Los Angeles herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1890-1893, 1891-10-03

HON. THOMAS RYAN.
edge of the alameda could see the United
States flag over the big door of two story
house in the center of the block, on the
opposite side of the street. 1t was typical
Mexican casa, such as the wealthy classes
here delight In.
The big, heavy iron doors, that are high
and wide enough to admit a coach and
four. stood invitingly open. l entered and
pretended at first not to see the door at the
side of the passageway, for i wanted to
take peep at the court within. The house,
like all other Mexican dwellings, is built
in the form of hollow square.
The better class of Mexicans seldom use
the ground floor of their houses as living
rooms. The room fronting the street and
entered from the passage within the big
doors Is usually occupied as a business
Office. either by the owner or tenant. The
very wealtbiest Mexicans are not above
renting out portion or the whole of the
ground floor of their residence for business
purposes. One of the finest private resi-
dences in the City of Mexico has railroad
and insurance Office on the first floor. An
other popularity is the using of portion
Of the court as a coachhouse. The horses
may be kept in a private stable, but the
best carriages are nearly always kept where
the owner can keep his eye on them. A
bed of tropical flowers may make pictur-
esque the center of the court but its
beauty is too often detracted from by the
presence of the coach and possibly tubs
and other Mushroom and kitchen utensils.
1t is in the balconies above that the Mex
leans lavish all their care and aesthetic
tastes. Here flowers, fountains and the
of Iarl- ova1 bao11fioS with Gpor1-
ish mantillas thrown over their heads tend
to make an effective picture.
Minister Ryan has dropped into Mexican
ways SO far as to keeping his private coach
in the court, but otherwise the court looks
as unlike that of the Mexican as day diff
fers from night, for it Is clean swept. neat
and trim.
] did not find the '1atchstring on the
outside Of the door," as | had been told
would, but in its place / found Yankee
Improvement over the latchstring in the
way Of small wire. pulled the wire ex-
pecting to hear the tingle of a bell in re-
Spouse, but instead the door opened, for
the wire simply pulled back the catch.
entered and stepped into the front room.
A young man arose from his desk and adj
yanced to meet me. He was American from
the curl in his blond mustache to the tips of
his shoes. Edwin c. Butler is his name,
and he does duty as the chief clerk of the
legation. and this front room is his sane
tum.
"You will find Mr.. Ryan in the center
room at the head of the stairway; walk
right up" said Mr.. Butler, and that was
all the formality there was about getting
an interview with our representative in
Mexico.
Half way up the stairway hangs a pic
ture of George Washington. It is said that
some Mexicans who, though they may be
familiar with the name, are not so we'll ac-
quainted with the features of the father of
our country, have asked if this picture
represented any of Minister Ryan's ances-
tors. One senorita, after being corrected
in this mistake, got out of it by remarking
that she hardly thought it possible that
Minister Ryan could have SO little hair
while his father had such an abundance.
However, laying the hair aside Washing
toms hair, mean-there is some ground
for such mistake, and Mexicans who are
not familiar with historic American fea-
lures are excusable in their errors. Min
lister Ryan is looked upon by all Mexi-
cans as a man considerably above the ordi-
nary, and quite capable of doing our ma
GlOu Ill LudbOcIS. 1uty
think his advice well worth seeking and
often ask it even in matters outside of
state affairs.
found Minister Ryan seated at his desk
by q window overlooking the alameda.
The greeting was most cordial, and after
meeting him could better understand his
popularity among the people here. He is
the happy possessor of an easy, gracious
air that inspires confidence and makes one
feel at once as though the acquaintance
had been one of long standing.
The whole front of the house is occupied
by three reception rooms known as the
White, Red and Blue rooms. They were
thrown open for my inspection, and as l
walked about among the pretty American
fnrniture-the first had seen in Mexico
forgot for the time being that was in a
strange land. The carpets, curtains, dra-
peries, center table, mirrors, bric-a-brac,
were all delightfully."- pleasing to the eye
and the big armchairs and tete-a-tete in
the Blue room invite one to tarry and rest
awhile. The color of the silk coverings of
the furniture in each room gives the dis
tinctive names Red, White and Blue. The
Mexicans most admire the Blue room, but
TO most Americans the White room is most
attractive, as il shows to best advantage in
the peculiar white sunlight of Mexico. It
might also be termed the Gold room, for
the large center table and the chairs are
white and gold, while the heavy frame to
the mirror that covers nearly half Of one
wall is deeply gilded and the paper hang
ings are embossed in red, white and gold.
Every Thursday afternoon at 4 o'clock
Mrs. Ryan holds a reception, and these
rooms are thronged with members of the
Mexican 400 and ladies' of the American
colony. Mrs. Ryan is quite as popular
among the Mexicans as her husband.
Her favorite pastime is horseback rid
ing. She may be seen every fine morning
riding through the alameda or out Paseo
de la Reforma, the avenue leading to
Chapultepec. She also delights in riding
out on the country roads, and always re-