Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-04-28
MEXICAN WOMEN
AS Seen by An American Women Ha~thur. @ m Las Vaxss OntioI

l a. HaNthur.e m Las Vegas Optic
 I MASzANO, x. M., April 13.-I disagree
 with The bright editor of the "Women'
 department of The Optic. ID her recent article upon Mexican women, their dis
 eases. and their causes, but all effsr
 must be taken in the nature of opinions,
 not convictions.
 A doctor Of any kind is non essential
 in Mexican plaza, snd 8 women doctor
 the least needed. Mexican lore, when il
 comes to roots aud herbs. is not surpsss-
 ed by that of the Indians, and there is
 scarcely disease for winch some yeners-
 ble senors dces not know some fragrant
 remedy, which sbe brings out from 6 conglomerate mass of dried leavee and
 roots. They have, besides, some simple
 patent nostrums and preparations which. O. c1rnblred vlth faith, often work wonder ful cures, One very pleasant compound that IS administered for sore throat is 6 paste of rose leaves and butter the latter thoroughly washed, to free from salt, and then beaten to a cream. This seems a medicine devoid of sll medicinal prop critics, yet have known a fevered, In- famed tbrOst greatly relieved by its cooling applications. A lOud-smelIng, cocOsnut favored hair dressing which is religiously applied 10 the scalp in cases of headache, 1 cannot couscientiously re- command, neither the indiscrimipste swallowing of castor oil, nor heroic doses of worms for paralysis. For rheumatism an ointment made from prairie dog fat IS certainly efficscious, also hot baths impregnated with the essence of the plant rheumsrio. The habits of the ns- tive not compiler; the food is not epicu- risn, but it IS, in 6 degree, nutritious. Beans possess as much, If not more, muscle producing matter than meat, End chili IS 6 fine stimulant to the digestive organs if crsmp eolic doesn't get there first. Then, there is g mistaken idea ss to the half-starved condition of the poor CT class. Every girl learns to cook. She may have nothing but 6 dome shsrped oven in the plsciis; smoky fireplace in the kitchen, pot and a pan; she may wash her dishes on the floor and sweep up with a bundle of tvigs, but she has learned from her mother and her nsns to make many 6 ssvory dish of which American chefs are ignorant and Ameri- can pBlates unarquainted. She fires up the mud arrangement out doors and goes through a mysterious rite of putt TUX III sOLuctuAbky sCoAlDk uP tue 0OOi and then going oil to gossip with 6 neigh bOr. By and by she opens this door and draws forth the most deliclous bread, the most toOthsome of little cakes all sprinkled over with cinnamon and hold ing ID the embrace of the hsky, sweet fpside. a bit of dried fruit or a morsel of minced meat. By her fireplace she pre- pGres mutton as our cooks can't do 10 save their lives; she dished up a sops that makes one wish she could est for ever, and she disgulses eggs SO deftly that one longs to be hen snd make mOrtals forever happy. In the springs she goes out on the lama, down m the canada and where the scequis oreeps along to the plain. and from each gathers lot Of weeds that appears later as most sucoulent vegetables. One of the dain- tIest dishes served is purslsne, the verl- tscle old "pusley" that the enlightened American gives to pigs. All these gifts of the field and mountain are drIed and used in winter. There IS scarcely a thing that IS grown that these people do not utilize, consequently their bodies do not lack tor nourisbmsnt, But, it Is fact that the women soon fade and grow wrinkled and skinny, and think the climate has & great deal to do with that. The tendency of the meIorisy of American settlers Is to lose feeb, grov dry and angular, and why not the ps- tive? There are other reasons, too, and somebody other than doctor will have to remedy those, The life of the women is much harder than that of the men, and the houses are built to engender and cultivate many diseases. There is often insufficient ventilation and the earthen floors are simply vile. Dab bling in season and out in mud and whItewssh, thinly clad-as often from necessity they sre-outraged nature revenges herself on the young mothers and maidens very much as she does on American girls who disregard the rules of health. The housewife prIdes herself on her white walls, smooth, uubroken fl 1ors and fresh, immaculate fireplsces, and to have these means manual labor that would try the strength and endurance of the man. In the matter of dress there sill be Int tie improvement until dry goods, gro ceries, etc, gre brought down to season able prices aud the same class of zoo ds offered Mexicsns that are brought out for Americans. It is a notorious fact and the intelligent natives known it that every wholesale house, every large retail house keeps s class of goods for ",he Mexican trsde." and it doesn't by any means mean that thIs distinction is confined to color or certain national fancies and costumes but texture, qual- ity and wearing ability suffer through
 mems greed. The people are poor, 1t is true. but many men ID this Territory have grown rich and are growing rich CT through ''the Mexican trade" In the remote plazas where goods are still trel9hted, the cost Of transportation IS necessarily an item of importance which must be aided so the first cost, but when the enterpri-Ing shopkeeper adds another fifty or hundred per cent, it follows that the majority of the people. vomen and neB, must be insufticiently clothed. Bu, 10 spite of the mud floors, bard work. early marriage and scantily robed bodies. the Mexican women live longer and are 10 marked degree fresr from ibs ills of English speaking masrons. The children are simply lit- tIs Spartsns. I have seen tots in the cDldest weather running about happy as sand boys and sporting only @ mighty short camiss. and few of these vaungsters die or gre ever very sick. This plsza contains 800 people and in the | yssr have lived here there have been | four deaths. two of babes, one of eI- | trere old age, 1 can number at least ! six men Rrd women who are over eighty. one or two almost a hundred, | ard any quantity among the three score.
 The condition of Mexican woman is
 SO generally misststed. because Ameri- cans have co few opportunities of sb- solulely knowing much of their inner l home life, and il IS far better than thai of thousands of the poor in large cities. They gre not, as a rule, educated, but they are, ss a rule, intelligent. and
 blesed with good judgment in the
 management of domestic affairs. and
 rearing children. And they are fully
 alive 10 the necessity of learning
 When ve have non-sectsrisn schools
 English as well as Spsnish-speskinl
 teachers, more railroads. more Amer cans, more mouey and free, lawful inter course between the races, We may hay, more of the diseases of civilizstiOs, ana , the doctor will be 8 necessity. II l should be SO, by all means let us prs. that it may be woman.