Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-03-02
aAre many Americans finding employ

"Are many Americans finding employ
ment in Mexico
son Captain Raours road there are
many Georgians and some Savannah men.
Nearly all the officers are old Central
Railroad men,"
In speaking of the characters and Gus
toms of the natives Mr. Dillon said that
the Mexicans are very polite and genteel
people. "The girls are very pretty and
sweet looking" he said, sand have pretty,
wlnsome ways. They mature very early,
and are often mothers at II or Ii years
old. The law allows early marriages.
The average Mexican is of small stature
and very few wear beard As rule they
are dark complexioned, although some of
them are very light. They are very
shrewd traders and make splendid mer-
chants. There are very few Jews in
Mexico, but many Germans"
In abiding to the products of the coun-
try, and the manner and cost of living,
Mr.. Dillon said The products of Mexico
are very cheap, but such things as are inn
ported are very dear. Hams are 81 per
pound, butter 75c, lard 37@c, etc. Fresh
meats are lScper pound, but vegetables are
very cheap. House rent is also cheap and
one can live cheaply there if he desires
Stoves are not used. The cooking is done
in earthen pots with charcoal"
Mr.. Dillon said that Americans find this
way of cooking the hardest thing to be-
come accustomed to. Stoves, he said, that
cost $40 here, cost $3.50 there. Wood is
very dear, but there is little use for it,
since it is never cold enough for fires, and,
except in the low country, it is never very
hot. Railroading is the principal occupa-
ton for Americans who go there, and they
get very good wages. Conductors get from
$l25 to $3.50 per month, brakemen from
500 to $40, engineers from S155 to $3.50,
and firemen get about $50 per month 1t is
all in Mexican money of course.
els there much sickness in Mexico?"
The only drawback is the everlasting
prevalence of smallpox. 1t is every
where and everybody has it. / can speak
from experience, when say that it is the
worst, most disagreeable, and vilest disease
that one can be afflicted with The houses
are all built solid and have little square
courtyard in the center. Very few of the
houses are more than one story, and horses,
cows and donkeys all enter the front door,
| and live under the same roof There are
no frame houses except ON the border, and
| those the railroads have built. The
houses are built out Of sand and straw,
| called adobe EThe roofs are fiat and
the floors are made of brick, as in most
parts of Mexico trees which were large
enough for lumber purposes have been long
since used.
"The labor of the country is done by
poems, a class between the Mexican and
| Indian. They receive for their services
Is cents per day, out of which they feed
and clothe themselves. When a person
dies unable to buy coffin, which is very
costly, one is rented in which to convey
the remains to the grave. where the body
is taken out and buried and the coffin re-
turned. In Mexico person must be
buried within twenty-four hours after he
is dead. So if a stranger dies in that
country he will be buried there. The
cemeteries are ali small, and after person
has been buried certain length of time
another grave is dug in the same spot and
somebody else buried there 1t is not un-
common to see the graye-digger dig up
bonds, skulls and garments of the dead
"The religion of the country is Catholic,
and the converts to Professionalism, Mr..
Dillon says, are principally among the
lower classes, as they have nothing to lose
by becoming Protestant. All the churches
have good music and beautiful paintings.
In one of the churches at San Luis Potosi
| saw picture of the "Lord's Supper
which was one hundred feet long and
twenty-five feet high, all the figures being
life-size." -Sduannak Netcs.