Wichita eagle., 1889-01-25
MEXICAN SMUGGLERS.
The Purchases They Make in an
American Frontier Town.
Eoods Brought In Exchange for Neces
saries-A Bold Class of People Who
Recognize No Distinction Be-
tween Mine and Thine.
Tombstone (Arizona) Cor. San Francisco
Chronicle.i


Chronicle.i
Pious people the world over are moved
with compassion for those who are plunged
In heather darkness, and there are grave
reasons to suspect that the dwellers upon
the border line of Arizona are very apt to
be classified among the unregenerate, in
stead of receiving their due need Of appre-
citation as missionaries to the heathen
Nevertheless our frontier towns, with their
various types of humanity, are uncon-
sciously giving object lessons in the way OF
civilization, and thereby gradually work
ing reform among all classes of natives Of
our sister republic. Among the first sights
TO attract the attention of stranger in one
of these little towns near the border line
are the trains of smugglers which may be
met almost any day on the outskirts of
town. The Mexican smugglers usually
come in companies of fifteen or twenty,
riding on mules, and driving the requisite
number of Apaches ahead of them, as they
must rely on themselves for protection
from the attacks of Apaches, who are
always liable to be lurking in the wild,
mountainous country over which they must
pass in order to avoid the custom
house officials Traffic with the snug
glers is what the merchant most
abhors, for, while their purchases
amount to quite a little sum, they must
meanwhile be kept under most careful sur
veillance as no article is too Insignificant
to tempt their thievish natures and
nothing so valuable that they dare not
make the attempt to purloin it. If detected
in theft they give up the stolen article
with an air of injured innocence and await
an opportunity TO replace it with some
thing more valuable When, after great
deal of deliberation, they decide on the
purchase to be made, they drive the mules
up to the store and make up their packs
for the homeward trip.
Their money, which consists chiefly of
Mexican dollars, or ''adobes,' as they are
commonly called, is invariably carried
with the pack, tied up in a little buckskin
sack, and this the smugglef unties from the
saddle in the leisurely manner of his nation
and brings it in and throws il on the floor
of the store with the utmost indifference,
apparently paying no further attention to
it until he is ready to count out the coin to
pay for his purchases. The sights of little
town like Tombstone seem to fill the snug
glers with wonder and they go about the
streets and in the stores like children, staring
at every thing with the greatest curiosity.
Little by little they begin to discover the
uses of ali these novel articles, and are
tempted to pattern after the ways of the
Gringos themselves, and thus the contents
of smuggler's pack have materially
changed during the past four or five years.
At first the purchases consisted chiefly of
guns pistols, ammunition, cartridge belts,
etc. with an addition of few minor arti-
cles, such as calicoes, overalls, etc. After
awhile they began TO see the possible ad-
vantages which American boots and shoes
might have over moccasins and so would
take a few pairs a venture. Then came
a demand for cooking-stoves and utensils
of all sorts, and soon the sewing machines
began to figure as an evidence of progress
in civilization.
The smuggled imports consist chiefly Of
mescal, a beverage which looks as inno-
cent as water. but which has all the prop
critics of very bad whisky. This is made
from the leaves of the mescaI plant-a
species of sgave-in some way best known
to the Mexicans, although the process is
variously described by tourists. But what
ever the process may be- the product seems
to be received with perfect faith and finds
ready sale They also bring crates of the
luscious Sonora oranges; also little cakes
of panoche, which resembles maple
sugar but which is an exclusive production
of Mexico, made in some mysterious way
from the sugar-cane, we are told. This
statement, however, must be received on
faith, if not cum grd,o sails, at least with
great deal of grit and dark mystery. Along
toward spring we are flooded with imports
of a more novel nature. The town is then
thronged with Mexican women and chill
dreu of the lower classes-uhe poems of
Nexico-who come groteSquely loaded with
bird cages containing various kinds of the
singing birds of that region. The cages are
very ingenious in construction, and often
quite elaborate in design and finish. They
are made of slender twigs of some very
white wood, and this often gaudily painted
or stained in all the hues of the rainbow.
They bring chiefly mocking birds, but occa-
sionally beautiful cardinal birds and golden
orioles are offered for sale. The women
and children, Like the men, are most invet-
crate thieves and shameless beggars but
such patheticlooking creatures would melt
hearts of stone, and thus cast-off wearing
apparel, too ragged to give TO the aristo-
cratic poor, who are always with US comes
to be laid aside in anticipation of bird
time for nothing is too humble TO be most
gratefully received by the Mexican beggar.
As may easily be imagined, they have
always been subjected to lives of most
grinding poverty, and their homes are
squalid beyond Descriptions state of
affairs due chiefly to their own thriftless
ways As an example of this. the usual
custom among them is TO grind the grain
for each meal in quantity barely sufficient
for the present need, thereby. it may be-
merely giving literal Interpretation of {
the injunction: Take no thought for the
and surely sufficient unto the !
iay'' must be the evil thereof The l
mill is large fat rock on which the !
handful of grain is placed and crushed by
land with smaller rock-''the upper and
neither millstone,n as it were. There. of
course, the meal is plentifully indued with
grit and sand worn from the surface of the {
stones as well as liberal supply furnished !.
" the casual sand-storm. The articles :,
mentioned above constitute the chief inn :
ports that are smuggled across the line but
very train from Sonoro brings US most .
delicious fruits and fresh vegetables and q
rom the gulf at Guaymas are sent fresh 7
ish and oysters in the shell, breathing the Q
odors of the ocean t. men long b
Killed from the seashore.
A queer little town in regard to the prac- $
ice of collecting customs is Nogales. which =
s situated directly on the border line, SO .
ha: on one side of the principal street the :,