, 1885-08-04
IN A HACIENDA.
An IMMENSE STRUCTURE or STONE
OR PLksTeRso ADOBE.


10 NNtAH" - ~ 49, lrAAfN.N
All Mexican haciendas are much alike
as To general features The main build.
ing j. always an immense structure Of
stone. or OF equllly durable plasicred
adobe neither faro nor country house
according 10 our ideas. but with n char.
acler peculiar 10 itself. II resembles n
fort more than anything else TO be found
At the north. with bastions and ramparts
like the domain Of n baron Of old. its cor
ner lowers aud loophole. for runs hay.
ing been built with an eye TO revolutionary
sieges aud tho frequent raids of ladrones
The wealthy proprietor seldom lives
upon his estate, but I YES 1t over TO the
care OF nm administrator. who in turn lets
ID 10 sub administrator who each have
their clerks and secretaries to superiutend
the overseers. and so on down through
the social gnmut Of The poems who super.
intend the pigs As may be imagined.
there is moi much thrift in this complex
system. for when every ear of corn and
gallon of rulque must pass through so
many hands 1t naturally follows that most
of The profits are absorbed before those Of
the owner are reached
Most Of these iortlike houses have the
appearance OF barracks. being curtainless
and carpetless. with brick toors. white.
washed inner walls. and numberless
empty rooms scantily furnished with
wooden benches. pine tables, and iron
bedsteads. put up only when wanted:
while the ad accent Kitchens. servants
quarters, bakery, out hodges, enormous
granaries. barns. and slab es. and the out.
Wing huts Of the peasantry form a village
within the ramparts.
nv very hacienda. whether rich or pool,
has It's own church of more or less mag
niicence. which TO the curiosii y.hunting
fonriaT ia "a parfarf fraaUrra frnua .
charming ugliness. each private sanctuary
possessing as many saints as the grand
cathedral in the City of Mexico. while
candles are constantly burning upon its
altar. and yoiive offerings Of fruits and
grains are piled around The holy family
for a blessing upon the crops for the poems
are universally devotedly pious and su
peistitious 10 a degree. In those excep.
tional instances where the millionaire
owners live uDon their estates. their i'm
mediate famil es are sometimes numbered
by scores. This Is partially due to the
prevalence Of an old Spanish custom,
which virtually obliges gentlemen to pro.
vide for all their des .itute female re a.
lives and to shield them and their offspring
from contact with the world.
Most Of the lonesome haciendados
Ia C few books. never any daily mails or
frequent newspapers. and no manner Of
amusement except such as they can ere.
ate within themselves Their life is like
that Of voyagcrs at sea. there being no es.
cape from The ship till the harbor IA
ganed-the principal difference being
That the con rement Of the hacienda com.
munit ends only at the Stygian river.
Happily they are an exceedingly gentle,
ale %tionaic. and even-tempered race, for
a family quarrel in ST. b a situation would
he unbearablr with II even the advant.
ages possessed by the ancient citizens of
Tonpchitilian. who built their early homes
upon The floating gardens of the great
salt lake TeXcoco. and when the neigh
borhood was not to their liking could
pad lie away with their entire estate.
1t is easy TO understand thai. in these
circumstances Il visitor at the hacienda is
hailed as Il boon direct from heaven. and
kept Ms long as he or she can e prevailed
upon TO rema n. In former times there
were few inns IN Mexico and now they
are almost unknown outside the great
cities hence. persons travelling from place
10 place. with the Tstinuc of armed at
PENDANTS which personal safety requires,
nre DBL ged 90 dei end upon the hospital
ity of the hac .endados for nightly stop.
ing places. SO generally il ID $ ex.
poet d that the proprietors always set
a art n generous sum In the provision for
annual Z pcnditures 10 be used by their
administrations IN he entertainment OF
chance guests. whether they be rich or
poor. friends or strangers. Many are tho
DELIGHTFUL acquainianceships formed by
these acc denial meetings. and sometimes
the hait-iutended for a single night
lenglhens into weeks and paves the wa
fer future returns for the sole purpose OF
visiting The rOmances begun in This
manner between wandering KIN ghis and
imprisoned maidcns are legion. u d the
end Is matrimony with the usual SC uel.
They lived Ia. PLY forever afterward "