San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-06-01
ROAMING IN MEXICO
STRANGE SIGHTS AND PICTURESQUE
FIGURES TO BE SEEN.

If Jules Verne had taken trip to the city
of Mexico and other cities in Mexico which
have never been disturbed by the dust and
noise of our Nineteenth century locomotives,
he need never have taken his celebrated trip
to the moon to see strange phases of life. Or
he might have called Mexico his moon and
written the wonderful tales without in the
least fatiguing his imagination.
The first morning in Mexico is full of
wonders. Where were the open sewers reek
ing with filtha Where were the death deal
ing odors and black funeral street cars which
we supposed were to be seen hurrying after
every car filed with the livingl The streets
were clean and well swept, the air most sweet
and exhilarating, and over all, breathing its
benediction into every narrow street, was the
glorious, ever constant sunlight.
STREET SCENES IN THE CAPITAL
Strange sights greeted one at every turn
Down the street passed a vender of fruits.
On his head was large fat tray fringed
around the edges with leaves and filled high
with yellow musk melons, while on either
hand was balanced a smaller tray, one con
tanning apricots and the other prickly pears.
This last named fruit looks like small beets.
The picturesque engraving which all have
seen of the eastern water carrier has in Mex
leo its living counterpart bent half double
under the large jar of water on his back,
which is suspended by straps passing over his
shoulders and forehead He trotS all day
from house to house. measuring the water
out in pitcher which he carries in his hand,
and selling for a centavo a pitcherful He is
barefooted, or has simply piece of leather
strapped to the soles of his feet; his white
drawers are rolled up to his knees, and over
his white shirt he wears a short leather or
cloth jacket Altogether, he furnishes one of
the most picturesque objects in Mexico.
The milkman, too, has a dress all his own.
The outer seam Of his brown pantaloons is
left open from the ankle Of his bare foot to
the knee disclosing fullneSs of snowy white
cloth. Tho women wear the chemise as their
only waist, a bright embroidered petticoat,
and the inevitable scarf like rsboSos, with its
graceful fringe, seems "a suitable dress for
this climate. One cannot help wishing that
these characteristics Of dress might be re-
tanned, but the lower classes will surely fol
low the lead of the higher castes who already
have adopted all the French absurdities, and
only a black lace mantilla now and then
serves to remind one OF their Spanish origin.
The only exaggeration Of the Spanish sort
OF dress which We saw was one evening when
there came into cur hotel most deliberately.
dressed man. His bucEskin trousers and
jacket were embroidered heavily in silver
his cambria ruflleS were immaculate, and on
either side of his felt hat was largo silver
bulls head, with diamond eyes as large as
hazel nuts. Diamonds sparkled from his
bosom and hands, and No supposed he must
be grandee Of high estate What was our
amusement to learn he was an American
from Omaha trying to "out Herod Herod" in
grandeur if not in cruelty.
Now listen to the tale Of woe In a sub
dued looking person coming north week or
SO later we recognize the gay Lothario. He
sat quietly in his seas, with dropping lines
about his entire personality. His suit of dark
clothes was rusty; his hat was bereft of the
bulls heads and no diamonds sparkled any
where At Ell Paso q silver mounted Mexican
saddle, the only relic of his past grandeur
was found in his trunk, and he was marched
off to the custom house, but not before the
glimpse we obtained of the interior of the
trunk revealed two soiled calico shirts!
no RAILROADS WANTED.
Wagons there are none, or at least very few,
and everything to be moved is carried on
the backs Of man or beast. One morning we
saw moving along piles of lumber, each pile
carried along by four legs, so we supposed
that somewhere in the midst little burro
was hidden 1t is said that each one can
carry 300 pounds Trotting as steadily as
horses, and closely following the animated
lumber yard, came five poems, each with
sewing machine strapped to his back, and yet
the Archbishop of Hong Kong, whom we
met travelling through Mexico, attended by
Chinese convert priest, good man who
has spent thirty years as q missionary in
China, told us that he was sorry to see rail,
roads building in Mexico. He declined to
state his reasons
The street sprinkling in Mexico is all done
from a watering pot held in the hand, and
what is done at all is well done. A few years
ago an enterprising man from our country IA
Chicago man, of course) tried to introduce
watering carts, but the poems rose in a body
and drove the invader out.
There are many private carriages in Mexico
which are imported from the United States.
and we saw many fine horses. These all
looked very natural, but the drivers and foot.
men would call from our polite newsboys
many hi, hi" and afford them much
amusement Sitting on the box, their shawl
like serapes of bright colors drawn around
their shoulders and their heads covered with
the hat Of the country-a felt hat the crown Of
which resembles a very tall beehive and the
broad bTim prOfusely decorated with silver
braid-the Mexican Jehu is a tremendous
fellow, and can be seen any afternoon in all
his glory driving the fairest senoritas along
the Paseo, the fashionable drive which lies
between the city and Chapultepec. the site