Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-12-17
LIVING In MEXICO.
It Costs Much More Than It Docs
in tao United States.
Rents High and Luxuries of All Kinds
Very Expensive-A Rich Field
for American Enter
Driae.

was aSke q OF young american OentlSt
who was practicing his profession in the
city of San Luis Potosi. by City Of
! Mexico correspondent of the st. Louis
| Globe Democrat This city of about
one hundred thousand people. It lies
In the north central part Of Mexico and
is in a rich farming country The
young dentist lives very nicely Like
all of his kind in Mexico he is making
money. and he is saving enough to
make him rich within the next ten or
fifteen years Said he: 81 keep a close
account of my expenses, and figure it
costs me just about one hundred and
seventeen dollars month. My living
costs me for table expenses two dollars
day. or sixty dollars month pay
twenty-five dollars a month for my
house and have three servants, who
average four dollars a month apiece.
might get along with less servants but
not very well. Here every respectable
fellow has to have a cook. a man, and
q chambermaid. The cook won't go
go outside the kitchen, and you have
some trouble making the chamber
maid wait upon the table. My
boy tends to the front door,
waters the street in front of my
house. and runs my errands- He sleeps
in front of the door at night, and does
the most of my marketing In addition
to the wages of the servants have to
give them so much a day for food. Each
of them expects six cents every morning
for tortillas, or the corn cakes which
constitute the bread of the common
people, They claim that they don't like
my food, but ] have a Sneaking idea
that they steal it all the same. Then
every week ! have to give six cents
extra to them for soap This is the
custom; and they want the money and
not the soap. I once bought twenty
five pounds of soap and tried to dole it
out to them. but they wouldn't take it.
Then, in addition to this, l have my
washing and ironing. This is never done
in the house in Mexico There are pub
lie washerwomen, who pound and rub
the clothes to pieces after wetting them
with cold water, which they get from
the publ C tanks or bitches They
wear out the clothes in one-third the
time that they would be destroyed by
the Chinese laundry. and | pay them
five dollars month for doing it. My
butter costs M twenty-five cents a
pound. my milk sev>..t>en cents day,
and pay about six cent, 7 cay on the
average for charcoal. Al tie cooking
in Mexico is done with charcoal, and
there is not a cooking stove in Next
can family the country over. Mexican
houses have no chimneys, and our cook
ing utensils are all made Of clay
"How about incidental expenses?" /
asked
They are very high" was the reply.
Money slips away here faster than
you would think, and would like to
give you some of the items"
Rents are high and luXuries are very
expensive Everything that is import
ed is high, and a great chance for
mOney-making is for the American to
go to Mexico. study the needs Of the
people. and start factories there for
making the articles that are now SO
highly protected by the tariff. Take
the matter of nails, for instance. They
cost from sixteen to twenty-five cents
a pound. and they are SO expensive that
great part Of the building of Mexico
is done with ropes instead of nails.
Here in Mexico city, within stones
throw of the Iturbide hotel, an i'm
mense building is being erected. The
scaffolding about this building is tied.to-
gether with ropes, and the rafters being
spliced in this way Many of the huts
of the southern part of the country
have roofs of thatch tied to rafters with
ropes, and some of these huts have not
a nail in them. Few wooden buildings
are known in Mexico. The average
house has neither cellar nor garnet, and
the fastening, which we make with
nails. are ingeniously constructed with
brick and mortar I have seen fences
where the boards and poles were tied
to the posts, and crate that got the
other day to carry pottery in was made
of rods tied together with strings. All
classes of building material are costly
here. You have to pay thirty-five to
forty dollars thousand for flooring,
and glass is very high A great many
of the cheaper houses have no win
dows. in the glass sense of the word.
The openings are covered with iron bars
and are fastened at night with close
wooden shutters. Iron has during past
years been largely imported from Bel
gium, and there is a good chance for
American iron.