Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-05-21
MEXICO AND THE MENICANS.


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country and its inhabitants:
First, the climate. Mexico has been
called by some writers the "Italy of Amer
/ ica," whatever that implies. The atmos-
phere seems very dry, and in the country
pure There are the wet and the dry sea
SONS which hold pretty generally over
most of the territory, though there are
some exceptions. The wet season contn-
ues through the three or four months of
what we know in the North as summer,
the dry season holds, generally undated,
the remainder OF the twelve month. Pro
baby the temperature on the table lands
is quite uniform throughout these two
seasons-never very cold and never very
warm Gn the shade), even in the middle
of the day. Between the coast and noun
tain ranges, it is torrid. The past month
has proved that on the table lands, heavy
winter clothing was needed except for
five or six hours in the middle of the day.
In January the mercury ran down to 30
and ice formed in this part of the coun-
try. This severe cold was unusual.
Such climate as this would be fine in
New England where there are dry houses
and stoves and fuel, but it should be re-
membered that Mexican houses are damp
stone or mud affairs, without stoves,
CRATES, or fuel of any kind. The cooking
is done with little charcoal, and where
engines are run or steam generated pine
wood is used which sells for about SPA II
| cord The invalid who comes here for his
/ health has to lie in bed to keep warm till
the sun Is well up in the dry. season, and
III the wet season. the entire "a hours
! Until Mexico builds different houses and
I them
had better go to California, or stay at
home
In addition to the deprivations named,
life in this capital Is in constant peril for
lack of sanitary arrangements. Three
feet under the sidewalk is stored the sew
age of a quarter of a million of people
/ At certain seasons or when this gets I'M
endurable to the Mexican nose, the flag
stones are taken up and the sewage cart
ed off. This was being done in front of
| Hotel turbine as its guests went out to
breakfast Monday morning. The unusu-
al deathr rate i'll the city is thus accounted
for.
1t cannot be expected that a country
| that depends largely upon artificial irrl-
CATION can successfully compete in agr-
culture with one that is abundantly wa
tered by rainfall. \ large portion of this
country cannot even he artilicially irrigat
ed, the streams of water are SO scarce,
but must apparently forever remain desert.
| The extreme scarcity of both water and
fuel must largely shut ont manufacture
ing, for even cheap labor cannot make up
for the lack OF these two essentials.
Some of the customs and habits of the
MeXicans are vicious and demoraizing.
Theft is prominent vice. Gambling is
very common. Lottery tickets are ped
died on the streets and hawked about and
thrust into ones face as freely as the
daily papers i'll Boston. AS Il race the
people are unreliable if not treacherous.
AS one American maSter-WOrkman SAID
to the writer eff send one to do any
kind of work | must follow to see that he
does it, The brakemen and tiremen on
the Central railway are MeXicans; the
engineers an d conductors are Americans.
Before Il train starts out on any division,
the conductor examines with Il lantern,
if it be at night,l every coupling and CON
nection to see if the train-men have done
their duty. When Il freight train comes
to halt at a station it is not left by the
men in charge until all coupling-p pins,
links and other small pieces of movable
property are locked up, or they would be
stolen. As an indication of the trust the
government puts i'll its subjects it may be
worth mentioning that squad of armed
soldiers accompany passenger trains
also that each car on tram-ways that
run from one village or city to another has
an armed guard of two or three men Oh
the rear platform, These things are sug
. /
, Notwithstanding their poverty this PEG
pie are eXtravagant to prodigality. They
have no idea of laying by anything for /
rainy day." or even spending what little
money they obtain for any OF the comfort,
of life a man will waste enough money
I on lottery tickets, drink and tobacco tC
clothe his family comfortably, when pro
, badly there has not been a coat, shoe Oh
stocking in the family line since Corte;
! landed ON these shores, AS "A class the!
are also cruel, apparently taking satsfac
ton in mal-treatlug their animals. The
man makes his wife bear heavy burdens
! and very many children. She works il
the field under the hot sun and is useC
as Il pack-animal for carrying heavy load
y to market.
! MeXicans are not progressive, ard d,
I not take kindly to or even tolerate mod
, ern implements and modern ways The
: are centuries behind this age. When the
; were furnished Wheelbarrows in the con
= struction of the railroad, they filled tn
= barrows with dirt and placing them OF
their heads carried the loads to their DIES
tination. When given modern plows the,
. first cut off one of the handles becaus
their fathers never used plows with tw,
, handles. The man brings water Ions
! distances III earthen jars or pg-skins 20
/ makes his wife or children do it, iustea,
4 | Of laying pump-logs or lead pipe. ii
= waters his garden by throwing water owe
= it from the canal by means of Il hug
J wooden spoon, instead Of using force
, pump. lie has very little ingenuity witt
!, tools, consequently the Implements bot
for man and beast, are of the rudest
y heaviest and most bungling sort. HI
y cart wheels are hewed out OF whole log
y and pair will weigh half ton Hi
. harness is simply strips of rawhide am
V rope.
e In religion the MeXicans are devout
> One can scarcely enter a church, he it eve
:, so early in the morning, but he will fin
= worshippers, the great majority being c
" the poorer class. But the sabbath in thi
: country is emphatically II holiday Ever
Is Lords day, and on no other day in tn
!. week, occur those brutal and degradin
h exhibitions called bull fights; and thou
u sands upon thousands throng the car
u that run to the amphitheatre and fl
y every available space within the enclosur,
u 1t is estimated that there were 10 900 spec
10 tators at the exhibition yesterday nea
~ this city, and tickets on the SHADY side
u sold for 81. each. Six bulls, one at
= time, were tormented for while an
u then killed, and several horses were gore