Tombstone epitaph., 1890-04-05
MEXICAN PREJUDICEs.
DREAD OF FRESH AIR CARRIED 10
 A HUMOROUS EXTENT.

l VI -~~'S'sOSS Ns>sNss
 Dwellings That Are Damp, m smellin&
 and Pestiferous--A Curious Disliks os
 Cold water-Childish Fear oe Dtssaos.
 Indian Contempt for the whisss.
 Most cities have some reason to shov
 for their location. Boston sits by her broad bay, Chicago by the lakeside.. Eep
 Orleans in the bend of her imperial river
 Guanaju--:-c and Zacatecas by the side of. I their rich mines. but there Is DO sound O sensible reason for the location sf the, City of Mexico In . low and swamp tract. when right at hand were building l sights of iEcomparable view. tf perfect sanitary conditions and certain to afford space for the amplest possible expansion of the town Temporarily nothing Is being done. on any comprehensive scale. for the advancement Of the plan for draining the valley of Mexico. and incidentally tho city. A company of Ohio origin Is dig | ging a canal under contract with the city government. and it gets it's pay regularly. as the rulers of the city are good paymas
 ters and honorable in all their dealings
 But the big plan seems to have been | tct uIOp TUT U WAno SOulo I6kSOu 0Ok apparent.
 Meantime the death rate is extraordin | ary, and what should be one of the most healthy cities on the globe, standing as it does at more than 7.500 feet above the sea level. is one of the most unhealthy | The ravages of what may be termed dis eases engendered by dirt and dampness are something frightful-typhus fever | (not the milder typhoid). smallpox. which Is always existent somewhere. consump tion, dysentery, etc., carry of thousands | every year. The lot of the poorer classes, and of those between poverty and com | fortable circumstances Is a hard one. | Their dwellings are damp, musty, ill smelling. pestiferous. It is among these classes t.... the death rate Is very high. but among the we'll to do people who live on what is here called the primer piso," or first floor. or. in New England. the second story, the mortality Is not greater | than in Boston. The peculiarity of the climate is that its lack of oxygen renders recovery from sickness very difficult. | Once let yourself run down, and it is hard getting up again. The languor of the | climate. the lack of life in the air. conspire | to keep the invalid weak. and it is the rule of the doctors to send patients out of the city as soon as it is possible to remove | them.
 BEDROOMS SEALED AT NIGHT.
 Out on the hillsides the country people are robust and rarely ill. unless they hap pen to be of that class who try to keep bedrooms dramatically sealed at night. This prejudice against the night air is very great and widespread. I suppose ! that eight -tenths of the inhabitants ot | this city shut up their bedrooms as tigb. as drum every night of their lives. T..as i they breathe their own effluvia, and pine away to the profit of the doctors and ths drug shops. This fact accounts for the many mottled and sallow complexions one sees. People who have travelled. or those who are of receptive minds and have studied the matter. let the night air cir. culate in their apartments. Their good blood and clear complsxions testify to their obedience to hygienic laws.
 The dread of the fresh air Is often car. ried to ludicrous extent. People sit fos three hours in dirty. stuffy theatre and breathe the air of the sewers underneath tho floors, inhale all the human exhala- tions which contaminate the unagitsted air. and then, on going out into the com paratively pure air of the street, keep handkerchiefs to their mouths and noses. This morning noticed a ssllow woman riding on the Paseo in her coupe, . lap- dog on her knee. The glass windows of the vehicle were tightly shut, so that none of the glorious air of the morning in that favored spot should by chance enter her whitening lungs. This was the old monkish idea; ip the convents the piow brethren preferred close cells and musty tonnes. They dreaded water, and soaf was unknown to them.
 A curious prejudice exists among many people here against cold water when they have a "catarro" or cold in the head, ol even touch of chill ill the bones. For weeks, till the cold has gone. they reso lutely refrain from touching water. An other popular prejudice here Is that which impels a family to move out of . house when any member of it has died For this reason it Is. needful to be eau. tious in taking house or apartments till you have made certain that no one has recently died therein of 8 contagious dis ease. So far does this prejudice go that many people abandon their old homes on the death of 8 member of the family.
 CHILDISH FEAR OF DISEASE
 It does not seem to be so much super stition as childish fear of disease. And
  sent to remain in house thoroughly and scientifically disinfected, with new wall paper and new paint, will move to house with stagnant ditch near at hand. and will shut themselves up in their bedrooms at night like herring in 8 box The old houses here show in their construction the dread of air and sunshine With little narrow windows, brick floors and tight doors. they were certain to become musty in six months occupancy. The ancient conyents had windows of the size of prison windows. Churches were built so that never by any chance could a breath of air get in to disturb the worshipers. All this the white man did But the Indian. living mainly in the open air of the high sierras, is different sort of creature, a man who can make sixty miles or nors day He it is who eats with an appetite | his frugal meal. and has the good sense | to beat his idols when they do not grant | his requests immediately. These are the | men and women with broad chests and . l color that shows red blood and good circu- ! lation. They have missed the re6nements | of the white race. but have preserved their | livers and their lungs In the heart of | the Indian their turks 0 contempt for the sickly cnlnred white man He regards his 1 pale faced brother as man of artifce and | endless .efnements, who must have at | hand an apothecary shop and doctor, | who dares not live out in the free country unless protected by servants. dogs and | guns. The white man takes horse for journey of five miles; the Indian will 70