Omaha daily bee., 1889-06-30

in white and they in tgfn by process
Along the line OF march the faithful
ask the virgins to bless them and theirs.
The priests stop to prap tnd bless, qpd
accept the contributions ,ot4 the grateful
believers with becoming Humility. At
the chapel Our Lady is invoked by
special services lasting a 1seck, to send
the rain so much needed. Then the
rains come-or ought to-and the figure
is carried back TO the catltedral in great
pomp. One season thsnhin refused to
come. The priests prqyel and the In
dians waited in vain, In their wrath
the natives stripped Our Lady of her
clothes and kicked her over the dry bed
of the creek. But the outraged Deity
resented the sacrilege. That night
came heavy rain that nearly washed
the town away. The awe-stricken
Pueblos promptly restored Our Lady to
her former station and glory. The
CELEBRATION OF CORPUS CHRISTI
is another interesting church event in
Santa Fe. After the services in the
church peculiar to the occasion, priests
and believers form procession to
march about the town. The, faithful
decorate their buildings gaily.and erect
rude altars in front OF their homes. The
column halts at the altars for prayers
by the priests, who are rewarded by
money considerations. In the evening
there are fireworks and general merry
making. The affair has great deal of
the appearance of Fourth of July cell
ebration.
Like all these old Mexi can towns,
Santa Fe has plaza, an open square or
park about which the Spaniards builded
their towns. This plaza has been the
center of many II bloody fight and in
trigue, but it has no remarkable fea-
lures. Facing it's full length, on one
side and separated by q narrow street,
is
THE PALACE.
1t is q one-story structure with walls
of mud, hardly the sort of thing we
would expect to find under so pompous
a name. 1t was built early in the Span
ish occupation, probably 800 years ago,
perhaps longer. 1t was called the
Palace, and as such it has been known
down through the centuries. 1t was
ceaseless warfare under Spanish rule,
but it looks to-day good for three CEN
taries more if it doesn't hap
pen to get in the way of the
march of modern progress, Some OF its
walls are two or three feet thick and
have hardened like rock. Imagine the
stories of conquest and adventure and
romance that facile pen might weave
about this historic pile of mud.
Strange sights might be expected in
a place that, vt least until recently,
boasted of being the only American
town of over five thousand population
without steam engine within its
limits. The majority OF the buildings
nlnhas with
streets and no sidewalks, except where
the Americans have carried out their
ideas. The mud houses of the natives
are windowlcss, and the doors are
always closed. They have an air of
mystery which IS not lessened by the
fumgent odor filing the air from burn
ing pinon. The pinon Is a scrubby,
tir-like evergreen, about the only green
thing to be seen iii New Mexico, eX-
cept in the rainy season. Everything
else is burned brown or yellow, The
pinon is scraggy little thing. more OF
o bush than tree. Its nuts. hardly as
large as II pill, are occasionally offered
for sale in the north. Its wood is The
fuel OF tho natives, and one of the
sights of Santa Fe is a row Of burros at
the plaza loaded with pegots, a bundle
on either side.
One of the experiences OF the country
not to be missed. by the way is
A BURRo RIDE.
The burro is distant relative OF the
mule, and Just tall enough to keep the
feet of medium-sized man off the
ground. Nature forgot to reduce the
animals head in proportion to its body,
but gave it an amiable disposition, WON
derful endurance and ineXhaustible pa
tience. No force or coaxing can make
. h1 Ia nj tfc
head is turned towards its stable.
The streets are Kaleidoscope of
strange sights. Spaniards from Mexico,
American army officers. negro soldiers,
bull-whackers. full -blooded Pueblos and
the greaser, with a mixture of Spanish
an Indian blood. In the old town one
is often startled in turning corner
suddenly to run against an
Indian wrapped in IL blanket
and sitting in the sun. Ut is stolid
figure, that squats, motionless, for
hours, and usually is an old man or
woman, with face scanned with wrin-
kles of cavernous depths. There are
several shops filed with Indian curiosi-
ties, including fresh-made pottery, and
curtained cupboard is reserved for
male eyes alone.
THE ''WICKEDEST DANCE HOUSE"
has, in front, a bar on one side and card
tables in full blast on the other. At the
rear is small stage occupied by three
fiddlers. On the Intervening floor Il
number of so-called senoritas, in all
stages of physical and moral decline,
dance with any partners who may offer
themselves. Between the dances they
smoke cigarettes or pass through side
door to private rooms in an adjoining
building. 1t is safest to leave one 8
money Mt the hotcl before visiting the
villainous place. But there are scores
of interesting things about Santa Fe
too numerous to mention in detail. To
do the place justice the visitor should
be prepared to stay several days and get
a resident like the quaint old custodian
of the nalnce to he his guide.