Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-27
A Day of General Merriment, Feast
ing, Dancing and Visiting in
THE ANCIENT CITY OF MEXICO
Commencing the Fun With the First Ap'
pearance of Dawn.
GAY NIGHT SCENES ON THE PLAZAS
lcoRRrsroxDrxcr OF THE p1srArcH.1

than that of October 81, or All Hallow Even
commonly contracted to Hollow Eve
which falls this year on next Thursday. 1t
is the commencement of period of merrl-
ment and festivity, which continues for three
days, and is participated in by all classes OF
the people. So eagerly do they long for its
approach, that, unable to wait until even
ing, they commence their celebration at day
break.
Any stranger going abroad after sunrise
would know at once that it was a holiday.
Look up or look down the leading streets,
which way you will. everything is stirring.
All are arrayed in their best, while
their faces are wreathed with smiles,
of expectancy that speak more eloquently
than words of the pleasures they are antici-
pating. No Persian ever paid more respectful
obeisance or attention to that great planet,
the sun, than do the Mexicans. No sooner
does he send few scattered threads of light
over the twin towers of the great cathedral,
than countless groups of worthy citizens,
who are making holiday because tonight
will be Hallow Eve, Assem- bic in the Alameda
and the Plaza Mayor, the two great public
| pleasure grounds of the capital, to bask In
his beams. The fact that Hallow Eve was in
tended by the church as vigil preceding
All Hallowmas or All Saints Day is en-
tirely lost sight of. How to crowd the great
est amount OF enjoyment into the hours of
festivity is the uppermost thought in the
minds of all.
SOME TYPICAL GROUPS.
Many of these groups are strikingly pic
turesque and would be fine study for an
artist in figure painting. They include all
classes of society. Here a knot OF high
spirited blades are chatting over the last
robbery. They are arranging operations for
the night, when they anticipate rich har-
vest during the absence of the many house
holders who will celebrate Hallow Eve
away from home, and they are discussing
the possibility of winning to their purpose
some frail serene (night policeman, whose
cooperation may be necessary, or whom it
may be desirable to have opportunely seized
by an unconquerable lethargy at given
time and place. Mexican criminals are
among the shrewdest and most expert in the
world. and, though the police of this city
deserve great credit for the fidelity with
which they perform their duties, robberies
are of frequent occurrence, especially at
night.
are half dozen officers of the army, dis
cussing the merits of their cigars and their
horses, and laying plans for a merry Hallow
Eve. Just beyond them a group of thin,
sallow, disappointed looking men are
are heaping anathemas upon the President
and his ministers because they have failed
to recognize their merits and to give them an
opportunity to fatten at the public crib.
But even these finally agree that
this is not the time to discuss their
wrongs. and that only pleasure and
enjoyment should occupy ones thoughts at
Hallow Eventide.
Groups of lechuginos (dudes) saunter
down the hagways to the common center,
where prosperous and substantial fathers of
families assemble in groups to hear and
communicate news. The fair sex, ever kind
hearted and prepossessing, grace and ami
mate the scene with their presence. II you
will strain your neck a little and take in at
one view the Gales de Esperitu Santo and
Plateros, you will see the graceful forms of
MExICo's FAIREsT DAUGHTERS,
supported and watched in the rear by pru.
dent mothers, who well know the willy
ambush prepared for their offspring by the
crowds of young fops and ancient idlers who
lie in wait for their passage. The blue
robozos of the women and the red serapes
and white duck trousers of the men, who are
vending their wares in the adjoining flower
market, fill in with bits OF bright color such
picture as you can never hope to see else
where.
Both plazas are crowded with verduleras
(hawkers), who are vending every imagin-
able species of holiday edibles and holiday
wares, and filling the air with hoarse cries.
Sombreros, elaborately trimmed with silver
lace and ornamented with their owners
monogram in silver letters, fash in the light
side by side with the glossy and more mod
ern silk hat. Brilliantly-colored handker-
chiefs on the heads of manolas (young
women) contrast prettily with the BLACK
lace adorning the graceful polls OF the
muchachas (young ladies of the upper
class). Seemingly one of the most philo-
sophical observer of this varied scene is an
enormous hog, boxed up in a corner of the
Plaza Mayor and fianked by shed where
he is put up to be rallied for at medic (6H
cents) per ticket.
Even the animal creation is well repre-
sented in this motley throng which has
turned out to keep holiday time. The
burros-those invaluable little donkeys
which play such an important part in Mexi- |
can life-enticed by the sunshine and the |
hope of picking up some salad leaves near
the fountain, have taken advantage of the |
temporary absence of their masters, the or,
rieros (hucksters or carriers), who habitually |
leave them in the street united, and have |
strolled down from various directions-pack
on back-to nose their way through the
crowd, which seems perfectly accustomed to |
this familiarity. A donkey is not looked |
upon as nuisance in Mexican throng. |
People step aside to let him pass, with as |
much politeness as they would show to |
Christian.
As the daY advances everybody begins to
think about dining. A good dinner is as |
important feature OF the celebration |
of Hallow Eve in Mexico as it is of Thanks |
giving Day in the States. Mexico, true to |
the Spanish customs introduced BY Cortez, !
dimes near the middle of the dav, and when |
the great cathedral clock points to the hour |
of 1 it is warning to all who have din
ner waiting them at home to go and eat it, |
and to those who have none to set their wits /
to work to obtain one.
Some plate-hunters try the effect of a
porous householder homeward. Others In
vanity. But the door is reached and there
is no invitation-not even the freezing and |
alwavs-to-be-re fused, "Guste usted conner
con miejo? (Do you wish to dine with |
me)."
Then happy thought strikes the Mexi-
can Jeremy Diddler: "Well, 1 declare,
Senor Sanchez, your conversation is so
that here have walked all the
way home with you, and have an engage
ment to dine with some young fellows at the
Gale del. Comercio! Oh, by the way, have
ieit my purse at home. Could you loan me
a peso (dollar) or two till we meet?'
Senior Sanchez's hand reluctantly draws
out bright silver dollar. ''Tome usted |
(exeuse my frankness)," says the sponge, as
he drops it into his pocket and turns the !
aornar i