Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-30

and black Us the dtedbGtrhc OF her native
hills--is parted straight through the mid
die and hangs in two long braids, tied at
the ends with bits of bright ribbon. The
freaks of tickle fashion make no change in
her dress, and though bosom and limbs
are often bare, she is not conscious of
want of further clothing. Her home-an
adobe hut or cane-stalk jacal-with its dirt
floor and roof of dried grass, has no fur
nishings beyond wooden bench, straw
mat a few cooking utensils, and big
picture of Santa Guadalupe or her patron
Saint, before which expensive candles must
be burned on all fiesta days. But she is
perfectly contented, exceedingly pious, and
always picturesque.
Out of the ten millions of people in
Mexico it is estimated that fully seven
millions belong to this ignorant laboring
class generically known as poems
ONE MAN
OF this class, presents about the same
characteristics which mark the rest. In
stature he is below the average Saxon, his
swarthy skin is usually incrusted with dirt
his long, matted hair is certain to be in
habited, and of beard he has little or none.
HIS costume is simplicity itself Besides
the aforementioned garments for his
body, he wears rough leathern sandals
(made by HIMSELF, q sombrero IN an easy
stage of dilapidation, and wooden zarape,
or blanket, to be worn in the cool of the
day in lieu of coat and to form his only
bed at night. Add to this a greasy string
around the neck, to which is suspended a
precious cross, medal or charm" which
has been blessed by the local priest they
are all intensely Roman Catholics)-the
- odor OF sanctity about him. blended with
fumes of garlic, chill and cigarettes and
YOU have typical "greaser" of the present
day, as wide a contrast from the Mexl-
can gentleman as it is possible to
imagine. His entire outfit could be
purchased for about 50, and once
obtained, he purposes to wear it till the
end of time. His chief vanity and only
pride is centered in his sombrero and "a
rape-especially the former, which is his
dearest earthly possession. He may not
have clothes enough to cover his entire per-
son, but will starve himself for year in
order to save enough from his scant wages
to buy very Undermined hat with exag-
gerated crown, well garnished with silver
cord.
The zarapes, which commonly take the
place of coats and overcoats among the
lower classes, including the soldiers and
even the haciendadoes are really very hand
some and picturesque garments, far more
suitable for these people than our clumsy
style of dress would be. There are many
factories for weaving them in nearly every
State of Mexico. They are generally all
wool of substantial make, and range
in price from two to twenty dollars.
Bright-hued blankets with red and yellow
stripes the image of some beast or bird in
the center and the national colois (red,
white and green) on the edges, are in
greatest demand but there are many beau
tiful ones, with white ground or softly
blended colors, which one longs TO appro-
pirate for portieres In the streets in the
churches, at the bull-fghts, everywhere,
hues; and if the day ever comes when
their wearers become civilized to the
extent of dispensing with them, much of
the brightness and picturesqueness which
adds charm to every Mexican scene will
be missing.
1t is in the rural districts and on the
great mining haciendas that the system of
peonism, peculiar to Mexico, is seen at its
worst. 1t is species of
VOLUNTARY SLAVERY,
And comes about in this way A laborer
borrows a sum of money-perhaps to get
married with. or to pay for the baptism of
his child. or TO pay for the funeral cere-
monies of relative (which demands a
bonus of not less than $40. and without
which it is believed that the poor soul will
languish long in purgatory), and offers
himself, i. e., his labor, as security. OF
| course the debt can never be paid out of his
meager wages, the mortgage is foreclosed
by and by, and the obligation descends from
father to son. Thus it frequently happens
that poems whose ancestors contracted
debts with long-dead proprietors, continue
| to live upon the same estate, and their chill
! dren after them, in q condition of serfdom
| more hopeless than that of Russia. because
| the victims themselves have no desire to
rise above it. Generations come and go,
| till no record remains of the original obi
| gation-but the shackles never fall.
| The peon is paid for his labor on an av-
erage of twelve cents per diem-not in
money, but in leathern checks, which pass
current at the hacienda store" The lat
| ter is conducted in much the same plan
| that agents deal with the Indians in the
United States. OF course the proprietor
can charge what he pleases, and so those
who are entirely dependent upon him for
all the necessaries of life find themselves
deeper and deeper in his debt as the years
go by.
To the casual observer the wretchedness
Of peon poverty seems great enough to OBJ
scure the sunlight of fair Mexico; but after
| long residence here | am not sure but that
| this system, which borders on the patri-
archal, may not be best for naturally idle
and irresponsible people. At any rate, to
| be suddenly turned adrift from their homes
within the hacienda walls where most of
them were born, and where they are at
least sure of food and shelter, and left to
shift for themselves would be the greatest
| misfortune that could befall them.
Though densely ignorant, some of these
poems show CLEANS of brightness that lead
me to suspect they might develop into use
full citizens if given half chance. They
are universally tractable, gentle-mannered,
polite and religious but they have deep
rooted objections to any new-fangled no.
tons" For instance, the railroad con-
tractors have found it practically impossi-
bic to induce them to use wheelbarrows
and shoyels; they rather scrape up the
| dirt in their leather-aprons and trot up and
down the embankment with it,
FANNIE B. WARD.