indians cali their hamlets puebles,
while the MexIcans call them placetas.
They live on the floors, of their houses.
and the floors, like the walls are sirnpy
dolby" or earth. Go in and out where
you will. you nearly always find
the women and children sqnattin.
on the floor. | suppose that the
large majority of MeXicans sleep on the
ground and eat on the ground and live
on the ground. AS a race they sem to
have been born tired. They are a great
people 10 sit and lie down. In This re-
spect, rs well in their general STYLE and
manner OF living, they seem to be near
akin to the Southern negro. They have
but little more get up and get in them.
Very few of them can speak English.
They have a Spanish patois OF their own.
And yet they are a very polite people.
You can venture to 20 into their houses
when visiting places with impunitv.
They salute you with n nod and Il smile,
And ifyou can speak a few words OF
Spanish, as for in lance, "huenos dias'
good day. they are EVER so much pleased.
And when You cave they salute you
with an .'adtos" (soodby).
The Mexican poor, and nearly al of
them are mighty poor, live on less
than any people in America, not ex-
coping the Chinese. They can, for
mixed with red peppers. Red Pepper
seem to be a sample article of diet
with them, and you will see strings of
peppers on the sides other "po ys''
inst as you will seq $ rings OF garlic in
The French market in New Orleans.
They call then Chilly" and chilly is
omnipresent in their diet. A Mexican
is content to drive three or four ba-ros
into town tlittle jucks and ~iennies
loaded with plnon wool, representing
perhaps a week of work-anu TIL s he
sells for two bits Il burro-ioai-aud with
the proceeds lac buys II Sleeps head or
two or onie equivalent In the way Of
meat, and then feasts Cor a week on
chilly soup. Tneir poor diet is the
reason. SOFT is sail, Why they are so
small, delicate and weak as compared
with the whites. They only get about
half the pay for work that white do.
a boss carpenter told M, that he paid
Americans 81 and "a ), per day, and
Mexic ms s.. % and ~ %.
by the way, this boss carpenter IS a
German named Joseph Thielen. from
Guaymas pronounced Wymas), Mexico,
down on the. Sonora Rail Dad, on which
he is a division boss, and he Il refugee
ing here rom the yeiicw fever. He
says that the Mexieans are the greatest
gamblers on earth exceeding the Chin
ese if possible-and that as soon as they
get their pay IN paytlavs they proceed
to spread a blanket and bet their money.
Hence they are always hard np.and fre-
quent!y they will sell their pay
ahead at u shave Of % per cent. to get